DIY - Cause or Effect ?

In a recent visit to Landmark store in Mumbai I as pleasantly surprised to see a stand dedicated to DIY sewing kits - ranging from threads , fabric glue , pocket patches and whole range of sets to cater to a novice.

Quite fascinating , to see expensive retail space in a time strapped city being dedicated to an activity that essentially requires time and patience.

Wondering if this is cause or effect ? Are people seeking to create things themselves or is this company passionately trying to get people to experience the joy of creation ?

Either way it's a welcome development !

The Trust Economy

Witnessed an amazing interaction at a phone store next to a doctor's dispensary . A lady who works as a domestic help came to the store with her relative who had recently moved to Mumbai. She told the store owner that the doctor takes guarantee for this man (i.e his credit worthiness ). Pl allow him to buy a phone with the option of paying Rs 1000 per month. The store owner thought about it for 30 seconds and nodded his assent to the sales person to show phone options. She disappeared next door and came back to ask if the store owner would like to speak with the doctor. He said it was not necessary. Elated with the solution the lady and her relative went about the task of selecting the phone.

This was obviously not a transaction between unrelated individuals . The store owner knows the doctor. Both have been neighbors for years. The store owner seemed to have a fleeting acquaintance with the lady.

Simply wonderful that all of these individuals chose to reach out and connect - resulting in solutions. For the person who had moved to Mumbai - this would have eased his relocation (the phone would be easily a month's salary or more for him ).

Seemingly small actions that make a world of difference - fostering faith in community , bringing tangible benefits to all involved - the person was able to make the purchase , the store got a sale that would have otherwise been impossible , the person gets to stay connected with his family. Not counting the joy of the duo who made the purchase.

Choose to create and participate in the trust economy !:)

KYC

The world's local bank has sent an urgent mailer citing RBI regulations of KYC (Know your customer) asking to submit proof of ID and residence. I have more than one account with this bank ( an anomaly I intend to correct very soon ). Interestingly 1 form has been received which is designed to capture data of 1 account only . Perhaps the bank expects the customer to toss a coin and pick which one to send the docs for .

RBI is indeed wise in asking Hsbc to 'know their customers' knowing well that a self absorbed bank with near zero internal co-ordination like Hsbc must not know it's customers well enough.

None of the other banks send letters like this . Guess they already 'know their customers'.

Customer Contact Week

Oriental Bank of Commerce has advertised 19-24 Dec 2011 as " Customer Contact Week" - feedback/suggestions welcome !:)

This must be the outcome of some profound strategy. Listen to the customer for a week and spend the rest of the year working on the suggestions ?

Shhhh....

Festivals in particular and Mumbai in general is a ripe market for ear plugs . Instead of giving pointless gifts like sweets - lets give thoughtful gifts like ear plugs to survive the din.

p.s - when 2 festivals coincide give extra strong ear plugs.

God save the God(s)

Lord Ganesha definitely represents prosperity when devotees gift kilos of gold each year. What happens to the gold post the festival one wonders ?

What prevents the devotees from using that money to feed / educate children , provide medical aid to the needy or plant trees ?

The poor God(s) must surely despair at being reduced to the status of a hedonistic , greedy mortal of poor taste.

God save the God(s).

Happy to sue (customers)

Vodafone sent a notice to a customer who posted on his Facebook wall about his problems with the service provider. This has to be a new low in customer service. Incredibly foolhardy and arrogant of Vodafone to think that they could get away with this stunt in today's connected world.

The customer alleges that the CMO asked him to change to another service if he was not satisfied. What a role model for the rest of the company ! Instead of addressing the service issues if a senior executive speaks high handedly to a customer it sends strong signals to the rest of the organization that this is an acceptable attitude.Vodafone might as well disband all service training programs (if they do conduct any).

Vodafone's gripe is that Dhaval posted numbers of their executives on his page. This is a huge offense in Corporate Land. Companies devise elaborate procedures to keep customers as far away as possible from their senior management. As a test case the next time you call any company - airline , credit card , retailer , phone company - if your problem is not being resolved by the person handling your call just ask them for the name, telephone number , email id of the service head or CEO . Suddenly they will get very co-operative or they'll develop amnesia or say that they only know their immediate supervisor. Often organizations become a world unto themselves with senior management feeling like monarchs of their fiefdoms. They don't want to be bothered with lowly matters like customers especially when it's a Rs 1000-1500/ month type of revenue (the CMO would have paid way more attention to a B2B client ).

Vodafone's facebook page is filled with complaints from customers across the country. Some of it in language that would be deemed profane. Maybe Vodafone should clarify that what they're trying to say is it's ok for people to vent their fury on Vodafone's page rather than their own ?

