How customer centric is your bank?

I have my personal account with India's #1 private sector bank. I still have my good, old account with my previous employer (then the #1 pvt sector bank, not anymore...), more for loyalty and sentimental reasons. The new account is where I have most of my key relations, including a loan. 

I just logged in to make an urgent transfer 
- It asked me to change my password. There was no option to do it later, as I was in a hurry. 
- Twice, it would not accept my current password, even though I have logged in. Maybe I entered it wrongly. 
- The third time I was lucky, I could change my password
- Then I had to log in again and make the transaction. 

Wonder how customer-centric is our bank? 
How customer-centric is your bank? 

Karma of Customer Service - Lessons from Ola Drivers

I booked last evening for an Ola-ride for this morning, for a 9 AM pick up. I was a bit tensed as I did not want to be late for the event this morning in the city.

CRN1713687180

Anand kumar

The car allotment confirmation came at 850 AM, but the vehicle was a bit away. It was 915 AM by the time he arrived. I stepped out waiting for the cab to arrive... 
And the cab arrived, clean, a very polite and courteous driver and with the air conditioner on... Often cabs arrive with their aircons not switched on, and I find many drivers prefer it that way, perhaps to save diesel. Unless it is unbearably hot and/or dusty, I am reluctant to add to my carbon footprint too... would rather suffer....

This morning was different. 

CRN1716112615 :

A S NAVEEN KUMAR

It was a long day... but a good day. I booked for the return 'journey' home (Bangalore to Whitefield is a journey). While it showed 7 minutes wait, after booking it became over 20 minutes. (Ola can fix this)

It was peak evening. I chose to wait patiently. He came in. Again, very courteous, polite and exceptional driving. No wonder his rating was 5/5. 

I am delighted to note two wonderful experiences today, 5/5 on both occasions. Ola should have a 5+ for such exceptional ride experience. 

How do we ensure such great service at the customer touch points, by all our customer-facing representatives, at all levels? 

Death of customer service in India

Death of customer service in India:

Behaviour by brain - 'In recent times, the focus on customer care as a core business strategy seems to have lost its importance'

Chandra has several recent, but unresolved customer-services (CRs) issues with 

1. #Uber - two drivers cancelled a prior-appointment for an important meeting. Multiple reminders, incl tweets, have not been responded to. No closure even after 10 days! 
2. #3M car care - they just decided to save water, get environment-friendly with retrospective effect, thus unilaterally nullifying annual maintenance contract (AMC)
3. #Airtel 4G wifi - connectivity is an issue for over 2 years now - not dependable, when most needed
4. #HDFC Bank - multiple issues, for they don't see multiple products as one relationship. So much so, he decided to downgrade from 'Imperia' to 'cattle-class'!
5. #HDFCLife - poor returns, over and above wrong #CrossSell by the bank RM himself :(
6. #JetAirways - a packet of sweet disappeared from his checked in baggage. 
7. #CrownePlaza, Chennai - he lost his power-bank
8. #DTDC - the Diwali gift he had sent to his mother is still missing. DTDC is not responding

Chandra conducts training/visiting faculty engagements for young leaders and BSchools students (aspiring leaders!). He seems to be attracting a lot of case-studies :((

20 yrs or 30 yrs back, when many of us were in the corporate world, at lower/middle level leadership roles, the customer was still important. Customer complaint was not measured scientifically like it is today. But then it was not mere a process management, but managing relationships. What caused this?

- Is it our obsession with top-line and bottom-line, come what may?

- Is it our myopic view of quarterly, monthly or even weekly targets vs achievement?

- Is it the expanding market where it is a deliberate strategy to acquire customers, vs retention?

Would these sustain in the long run? 

Make in India or any variant thereof, including the focus on Services, will have no impact unless we bring back the customer centricity, at its holistic level. 

It is about #leadership. Moving from selfish to at least partly selfless? #I2We2He

Our Leadership has to move to #ServantLeadership #CustomerDelight as primary focus

Glad Biju Dominic wrote about this and Mint carried the article on November 23, 2017 (when I was away on a spiritual retreat, in bliss, and no expectation of customer service - I was 'serving' some 'customers', or guests at the Ashram) 

India's leading travel aggregator not on GST?!

- I was unable to add my GST details on my profile section.
- Hence dropped a line to the website. 
- A representative at the call center kept calling last evening when I was in the flight, had just landed
- He tried to tell me 'they did not have GST', etc. Poor connectivity,
I asked him to reply to email.


Being Customer Centric...

1. Why do employees call & hassle for issues raised on email? Why not just respond to the email?

2. The rep should have known I was traveling, having booked my travel & stay through his portal (else provide the info to them, let them be a bit more customer-centric)

3. the rep said 'we don't have GST'
But the mail says, 'we have escalated'!!!

This is poor customer service. 

