As I See It

Kingfisher Air - Attacking the Root Cause or Root of the Brand ???

2012-02-21T18:35:00.001+05:30

Our Dear Dr Mallya is now asking their people not to treat their CUSTOMER as Guest as they have a severe cash problem and it is not a good policy now.

He mean to say that its their treating Customer as Guest policy is one of the causes of their problem. How unfortunate ??

He is attacking the fundamental of the business basics. He must know that if any one will bail out or invest in his cash strapped company , the only reason would be their policy of treating customer as their guests. Brand he has built which people loves today is only because of their CUSTOMER policy.

Even CUSTOMERS have paid too steep price to Kingfisher Air just because they threat them as their Guests.

Its not their CUSTOMER policy but everything else is lousy. Only good they have done is to raise the bar of customer experience.

I am sure he will not attack the root of his BRAND and attack the right causes of the problems.

Community Creation & Social Media

2012-02-19T22:12:00.001+05:30

Blogging after few days.

Well was busy with setting you new blog www.cforcapital.wordpress.com ( Focused on creating community of banking / finance professionals and capital seeking entrepreneurs )

2) One more in the offing www.wforwow.wordpress.com ( Focused on Community of Chief Customer /Experience Officers, though very rare in India but aim to grow this fraternity through this community )

3) White paper on Healthcare ( Health Dispensers ) Industry on How to create WOW!! Customer Experience for their Customers

4) Creating content for my website at www.sunilgandhi.com

Lot of content creation planned for few few days.

This blog will continue to have pieces on entrepreneurship, social media and personal experiences on life journey.

Cheers.

Does your enterprise Balance Sheet reflects TRUE Assets? No Its Not.

2012-02-07T12:56:00.002+05:30

Opening the Balance Sheet and looking at the asset side will not give the true answer.

Reasons:

- Fixed Assets are revalued and not MTM. We all know how much it will fetch if we are out to sale NOW. Yes but its Assets as long as it produces the goods which are acceptable in the Market with our cost structure.

- Stocks have two elements: Bogus & Inflated to boots profit and dead stock reflected having no market value. Remove these two to arrive at true value

- Debtors also have two elements: Generated through bogus sales and almost doubtful to doubtful debts

- Loans & Advances includes money given to associate concerns which is not recoverable in most cases.

Therefore after adjusting the Balance Sheet with above realities , you may arrive at the RIGHT figure of the assets. & if you adjust assets with actual liabilities , you may be surprised { shocked } with your networth figure.

Therefore Balance Sheet is not the right place to find out the TRUE assets of the company. Its the Non Balance Sheet assets that counts and matters the MOST.

Assets = Resources under Influence of an Enterprise which can be leveraged for Wealth Creation for all stake holders.

An enterprise can influence its people working for it to give their best, its suppliers to supply best at most competitive rates, its customers to patronage again and again and refer new customers also, its share holders to invest when opportunity demands , its relationship with government and other agencies to quicken the process and also policy influence, its relationship with local area groups/infrastructure ( What Tata Steel has done and is doing for the town Tata Nagar ) to garner their support as and when require , its Brand Promise & of-course its assets in the Balance Sheet. All these are the assets. All resources and relationships MUST be leveraged to create wealth. Not all area under INFLUENCE are reflected in the Balance Sheet.

Question is HOW to leverage assets and HOW to expand area of Influence ?? Truly successful companies are masters of both. If any one is missing success will be limited but when both are present success is to be seen to believe. In personal category Amitabh Bachchan , Dr Manmohan Singh are the shining examples of how they leveraged their Assets ( Voice / Acting and Knowledge / Experience - nothing is reflected in their balance sheet on the contrary these assets have made their balance sheet stronger ) and expanded area of influence. Two of the largest enterprises in the country Reliance leveraged their capacity to deal with govt , capacity to execute at jet speed & Infosys leveraged owners' foresightedness , perseverance and governance policies to create wealth. None reflected in the Balance Sheet.

To conclude its Assets outside the Balance Sheet that makes enterprise Balance Sheet stronger. Not the other way. Take stock , become aware of your off balance sheet assets TODAY and have plan to leverage them fully.

Assets = Resources under Influence of an Enterprise which can be leveraged for Wealth Creation for all stake holders.

Is the BRAND you represent LOVABLE??

2012-02-04T18:58:00.001+05:30

Which are the brands do u as a customer LOVE??? If you take too much time to think you don’t LOVE any. If the name is on your sleeve that’s LOVE.

Passion for Customer will make your Brand Lovable. We all know LOVE is a two way game. Customer will LOVE your brand only if you love your customers. What we do for our loved one requires no mention. Passion of not sales person and marketing team, but its passion at the TOP that matters the MOST. Yes (mostly ignored) culture of the organization percolates down from the TOP. “Shining in the sun like a pearl upon the ocean “ is the Hindi movie song but it has a message for every enterprise. Yes end to end experience to the customer from the brand must be like that. It should be shining and visible from among its 100s of competitors.

You should be clear leader and on top of the mind of your customer in your category. Whenever there is a talk about delightful customer experience expamples are given about brands like Starbucks and now Zappos.com or Kingfisher Airlines in India. Hardly MOST companies embrace WOW !! / Delight and Memorable Customer Experience as their business strategy. Its never their in any Business Plan.

Zappos.com sends pleasant surprises to their customers along with orders . They invite customer,suppliers or anyone to visit their office in Las Vegas. I wonder why many companies even can not copy the best???

Entrepreneurs who celebrate their day to day business will delight their customers (even employees and suppliers too) . No one else. What Laloo Culture could do to Bihar and what Nitish/Narendra Modi Culture is doing is for everyone to see. We are also witnessing what no culture at all can do at central leadership level. Its a clear case of CULTURE issue. Culture at the TOP matters the most. Bucks stops and start from there. Enterprise indulges in many many training programme for its people every year. True training deficit is mostly at the TOP { Who can tell their bosses/owners ???} .

Make it a point in next Management Meet that objective worth pursing for next 12 months is Talk of the Town { Customer Experience and Culture of Employee Happiness. } . No other strategies. Whatever it takes to achieve these two goals are the guiding actions. Period. Make your area of Influence a merrier place. Celebrate your entrepreneurial endavour. Its about brand in action & its also about CSR in action.

Note: We all know how miserable Loveless life could be. Same applies to your BRAND.

Are U curious enough to remain Successful & Relevant ?? Perhaps No.

2012-01-29T21:38:00.000+05:30

CURIOSITY is what keep us relevant , interesting & growing as a person or company. Yes, we stop to remain interesting or growing once we stop to remain curious. I know everything and I am successful and don't need to know more is a KILLER attitude. Literally KILLER. It kill companies and starts downfall of individuals.

Observe children and you will learn HOW curious they are about everything on this earth. Curiosity is the mother of learning and for continues learning continues curiosity is important. Life is a continues changing process. It changes daily every moment. However successful companies once achieved success think they have the permanent expertise to remain successful.

Meet a child and meet a hugely successful person or even some 40 odd year plus person. Child is extremely curious to know , asks questions and try to understand while successful and senior adult would mostly behaves in I KNOW or I don't care to know or learn attitude.

I was watching Classic Legend programme on Zee TV by Jawed Akhtar and he was talking about legendary actor Ashok Kumar. He said Ashok Kumar was so curious through out his life that he started learning new languages at the age of 64. He was always wanted to know and learn new things till he lived upto the age of 90. I think that was the reason the star ruled bollywood for 60 years.

Yes its absolutely important to remain curious about new things in life. Companies MUST not only keep learning about new products and services but also about new way of doing things, new ways to attract and treat people, new way to manage the affairs every few years.

In history we have plenty of examples about very successful companies and person failing miserably after few years. Even we have seen countries first Japan and now European countries failing after remaining successful for many years. Someone has rightly says " Success Immortalises the way of doing things in the mind of successful companies and people. "

Pattern of thinking MUST be broken to get to see things with new perspectives. I know and I don't care attitude is about FIXED pattern of thinking.

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." Albert Einstein

"I am a big believer of boredom , boredom allows one to indulge in curiosity and out of curiosity comes everything." Steve Jobs

With success and growing age , unfortunately MOST of us individually or as an enterprise fall in this trap, without fail. To remain interesting one must be interested. Not Curious is equal to Not Learning.

Shakeup everything if you are so successful and inculcate a sense of curiosity in your enterprise { people} . May not be relevant today but if you want to remain successful tomorrow also , its the first ingredient.

HOW Social Media for Professional Firms !!!! ???

2012-01-27T10:37:00.000+05:30

Professional Organisations like Advocates, CAs , CSs , Doctors , Architects , HR and the likes are great knowledge repositories in their area of expertise. People go to them for WHAT they know and HOW what they know can solve clients personal or business problems.

In Pre Internet era life was miserable or not so happy. Few , large and influential people from these professions were in advantageous position. But situation changed slightly with the arrival of Internet. With their website all the firms and professionals were on the same platform and visible to everyone , potential clients. Similarly through the sites of many businesses approaching them has also become easier then for professionals.

However life is changing NOW and changing considerably. Yes arrival of social media is blessings for knowledge professionals. It offers enormous opportunities to showcase expertise. Many companies are now using LinkedIn profile for recruitment. Similarly self employed professionals can participate in debates in some interest specific groups, answer questions on LinkedIn, commence their own blogs, can have facebook fan page, tweet regularly to update as well as attract clients. Yes all these can be done and can be views by any prospective clients across size, industry, and geographies.

This is the power and power of social media for professionals , especially small and medium firms. Get your social media content and customer strategy in place and be ready for pleasant surprises. Its about Personal Brand Building. Do it regularly , do it carefully, do it with passion and do it with a difference.

Are U FANATIC about Customer Experience??

2012-01-20T19:18:00.000+05:30

While studying a report on customer experience at one of the UK based banks, I came across the term "bank puts much of its success in recent years down to its
fanatical focus on customer experience (service) . "

I wonder how many CEOs are FANATIC about the Customer Experience their company creates!! Forget FANATIC, are aware and care about it ?? Its the role of CEO to create WOW!! and Delightful Customer Experience for their all stake holders and more precisely CUSTOMERS.

Every business is under going challenging phase ( low margins, tough competition, difficult to retain real talent , china threat ) , technology is changing rapidly ( mobile, to tab to smart TV to smart machines, innovative products and execution capabilities ) new ways of of doing business ( online, franchise, outsource, collaborate ) new age entrepreneurs ( young , energetic with no legacy baggage, ready to challenge convention ) , govt policy paralysis ( slow to No - tax or procedural reforms forget FDI ) , high sales but low cash flow & profitability, fudging of accounts not only to manage shareholders and analysts but also to have elusive sense of self belief.

In this grave situation only hope for survival is severe Customer Focus & creating Stupendous Customer Experience. Yes its to the extent of Fanatical about it.

How many business plans talk about this? How many strategy /board or owners meets have this on agenda? Wonder many businesses today struggle to survive and crying of recession!!! If customer is not your competitive advantage , what else can be??

