There was a time when customer service was a point of difference for businesses. Today, a majority of companies have ‘customer care executives’ that seemingly care about your experience with the company and are meant to ‘help’ you in case of any problems. But, how many of these executives actually care and how many are simply mindless robots? (P.S. This is a rhetorical question – if you have ever had to talk to one of these executives, you will know the answer).
Now, it is not their fault.
It is because this concept of service which has an inherent personal component attached to it has been bastardised across the globe – companies are trying to apply the McDonalds concept of 1 burger patty, 2 lettuce leaves and 10 drops of ketchup to customer service which results in no room for movement. Very few of these corporations take customer care seriously and many even charge you to talk to a person! And after pressing all those buttons for various options and talking to a fake lady for 5 minutes when you finally talk to a person, it’s of no use because the fake lady actually gave you more options than the robot does.
An example of such ‘high quality customer service’ was recently highlighted when a customer from Quantas was kept on hold for 15 hours while trying to confirm his flight – the same time it takes to fly from India to Australia.
So, for all us entrepreneurs and budding startups then, it seems what we should be concentrating on is customer delight and not customer service. Recently I came across two amazing experiences of customer delight (which will prove all those marketing authors right about the fact that if you truly delight your customer they will spread your message to multiple other customers).
One such example was Bagelwala at Bandra, Mumbai. This newly opened eatery provides gourmet bagels that can be customised and has a lovely dining atmosphere. Though its small, they provide charging points for freelancers, have a book exchange library and despite having few seats don’t ask you to leave promptly after you have finished your meal. What made them stand out for me was when I went to pay the bill and realised that they were not accept card payments just yet. I had no cash on me and rather than just telling me that I had to somehow beg, borrow or steal to pay the bill, the owner apologised and told me “Don’t worry about it. Just pay us the next time you come. We are sure that you will come back since our bagels are so nice”. This statement completely stunned me as it was my first time there and in my eyes they placed such trust and value in me as a customer. While I promptly ran to the nearest ATM to withdraw cash and pay them what has struck me is that even though I have not been there again, I have recommended the business to so many of my friends – Who would have thought that not having a working Visa/Card facility could have been such a business opportunity?
Another one is a fellow Rodinhooder startup, 21 Fools. I met the founders, Divyanshu and Surendra as part of an Open House in Mumbai and their concept really struck a chord with me. When I was looking for a card for my mother, I really wanted to go through them as I loved their designs but did not find one that quite matched what I was looking for. Rather than just telling me – Tough, deal with it (like Archies or Hallmark does these days since their nice cards are hardly ever in stock), they actually took the time to listen to what I wanted, designed a custom card for me in record time and then even took the trouble of posting it to NZ (which is not something they do currently). 21 Fools understood what I was looking for and again turned a potentially disappointing experience into an opportunity to delight their customer.
It seems then that as startups become businesses and then corporations the focus they place on servicing their customer reduces proportionately. What else would explain that smaller companies and startups are able to delight their customers more often than bigger corporations do? While trying to cater to the mass, it seems that big organisations forget the individual which has enabled them to expand in the first place.
As a customer and a consumer of many brands – both big and small, here is my humble request – treat us as a fellow human and not a bar-coded product and think of ways in which your negatives can be turned into customer delight moments.
Because, it is these moments that make you stand out from the rest.
Divyanshu Asopa
Surendra Chaplot
You are soo awesome Perzen 😀
Kaizad Patel
A great read Perzen!
In my business we keep reminding our clients that it is not enough to meet expectations but delight customers! Sharing one of our blog posts too. https://satisfind.com/5-winning-customer-service-tips-that-drive-repeat-business
Kaiz
asha chaudhry
perz – just shared your post on social – (i keep digging for gems over the weekend!)
this is what alok wrote about customer delight –
https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/why-isn-t-there-a-nobel-prize…
Why isn’t there a Nobel Prize for Customer Delight?
Yesterday, I called the Apple Store in Austin to solve a problem.
As soon the phone was answered, the recorded voice said ‘Thank you for calling Apple. You are caller No 6 and will be attended to shortly’.
Immediately thereafter came some nice piano music, interjected by the regular update of ‘you are number 6 or 5 or 4’ on the call. Note that even if my position was status quo, the voice regularly told me which position I was, in the queue.
I didn’t enjoy waiting for 12 minutes, but let me tell you, it was one the most ‘tolerable’ waits I’ve had. Every time the voice came back on, I hoped to have progressed one step ahead. It was like a mini ‘waiting’ game. Once the person spoke to me, the matter was resolved and I felt very happy. Almost short of Delighted. And that’s after I HAD A PROBLEM!
Now – and without thinking – do this : Call Vodafone India Helpline on 98200 98200. Just type in in any mobile number (start with 98200) and pretend to be a Vodafone customer. Just EXPERIENCE the TRAUMA of holding on to their call. ( I would suggest having a family member stand near by in the event that you suffer from a brain haemorrhage ) .
I promise you that even if Vodafone gave you a free sim and free talk time for LIFE, you would have a nervous breakdown listening to their call waiting messaging.