Luxury sales satisfaction not different from mass-market

This is surprising... a confirmation that luxury brands are not giving the customer-experience different from mass-segment. 
In line with the feedback from owners of the top international brands. Customers feel a Maruti or a Hyundai salesman is just as good as a luxury car salesman (Merc, BMW, Audi or VW). 

The reason is the brands are not investing enough in this element of sales & marketing. Would they do that elsewhere ?
Or is it because they feel the price-conscious (and also mileage!) Indian car buyer do not value customer service?

Wish the TV programs on auto included a section on customer service/experience. Not just car reviews...

Luxury sales satisfaction not different from mass-market

Tell the Customer's Story, Not Your Story | Inc.com

 So very true, very often we are clouded by what we want to give and not what the other person wants.
The other person my be a customer, client, partner, business-associate, student, coachee (coaching client).

In my current training assignment to young bankers, they clearly indicated their desire to learn also from videos. If I don't customise, but just stick to "my" PPT's, I am not trying to aim a higher level of training, which we all dream of, in all our endeavours ( but not often we take steps!)

I feel even our political leaders, community leaders and NGO's should ideally take such a holistic view. Definitely possible, though not easy! Ask the Powerful Question, 'What is the Objective?'. The answer will be often obvious...


The 'customer' can be at work/business, but also at home, family and community.
Is that not essence of marketing-communication ?Here it is not manipulative marketing that I talk of.. But at a holistic level.

I am just building on a brilliant thought I got @ WBECS 2013. "all of us are salespersons, always selling something" !

Just Serve The Customer !

Tell the Customer's Story, Not Your Story | Inc.com

Confessions of a Bank Customer

I am 'fortunate' to be client of two of the leading pvt banks in India.
"Why not just one", you may ask- good question !
"Neither of these two big brands are able to give me minimum service expected"

I am their cross-sell customer too - Xsell Victim, would be more appropriate!
Over the last few months I have shifted my home and status. But these folks find it difficult to handle a gypsy!!

I just wrote a mail to one of their group 'securities' company (all pretensions of their ALM securities have failed, as per the recent reports! They failed, as it was just pretension !)

I got this reply from them.
-----------------
Dear Investor,
Thank you very much for writing to us .
This is an auto-response by the Client Services Team just to let you know
that we are in receipt of your e-mail on the captioned subject. It will be
our best endeavour to revert to you in the earliest possible time. For
standard queries / requirements like statement of account etc, we would
respond within 2 business days, or certainly earlier, where possible.
Should you need to contact any of our Investor Service Centres (ISCs), you
may get in touch with us between 9.30 a.m. and  5.30 p.m., Monday through
Friday on all business days, and we shall be glad to assist. Our contact
numbers are: #### (Toll-free) or  ### (Do not prefix STD code)
Assuring you of our best services.
Sincerely,
--------------
In the first place, why an automatic reply at all. At best it can be a one-liner acknowledging receipt. Or, just fix it and write back. Something a more customer-friendly company such as Amazon does. ( numbers changed to ####)

Miles to go.... for customer enchantment

The Pitfall of Lock in - Seth Godin

Inspiring thought on the eve of a new year for us all, esp those of us who are in "services" sector. 

Front end customer service has been pathetic in some of our services - 

• the so called privilege-banking customer is treated worse than mass ( when left high & dry), 
• at restaurants ( very low on hygiene & cust service), 
• courier service, and 
• in telecom, saddest. This is an area where we claim mass rural penetration. The folks from rural background and elsewhere are treated very badly by all front-end customer-touchpoints ( call center, showrooms and the notorious kirana shops, where people go to re-charge). Of course, people 're-charge' for very small denominations. But that is no excuse for not treating a fellow-human being with respect & degnity, esp when he is your customer. At times I have felt FDI is the moment of truth for the kirana, just as it is our #Karma-Of-Customer-Service !!

These thoughts were set off by this blog post by Seth Godin:

sethgodin/the-pitfall-of-lock-in.

The Saga of Food Processor

Stone grinder used for making dosa/idli batter








Yet another stone grinder used to make  Chutney and all spicy masala that make our curries hot!

Some of you, readers, would not have seen this. But some of us would remember seeing this at our homes, at least ancestral homes in the villages, when we were kids... ( I am feeling old!)

Idli/dosa prepared using these ( instead of electric mixer/grinder/food processor), traditional stove which burnt wood ( instead of faster LPG), utensils made of traditional metals ( vis a vis non-stick), slow cooking (vs fast cooking, fast-food) etc.,  always tasted a lot better.

You may wonder why I am getting a bit nostalgic...

As shared earlier, we bought a food processor on 26th Nov. The promised demo ( 'next day') happened today... after ten days. '10' instead of '1' day... afterall, we gave the world 'zero' :)

Seemingly the problem was the service team from the european multi-national (world leader, in at least some of the products??), were just not able to reach me. I trust them... Seemingly they did not prefix '0' to mobile no !!! IN the process one became 10 !
 I call it #KarmaOfCustomer Service

Glad to update the technician materialised at our place today, and he has 'demonstrated' the latest in food-processor technology.
Delighted to share chutney will re-enter our simple ( frugal?) food spread with immediate effect.