7 + Reasons WHY Social Media is a MUST for EVERY Enterprises

2012-01-17T19:03:00.001+05:30

We are afraid that if we go social , there will be lot of negative branding against our brand or company. Many companies have this apprehension and they avoid social media. What a missed opportunity!!!!

Social Media platforms mean voice of people, customers. Brands are not providing them platforms but social media companies are doing it. Customers will not only express their views , feelings and experiences but also share the same & it will be further shared by the recipients. It will go viral in moments. Whether brands are active online or no, customers are talking about it. Earlier there was one way and one to one communication. Now its many to many.

Smart Companies are taking advantage of this opportunity. Yes its a HUGE opportunity. Use negative comments to your advantage by interfering in the discussion and clarifying company position. Without company's version to the negative experience, it will go more negative. Once company also participates and clarifies the position not only complaining customers but also all other readers will know the reality and understand how company responds when customers are in trouble.

Its an opportunity on the contrary to stop the damage that can be caused by negative comments and experiences of the customers. Its an opportunity to converse with others and potential customers. Its an opportunity to WOW!! by quickly responding and responding with offer to help as and when customers are in need.

There are many examples HOW companies are reaping benefits by actively participating in the discussions / responding on social media and solving customer issues. It will also make companies to do something special so that people /customers talks about the same on social media. Yes it can be planned to use for positive ripples in the customer groups.

Build Brand , Spread Quickly, Strengthen Customer Relationship, Stop Damage by Negative Branding , Engage with Customers, Create WOW !! Experience , Get new Customers & also much more.

Some of the large Indian Brands using SM actively: Dabur, Pizza Hut, Britannia, SBI, Amul, Maruti, ICICI Bank, Flipkart. More are joining the bandwagon.

Issue of WHY social media is long back answered. Companies Must think on HOW and HOW quickly to start leveraging this powerful medium.

Most old (started in 20th century) businesses are Social Media Immigrants but all businesses started during last one decade are Social Media Native. For natives its way of doing business but for immigrants its new and hence worrying. Quickly become adjusted to NEW NORMAL and reap the advantage.

Ask and answer NOW: Whats our Social Media Strategy and Action Pan!!! ,

Intentions Matter Less Than Actual Actions

2012-01-12T19:58:00.000+05:30

It is said that Strength of the Chain is decided by its weakest link. Same applies to Customer Experience. Howsoever beautifully designed customer experience might be, one weak link can spoil the entire experience.

Yesterday I had to get some documents from someone for someone. It was asap requirement. I could fortunately managed to get the same asap. It was appreciated by a friend of mine who was seeking it. Next question was about delivery of documents to him. I was dependent on someone who was meeting my friend next day. I also conveyed him that he need to carry some documents. But link proved weak and somehow he didn't turned up as promised.

Now my asap WOW !!! at the first step, turned out to be a bad experience for my friend. at the end.

Learning is - WOW !! Customer Experience must be deigned end to end covering all the customer touch points till the end of the experience. Any weak link & its gone for a toss. Intentions matter less than actual actions.

How many top level superior intentions turn into equally superior customer experience?? Challenge lies here.

Another WOW !!! from Flipkart.com

2012-01-11T11:17:00.001+05:30

I ordered books on 10/1 at 18.19 and books delivered to me from Bangalore to Mumbai on 11/1 at 9.20 in the morning.

Unexpected pleasant surprise.

I am neither a preferred customer nor order was not an emergency , even I didn't pay for the shipping but then what went RIGHT??

I think its their style to WOW!! their customers. Its the culture supported by matching processes and motivated team. It is their way of saying "This is HOW we do WHAT we do."

2nd Episode: Day 11/ Jan /12: Time 19.20

I ordered one book , 6 copies for gifting to different individuals. Since order were for 6 copies of the same book, I got a call from Flipkart.com today 12/Jan/12 at 9 AM confirming that I have placed these orders. Look at the customer thinking that might have gone into this process design.

Disclosure: I am no way even remotely connected with any one @ Flipkart.com

Number ONE Business Strategy - Missing Completely from Agenda

2012-01-10T15:05:00.001+05:30

Customer Experience is core of every business activities. Every enterprise either creates plain, awesome or miserable customer experience by its initiatives, day in and day out, everyday with every customer. WITHOUT FAIL. Irony is; still most, yes most enterprises do not have someone completely in charge of customer xperience alone. People are functional in-charge and CEOs are too thinly divided in various acts.

End Results: Endless run around to achieve targets, daily fire fighting, stressed employees, unhappy customers, unhappy employees, unhappy suppliers and of-course unhappy share holders. Today’s enterprises are creators and perpetrators of Mass Unhappiness.

Delivering Happiness is the slogan of US online corporation zappos.com. Of-course they enjoy clear cut mileage over competitors in attracting customers, suppliers, talent and investors. They FOCUS on HAPPINESS of all the stake holders and naturally all the other relevant elements are taken care off by keeping HAPPINESS at the core. Just shift in perspective and they are in different ORBIT ( they do huge business and financially very sound also ).

We have plenty of Business Strategists around but still - How many businesses have applied Happiness and Delightful Customer Experience as their Business Strategy??? { Company focus, actions & results will change , dramatically }. There is something GROSSLY wrong the way today's enterprises are being managed.

Further Required Reading : Seven Days Weekend (Written by Business Owner) , Happy Hours r 9 to 5 (Written by Happiness Consultant) , Delivering happiness (Written by Business Owner) .

7 Drivers of WOW!!! Customer Xperience (enterprise survival also)

2012-01-09T14:20:00.002+05:30

Drivers of Customer – Xperience (enterprise survival also)

- Product Info & Guidance - { enablers } – Website, Sales Collateral , Conferences & Exhibition, Social Media

- Quality - { enablers } – Six Sigma , TQM

- Cost - { enablers } – JIT, KAIZEN , Lean, BPR , Technology – SAP , ERP etc

- Speed - { enablers } – Lean, BPR. Technology, TOC, Logistics & Distribution Strategy

- New Products - { enablers } – Innovation , R & D

- After Sales Service -{ enablers } – Grooming, Training, Social Media

- WOW!!! - { enablers } – All the above elements designed by keeping CUSTOMER @ the center and working of these elements to create symphony added by some CREATIVITY at all levels.

Companies are excited to initiate select programmes stated above , HOWEVER yet most companies are not recognizing the importance of Customer Experience , which is the wholesome DRIVING FORCE for any and every initiative , a company undertakes.

Reason: No Existence of Customer Xperience Officer in charge of over all end to end Customer Xperience !!!

Choice of Words & Company Profitability

2012-01-05T22:01:00.001+05:30

Does your company has vocabulary policy or Vocabulary Directory for the company ?

Yes WORDs are powerful and can Impact the behaviour.

Words we use with our Customers and Employees greatly influence our relations with them. Words we use to communicate : Sales Pitch, Call Center Customer Service, Sales Collateral, Internal Mails, Letter of Appreciation, Failed Services, Presentations, Interviews everythig we do is by way of verbal or written communication - using WORDs.

At Disney stores worldwide, good buyers are called “Guests” and potential trouble makers or shoplifters are called “Customers.”

When will software designers realize that “Search” is a database function, while “Find” is what people want to accomplish?

Every word has mood and meaning. Every word counts. Every word matters to improve customer experience.

Look at some of the recruitment ads in the news paper or on website. Whether it will be FUN @ Work or Dull @ Work, can be know by reading these advertizements. @ end of the day we deal with the people in whatever we do and We the PEOPLE are hugely influenced by words and language we use. It can make or break our day.

Mostly front line people in the company are not specially trained on special vocabulary and they fail to impress the prospective buyers and customers. Company owners and senior management does the similar mistake while communicating with their employees.

Words are MAGIC. Words are Poison. Words are Plain. Its up to us what we make out of our words we use - daily in all forms of communications.

Have your company wide VOCABULARY policy and guideline , one simple step will greatly improve company's performance!!!!! { Motivated and elevated Employees & Brand Advocate Customers, simply by altering choice of WORDs }.

7 Reasons why ENTREPRENEURs Suffer

2012-01-02T15:28:00.001+05:30

7 Reasons why ENTREPRENEURs Suffer :

1) Greed - is the greatest curse ( Will lead to over trading, tax evasion, corrupt practices, low governance standards to indicate a few )

2) Inaction - when decision is expected either way and its deferred for long time assuming things will be okay of its own.

3) Too quick actions - Execution for the sake of it without proper HOMEWORK. Activity without productivity and focus.

4) Petty Mind Set - Micro Managing , less delegation , less trust on people, less or no freedom to think.

5) Not focusing on Talent attraction - Its people who manages the business. They make or break the business. Not only ability to attract but willingness to attract great talent is the KEY top management decision and action.

6) Low on Governance - Its about Mind set not abiding the laws. NR Narayan Murthy " Corporations that genuinely recognises and embrace the principle of good Corporate Governance will drive enormous benefits - the availability and lower cost of capital , the ability attract talent, clients and business partners, improved competitiveness and financial performance and truly sustainable long-term growth"

7) Low on Learning - How we individuals remain relevant? By continues learning and adapting. Same applies to enterprises. Most enterprises are low on new learning and lack innovation culture.

Let the 2012 brings whole mindset of NEWNESS in your organisation. Shake up the way things are being managed. Hire a weird outsider and start experimenting. Results will { surely } surprise you pleasantly.

My 2011 Best of 5 Blog Posts

2011-12-30T11:25:00.011+05:30

One)

“you’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards for the technology."

Steve Jobs - Life & Death - Quotes & Salute

Two)

Battle for Profit is won with great relationship ( suppliers, employees & customers ) and not by logical /rational analysis of left brain thinking alone.

5 things MBAs MUST learn from Entrepreneurs

Three)

Just shut up , create memorable customer experience and allow/ enable customers to become brand ambassadors.

5 Reasons Why Traditional Marketing is (almost) DEAD in Digital World !!!!

Four)

Unexpected Speed ( Execution, Thought, Response ) WOWs !!

12 Ways to WOW !!!!! - ( For ) Individuals & Enterprises

Five)

No focus on CUSTOMER. - Business Plan/Strategy defines everything else but Customer Experience company propose to offer.