This episode opens up opportunities for ad agencies of the phone companies . Vodafone's agency can figure a new tag line since "happy to help" is not valid. Other phone companies can add "we don't send notices to our customers" in their list of virtues.

Who is the leader ?

Baba Ramdev has promised to go on a fast from June 4. A news channel put together a panel for the 9.00 pm news which had Justice Santosh Hegde and a representative from the Congress

(Manish Tiwari possibly undergoing therapy to recoup or coaching on how to defend the Congress in the latest scam ) and few other folks. Part of the discussion initiated by the anchor was about the "Anna" camp , "Baba Ramdev" camp etc . He kept asking "Who is the leader of this movement ? Anna or Baba ? ". Justice Hedge's reply that both are leaders whose views he respects was not sufficiently newsworthy enough for the anchor who kept repeating the question.

"Who is the leader?" (in the context of this situation) comes from a paradigm that there can be only one leader. A pyramid structure which can hold only one person at the top. This type of questioning is also symptomatic of the times where depth , introspection , analysis are compromised for quick conclusions and buzz. This Maggi noodles approach to complex issues serves nobody's interest.

Maybe Nestle can launch a campaign saying our noodles have spawned a whole new approach to analysis and discussion of issues (which are way more convoluted than the noodles ). With Maggi at least one can get an enjoyable snack at the end of the few minutes. When a news channel (or any organization) uses that approach to a complex issue all one gets is wasted time.

KYC - Know Your Customer

My mobile service provider of 12 years kept sending text messages "Your invitation to join Loop M-Channel - a service for best offers and promotions expires in 10 days. To join reply to this SMS with yes". Out of curiosity I texted 'Yes'. After which followed the most bizarre question a company could ask a customer after 12 years - "are you 1. Male or 2. Female ? " . This was then followed by a question about age group and interests.

The fact that the questions are easy to answer via sms and that the replies are free - possibly gives the company the feeling that they can ask pretty much anything.

Maybe they should use the facility to ask more pertinent questions " Do you intend to remain our customer ? Text 1 for Yes , 2 for No "

Divine deals

India won the World Cup. The euphoria still in the air.

Am discovering interesting information about individual deals struck with various Gods..and who are now making good on their end of the deal. An aunt who has promised 108 coconuts , my cook gave Rs 101 this morning. Across the country there would be millions of folks who struck some deal with their God(s) for India to win this cup.

It would make for a more equitable country if the giving was channelized towards helping the needy.The victory would extend beyond the sport.

Plant trees

Political parties have been defacing Mumbai roads with garish posters for years now. Lately some of them have inserting a message in the posters. Possibly a lame bid to look like they have something to say.

The latest one is a NCP poster where the politician's face is about 86% of the poster space. The residual space on the poster has a message to plant trees and save the earth.

Considering the way the agriculture ministry is operating this is now essential for all Indians to do in order to get food at a reasonable cost. Quite clairvoyant and considerate of the agriculture minister to print posters to alert us .

Impulse purchase ?

Visited a mall on Christmas week-end . Went to a dept store to make a purchase. The item was located in 3 mins. Billing took nearly 15 mins . Cash counters were not adequately staffed + the usual 'system is slow today' problem .

Retailers put in lot of effort to stock 'impulse purchase' products. The prospect of waiting 15 mins at the cash counter is enough to deter the most impulsive purchaser.

The obscure we eventually see. The completely obvious takes a little longer !:)

Moral right

The NewsHour on Times Now today had a debate on the 2G scam with the usual list of panelists - one from Congress, one from BJP , 3-4 journalists . The Congress guy lamely defended the Prime Minister by saying ' BJP has no moral ground to talk on this issue considering the scam in Karnataka'. The TV show anchor miraculously picked up this brilliant idea and started a volley of questions to the BJP person.

By this yardstick there is no hope for India. Most of the political parties and politicians in India differ only in their degree of corruption. So , they can't ask anything of the government or of each other. Maybe they should sign a peace accord to amicably continue looting the country.

CID

A popular detective serial CID is on TV. It's often entertaining in an amusing sort of way. What's striking is the luxury of linear assignments they enjoy :) They (the entire team ) work on one case only at any time. No calls ever from anyone asking about any other case.

Real life rarely ever offers such luxury. One has to switch from creation to trouble shooting to a whole range of opportunities and imperatives. The ability to do that ease fully is an increasingly essential skill in today's world.

We or they ?

Visited a dept store today. The service at the counter was good (which was by the brand's team i.e not the store staff). There were 3 cash counters. Only 1 was manned. Resulting in avoidable waiting time for customers. Asked the cashier why don't they operate at least one more counter to service customers. The reply "There is a shortage of staff. They are not hiring enough people". One would have expected to hear "Sorry , we have a shortage of staff".

