Tomorrow’s customer

"Why is my burger small?"

Today was the last day of exam and as I picked up my daughter from her school I decided to give her a treat. So we walked across to Burgerman tantalizingly positioned across the street. And for whatever reason both my daughters believe that the road side vendor is much better than the burgers dished out by the well oiled machinery and the best potatoes etc etc by Mcdonalds.

So as I waited for the Hotdog (that’s what they wanted) to get ready, I casually asked the cost and was quite shocked to hear Rs 45/- for a tiny sizy hot dog. Obviously my mind did the maths that I can make 3 hotdogs in that cost.

My daughter was peering to see how the hot dog made and I could literally see her saliva drooping. Well something else popped out” Why is the burger so small, it used to be much bigger, even the sausages are so small. Why have you reduced the size at the same cost?” Cute smile and she waited for the answer..

Well obviously – he did not have an answer. She added “You do not give extra satchets also”. He had a rational answer for that. “No we add all the ingredients here & bake it”. I obviosly said “Bullshit” in my mind. Paid the money and had a 10 mnt discussion on how the size got reduced, was this cheating, can we complaint somewhere….and so on and so forth.

I reflected on this as me and my wife shared a hotdog. First, I was amazed at the “intensity of observation”. I mean when I eat a burger I eat…size does not even figure in my mind. Second – the expectation and stating the dis satisfaction upfront. She is 12 yrs old …imagine when she is 20 – by the time we would have reached home this would have been over all possible network….Phew!

Loyalty in FMCG world…

I read the article in Economic Times with great interest (jpeg enclosed). Loyalty is a term associated with Airlines, Hotels, Banks and yes now in retail – which I have been championing for last 8 yrs or so. But some one in HUL i.e. FMCG talking about loyalty & customer experience created a lot of interest in my mind.

I have sold soaps to the kirana shops in Rajasthan as an Area Manager and I know that end of the day it all came down to one thing – how much you could sell to the retail outlets. Which was dependent on dealers discounts. And the way we pushed retailers to do that was to have very attractive schemes and give them lot of stocks. Building Loyalty ? No, Maybe lot of business sense for the kirana shop owner because the big brands will not offer that. So, while they focused on building brands we focused more on building relationships with a business sense.

For last 1 year or so I kept reading about HUL’s wave of customer experience. How they created stores in their campus where they have to experience the product and how senior management travel to different villages and talk to customers and get the real insight etc etc. It’s not surprising – with so so many channels from where a customer can buy she is spoilt for choices and hence a bit confused. Till the modern retailers invaded the market & the internet boom caught us off guard, this confusion was limited to the TV screen when she saw the advertisement.

Now it’s not only about the insight on why she should buy the product but it is also about the last mile in terms of buying and in terms of usage. It’s also about the information which the customer is processing from advertisements, blogs, twittter messages, displays at the counter, word of mouth, bad experience before she decides to buy that toothpaste worth 10/-.

I am sure somebody is working on the customer lifetime value of Ruchi and working on predicting her next purchase. 

Amazon n customer centricity

I am a big fan of Amazon, especially because I experienced .com boom and bust in 2000 personally. When I started “galleryindia – an e-commerce website to sell miniature painting online” in 2000 (does not exist now). Amazon was not really the benchmark but we kept reading about Jeff Bezos. He was sort of an idol you look up to & some irrational thought tells you he is going to do it. Well we went bust in exactly 1 year but Amazon survived all those years and is now a 35 billion ecommerce company.

On top is a jpeg of an article which came in Fortune which tells you in a snapshot of what Amazon is today & how it keeps changing the rules of the game. Example: Amazon sells 3 times as many e-books as hardcovers.

But best part of what I like is it’s customer centricity approach (more on it on another blog). Most of us in the industry look up to “Nordstorm” for their customer service. But guess what in a recent National Retail Federation Survey “Amazon’s” customer service ranked higher than any other retailer. Nordstorm was at no 9.

Last night as I was googling to prepare for a presentation I stumbled upon this video which tracks the story of how Amazon started in a small garage and how technology / RnD plays a key role in making Amazon what it is today. And it’s straight from the person who made history. Jeff Bezos

It’s a long video but then customer centricity is a long journey. Enjoy!

http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/1

Sunil Shop starts charging VAT

I stay in a gated complex which has a one room grocery shop which stocks from basic – rice / aata to dog food to some stuff which even I cannot pronounce but because it is very popular with the IT folks he complies. He gives us 30 day credit, never screams if we delay by 10 odd days and would send you a nimbu (lemon) costing 2 bucks to your home at night 9pm. To manage home delivery he has 3 to 4 kids who run up and down throughout the day to service around 500 apartment.

Today (late as usual) when I was paying last month’s bill. I saw a black n white print out – Rs 2/- for delivery less than 100/-. I asked him “What happened? Why change in policy? (Not exactly the word policy).” He said there are people who will order 4 times in an hour and order 4 different things. He was fed up of these lazy, indecisive, whimsical……”. I am being polite since I am in a public place.

As I walked back with my shopping bag, I reflected on the same. It is a fact – we have become what he mentioned – lazy, indecisive, whimsical. We go to a mall and spend thousands without batting an eye lid rationalizing every single choice as if the sail will not return again and you cannot find that black t shirt anywhere else…but who has the time to come back again and go through the whole range of t’s.

Is it because we have too many choices or is it because of our illusionary view that we can buy what we want and get what we want or is it a much rooted desire to spend / exercise our choice / experiment which we could not do when we were child or growing up.

I honestly do not know but I learnt 2 lessons today.

One from a customer experience perspective “Do not expect that your neighborhood store will fall head over heels to serve you, he does not believe that he exists because of you, actually it’s the other way round. If I have forgot to pick up the fruits he is doing a favour by serving you the same and earning his money. At any point he can charge his style of VAT.”