9 (old) + Three (new) Early Warning Sings of a Troubled Company

My 2012 Reading List , Favourite Blogs and Tweeters

2011-12-26T11:18:00.003+05:30

Books on the Agenda

1) Likable Social Media by Dave Kerpen ( On How to delight customers using social media )

2) Read This Before Your Next Meeting. The Modern Meeting Standard by Al Pittampalli

( On How to make meetings more effective, efficient, and worthy of attending ) (On meetings Tom Peters says " No meeting is routine, every meeting is a chance to show leadership" )

3) Get Bold by Sandy Carter ( Using social media to create new type of business)

4) Social Intelligence by Danial Goleman ( On understanding human behavior , dealing with people and soft skills )

5) Shant Sudharas by Swami Vinayvijayji ( On 12 Bhavnas i.e. 12 Reflections of the mind - concepts in Jainism )

& to Finish already started book

6) Save the Cat ( On Script Writing )

7) Samaysar by Swami Kundkundacharya ( 2nd time Read ) ( On Jainism Concepts of Nine Elements )

My Favourite Blog /News Letter:

1) Seth Godin

2) Social Media Examiner

3) Copy Blogger

4) Bain Insights

5) Strategy + Business by Booz & Company

6) Fast Company

7) Customer Experience matters by Bruce Temkin

Favorite Tweeters I Follow

1) Sekhar Kapur ( Sensible views on matters relating to INDIA )

2) Tom Peters ( Inspiring , Innovative , action oriented )

3) Paulo Coelho ( Thought provoking )

4) Amitabh Bachchan ( No need to mention reason for him, he is what HE is )

5) Arvind Kejriwal ( True nationalist and clear thinker )

6) Guy Kawasaki ( Entrepreneurship, updates and many many more, U must be ready for

bumper tweets daily )

7) Zig Zagler ( Motivational quotes )

8) Mashable ( Updates on whats happening & powerful contents of the online world )

Will update this regularly.

Happy Reading and Action-ing your learning in the new year.

I enable Entrepreneurs to Pay More Tax !!!!!

2011-12-23T18:14:00.003+05:30

Yes, when I help them in capital structuring , interest cost does down

When I help them to take make or buy decision, it impacts investments in fixed assets which in turn affects investment requirements, depreciation , interest cost and Mfg Cost

When I help them lean manufacturing and operations, wastage is reduced

When I help them in process rejuvenation , it reduces wastes and quicken the business

When I help them in offering WOW !! Customer Experience, they get more sales ,

premium pricing & powerful branding

When I help them on Social Media Strategy, it reduces sales & marketing cost and increases referral sales

All these initiatives will add to PROFIT and therefore it impacts Direct Tax , add to enterprise's Tax burden.

As a CA I started as a tax practitioner and focused on below the line tax consultancy & helped enterprises in reducing their tax burden, now I am focused on above the line advisory and helping indirectly to the Govt in filling their tax kitty. Govt & Entrepreneurs both are happy along with me.

2 Ways to Present Your RESUME (& Do Anything)

2011-12-20T15:42:00.002+05:30

You have two options to present RESUME.

1) Structured , Standard - Starting from your name, date of birth , address , qualification & experience etc etc etc. No Innovation , not even interesting for readers.But yes in proper format and how it used to be. { Even u will find it boring }

Option 2

2) Describe your life story till date. Your likes, dislikes, your achievements and failures, your projects and performances , your family and friends, your education and experiences. Its a story and one can make real life movie out of it. Make it interesting , keep it real do not fake , readers must get engrossed. You are the HERO of your story.

Its a competition (red ocean) everywhere. How do we differentiate in whatever we do? To stand out in the crowd, we must add SPICE to whatever we do and present.

Be it your RESUME or your Project or your day to day work. Nothing is routine if we are SPECIAL. To quote Dev Anand " Without style we don't exist. We are our own STYLE. " The man has proved this also throughout his life.

Bottom-line - Do everything in STYLE. Your OWN STYLE. Most routine and monotonous things can be presented and done in STYLE. Simplicity Yes, Routine No. Refrain from being routine and boring. Who likes it??

Feedback Can Transform Valia the Don to Valmiki the Sage

2011-12-15T18:29:00.004+05:30

All Indian readers must be aware about the Valia to Valmiki story.

In short the story is : d Don Valia was looting the people in his area , one day sage Naradji asked him - for whom are you doing this anti social things. His reply was - for his family. Naradji asked him to check with his family whether they are partner in his wrong doings? Family refused to bear the fruits of his wrong doings. That made d don Valia to think for whom I am doing these activities. And that thinking turned him to great sage known as Valmiki. Rest is history.

Most companies can be compared with feedback less Don Valia. Thinking they offer great value and customer services to their customers and all stake holders, however they are not aware about what their customers and stake holders thinking about them. Neither they care to talk to them.

When was the last time your company took customer feedback? Feedback which is relevant and asking right questions affecting the customers. Your employee policy, CSR activities, social and anti social activities (tax evasion and pollution) , suppliers policy and customer experience design. Everything requires great insight and feedback from the stake holders. Unless companies have them & act on them, they live in illusion and spreading great social unhappiness and stress.

Feedback and action on feedback is so important that it can make or break and even set stage to transform the companies. Periodic feedback is not only essential but its a compulsory practice. Is your company practicing it?

HOW WOW !!! Customer Experience Works for Business ???

2011-12-12T19:52:00.003+05:30

Location: Bungalow @ Lonavala

Time : Eve Tea

Group: Gathering of Friends to celebrate 25 years of Friendship

Number of People at the Tea Table: 7

Story Narration ( Real Life Experience ) @ one of the dispensary in Mumbai by one of the friends.

How this dispensary is taking care of the relatives of the patient too while the patient is under the treatment. How whether the relatives have taken the food or no is taken care of. This is bit unusual as mostly doctors don't care for such little things. Many of them even don't know how to talk with patients and their relatives. They consider themselves as GOD. In majority of the case doctors talk to relatives for insurance matters and HOW to get more out of insurance claims.When medical profession has almost lost its credibility as far as financial dealings are concerned, this kind of pleasant service and care will certainly stands out. Somebody MUST have thought of it and implemented it to differentiate. Not expected & hence pleasant surprise.

Of course we go to doctors for technical skills but this kind of going extra mile is what makes him STAND OUT from the rest.

Person who was describing also said " we don't mind paying extra for this kind of services and care."

Result: Talk of the Town Service, low (no) resistance to premium charges, if any.

Experience Shared in the group and it will spread to many through word of mouth. Imagine what it can do in times of Social Media. Social Media success of song Kolavari D reinforcing the need for WOW!! Product & Services and Its unprecedented success through word of mouth or click of the mouse.

People pay for perceived value, people share bad or good experiences. Both spread fast and impact the business results, brand value.

{ If you are in Mumbai and want to know more about high profile event on social media is taking place in Jan 2012. Click here to know more and participate http://www.clickasiasummit.com }

6 things Entrepreneurs can learn from Dev Anand

2011-12-06T11:27:00.000+05:30

Yes, legendary and complete film professional Dev Anand can be a great source of inspiration and learning for every entrepreneurs.

Industry known for its misbehavior and arrogant attitude, he was a complete professional and very well behaved.

- Believe in your self. have your own way of doing things. Don' t copy or follow any one { His style was his unique and his own brand } . Style says he is YOU. Unless you have your own style you are non existence.

- Behave with conviction { When people told him not to make cult movie like HRHK, he was convinced internally and it was history thereafter }

- Passion what you do { Passion to live & breath MOVIEs for 65 years }

- Unrelenting Pursuit of Passion { Till the age of 88 he was active in making movies } . In an interview with Karan Thaper he says " No one can be master of any subject in the word. The moment one thinks he is a master, he stops learning and that's the beginning of an end. "

- Of course commercial failures of his movies in the later age teaches us , change with the time, delegate to others what others can do better than you : After Desh Pardes , all movies failed commercially but he continue to remain director and actor, like Yashraj Films , he should have developed brigade of directors and actors working for Nav Ketan Films }

& Finally

- Live life to its fullest, NOW, Today - as the time is flying faster than we think. { To a question by Anupam Kher: Why he was speaking fast , he replied, life is short and I don't have time to speak slow }

" I am a fast executor, once I decide to do things " Dev Anand { & we can see that from so many projects he has executed during his life time }

Learning can come from anywhere, & Dev Anand had huge real life experiences and insights to learn from.

9 Ways Twitter is Changing the Way We LIVE.

2011-12-01T13:10:00.001+05:30

Twitter is going to change the way we live.

- News Paper & Magazine/News Channels - Aren't we get news as it happens from people and channels we follow? Yesterday there was an accident at Kandivali Highway, someone to whom I follow in twitter was eyewitness and has tweeted about the same. I didn't need media and news paper to know this.

- Marketing & Adverting - Product Launch on twitter or FB Fan page, can spread like a fire and customer reviews and feed backs are even more quicker. Cost? Well its almost nothing. Rajdeep Sardesai reminds his followers about CNN programmes sometimes when programmes is live on TV.

- Communication - eMails are going to be history soon. Spam emails and ineffective emails have taken the toll of this medium of communication. Preity Zinta tweets about her whereabouts whenever she is travelling to know local sepcialities and news.

- Relevance & Focus - Unless people following u find u relevant, they will quickly unfollow u as they have huge numbers of tweets to surf. Interesting & relevant is d key.

- Customer Service or disservice - Quick response and addressing of customer issues will not only solve the customer problem but words will spread fast to the world. Similarly reverse can also spread fast and can spoil the brand name in no time. Companies have to become Social Media vigilant. Power has now shifted to customers

- Knowledge Sharing - So many information and knowledge sharing links are available ion the run in real time. With Kindle like e book reader, our spare time will have competition from Kindle also apart from games.

- Public Opinion - Jr Bachchan is using twitter followers to get suggestions for name of his daughter Beti B. Many such opinions can be quickly obtained. Dirty Pictures is ruling at the moment. Its people to people now , so called experts are out.

- Emergency Help - Yes this is real really useful. When anyone ened medical or other emergency hep, just a tweet and words can spread fast and response can be faster. I don't who can help and that's why when I broad cast on my twitter/FB , relevant response can come out of the blue.

Opportunity, I can follow someone rich and famous, reply to his tweets and if I am lucky, he also will revert to my tweets and I may even get chance to meet him/her { unprecedented }. Anything is possible.

{ keep tweeting the same message 3/4 times considering the time zone, with huge volumes of tweets sometimes your first tweet might miss the attention of your followers }.

Everything is highlight now. If viewers/followers like the highlights, they will dig deeper in to it, or else its a waste. 140 words to demonstrate how interesting , engaging and relevant you { your brand } are.

I invite readers to share their real life experiences.

{ If you are in Mumbai and want to know more about high profile event on social media is taking place in Jan 2012. Click here to know more and participate http://www.clickasiasummit.com }

Inverted 30 : 70 Ratio - Customer Experience

2011-11-29T20:12:00.002+05:30

Writing is like a pregnant lady. Till the time u deliver (write) u r restless.

Today I met a ED of one of the industry chambers in Mumbai.

Agenda: Customer Experience for their Members

One more management jargon was his initial reaction.

Well a big NO.

All earlier version of business performance improvements were internal & limited focus like - TQM, Six Sigma, BPR, Lean, TOC - all are fine but these projects are never worked keeping CUSTOMER @ d center.

One can argue that six sigma and lean or for that matter TQM are obviously for the customers. However its not. Everything is to work on improving internal efficiency and productivity. Its necessary but not sufficient.

Unless the organisation as a whole looks in one direction i.e. Customers, unless everyone is aware about impact of their action or inaction on the customer experience, unless internal massive projects are touching customer experience at all the touch points, unless customer experience is designed keeping in mind end to end touch points in mind, unless one single person responsible for end to end customer experience, they are not customer focused projects.

