Tag: Customer Delight

Leadership

Driving Significant Results

I was going through my notes from the past few years and I stumbled onto my notes from a book called “Turning Goals into Results” by Jim Collins. In the book he talks about the power of something he calls “Catalytic Mechanisms”. These are devices that we put in place within our businesses that play an outsized role in translating our lofty aspirations into reality. We can understand what a catalytic mechanism is and how it helps us by looking at an example. I would like to introduce you to Granite Rock. They are a California-based construction materials and contracting […]

Customer Engagement

The Art of Customer Delight – Every Little Thing Matters

I was out shopping with my wife and son at a large 3 floor retail outlet. We were looking to buy something for all three of us and as is normal, spent quite a bit of time at the store. It was then that I felt thirsty. I approached an employee and the conversation that took place was something like this: Me: I am feeling thirsty. Can you pls tell me where can I find some water? Employee: Sir, you need to go to the 2nd floor. That is where you will find the water filter. Me: Don’t you have […]

Customer Engagement

Right Data at the Right Time to the Right People

Today I was travelling from Bangalore to Mumbai on an airline. I had a upgrade voucher that I used and got upgraded to Business Class. As soon as the flight took off, I realized that 6 of the 16 business class seats were un-occupied. That is such a waste of opportunity. The airline could have used this opportunity to delight at least 6 of their loyal customers. All the airline had to do was the following: Include the Frequent flier status/miles of the passengers in their manifesto. Once the boarding is completed and if there are vacant seats in the […]

Customer Engagement

Engaging Your Customers Is Not Sufficient Anymore

We are in an era where we are grappling with too much choice.  Consumers today are facing a challenge in keeping up with the different choices they have. Every product or service category has become crowded (maybe apart from some categories like online search, where Google still continues to have substantial market share). In this scenario, having a meaningful engagement with your customers has become table stakes for any business to survive and thrive. So, the question that every marketer grapples with is “How can my Product/service stand out in this crowded marketplace?”. Some marketers try to stand-out by providing […]

Customer Engagement

My adventures in buying a dining table and lessons for retailers

Recently, me and my wife decided that it was time to buy a dining table. My wife always wanted to buy a 6 seater wooden dining table. I wanted chairs without any cushions. We had a budget in mind (INR 20K). Now, if you have bought a dining table in Bangalore anytime in the recent past, you would know that it is near to impossible to get a dining table which met all the three conditions above. Still, we visited a lot of stores just like other married couples. After having seen what’s on offer almost in all the shops […]