Selling is not an
end game:
The Indian consumer is
witnessing a massive up gradation in her lifestyle courtesy the highly
competitive marketplace and the seemingly unending access to cash that the
e-commerce portals invest in the form of product discounts to buy a huge
consumer community.
This augurs well for
the consumer community since they are now able to lay their hands on a whole
range of consumer goodies including white & brown goods. Their new acquisitions drive them
up the socio-economic ladder and gives them bragging rights over their newfound
status. The frenzy around flash sales is a point to ponder over. Behavioral
scientists are having a field day studying the new Indian consumer and her
buying journey. Marketers are scrambling to up their game to be a few yards
ahead of their competitors and grab market shares.
The problem lies in
the next level of the value chain – service delivery. To keep costs low, firms
are outsourcing a large component of the value chain. This is a segment where there
is a huge opportunity to create brand experience and therefor brand loyalty. However,
this opportunity is often missed out The outsourced workforce works on a
cost-based model. Typically hires in this segment are not from the rururban SEC.
Their concepts of the softer skills required to build brand image (time schedules,
communication, presentation) are often not at par. Their environment many a
time prevents them from comprehending these issues and why they are big for the
customer and therefor the brand.
The yellow boxes
represent missed opportunities for the brand to create a superior brand experience and
organizations need to closely monitor service delivery parameters.
I have myself had some
recent experiences with a well-known electronic retailer. I have connected with
the store, the customer support, sent them a detailed and long email. I even
connected with them on twitter. All I got was another bored call-center voice
asking me how I would rate their service on a scale of 1 to 10!