Why its not only important but critical because :

Delightful and Memorable Customer Experience = Repeat and referred customers, sharing the experience on social media channels (bad experience travels faster on this channels), lowering sales and marketing cost , increase in margins and sales, brand loyalty and rise of brand advocates.

Its the ONLY way , to create blue ocean in otherwise red ocean business land(water)scape.

A Customer Experience lesson from Jeff Bezos of

"If the optimal business decision in the old world was too spend 30 percent of your time, energy, focus, and dollars on building great customer experience, and 70 percent of your time, energy, focus, and dollars on shouting about it, today that's inverted. Today, the optimal thing to do is to spend 70 percent of your time, energy, focus, and dollars on building great customer experience and 30 percent shouting about it."

Next question is - HOW? { when and why are now obvious }
Watch out this place!!!

Who is Cyrus Mistry of Your Business??

2011-11-26T19:43:00.000+05:30

Having a competent person rather than hereditary is the KEY for long-term survival of any enterprise.

Bal Thackrey to Uddhav Thackery, Indira Gandhi to Rajiv Gandhi & now Rahul Gandhi, Mafatlals , Most Birla group companies are struggling barring KM Birla Group, and many other organisations have suffered due to this mind set of hereditary succession plan, competence irrespective.

Look at Infosys, Tatas, MNCs like HUL,Colgate and Others. These companies focus on long term survival of the business and entity rather than own family managing it. Distinct arms length between ownership and management.

Interesting things to look at is next succession at Reliance Group.

Famous sayings like - Wealth does not sustain beyond 3 generations and 1 out of 3 business fails in 2nd generations , requires serious attention while planning family business succession.

Reasons could be :

No passion, Changed landscape, High expectation pressure, Disconnect from ground realities as was possible when enterprise was first generation, Too much attachment with successful business models.

Having a advance leadership grooming and competence based succession plan in place for family managed large /public companies requires closer attention and priory for the present owners. Why business, it applies to every organisation be it business or politics { even GENEXT is not interested in family business }.

Ask NOW - "Who could be my Cyrus ?"

Can Do > Have Done

2011-11-25T16:57:00.004+05:30

Problem with EXPERIENCE.

What experience do you have ??
Have You implemented or done this elsewhere? OR
We have 20 years of experience.

Most of us face/use these questions/statement when we start or wanting to do something new and for the first time or want to capitalise on our experience.

Fact is Experience Kills INNOVATION (Fresh Approach & Different Angle) .

Experience means I know HOW it can be done and have done it too.

Experience defies change, Experience blocks mind, Experience brings EGO, Experience means Routine, Experience means my way is the only way and the right way.

However companies are always looking for experienced guys. In rarely any organisation experience is at discount and innovation , new ways, vibrancy, tolerance to failure is at premium.

Entrepreneurs are basically risk takers but companies are run by employees who are risk averse by nature { there are always exception everywhere } . Like everything else tone and the top and culture top-man breeds will percolate down.

Yes experience is critical in life threatening situation or when the stakes are huge, everywhere else, innovation and fresh approach MUST be encouraged.

" Success Immortalises the way things are done " statement

equally applies to experience.

Go for thinking people , experience can be costly { Well

it can be opportunity cost!!! }. Tatas have brigade of

experienced people. Who is selected??? Cyrus Mistry

age 43. Therefore Can do is greater than have done.

Richard Branson's View on d subject.

Richard Branson on When Inexperience Is an Advantage

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220789 (published on 29/11 , posted later on this blog)

Bucks start & stop at the TOP.

5 Customer Experience Scenarios !!!! Take Your Pick

2011-11-22T22:19:00.003+05:30

A picture says more than 1000 words !!!!!!

- We offer HORRIBLE Customer experience and careless even after that - Government Departments { No one likes to go to them but are compelled }

- We offer HORRIBLE Customer experience but have cosmetic customer service department - PSUs { No one likes to go to them but are compelled }

- We offer HORRIBLE Customer experience but have adequate customer service department - Massively Expanded Private Sector Companies { Most of us become their customer but want to get rid of them asap }

- We offer good and reasonable/ as expected Customer Experience - Some alert Private Sector Companies { We are happy to be with them but no brand loyalty and are indifferent }

- We offer Scintillating , Out of the World , Memorable , Delightful , Pleasantly Unexpected and Customised Customer Experience - A very few companies who design their experience at touch points to make it memorable every-time. { Everyone wants to visit them time and again, proud to refer them and love to recommend strongly }

Self Test and Work-On to Climb the Hierarchy !!!

(Of the companies that think they are offering great customer experience, their customers mostly thinks otherwise, so have self test from customer feedback)

5 Ways to Offer Attention & Win Trust { Both are Extremely Scarce }

2011-11-19T20:15:00.002+05:30

Its all FAKE out side. Its a public perception and is growing.

Last even I saw a Film by young film maker Umesh Agarwal on "Brokering News". Its about HOW politicians, sports persons, businessmen and entertainment companies are exploiting the media to fool viewers/readers. Their nexus is not only dangerous but depressing. Someone also raised issue about healthcare industry also. We also know HOW real are the reality shows. We also know HOW bogus & over committing advertisements are. We know HOW countries after countries & companies after companies are tumbling.

Big Question is : Whom do WE trust??

Just recently I read that attention is the most scarce thing in the world. Yes it is. Look at the people around. People are busy with their gadgets and mobiles. They busy with their face book or twitter or updates. They are busy with their problems be it career , business or personal.

Having agreed about ATTENTION next question is whom do we trust?? Renowned author of the book the Experience Economy , Pine & Gilmore's next book was Authenticity. Trust factor has just evaporated from everywhere.

Even the publication who arranged the free show of the above film , had kept their old magazines and subscription forms on every seat. Selling the ultimate objective, irrespective of cause you promote or action you take.

Winner in this economy will be the company who Genuinely believes in solving CUSTOMER problems. Social Media Expert Michael Stelzner writes: "Don't think about people as targets for sale. Rather than focus on people who are buying your products and services, shift your attention to people you want to help - regardless whether they buy or not. If you are just focused on sale , you are missing mega opportunity"

In this attention and trust deficit society How to demonstrate both is the key challenge. But How else would you create your own blue ocean?

How to Offer Attention and Win Trust ?

- Focus on Problem Solving { sales will happen , happen more than expected }

- Focus on Listening { Reading also on Social Media }

- Honor commitment/trust even at loss and inconvenience

- Focus on Offering Designers Experience , that WOWs!!! { Why else are u in business , mediocres are fighting in red hot ocean }

- Believe in - Net Happiness is greater than Networth

Capture Wall Street Campaign must awaken us that something is grossly wrong the way we are managing our business and politics.

Is your company an exception ??

7 Reasons why Abhishek Bachchan Tweeted on 16th Nov

2011-11-18T11:02:00.001+05:30

Abhishek Bachchanbecome publisher of his own news. Though media was restrained, however hereleased news of arrival of his baby girl, first to his fans and followers atone go through Twitter. Earlier trend was press conference. Media as an intermediarybetween news makers and news recipient is fast becoming history. Internet hasplayed catalyst role in most of the industries to remove and realign role ofintermediaries.

Advantage :

1) Abhishek issharing the news with his followers, therefore all wereexcited.

2) Itsinstant. They need not depend on so called breaking news from mediahouses.

3) It was easyfor all followers to share among their own followers and friends on social as well as offline circles.

4)Its direct, so easily trusted and cannot be twisted.

5) All hisfollowers can directly communicate with him to congratulateor abuse when he acts in movies like Raavan (Mani Ratnam's not Ra One of SRK) .

6) Followers canalso communicate with him abt what more they want from him and sohe can also convey his thoughts.

7) Imagine AnnaHajare has 1 mn followers on twitter. What he can do with his one tweet!!!! Forthat matter any movement can ignite in no seconds.

Just yesterday MPShashi Tharoor at one of the conferences warned media companies that Internetis changing their business in unimaginable way. Yes suddenly landscape ischanging.

Purpose of thispost is not to show how Social media is changing Media Industry but to awakenall readers about what this can mean to their business.

Do you needsomeone like Shashi Tharoor to warn and awaken ??

Its two waydialogue, instant , direct, easily sharable & above all exciting andinteresting too. Companies like Mahindra Home Stays, Ford , Red Bull, CISCO,Volkswagen India, Disney, Jetblue, Kaya Clinic & many more are aggressivelyusing SM Channels.

Most important isEngagement & Two Way Communication. Unless customer engagement is there,people are not interested.

Just a fewnumbers :

1) Face book enjoys3rd largest population after China & India. Indian FB users 34 mn. Growingat 60%.

2) India:Internet penetration is 8% Mobile Penetration is 67%. Imagine what will happenwhen Internet usage through mobile becomes affordable and accessible!!!

Its not justmarketing. It’s about marketing plus, brand building, lead generation, customerservice & feedback, wow ! Customer experience, knowledge sharing,collaboration, hiring, product design and launch, remain in touch & muchmore what more one can imagine.

Yesterday a fewcollege students in Goa visited one of the hotels. They liked the food so theytweeted about the hotel. Hotel has social media policy and brand watch, theytracked this tweet about them and immediately thanked all of them through reversetweet. It will reach many many more on tweeter.

It’s not abouttechnology or a fad, its about mind for customer experience and mission toprovide scintillating customer experience. First in hotel and 2nd throughresponsive social media awakening.

Here going extra mile can take the brandmiles ahead.

New Social Media Theme : Like it? Share It , tweet it.

If you are inMumbai and want to know more about high profile event is taking place in Jan2012. Click here to know more and participate http://www.clickasiasummit.com

Customer Service Is Not a Department, Its your Company

2011-11-13T21:23:00.001+05:30

Why Surprised!!!!. As an entrepreneur you started d company to offer some solution to theCUSTOMER. Isn't it true ???

Unfortunately asthe company grows, it develops silos and other than CEO, everyone else isresponsible to their limited area of operations. This is how companies aremanaged. But the problem with this way of working is NO one cares about thecustomers other than customer care and sales department.

But differencebetween core competency and competitive advantagecouldbe - Excellent Customer Focus & offering Delightful & MemorableXperience.

Core Competencywill keep you in business , competitive advantage will give you an edge byallowing some extra profit , low marketing efforts, quicker sales cycle & morerepeat/referred customers.

One of my youngfollowers mailed me that Kingfisher Airlines is offering wow customerexperience & now they are almost on the verge of collapse & other nonwowers are surviving thereby questioning entire wow experience strategy.

I have readtweets of many of whom I follow. There are two views on govt bailout orsupport to private sector Company in trouble but everyone unequivocally agreethat company is offering great customer experience. All of them are brand loyal, brand referrers, opponents of financial package also cant stop but admire forwhat kind of experience company is creating for their customers. These loyalty and wow!! experience perhapswill be instrumental in helping the company in times of crisis. FinancialTroubles are and can be due to various structural and financing issues, but WOW!!! factor they could create is the key not only for voice of customers to supportthe company but loyal and repeat customers will remain loyal to thecompany for revenue to keep coming.