Instead, Vodafone can bark ‘Press 100 to pay Rs 100 and speak directly to the operator’ – and I promise you lots of people will. In fact I think it will nicely increase the ARPU of Vodafone.
Ok, moving on….
Last morning, I had breakfast at TGIF.
Yeah – I know your thinking ‘WTF’? and probably assuming that I was trying to knock down a few beers at 8 am. But that wasn’t the case. TGIF IS the ‘default’ restaurant in the hotel I’m staying in Austin – so there was no other choice of restaurant to go to.
In my typical ‘Indian’ mentality (to save money) I didn’t go for the buffet and instead ordered A La Carte. I mean a vegetarian doesn’t eat so much… so why pay for all that meat and sausage?
I asked for a juice, a scrambled eggs with whole wheat toast and coffee. While I was waiting, I happened to see the ‘breakfast buffet’ price and I gulped; it was FAR CHEAPER than the sum of the food I had ordered. I felt bad and made a mental note to be even more marwari and do a ‘diligence’ before eating or ordering randomly next time.
Post my meal, I asked for the cheque, and the pretty waitress handed it to me, saying ‘ Sir, I just calculated that you ate more than the price of the buffet and yet consumed lesser food – so I just thought of charging you the Buffet price’.
:-)))
How DELIGHTFUL is that?
Try doing this at the Oberoi or the Taj.
My point is – why don’t Consumer facing brands understand that their BEST MARKETING is consumer DELIGHT?
I know the Nobel Institute will NOT give away a prize for Consumer Delight, but why can’t we the stuffy Corporates award it to ourselves?
So why there DELIGHT happening?
Maybe:
– We think of business as ‘pre-transaction’ not ‘post transaction’?
Be nice BEFORE the cheque is paid; the order is signed ; the food is ordered ; the deed is done.
Afterwards, ‘who cares’…?
– Our attention is on MORE customers – not DELIGHTED customers.
So what if Alok is overcharged for his breakfast – there are 100 other Alok’s who will take his place.
– The customer is a PRIZE before a purchase and a LIABILITY after the sale. Errr… where did DELIGHT creep in??
Shakespeare said ‘Maids are May when they are Maids, and December when they Wed’.
How true.
– The CFO can measure Sales and Costs to the last paise…. BUT DELIGHT??? Now what the hell is that? They never taught him this in the CA exam…
This blog can go on and on.
The point I am making is that the INVESTMENT in Customer DELIGHT is so badly forgotten by most Companies (and especially the Indian ones).
I say – like all long term investments, DELIGHT will REWARD you handsomely, you will never need work again.
And to think of it, we will trudge to work every day of our waking lives….
So, please DELIGHT your Customers!
******
Related articles by me on this subject:
Why my Paanwala is better that the Honda car salesman
Why service at Indian Retail is so bad
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Kaizad Patel
Delighting your customer and going the extra step will make them remember the service and also talk about it to friends leading to positive word of mouth publicity. Do check out my post on customer delight through employee empowerment https://satisfind.com/100-days-of-rejection at SatisFIND we partner with companies that are fully engaged in understating thier customers and are keen to make their staff understand how to delight the customers and not merely satisfy them.
asha chaudhry
you posted the vid here on trhs kaiz – i remember this one!
btw… i love the look & feel of satisfind…
asha chaudhry
https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/customer-delight-through-employee-empowerment
Kaizad Patel
Thanks Asha
Ratnakar Gokarn
Great food for thought.
When it comes to “WOWING” your customer and customer delight, personally I don’t think it even exists in the Indian context. If there are any, as you have mentioned in your post, they deserve all the credit.
I think we are a far far away from the “wow” experience. I would just hope we at least get the basics right, forget the wow.
Poor hygiene, rude and argumentative staff, poor customer service, the list goes.on. Customer experience focus is mostly in niche markets and does not cater to the population at large.
My worst experience has always been with Indian railways. Paying higher fares for 2nd A/C means nothing. Attendants leave blankets on the floor littered with food and had the nerve to tell me that they dont even wash them for 6-12 months at a stretch. I don’t think its entirely their fault, they just have not been taught any different.
Recently, Reliance communication has disconnected my broadband connection (they had issues with their lines) and sent me a bill for Rs.100 extra. After numerous calls to them to correct the issue, they have not yet solved it. To add insult to injury, they call up through some recovery agents and hound me for Rs.100 ( which I don’t owe them). WTF???
I have been fortunate to travel world wide and seen different cultures and for me Japan ranks highest in customer service for most things. I have traveled within Japan and seen the way ordinary businesses and people interact with you. From their excellent train services to the way small business people present their business cards to you, it shows how much effort and thought they put into customer service.
Just a small video for those interested : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1a66uoBJvE
Here is a great story about customer service for those interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG48U5iPESA
The issue unfortunately is much larger. While you can force people to become customer oriented through systems and training, the cracks invariably appear. Corporates design customer services until the point of sale, after that it is all the way down. Government couldn’t care less, as long as they have things running, they count themselves lucky.
The bigger question is are we culturally insensitive people?