Proactive Customer Service

During one of my recent interactions with a leading Indian retailer, I was asked what is the fundamental difference in processes between North American and Indian Retailers. It was an interesting question, and my answer was straightforward, NOTHING! I went on to point out that Indian retail has evolved over the years, and Indian retailers are as technically adept as their western counterparts riding on the back of investments in state of the art retail solutions.

But I also pointed out that even if process and technology wise Indian retailers are more or less at par, proactive customer service is one critical area where Indian retailers are lagging a wee bit behind their North American counterparts.

Last year, I purchased a weather temperature reader from a leading retailer, and later I realized that it was reading the same irrespective of outdoor or indoor temperatures. Now, I had misplaced the receipt / bill, and couple of months later I was not sure if the  retailer would take the product back without the original pack. With a sense of trepidation, I walked into a different outlet (not the same store from where I had made the purchase) and explained the customer service desk my predicament. And true to the outlet's “no question” asked return policy, the friendly desk representative, took the product back and issued a gift card

And this is not the lone example, at a Starbucks outlet, the billing assistant, was unable to process my membership card due to a technical glitch. A steady stream of customers was building up, and gauging the impatience of the customers in the queue, he promptly said to the folks behind me that whatever they order will be “on the house”. An average Starbucks grande coffee costs around 3 USD, and there were close to 6 customers, and that would have added upto not less than 20 USD, which is quite a lot of money.

I hired a cab once, and it arrived 45 mins late, and of course I did not mind, but on reaching my destination, the fare was 23 USD, and the driver refused to take the fare from me saying that since he was late, he is not going to charge a single penny. Amazing!

These examples explain the stupendous success which most of the North American businesses have enjoyed. It is not about processes, but consistent proactive customer service and customer gratification. For them, a customer is not a one – time customer, but one who would bring them more business for years to come. At times such flexibility in return policies have been taken for granted by customers and misused but that has not deterred business firms. Proactive customer service is a legacy, which has been inherited by generation next.

There are countless instances where Indian retailers have walked the extra mile to satisfy their customers, but such practices have not been consistent. Being a retailer myself, during my initial days in my role as a store manager, I would have refused quite a few returns because the stipulated time duration set for returns would have lapsed. Going by the book was the order of the day, because such a stance was a result of impending consequences if we display a wee of bit flexibility in policies.