Even in the caseof Satyam Scam, one of the independent directors acknowledged that theircustomers' loyalty was the reason they could revive so beautifully even intimes of severe survival crisis.

Wowed Customers = Happy Customers = Loyal Customers = Brand Promoters

Therefore keepwowing customers, they will go to any extent to support you in times of crisis.Is Wowing Customers, your competitive advantage????

New Social Media Theme : Like it? Share It , tweet it.

12 Ways to leverage Social Media for Businesses & Professionals

2011-11-11T12:07:00.001+05:30

All of us aremembers of many social media sites. Members of many groups and fan clubs onthese sites. We have 100s or 1000s of friends/followers/fans.& we arehappy.

How are weleveraging our social presence and networks?? Your stories invited.

Networking isa great business tools. Many of us visit seminars, conferences and businessevents just to network. Suhel Seth (PR & Communication Expert) has writtenbook on networking Get to the Top. Released TODAY in Mumbai.

BusinessNetworking Sites like LinkedIn is very important to get connected with someonewith whom otherwise we even cant dream to meet ever. Small businesses andprofessionals can and must leverage these unprecedented opportunities.

Big questionis HOW ?? Luckily there are many HOWs.

- Getconnected with potential customer or experts.

- Getconnected with your customers for update and quick customer service.

- Professionalcan showcase their expertise by contributing to their groups regularly.

- Manybusinesses also hire by selecting skills from LinkedIn profiles.

- Get handlein the big corporate house when you want an inroads.

- Not justremain online connects. Whenever possible or make it possible to meet up.Network to physical meet is really warm & interesting.

- Regularproduct updates and launch on these sites will attract target audience.

- Educatepeople about your products , its usage, maintenance, support etc on a regularbasis. Soon you will become famous and become known for yr products. I knowsomeone on LinkedIn who regularly writes about new cell phone models. So nexttime when I want to know about cell hones, my first resource will be she. Sameapplies to yr area of product and services.

- Followgroups of your interest to know more and network with people from your peergroup.

- Sharesomething interesting from your friends/connects with yr groups i.e. which maybe interesting for yr suppliers or customers.

- Buildcommunity around your offerings. Invite experts or share useful insights withthem periodically.

- Don't justexpect , give give and give, give reference to someone for their potentialleads. Here tit for tat is given.

Many moreinteresting case-studies are happening thru online to real business. You may think that business was not used to be like this, but ............... it was always like that only medium is changing.

If you are inMumbai and want to know more one high profile event is taking place in Jan2012. Click here to know more and participate http://www.clickasiasummit.com

& yesshare your social media to business success stories.

5 Reasons Why Traditional Marketing is (almost) DEAD in Digital World !!!!

2011-11-06T19:37:00.004+05:30

Scene 1 - Today on linked I read that someone disliked Blue Dart services for what ever reason. He tweeted abt it and his message went to all his social media foot print like FB and linked in etc to his friends and fans.Out of these many would re-tweet this message and Blue Dart might have lost some or many future customers.

Scene 2 - Few months ago I liked the way flip-kart.com delivered my parcel. I blogged abt it. Many might have read it and shared it too.

Scene 3 - When I wanted to buy my cell phone I visited many product review sites. I decided to go for particular brand and model based of-course on technical specifications but finally , users reviews were ultimate determinants, not that brand's marketing message.

How many of us are interested in TV or website commercials ??? We know most marketeers are liers, commit more & deliver less, talks sweet just to sale. Till recent years we had no options but to get fooled often by every brands. But now no longer.

Suddenly all of them are now exposed.Exposed miserably as stated abt Blue dart above. Social Media medium & its access through mobile is final death knell for traditional marketers.

Just shut up , create memorable customer experience and allow/ enable customers to become brand ambassadors. Social Media Examiners' Michael says " Content is king. Get content to get customers." Marketeers role is to educate customers, rest will be taken care by customers themselves. Users will share their experiences and buyers will go by users experience.

5 why(s) of this new reality :

- When u spend , people don't believe u.

- When u interrupt their entertainment and work , they hate u and ignore u (TV, Website, SMS and calls).

- When u don't talk and just do it, words spread.

- When u enable customers to share their experience, they become brand ambassadors.

- When customers are sharing their experiences, u will be at your best.

Even if your customers are not using social media, these applies to all (We all are now more connected).

Need to overhaul, redefine, transform the way companies' market and reach out to their customers. Events like Click Asia 2012 http://www.clickasiasummit.com is not the indication of shape of the things to come but about the situation we are already in. Wake up { u may engage teenager(s) to guide yr marketing team HOW abt social and digital media strategy ).

2 MUST priorities for every Business Owners !!!! Yes MUST.

2011-11-03T22:24:00.000+05:30

Most of us either want to buy our own home or have taken debt to buy our own home. Most of us do not want to do job but with no other option and hence compelled to do job to survive. Its not our natural choice. Yes, this is not any survey result but learning from KBC participants. I think its a representative class of the masses across the globe.

Manoj Kumar produced Roti Kapda aur Makaan in early 70s. However Maakan has still remained a major problem for most of the population on the earth. How Pity!!!! People spend their lifetime earning to buy one home or indulge in debt which they keep paying during their lifetime.

I think this is directly related to another inner feeling of masses of not like to do job /dislike their jobs. Shareholder-ism over people-ism is the major cause of this grave situation. People spend their lifetime in doing what they don't like!!!! What a waste , not of time but lives.

It is the responsibility of every entrepreneurs/corporation to make sure that they do two things:

1) Make their people love their jobs (Doing whatever it takes).

2) Working for Financial Freedom of employees before they think about shareholder expectations (We have hefty reserves and surplus in company balance sheets but employees working for these are in debt and not happy).

All of us must work to increase gross happiness of people working for us. All other CSR initiatives are meaningless without achieving this first milestone.

We have corporations like Tony of zappos.com (Entrepreneur and author of book Delivering Happiness) or Ricardo Semler (Entrepreneur and author of book - Seven Days Weekend) who thinks on this line.

Ricardo Semler "Concentrate on building an organization that accomplishes the most difficult of all challenges: to make people look forward to coming to work in the morning"

Yes making work/jobs interesting is MOST important and difficult responsibility of the business.

Two takeaway - Making jobs interesting & employees reap benefits of success and shareholder should not earn at the cost of employees.

Why HOW is MOST Interesting ??

2011-11-01T18:52:00.001+05:30

How is Design , How is Style , How is Courage, How Motivates, How is Execution of Strategy, How is description, How Instigates Thought Process, How Excites. How is all about ACTION.

I saw movies like Lagaan or Koi Mil Gaya many a times and knew who will win the cricket or basketball match , for that matter we see match highlights ever after we have seen the entire match. We do this repeatation just to watch HOW part again and again.

Someone has won Rs. 5 crs in KBC we all know by now, but still we will see the show to know HOW of the victory. Result is less important than HOW of achieving the result.

Venture capitalist is pretty excited about WHAT of your business plan but its HOW that decides for or against investing.

In school days we many a times know answer of our Maths sum but we get marks only for doing HOW of the answer i.e.steps.

HOW your cell phone or laptop or tab works is more important than anything else. Its beautiful , its cheap, but HOW i.e. functionality will be the key decision factor.

Discovery and other science channels have many program me on HOW it works or Built.

Mahatma Gandhi or President Obama or Sachin Tendulkar or Amitabh Bachchan or DH Ambani, we all know they are/were leaders in their respective domains. We read about them & what fascinates all of us is HOW they become what they have become.

Many self help books are all about HOW.

Like I promote Customer Experience as Brand In Action. Rest all is Gyan , HOW is Gyan in Action.

Point for all us to consider is to focus on HOW of what you do. Beautify / Focus/ Committed on your HOWs and it doesn't matter what you do. It will be noticed and acknowledged. In his books 7 Habits ................, Stephen Covey says "Sharpen your Saw" , yes sharpen your HOW.

Win HEART to reach MIND of the CUSTOMERs !!!!

2011-10-30T22:24:00.000+05:30

Watching one of the finest movies of the 70s, Parichay, (Jitendra & Jaya Bhaduri Starr-er) this weekend, was very thought provoking. Simple concept , present day marketers must learn & implement.

Social Media champion (http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com) and well known blogger Michael Stelzner says " offer free knowledge to attract customers." Seth Godin in his famous book Linchpin talks about art of gifting. Gift without expectations in return is the true gift.

Rule is : First offer and give without expectations and you are likely to get expected behaviors of returning favour. But without thinking about giving , just expecting will be difficult to yield result. Respect buyers choice and preference before you try to sell your idea.

Buyers are here to solve their problems or experience some pleasure. Your product and services may be an answer to their need. However route to their mind (which makes decision to avail or ignore) is through their heart. Heart goes to selfless & going out of the way solution providers (ofcourse not to hardcore marketeers and sellers).

Rule your space with entire gamut of solution. Something is free, something is out of the way, { just to show your commitment towards solution and not JUST sale } and something is paid.

In d movie mission of Jitendra (lead character) was to educate & discipline 4 notorious students. He could have remained focused on his job by remaining and behaving like a typical teacher (like his predecessors) . But he choose to become friend , won their hearts, gone out of the way of his KRA, spent extra time with them to understand their behavior and response influence-rs. This extra time and effort resulted into achieving his end result of disciplined students having interest in their studies.

How much extra sellers/marketeers can invest in customers /buyers/ clients {without expectations} that will decide sales, customer engagement and customer loyalty. Route to mind through heart may be longer but its a sure , authentic as well as long lasting.

What is your investment to win hearts before you aim to reach customers' mind???

This Diwali - 3 New Year Resolutions for Every Business

2011-10-26T11:58:00.000+05:30

Diwali Greetings for d day

& 3 New Year Resolutions for Every Business

1) CUSTOMER Happiness will be the focus of all our strategies and actions.

2) We will aim for Gross Happiness within and outside our

enterprise { Profit will be bye product of happiness generated in and around our enterprise }.

3) Our CSR activism includes : making our employees happy, creating wow !!!! customer experience , paying vendors on time and support them to grow, concern for environment around us , supporting intra-preneurs within our enterprise , better governance and paying all applicable taxes. After we achieve these we will go for extra social initiatives known as CSR.

Cheers & njoy d day.

3 Idiots - 2 for Our Enterprises Too

2011-10-24T14:47:00.000+05:30

Wishing all my readers & their family a very joyous , HAPPY and grand Diwali.

Time to celebrate , enjoy & introspect too.

While watching movie 3 Idiots (i have lost count now , how many times i have watched this movie) last night , I could find new meaning and relate it to our professional and corporate life. We now have 3 Idiots for students to fall back upon while getting excessive pressures from professors and parents, but we also have pressure cooker kind of situation in our professional and corporate life also & post studies we spend our rest of the life working for corporations. What about that??