When a person refers to their company as "they" :

1. Maybe the company has not been able to create an environment where the person feels valued

2. If "they" are the problem then it is less likely that the person will take initiative/responsibility to address the customer's problem.

The "we/ they" problem could be specific to a location or a company wide problem. At whatever scale it exists it is detrimental to all involved - the customer , the employee and the company.

Listen to your team. What pronouns do you hear ?

Mall mania

Visited a local mall . These days malls seem to let out the central space for promotions and events. The companies hosting the promotion seem to think the best way to get return for investing in the event is to do so at a decibel level which will reach out to every corner of the mall. What follows then is ear damaging decibel level.

The event at the local mall yesterday was aimed at kids. The health of the children is seriously at risk to be exposed to such decibel levels. The store I was at had glass doors. Yet the sound of the promotion pervaded drowning the sound of the music in the store. It was impossible to browse through other store windows due to the cacophony. This is counter productive for the mall and the stores.

Yours truly asked for directions to the mall office. It was located in a corner of the building. Met the mall manager and shared my views. From her expression and reactions 2 things were clear :

1. This was the first time they (she and 2 other persons from her team ) were faced with the point of view that such a decibel level is a nuisance and a health risk.

2. No visitor to the mall had ever approached them to share such feedback.

In India we see 2 extreme reactions from retail customers - either they will passively endure poor service / quality or they will get extremely aggressive. The mid path of assertive , consistent feedback is seldom adopted.

In many ways we create the environment we inhabit. Pl choose to influence it .

redesign Design institutes

We are looking to recruit for design and merchandising positions in SoulQuest. Am amused and amazed by the quality of communication from some of the candidates from premier design institutes.Poor communication from a candidate ends their chances at the application stage itself.

Design institutes possibly assume that their sole task is to teach the students about design to the exclusion of everything else. It's not about writing Shakespeare style prose. Students need inputs on :

1. Creating an appealing resume that's honest , confident - I've seen 5 page resumes of students who have just graduated . Few years into a career the resume will possibly become a book.

2. Learning to communicate - over email /phone and sms - in a way that even if they are not selected - at least they leave a favorable impression on the individual / company.

These days there is ample opportunity for students to learn such skills via the internet. However , emphasis by and some guidance from the institute will definitely make a huge difference.

Yet another bandh

There's a bandh across many parts of India today. It is unclear what it will tangibly accomplish other than loss of a day's wages for many and inconvenience to even more. The union leaders on TV this morning were not able to properly articulate what they hope to accomplish. There's definitely a lot of anger about price rise and other issues. They need to be addressed. But a strike of this type is not going to do that.

Look at the way the govt is allowing millions of tonnes of food grains to rot.They are busy trying to save their rear on a host of issues or blaming some group/individual/political party.This type of mind set will be hardly affected by a day's strike.

We really need platforms and the discipline+willingness to engage in meaningful discussions to resolve problems.

Rewrite bookstores

I love books and bookstores. In most cities I have visited I almost always visit local book-stores. Kinokuniya and Borders in Singapore are particular favorites. New York , London, Paris, Barcelona , Dubai, Chennai, Hongkong, Delhi , Bangalore , Salem , Jaipur , Jakarta...Even located good book stores in Seoul and Tokyo where I found some interesting English books.

Visited Landmark yesterday . For someone who loves books and bookstores I can't relate with the flea market meets warehouse look that Landmark has come to symbolize. Crossword was never a bookstore with depth. Lately , they mostly have paperback copies of popular titles. I suspect it's more a distribution thing rather than a vision related to book readers.

Wondered if Flipkart has me biased towards bookstores . I realized that there are stores I enjoy browsing . There's a small store in a nearby market where books are stacked from floor to ceiling. Yet , there's a charm about the store that makes me want to brave the rain and traffic.

In book retailing - online offers definite advantages like being able to check related titles , reviews, prices , incredibly time efficient. Brick & mortar stores need to offer something more to draw in repeat customers. That more is not adding clutter to the store in the name product range. Relaxing , delightful , friendly ambience with efficient , personalized service. The competition for a brick & mortar bookstore is not another brick & mortar bookstore.

(un)fair

Hindustan Lever should consider a tie up with colleges across India , Naukri.com , Monster.com . Why ? Since job applicants need something 'extra' to get a job they should help the poor , dark skinned folks who don't seem to get decent jobs despite adequate qualifications simply because of their skin color.

What would millions in this country do if HUL and their ilk did not turn up like the 'fair' knight to rescue them from their 'dark' fate ?

The TV ads of Fair & Lovely (and similar products ) are hilarious when not insulting the intelligence of the viewer. One of the recent ads shows a confident young man in front of an interview panel. The source of his confidence being his 'fair' complexion.

Interestingly advertisers of fitness products have not adopted this route of a fitter person having an edge over other candidates for a job. That would at least make for a healthier India .