Of course, the wet-grinder is still on my 'To Do' list.

Travel Booking in India thru Yatra.com

I have been quite loyal to Jet Airways, till recent past... till they decided to otherwise!

I have since tried couple of other airlines for local travel, except Kingfisher & Air India - while I have summarily avoided the former all along, the latter was not preferable in view of their low-score on punctuality. I have been surprised to note other private airlines are pretty good!

Once I 'let go' Jet, I have been looking at various options, best among them in terms of pricing & time slot, etc! And, I usually have an advantage of timings, as I do not need to take early morning/late night flights, unlike my friends in corporate world :)

That is when I tried http://www.yatra.com/. ( Nothing to do with Salman Khan's endorsement and his philanthrophic thrust thru 'Being Humane'. I find so many youngsters in 'Being Humane' t-shirts these days! The Superstar must be doing a lot of good work. God bless his service activities. We need more celebrities come & partcipate in such noble efforts)

Yatra.com offer good prices, simple process to book on-line and you get the text-message/e-ticket... hassle free process.

But when I had to change the flight timings, I was not very happy to note I had to call, could not modify on-line. But the tele-sales agent was so very efficient, to facilitate, call/hold/complete the process with the airlines-staff on con-call and take the differential payment ( incl service charges !!)

The process seemed a well thought out and simple. I always admire when companies are able to come up with simple, uncomplicated & user-friendly process-flow.... Is that not basic ? Yes, but . . . :)


Taking trouble to pen this post, as it may help my friends who may be travelling to India on their annual vacation... enjoy the break, folks ! 

Call Taxi Service Service @ Front-End

I am usually very loyal to brands.
My expectations are very basic from these brands. Same when it comes to a call-taxi: Pick up on time & a safe, peaceful drive to the destination.
I always make it a point to thank the driver & tip him.
I usually stick to Meru. They have been quite good in delivery, quality of cars are below average & drivers are all well-behaved. Also, have multi-city operations too.

Found & got similar feedback from others about the Chennai-airport service-provider ( though monopoly @ airport !)

Yesterday, they were unable to oblige. Thought of trying out another, new kid off the block !!

• I had booked for 7 PM
• Cab did not arrive. When I called driver at 710 PM, he did not pick up. 
• Their Call center, put me on hold & tried to reach. Was not able to reach the driver too. Then offered another driver "in 15 mts' ! I was already late for appt., hence declined. 
• I said no, stepped out, thank God got a Meru cab and proceeded.
• On the way, very close to my place, there was a cab lying idle from the 'new kid...'
• That was my 3rd & final attempt. Will be reluctant to experiment with these new kids-off-the-blocks!!
• Glad to see they have a standard feedback,'cab didn't arrive'. 

I feel sorry for the organisation which is not able to ensure quality delivery at the front end. Yesterday's newspaper carried ambitious expansion plans of the new operator. They are even starting premium services !! But, what about basic service delivery ? Need to fix these basics to ensure success in the long run...

Jet Airways Customer No More a KING

15 Jul 2010:

Here is a kind reminder to Jet, with lots of love & best wishes...

It's easier to love a brand when the brand loves you back

Worth thinking about that the next time you're annoyed at a customer.

 http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/07/its-easier-to-love-a-brand-when-the-brand-loves-you-back.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29&utm_content=Gmail


13 Jul 2012:


Ran into this good friend at Mumbai ariport. A passionate Jet Airways customer - but a bit upset ! When enquired, gave this update :

He has been a member of Jet Privilege for long time ( has been their brand-ambassador, we would often pull his leg)

He used to be a Platinum member, before he moved to Gulf. When Jet introduced flights to Gulf, he shifted totally to Jet. Makes multiple visits to India, all on Jet !

He had been though critical of the fact Jet don't consider family members as one frequent flier ( no thereof!) They don't consider in toto !! So each of his family member is a jet-privilege member too !

He has been totally with Jet, at times paying premium over alternates !! 

Now, he is unable to tele-check as jet does not allow blue/blue plus travellers ! No consideration of Platinum level earlier or of travelling on international routes ! 

Rules are necessary, he agrees. But, customer should be retained.

He plans to now explore multiple flight options, esp on international routes ( with a vengeance, I must add!). 

Will now join the list of unhappy customer, from an earlier role of brand-ambassador !

Jet Airways's loss may be gain for Emirates, Spore Airlines and Go Air - Fine Art of Losing a Customer 

A healthy salad with a side of ignorance

A healthy salad with a side of ignorance

The problem is trained staff.

Surprisingly that part of the event is taken for granted.