Like students life , Marks and Numbers rule corporate life too. Sales Targets and Bottom-line numbers. This unlike students life we have to under go along with our family responsibilities. Companies declare better out look and better targets quarter after quarter. Top and Bottom-line counts , that's all.

What it takes to achieve the numbers is hardly of any significance. Environment awareness is spreading somewhat but what about human side of it ? Who care about employee happiness?? Superior and out of the way Customer Experience ? Better vendor relationship ? better social responsibilities ? better environmental concerns?

We measure sales , profit, eva , ebitda, eps, roi and hence we focus on improving the same and our success is measured based on these numbers. No measurement of qualitative parameters to achieve quantitative numbers , hence not measured and hardly given any importance. We need stress free corporations and enterprises. We need to change our enterprise success parameters. Something grossly wrong is going on unnoticed.

Chetan Bhagat, Raju Hirani or Aamir Khan, or someone else , who will wake up to these realities and make another 3 Idiots -2 ????

In this attention deficit world , whats Your IDEA worth Attention ??

2011-10-22T14:59:00.000+05:30

Yes, IDEA clicks. (when executed with innovation). Can U beg for others? Yes BEG in the Mumbai Local train for others? Yes, more than collecting money for his mission , this man has attracted attention of most of the media, publications and a few of the bloggers like me.

Innovative ideas of fund raising clicked and is getting free public attention through mass media attention.

When we do things differently , people will notice us , we need not make attempts to get noticed. Most marketeers don't do things differently (campaign and products) and spent lot of energy in getting customer attention. It fails. It MUST fail.

We unfortunately have learned to copy and follow the trend/others. Unconventional thinking and ideas r not encouraged. Our central banks keep raising interest rates as a sole solution to control inflation. I think it works other-way although. But no one can question the wisdom of central bank where highly intellectual people are managing the affairs with the data access none of us can have. Same applies to our corporate houses and business of all stage and size. Follow the rule, boss , owner and look for precedent. Big no to untested, uncharted and unprecedented. One must understand that entrepreneurs take risk not employees.

Everyone is setting up call centers, so let us d also. I don't know how much lead/sales ( this refers to outbound call centers ) it generates, but its surely causes anger and irritation to 99.99% of the callers. Its a social problem now.

Do something unprecedented , let it fail but it gives chance for newness around us, it can be source of great inspiration and risk taking, and if successful it can be a source of abundant wealth creation.

Prof Sandeep Desai (Ex SP Jain Inys Prof) refereed above , begs in Mumbai local trains for his mission of education. He collects daily money from commuters for his 3 schools for deprived students. He collects appx Rs. 3/4000 daily from commuters of the local train during non rush hours. CNN, ZEE and many other print media wrote about his innovative way to collect funds & his message spread to many so quickly. He has won CNN IBN Unsung Hero 2011 award also. Collected some Rs. 21.5 Lacs till Aug 11. I met him yesterday when he was on his begging mission.

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan tweeted abt him " Prof Sandeep Desai ka jawab nahi, kamal karte ho yaar prof saheb" and has requested his fans to donate to prof.

Point is not Prof Desai, Point is his innovative and unprecedented style of collecting donations. Sellers/Marketeers and CEOs , pls awake & ask : have we innovated lately in what we do and how we do? Customers MUST say " Yeh company to Kamal karti hai." { with their products, people and customer services }. Do you think , you will then need massive sales and ad campaigns??? Your brand ambassadors should be your customers and free media. Now its our turn to do Kamal!!!!

Are U selling your Products or Passion !!! ???

2011-10-18T19:24:00.003+05:30

Mumbai's top most and all other Home Builders had an exhibition during 6th to 9th of Oct in Mumbai. I visited the exhibition to know about products of companies engaged in Mumbai's most powerful industry.

Barring one developer one can not make out the differentiation in what they do and how they do. Similar style exhibition outlet, similar style suited , booted and tied representatives (kind of uniform) , SOP driven receptionists, more or less same display patters, same monotonous scripted sales speech. Absolutely no innovation. Well their sales collateral had some quality variance.

The one company referred above was THE ONLY ONE outstanding. Beautifully designed exhibition outlet shows the passion with which the company is working. Every company there , were out to sale their properties but this company added passion with creativity in their just 4 day efforts.

Known as Nahar Group , they had lovely nest with chirping bird sound , classy color combination and lovely sales collateral. They brought their project location's natural ambiance live there. { rest all had some or other pics to demonstrate their locational advantage }.

This company was not selling HOMEs but selling their deep PASSION.

What are u Selling ?????? [ go back to drawing board, design board, HR policies, customer experience policy and shake it up, now , Today ] .

{ Happy to note that exhibition organizing body (MCHI) recently awarded them best designed exhibition outlet. This also shows HOW easy it is to get noticed if you add some creativity to what u do, as there are very very few who do what they do passionately. }

By D'fault are you HAPPY or SAD???

2011-10-17T10:36:00.000+05:30

By D'fault are you HAPPY or SAD??? { Pause and Check for a minute }. We read motivational books , watch movies, go on a tour , picnic , movie and drama. Go out for dinner , parties play with kids. Celebrate birthdays , other important days, marriages, people who drinks go for it. We develop hobby to remain engaged in activities we like. In an otherwise painful realities of our life, we feel happy to watch movies, which take us away from the realities.

We try to escape from { painful } realities to all these places and resort to these activities. We like to remain HAPPY.{ always }

Corporate world has to take clue from our need to become and remain HAPPY. Happiness is not only in demand but is @ Premium. Yes make your customers HAPPY and you will neither have to find customer again nor worry about the profit. Equation goes like this - Delivering HAPPINESS = Customers plus Profit.

Happiness Drivers:

- Extra ordinary customer service.

- Extra ordinary product knowledge/Insight { today experienced at a restaurant from chef } .

- Unexpected pleasant surprise { read somewhere that a restaurant on a particular day offers select diners free dinner on random basis. Not announced marketing scheme but genuine un-announced pleasant feeling of surprise. Word of mouth can brings more customers than marketing gimmicks }.

- With-out expectation authentic kind gesture. Authentic word is critical as most marketeers have failed to invoke this feeling in customers. Sale not Solution is the ONLY motive. (Met a politician today and cud sense this - getting a voter base may be at back d of his mind but during the meet genuine urge to help and not seeking vote was his gesture) .

- Designing extra ordinary products / service is a work of an ART. Art will always attract its fol{lowers}. ( Steve Jobs is d recent inspiration, there are a few others too ).

In our entire chain of business processes and touch points - what will make my customers HAPPPPY or what will remove sadness and pain from his life??? Ask & Act.

{ Happy to state this blog has completed 10000 hits in a year of its existence. Thanx to all visitors/readers. }

If u can simplify, u are indispensable & most sought after

2011-10-12T21:28:00.000+05:30

Noted FilmDirector Mahesh Bhatt described MAGICAL voice of renowned Ghazal Singer JagjitSingh as " Simplicity, simplicity & simplicity" Magic isSimplicity or Simplicity is MAGIC. How true but difficult to achieve.

We are here inthis world contributing daily our bit of complexity to the world in whatever wedo. We love complexity. Simple is no brainer is what we believe.

When Reliancewants to raise funds they come out with TOCD. Triple Optionally ConvertibleDebentures. No investors would know how safe it was, when and at whatprice how many shares he will get. That's big brainer. Opposite of simplicity.

Retailers now adays offer discounts like buy 1 get 5 free. Why do they keep price of one sohigh to cover cost and margin of 6 ?? To sell quantity & fool customers.

We have our taxlaws most complex which requires highly qualified professionals to unravel theclauses and implications { we even can have multiple views and opinions}. Big brainer by our bureaucrats and source of income for professionals.Additional gift of so much complexity is litigation.

How we calculateour poverty and GDP is again a big mystery. Complicated enough so no one canunderstand and hence questions.

I recently gotcustomer charter from one or the private banks. Good that they have this butits spread over many many pages, small fonts which make it unreadable. Look at our legal agreements, exim procedures, forex procedures, internally ourcompany policies, customer policies, promotion policies, all are voluminouswork of senior professionals and lawyers. Unless it’s complicated and complexits not worth it. Smartness is in complications.

Many companiescome out with various attractive schemes for the customers but while availingsuch schemes we came across small asterisk and that leads us to complex termsand conditions. Everything around us is complex.

On many of thewebsites they put up whole lot of information but contact or mailing details wecould be find with great difficulty. Reaching them which is the most importantthing misses the attention of the designer.

I come acrossmany business plans , IMs /project reports, 70% of the pages are uselesscollection of data. We can't KISS it ( keep in simple and short ). Wejust cant. Simple job is not worth and should not be paid much. { our notionwhich promotes complexity }

However asrightly recoginsed by Mahesh Bhatt, its the simplicity that clicks ,works andnoticed. Life is otherwise very complicated so those who can make it simple bytheir action and work will be cherished and valued. Simplicity is @ premium.If u can simplify, u are indispensable & most sought after.

6 Mistakes SalesPerson MUST avoid !!!!!

2011-10-10T21:35:00.002+05:30

Sales Person invariably don't know HOW to respond to REFUSAL or NO from prospective customer. { based on my experience today with Amway trained senior professional /entrepreneur }.

Six things one should never do: { business can happen later if u avoid these glaring mistakes }

1) Do not challenge person's values and principles just to sale your idea or products ( not yr territory so respect & salute )

2) Do not try to convince by proving others and everyone else wrong ( Whole world is wrong and I am right attitudes mis-fires )

3) Do not doubt or argue by defying him on what the prospective customer is saying based on her past experience. ( loses yr trust which is critical to win d deal )

4) Learn to read the mood and undertone of the communication & do not keep only focus on sales and deal closure. ( Failing on this makes you disconnected.)

5) TRUST must remain during entire communication. If u cant make her customer, make her yr friend. ( Friends can become customers but if the trust is broken , prospective customer gone for ever)

6) Don't ever lose yr kindness, politeness, interest during conversation. ( future sales opportunities will be lost with these change of gestures )

These situations may arise during the conversation, you may feel that deal is gone and may not happen, but MUST not commit these unpardonable mistakes { not sale @ any cost but TRUST @ any cost }.

Tom Peters' views on wow of sales : Know Your Customers (Max research here) & master your soft-skills before u make a first customer call.

Steve Jobs in U too !!!!!

2011-10-09T12:25:00.000+05:30

" Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." - Steve Jobs

Of the so many quotes of Steve Jobs, according to me, the above quote is most powerful and highly inspiring.

Yes, we live only once and we mostly forget the same till we are close to the death. & how many of us will get the chance like Steve to know that d death is near!!!! While I am writing this I am also watching Discovery Channel's programme Super Structures of America. What an imagination , mammoth effort and dedication is required to create these super structures !!!! Amazing. Yes but once achieved these structures remain in the world for years to come.

Combining the two - Steve's Message & lesson from channle's programme - Bottomline is: We only live once & leaving a mark on the earth requires all d three i.e. imagination , efforts and dedication. (that to in limited time and ignoring other's opinion in what we are doing with our inner voice).

