Author: Mukesh Gupta

Customer Engagement

How could Flipkart respond to the open letter to its founder by a dissatisfied customer

Today, I came across an open letter written to Sachin Bansal, CEO/Founder, Flipkart.com. In this letter, the writer (Sushrut Bidwai) talks about his experience of trying to get his laptop replaced by Flipkart. He also talks about the attitude of the service staff and how they left him feeling frustrated (repeatedly). This open letter has also induced responses from other customers of flipkart to come in the open and admit that they also had similar experiences when it came to refunds or replacements. Now, flipkart has the following options: Pretend that nothing happened and continue business as usual. Take notice […]

Customer Engagement

Changing the face of retail distribution of oil in India

I was in Mumbai today and was going back from the airport to my hotel in a cab. The cab driver stopped at a fuel outlet to fill-up his tank. It took us about 15-20 mins to get the tank filled up and start our journey back to the hotel. While waiting, I asked him if we could not fuel up at some other outlet rather than wait in the que at this outlet. He responded that the next petrol outlet was about 5-6 kms away and was not enroute to the hotel. He also said that wherever you go, […]

Customer Engagement

There’s always an opportunity to delight your customers

My wife uses a CDMA mobile connection by Reliance Communications. We have been a loyal customers since 2006. The operator has been advertising about their unlimited network coverage and position it as one of their USP’s to attract new customers. Their ad featuring bollywood actors Anushka Sharma & Rannvijay Singh showcasing their network coverage is below. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPVZRmZyWv4] Now, this is  a good thing to do if you are able to live up to the expectations you create. The trouble is that since yesterday, my wife has not been able to make or receive any calls on her mobile phone. […]

Customer Engagement

How personal is your personalized customer service?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj73s4dqoUk

This is a hilarious video about visa’s personalized customer service.

My experience with the banks with whom I have a card account is eerily similar to the customer’s experience in the video.

1. I am always forced to listen to my balances whether or not I want to know about them.
2. I am always informed that the call maybe recorded for quality purposes. I dont know if it was or if it was not.
3. Even after having entered all the validation, I am again required to validate myself.
4. I am asked to be put on hold almost everytime I call, irrespective of the query.
5. There are times when all I want to do is to talk to a representative and be done with. Instead, I am forced to wait and wade through a lot of options (at times with no clear instructions on how to reach an operator).
6. When I do opt to talk to an operator, the wait time is so loong.

A simple solution to this problem could be to provide the following options:

1. Know your balances
2. Know your transactions
3. Talk to a customer service representative

There is a choice that the banks need to make regarding what is more important to them:

1. Is it satisfied & happy customers or
2. Decrease in the cost of managing the customer engagements.

There could be another alternative for the banks which could be a win-win arrangement for both the bank and their customers.

“Customers can talk to their service representatives once a week for free. In case, they do more than that, the bank can charge a small fee to provide the service”

Before making claims of personalized customer service, organizations should first ensure that their service truly is personalized. If not, it is better not to claim this as customers do understand the meaning of personalized and will not be pleased if the service is not truly personalized.

Hope the banks and other financial institutions are paying heed to this advice and change the way they connect to their customers.