Customer Care: treat your customers with care

Customer Care is a term we often keep hearing. Whether it is India or a Western Country, the Customer is the one who is treated as God by all the manufacturers and service providers. But wait! There is a difference in reality when it comes to Customer Care. In Western Countries, the after sales service is an inherent part of a business transaction. Companies take it seriously and if the product or service doesn’t live up to one’s expectations, they are willing to replace or rectify it. When it comes to India, it is the other way round. The job of a manufacturer or service provider ends the moment the customer gets possession of the product. After that, if there is any defect in the product or service the customer has to use all his means to convince the seller to either replace it or rectify it.

When Customer is treated as a Real King

The moment you enter a shop you will receive a lot of attention from the salesperson. If you have gone to buy an Air Conditioner or a Refrigerator in Vijay sales, Reliance Digital, Croma or any other company showroom, there will be at least 2- 3 men in uniform vying for your attention. They will ask about your budget and the kind of features you are looking for. If you tell them that you have come only for a survey, they will convince you to take the decision then and there only. The bait can be an Interest-free EMI or a fabulous discount. On expressing budgetary constraints, they will offer you part cash and part credit card payment offer. Bundled with it, will be a promise of excellent after sales service and 24 hours Customer Care service.

You finally take a decision to buy

The salesperson is successful in his endeavor and convinces you to buy an AC or a Refrigerator or a TV. You are also happy that you could finally buy a product full of features as per your need, and one which came in your budget. Also, you have bought an extended warranty by paying a nominal amount and the Customer Care department of the company will tackle any after sales service.

Nightmare starts

The nightmare for you starts when within a month when the product starts malfunctioning. You curse your stars and consider yourself unlucky. Do you question yourself as to why it always happens to you?  It is because India is still a country where Quality Control is only on paper. Spouse starts the blame game as she was not in favour of this particular brand.

You decide that you will call the Customer Care number the very next morning. The bigger the product, the more harrowing time you face. So, if it is a shirt which loses colour after the first wash, replacing it is easy but in case it is a car which is giving you starting trouble, replacement is virtually impossible . A car can only be repaired. It’s a separate issue that your car, worth Rs 10 lakh, is getting repaired within a month of buying.

The Customer Care Number starting with 1800

In India People are quite familiar with a couple of numbers like Dial 100 for Police, Dial 101 for Fire and Dial 102 for Ambulance. There is a new addition called Dial 1800 + for Customer Care.

You try calling the showroom but find out that all the warmth of the salesperson has evaporated. The same salesperson  gives you a very curt reply that you need to call the Customer Care number given at the back side of warranty card. This frightening number starts with 1800. You know it is a call center and somebody sitting in a remote town of Maharashtra will try to address your complaint. After being guided by the Interactive Voice Response and pressing your cell-phone keys 3-4 times, you are able to reach a real-time human voice. The call center girl listens to your complaint and the only solution she gives you is a customer complaint number.

The Ordeal begins

You wait for a couple of days to hear from the company but nothing happens. Frustrated, you call and blast the call center employee and ask for a refund. This time things start moving and immediately you are flooded with calls and sms from the customer care service department. Please note the mathematical formula:

Response to your complaint α to the number of calls you make to Customer Care

(α – Directly proportional)

So the more calls you make the faster your complaint will be attended to.

Why Customer Care is low on priority for Companies?

Sell it! Realize it! Forget it!

Most companies think that the moment a sales is over, their job is over as the product is out of the inventory and money has been received. They don’t realise that after sales service is also a part of the deal. The consumer buys a product as it comes packaged with a warranty. If he has bought a new AC which starts malfunctioning within the first month, the company should either replace it immediately or try to get it fixed within a short notice. The customer should not be allowed to go through the entire rigmarole of lodging a complaint on a Customer Care Call center number which finally gets attended after numerous reminders in a week’s time. Every company should fix a target of attending a customer complaint within 24-48 hours.

Companies have to decide whether they want to make the customer Happy or Hapless

Companies fail to understand that this is the beginning of a new relationship. A Happy Customer is a customer for always. He is a potential buyer of other product offerings from the same company. So if a customer has bought a Food processor of an “X” brand, he is a potential buyer of a Washing Machine and a Refrigerator of the same company in the future.

Dhoni and Kohli are paid Brand Ambassadors while Customer comes free

Happy Customer also becomes your brand Ambassador and speaks highly of you within his social circle. Service him properly. Attend to his complaint promptly and he will recommend you strongly. This word of mouth promotion is one of the strongest forms of creating awareness.

Companies will survive only if they can make the Consumer smile

There are companies who carry a hangover of success and think they are eternal. They start exploiting the consumers in a big way. When Jet Airways was flying at its peak, it started charging fees for booking a window or an aisle seat. The complimentary meal was only for namesake. This was not what Jet stood for. It was a full-service Airline unlike Low-cost Airlines like Indigo or Spice jet. Passengers expected a much better service. Finally, what happened of Jet – everybody knows.

How to raise noise so that the Customer Care attends to your complaint?

A simple advice:

Use Social Media

1.Use Twitter to escalate your complaint. Log onto the #company name and put your complain. Every company has a twitter account. There are teams managing the social media handle of the company. Companies are scared of earning a bad name on social media. They will immediately reply to your grievance and ask you to DM the details. But you need to have an account on Twitter for this.

2.Try to get an email id and send a written complain. Normally all these emails are supposed to go to customercare@xyzcompanymail id. But if you can manage an email id of one of the top bosses of the company mark a cc to them. It will have a much better impact.

3.In case the company doesn’t respond to your complaints within a given time frame, start insisting on a refund. This scares them the most.

You can read similar kind of posts on my blog. Click on the link below:

Customer Delight: Bringing smile on your customers face

The Biometric Attendance: A Boon or a Bane