How unfortunate that we always need social proof to do something and even to know whether what we are doing right or no. Whether to listen, whom to listen and what to listen is very rarest of the skills.

Therefore two things to remember - Just do it and Making an Impact of our Action on this World.

If u are a writer - write like a Booker prize winner writer
If u are a builder- built every structures as a monument and wanting to make it to city sightseeing itinerary.
If u are an employee - first & foremost be happy & smile while dealing with customers and co workers. { mostly that is lacking } , act like a CEO of your own life as you LIVE for the self not for your employer. Live yr passion too.
If u are mother - not only love yr children but make them the finest citizen too.
If u are a father - not only earn for your family but give time and attention to your children too. Expose them to best and the worst of the realities of d world.
If u are en entrepreneur - your product and service may bot be d best in the world but be known for integrity and customer passion. Become problem solver not only seller and marketeers.
If u are an activist - obviously making an impact is yr job. { Keep self interest aside. }
If u are passionate abt something - start today to fulfill yr dreams. It may be start small and grow later but START TODAY is a MUST.
If u are a blogger - well,write immortal posts and again making a impact is innate desire. { more suggestions welcome }

I started to underline the important words in the quote above. But immediately realised, every words are important , relevant and powerful. So I highlighted the entire phrase with BOLD.

Steve Jobs gone and we all we will also go. But till the time we go, we are living. Make most of your living. You time is limited and started long back.

Share yr views, dreams and passions & what will change fro TODAY?

Steve Jobs - Life & Death - Quotes & Salute

2011-10-06T19:51:00.006+05:30

Today this Blog is completing its FIRST year. Last Dussera (English Calender 18th Oct 2010) it all begin and today happy to share that over the year there were total 113 posts, above 9200 visitors and visitors from some more than 30 countries. Thank you all of you who have visited, read my blog and even shared this blog with their friends base. Feeling of WOW !!!!

Well today I wanted to write something fascinating but wondering what to write on first anniversary !!!! However with Steve Jobs' death , I cannot think of anything else but to write about his thoughts and what people thought of him.

Tone and theme of this blog all along has remained Customer Experience and who better than Steve Jobs can define and create better customer experience. Two of his quotes are highly indicative:

“you’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards for the technology."

"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."

No one man can write Obituary of a man like him so I have decided to present all the tweets about him by some of the well known people:

Death:

President Obama described Steve: …Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it…

Mark Zuckerberg's tribute to Steve Jobs: Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. & Today, we lost one of the most influential thinkers, creators and entrepreneurs of all time.

Ratan Tata : Jobs has changed the way of life of many.

Richard Branson: RIP Steve Jobs. A truly great businessman. Inspiration to so many. A real Family man. He will be sorely missed.

Sergey Brin - (Google): (Steve's) passion for excellence is felt by anyone who has ever touched an Apple product.

Anupam Kher: Steve Job made a person like me too, feel a complete tech savvy. That was the ease of his brilliant mind. Will miss his persona. RIP.

Steven Spielberg: Steve Jobs was the greatest inventor since Thomas Edison. He put the world at our fingertips.

Sushma Swaraj : Rest in peace Mr Steve Jobs - entrepreneur and inventor par excellence!

Pritish Nandy: I think I will stick to Steve Jobs. Dassera will come again.

Sucheta Dalal: Yes, as a late convert to Apple, I think the greatest tribute to his genius would be to walk out of Windows & to a Mac World!! & we all remember Steve Jobs for his Apple inventions but he also built Pixar, one of the most original animation studios

Tom Peters: The way to honor Steve Jobs is to take your current project [today] and turn it upside down and shake it up with all your might!

Anand Mahindra: Steve, the only way I can commemorate you is by committing to cut the crap from my life&to dance to the tune of an inner voice..

Shashi Tharoor: 3 Apples changed d World, 1st one seduced Eve, 2nd fell on Newton nd d 3rd was offered to d World half bitten by Steve Jobs.

Javed Akhtar: Great are those who. Could think of what has never been done before and do what has never been thought before. Jobs was one such person.

Bill Gates: I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work.Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.

Life:

Finally his own powerful views on life ,business & death:

Death is the destination we all share. ... It clears out the old to make way for the new.

Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.

Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.

A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets.

The products suck! There’s no sex in them anymore!

The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predictament.

We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life.

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.

In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains of the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service.

Finally actionable for all of us as rightly said by Tom Peters:

The way to honor Steve Jobs is to take your current project [today] and turn it upside down and shake it up with all your might!

5 Ways to Immunise Your Business from Global Meltdown

2011-10-04T21:30:00.001+05:30

Yes, bad news r more of contagious and glorified most of the time. People have habit of glorifying things. However all of us , in governments and institutions are always working to improve the situation & therefore situation may appear to be grave but not as it made out to be:

What MY business should do to remain on tract during these crisis: Some thoughts:

1) Focus on Sales Recovery & Working Capital Management - Cash is Oxygen.

2) Focus on CUSTOMER, Customer Service, Customer Expectations, Customer's own Problems, Meet Customers Often. Customer is Revenue.

3) Do not over trade with low margins , instead roam around , develop new products and new markets, meet vendors and other business associates. They are Blue Ocean enablers.

4) Invest in technology to quicken the business processes, invest in people to make them more skillful and capable. This will help immensely when situation improves.

5) Believe it or not, use social media to become known, address customer concerns, become known as leaders by creating useful industry related content. This is social currency.

Nothing to worry in our own world. Newspapers and opinions of the so called experts are making us nervous. Fact is, no one knows anything. There are always contrarian views for everything. Lead off line of this blog says " there can be multiple views that are true on the same matter at the same time".

Therefore focus on the above 5 agenda and leave opinion makers, economists and stock markets aside. Majja-ni Life { Life is Happy & Beautiful, don't worry be happy & make others happy by our actions & words }.

6 things to KNOW about YOUR CUSTOMER (KYC)

2011-10-02T17:18:00.004+05:30

KYC = Know Your Customer - What a powerful business success phrase lost in its abbreviation. Yes, KYC has remained just identity and residential proof collection activities in Banks and in all other industries if at all they are implementing it.

Knowing customer is the MOST important success key for any business.

Do we know our customers?? If yes then we will know what are his needs,what is he doing to fulfill it, whether our offerings are matching his need and behavior, whether he can afford it, whether he likes it , whether he recommends the same?? Yes knowing CUSTOMER is one of d most critical activities of any business.

Today when we are celebrating birthday of one of the greatest leaders of world's MK Gandhi, his view of the customer is worth knowing.

"A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption of our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider of our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to do so.”

What one need to know about our CUSTOMERS:

1) Why he selects us to do business with?

2) Whether we fulfills his need as per his expectations?

3) Whether are there any sacrifices he has to do to avail our services? (i.e. expectations minus actual experience with our offerings)

4) Whether can we do something which can exceed his expectations when he visits next?

What & How it could be?

5) Whether & HOW can we pleasantly surprise him in the next encounter with our brand?

6) How can we make his life easier , more pleasant and less painful?

KYC is not equal to address proof and photo ID. Its MUSH MUCH more & deeper than that. However we only stop at stage 1. What a powerful business management phrase, missed its target completely!!!!

People who come to you for PRICE will leave u for PRICE

2011-09-30T23:27:00.000+05:30

Yes. Obvious & TRUE.

Price is the ONLY differentiation your company ofter to the customers? Think Twice about your business strategy. Today cut throat competition forces many businesses to merely compete on price. However this strategy may get u immediate business but will not take you long way in business.

Thin margin to get business is riskier than more margin but less business. Mere volume is without adequate profitability is company on steroids. High on workout and low on proteins. As with high workout muscles break down in our body & without adequate protein it cant be built , similarly with high turnover without adequate margin , business breaks down. Yes unsustainable activities without capability to invest for future sustainable activities like research and innovation or talent attraction and retention.

Secondly most critical are the differential factors that will decide the business volume other than price. What value you can design within your product. We buy branded products by paying premium. What differentiation brand offers ?? Comfort and confidence that product is of reasonable quality, customer service would be good if not outstanding, complaint would be handled professionally and with care, reasonable exchange policy and service centers.

Therefore when Price has become a major deciding factor, offering a WOW !!!! factors in your product and service design is very critical to become & remain competitive. Compete on WOW factors, there is not many players there. Brands like Apple , Virgin , Starbucks, Amazon { In India unfortunately service excellence and WOW factors are missing from product and service design ( pl share brands which matches best in the world brands in customer experience & service excellence ) } rare yet or hence sustainable. Customer will stay with these brands irrespective of price of their offerings.

Next time when you get the deal merely on the basis of price, its an ALARM, think inward and check your business strategy and product and service design. It requires IMMEDIATE attention { & action too} .

9 (old) + Three (new) Early Warning Sings of a Troubled Company

2011-09-25T15:43:00.002+05:30

Gems stated in 1 to 9 below I read about a decade ago.

The One Man Show - Does the company allow key person to grow in their jobs and make key decisions?
No Succession - Is someone being groomed to replace the president?
High Profile / Low Tech - How does company's hardware compare with that of its chief competition?
The Giant Customer Trap - Would the company survive if it lost biggest customer?
Operating on Old News - Does the company have an accurate financial snapshot of its operations on a monthly or fortnightly basis?
Touring Without Road Map - Does the company have a written business plan & its still valid?
Banking Blues - Does the company communicate with lenders regularly?
Hazardous Growth -Expanding too quickly on a non sustainable basis ?
The Change Factor - Whether company and how much company has changed during last 12 months?

This was the fact about a decade back. However MOST of these may still hold true, rapid change in economies , technology and entrepreneurial landscape, we can safely add a few more.

x) No focus on CUSTOMER. - Business Plan/Strategy defines everything else but Customer Experience company propose to offer.

y) Not engaging customers on social media (SM) platforms by providing great insights on the products and services being offered. Using SM to address customer concerns and complaints {quickly}.

z) Inability to attract Great Talent. Yes war is of TALENT. People run the business. Rest all can be improved upon if people are right. This also applies to having diversified & some what weird board members.

As we advance in the TIME we need lesser reasons to fail { even survive and succeed }. Test Check TODAY. Its all early warning signs. Be alarmed NOW or be surprised and shocked, later.

Only Sales , no after Sales , forget RETURN or Refund

2011-09-21T11:28:00.001+05:30

Zappos.com return policy is exciting - 365 days return & free both ways shipping. Neither shipping charges within the US nor shipping charges on goods u return.

Customer HAPPINESS is the FINAL agenda not getting money from customer any how & then let the customer go to hell, we will not listen.

Justdial.com , brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. Their sales people sales the plan for 1 year and indicate that in case intermittent termination just write to us and we will do the needful. (Mis-sell to fulfill their targets)

However actual picture is quite different. They will hardly respond to your complaints, neither they cancel or stop EMIs if the customer is not happy. They want to complete the contract period any how irrespective of customer happiness or satisfaction.

Wording they use: "However, as per the contract signed by you, we will not be able to hamper the tenure of the contract before the stated contract period; however we will always provide services to you for enhancing your business profoundly. Hence we will be unable to discontinue the ECS."

{ I visited the net to find customer stories with Just Dial and found the link http://www.consumercomplaints.in/bycompany/just-dial-a30775.html }

They are ready to whatever but not refund of money of discontinue of ECS. Pity. Hope Mr. Amitabh Bachchan or rather some customer champions could have been used to change the company culture instead of promoting uncultured (i.e. no customer centric) brand.

I fail to understand why companies want to earn at the cost of customer unhappiness?? When a person becomes a customer , there are certain expectations. No one will waste his or companies' time to buy and then return or discontinue without a reason. Unfortunately most companies became less interested in customer once the goods and services are sold and even least interested when customer have a complaint or want refund on return of goods.

Companies invest huge amount on brand ambassadors but hardly any time or investments on actual brand experience creation or culture change.

However SOCIAL MEDIA will change this mindset of the companies. Companies MUST learn this proactively or else brand value is at stake (Huge and Quick).

Awaken to the Realities of your Balance Sheet

2011-09-18T13:29:00.000+05:30

Earlier I wrote about Importance of Profit Vis a Vis Cash-flow. Yes Cash-flow is necessary but not sufficient. However Cash-flow is infact NECESSARY.

I recently came in touch with a company with an EPS of Rs.100 plus. Yes they have earned huge profit on their equity but they have defaulted on loan repayment consistently for last 6 months.

Reason: Profit Earned but not en-cashed. Investors usually goes by EPS and PE etc ratios for deciding about investments. How erroneous it cud be???

On the other side entrepreneurs mostly do not feel the realities of the business performance as long as cash flow is flowing in. Test Check - Just remove potential bad debts , dead stock & dead investments from the Net-worth and see the result. Is the Net-worth is still positive , thank GOD. I mean it. Most entrepreneurs ignore these facts or even do not know this realities as long as they have cash to take care of their own needs.

Therefore Profit & Cash-flow both MUST go hand in hand and must be closely watched by the entrepreneurs to remain in business for longer. Any one missing or ignored will KILL the business sooner than expected.

Weak Cashflow will KILL quicker , weak Profit in the long run.

Awaken to the realities of your Balance Sheet { Today }.

How to Guide for Real Estate Companies

2011-09-12T18:46:00.001+05:30

This week I am releasing my first WHITE PAPER on How to Create WOW !!!!! Customer Experience in Real Estate Industry.

Its about :

1) What is Customer Experience?

2) Why Real Estate?

3) Deterrents to WOW !!!

4) Compulsions to WOW !!!

5) Advantage of the Initiatives

6) Howto Action these initiatives

The same can be found at How to Guide for Real Estate Companies to Create WOW!!!! Customer Experience.

Njoy and share your feedback.

Vacancy for Anna Hajare for Corporate Cleansing. Any One?

2011-09-05T19:43:00.005+05:30

Based on the principles of Swami Vivekanand "Yuva" Programme on CNN IBN last Sunday was highly inspiring. It shows how people from different walks of life { educated & can get high paying corporate jobs } devote their life for the betterment of the needy. Be it poor, women or children. Scope for doing good is immense & these people r actually doing it.

Movement by Mr. Anna Hajare and its team Dr Kiran Bedi and Mr Arvind Kejriwal is another chapter of people involved in mass movement of general public good. Selfless is the key word. Dr Bedi's dynamic public life is known to everyone. Mr. Kejriwal is IIT Grad and did his IRS also. He could have enjoyed like most our corrupt bureaucrats life of power and money. However he refused to be part of rotten system and choose to become change agent. Many may not be aware that he was awarded Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006, for activating India's Right to Information movement at grassroots and social activities to empower the poorest citizens to fight corruption by holding the government answerable to the people.

All of us are in some or many points in life encounter a situation where we need to indulge in corrupt practice either for getting things done or getting out of the turn favour. As a professional we also get tempted to fudge our company accounts, evade taxes, declare wrong statements with authorities, claim wrong tax benefits, sign audit report which are not true and fair and on top of this claim to be a smart breeds of all. Ability and capacity to do wrong has become our key strength.

We have lost capacity to think that someone without any selfish motive can do some good work for others. Our business models even in social space have become questionable.No mission and vision statement talks abt way of doing business. I have verified Vision Statements of some of the top Indian corporates. Ethics and values find place in hardly few of these statements.

Corruption at high places are two way game. One demanding and one offering. Indian money at Swiss Bank are of these people. Anna's team is taking care of the first one. We need someone to take care of 2nd side. {corporates shy away in publicly supporting anti corruption movement courtesy: they are either part of it or afraid to become victim of govt's witch hunt like Kejriwal ,Dr Bedi and Bhushans. No courage left as personal stakes are high. }

Next movement should be about Ethical Corporate and business behaviors. Annual report MUST have statement by none other than CMD that company has not indulged in corrupt and unethical practices in achieving these results. It must be applicable to all companies across the board at one go unlike IFRS and XRBL where implementation is stage wise.

Who will take up the role of Mr. Anna Hajare for corporate and business cleansing? { Even ICAI has failed miserably in controlling ethical behaviors of their members. However its about personal values and integrity towards the self conscious and institute can not manage the same beyond a point. }

Michhami Dukkadam

2011-09-02T11:10:00.002+05:30

As human beings, we know that we are not perfect therefore we do from time to time say things that hurt people's feelings.

It is sometimes hard in the circumstances to either seek reconciliation or ask for forgiveness, as we do not consider ourselves to be in the wrong. It's our dreaded pride that gets in the way and can thus influence our judgment.

So the greatest essence of this auspicious occasion is to do some soul searching and show our greatness in asking gracefully for forgiveness for any hurt, however large or small, that we might have inflicted on others either consciously or unconsciously.

So on this auspicious occasion of Samvatsari, we beg your forgiveness for all the pain we might have inflicted on you by words, deeds or thoughts during the entire year.

Anna Movement & Lessons for All Institutions (incl Business Enterprises)

2011-08-28T12:48:00.002+05:30

Governance is a MAJOR cause of CONCERN across the world and across the institutions. Be it Parliament, Political Parties, NGOs , Companies, Cooperative Societies, and even housing society s'.

Over the period of time all these institutions forget for whose benefits are they suppose to work. Management of this institutions becomes self focused and start working in their self interest. Leaving aside the real expected beneficiary of their existence as per their governing CHARTER.

Therefore it is very essential to have ANNA in every such institutions to make them aware about their role (On a continues basis) and keep them on track.

We need truly Independent Directors not only on the board of listed companies but also on the board of all other Public Institutions and Govt Funded NGOs. Today the way SEBI guideline n Independent Directions are being practiced is nothing more than a FARCE. Hardly a handful of companies have implemented this in spirit.

Like our political Class who have lost face with people they represent , business enterprises have lost face with their CUSTOMERs, for/because of whom they exist. URGENT and extreme steps are required to bring customers in focus.

Anna have awakened not only people and politicians of the country , it also MUST awaken all across the institutions about their Governance Standards. Its in the interest of these institutions as competition will drive U out of business when focus is lost and governance is at its nadir.

Appoint one true ANNA on your board and listen to him also. Yes its in the interest of every enterprise. Why do we have only 1 company known for their governance and hence for performance also? Its time for others to raise their bar on governance and customer focus.

Great Content is Greater Business Enabler

2011-08-26T18:08:00.001+05:30

Great Content is Greater Business Enabler.

Yes people are interested to great insights. They are interested in solving their problems. They deal with companies { be it product or service } to solve their life problems or get rid of their life problems.

All of us who are on the other side of offering great products or services MUST know this. MUST know Why we are offering WHAT we are offering. All of US are solution provider, transaction of sale is JUST a means to the solution. Ultimate objective of the CONSUMERs of solving problem MUST fructify with our offerings.

If require we MUST go out of the way { its never out of the way if U have solution mindset } & enable solution by supporting CONSUMERs with extra efforts over and above selling and offering our MENU of a services.

- If you are a group buying site - Provide Content on Why U buy what u buy, various product variations and its implications , suitability of products for the buyers, what to take care if buying from retail store,how to use the products, how to maintain etc. (Groupon.com is hugely successful mainly due to powerful content creation)

- If you are a Real Estate company - Provide content on home buying precaution, how to manage the asset, how to form various interest groups in the society, Hoe to celebrate public festivals , how to maintain the flat and society etc.

- If you are in restaurant business - Provide content on what to eat, when to eat , how to eat, ow even to cook at home, culinary science etc

- If you are a Dentist - Provide content on maintenance of healthy gum/teeth, what to eat and what not, how to avoid dental decay, what to know before any treatment etc

- If you are into Hospital Business - Provide content on preventive health, fitness regime, diet and food, precaution before any treatments at {any} hospitals, regular maintenance and health check up tips, how to buy medical insurance etc etc.

- If you are a Bank - Money Management, investment avenues and risk associated, wealth planning, will and various loans and its nuances, how to get better ratings, how to avoid CIBIL reporting and remove names from CIBIL, financial discipline, your family and your finances etc etc.

- If you are a Travel Tour Company - Where to go, how to go, what to take care, when to go, what to carry, real life experiences of other travelers, How to enjoy the journey, how to plan for journey of your own, where to stay, what to see en-route etc etc.

Likewise any and every industry can create powerful supportive and holistic content for the customers. Helping them 100% should be the motive. It may mean less focus on marketing efforts and more focus on reaching out to help genuinely in solving customer problems.

Going beyond the MENU into the shoes of COSTUMERs. Its easy if you sit other-side of the table & think and plan but difficult if you are obsessed with your products and offering.

4 Lessons Entrepreneurs can learn from battle - Anna Hajare Vs Govt

2011-08-17T20:22:00.002+05:30

Law , lawyers & professionals cannot handle emotional situations. Its great LEADERs who can handle such a situation.

Congress has best of lawyers like P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibbal , new but more than aggressive Manish Tiwari , AM Singhvi and S Khushid and learned professional PM. Though the way they are handling the situation , we can learn a thing or two from their blunders.

- When U can peacefully agree & have your way, don't make it an EGO issue. { What is the harm in presenting both drafts to the Parliament , when ultimately it will be decided by MPs only.}

- Don't remain so lethargic in solving burning problems so that wisdom is replaced by thoughtless immediate solution when water goes beyond the head. ( In Japanese there is a word KEIRETSU which means action when age of the problem is ZERO, but we act when problem is ripe and ready to become much bigger , They even could have invited opposition members in drafting committee which they did not do. }

- Tact can handle the situation better than legal way. { people management in the organization - some lessons!!! }

- Have wisdom to Foresee implications of present problems & actions to solve the same. { Anti Congress waves across the nation for their way of handling the situations }

Stakeholders' sentiments do matter ( Suppliers, customers, people (staff) and shareholders ) and ignoring the same can prove fatal in the long run.