Second, “I do not want my daughters to be lazy, so next time we as a family want to have an ice cream we will go down, pick up what we want walk around the park for 15/20 minutes, chit chat and come back home”.

Thanks Sunil, your value added tax has added some invaluable moments in my life.

Buying online from an unknown website…..

I am a big fan of Amazon but have never bought from them. I am a registered member for last 10 yrs and I bought 3 or 4 books on CRM around 5 years back. At that time they did not deliver the books to India so a friend of mine got it for me. I am also a regular buyer (once/twice a yr) from in Indiaplaza.com. I buy books, DVD’s gift chocolates / flowers to my parents. The first purchase must have been almost a decade back in its avatar as fabmall.  Recently I was reading a lot about flipkart and had a look off and on but never had a real need to buy. I also book all my travel tickets / hotels online. So that’s my online profile so to say.

3 weeks back I wanted to buy 1 book on analytics and one on loyalty. The analytics book was not available in the stores I went to. So did a quick search online “buy books name”. While the loyalty book was available in rediff & flipkart the analytics book was available only on infibeam.com and they had the best discount. Since I was in a rush I said “What the heck ? Let me just buy it.

After selecting the books I went to payment option and tried to pay using my HDFC Card, after 3 attempts got a message the payment gateway is down or something of that sort. I was quite let down, since the analytics book was not available anywhere I clicked the “Cash on Delivery” option and clicked ok. Like it happens in all websites – I got a message with a code but no e-mail. I was so used to the process that I logged into my gmail as a reflex action. When I didn’t get the mail even after I refreshed a few times my first reaction was “Forget it, it’s just one of those websites and forgot all about it.”

1 day later – I saw an incoming call from an unknown number. Generally I do not pick up these calls but for some reason I picked up. And there was Ms Unknown in English with a Hindi touch from the website confirming the address / money etc. We are so used to the clean / propah English with a closing line and opening greeting that it was a roll back to the initial days of DSA calls. I was quite happy that I will finally get the book I want (how does it really matter how she speaks..)But I still had a nagging feeling which sort of prepared me from a possible mishap.

So I literally set a reminder, carried the money and since I would be in a meeting throughout the day, I instructed the receptionist that somebody will come with the books so ask him to call & yes I took all calls from unknown number till I heard the voice I wanted to. Yes, Mr. courier guy called exactly at lunch when I was taking my first bite. This time pukka hindi “Sir I got your books, but there is a problem I have to take a U turn to come to your office, can u please come to the main gate. I will park my bike on the other side and come to your gate & yes I am wearing a black shirt.” I tried to argue with rasam & rice in my mouth…but I gave up.

Rushed down identified my black shirt fellow who was happily listening to songs and had a brown wrapped packet in hand. No cover. No plastic just one sheet of corrugated paper. Looking at the bill I realized he got one book. Argued with him there were 2 books but he had no clue. Bu that time I had lost it…So without literally saying FO, I said wait her let me check the bill and come back. “No sir, my bike will get towed off etc.” I said “Your choice.” He decided to stay. I rushed, checked the amount, came back and paid the money and got my book. Phew!!! Yes that was my expression before I rushed into one more meeting

Next day I was in Hyderabad. I got a call from a blue dart person; I gave my colleagues name and name. He paid on my behalf and collected.

Will I go back to the website “No while the online experience was ok but the offline experience sucks”. Will I stick to “Indiaplaza” – Not sure, but I got a sms saying I can save 100/- if I but any book for 500/- & I have been waiting for the paperback version of River of Smoke – so I will definitely give it a shot. Flipkart – Yup’s in my consideration set.

But what will make or break the deal….Best Offer, dumbo. Yes based on my current experience I will never pay using my card on an unknown site but I am ok with someone like “Fashion n U” because at least 3 of my colleagues have bought from them and they have received delicate stuff like watches / perfume in perfect condition.

I know we spend huge amount of money in usability (read online experience) etc and of course they will be able measure – time spent etc etc. But is anybody measuring the offline experience because that’s the last mile and your next order is a function of the positive word of mouth you will generate – offline or online.

Beyond the swoosh..

The first Nike I bought was 10 yrs back.  We were trudging up the mall road in Shimla when my 3 yr old Woodland shoes (which i loved) gave away. Those were early days for brand showrooms so I picked up a decent prized Nike which also looked and fitted well. Although at that point the most important thing was to enclose my freezing feet into something warm. The shoes lasted for 3 yrs or maybe more… till the time the indian mochi could not repair it any long. I bid a fond farewell and picked up a Rebock because it was much cheaper and I got it a good discount…but I still desired for a Nike.

So few months back when I did the rounds of Nike, Rebock, Puma, Bata and few other brands like FILA. Nike was still on the desire list. But the ones I liked was too damn expensive and there was no way I was going to pay 6k+ for a Nike shoe even if it feels like walking on the moon. I waited for a month the sale mania hit the stores and walked into Nike showroom once again thinking I will pick up something nice at a reasonable price.

The sales executive in the showroom was really good and I must give credit to that. I had never heard (or knew) that so much science goes behind making a shoe. Good thing was, he just did not talk, side by side he kept showing different models explaining the benefits of the same. He tried his best to sell me a shoe in the range of 5k but with the glares I got from “you know who“. I decided to go ahead with the cheapest one but both of us really liked. So I was a proud owner of a Nike and I felt good about it.

3  month down the line after several round of jogging, trip to HK, disney etc, the shine was the shoe was off and it looked like any other Nike shoe – roughed up. I like it that way too, the new shiney shoe especially sports shoe does not look normal. But one day suddenly I saw part of the soul (from the side) one layer coming out. I was shocked in my mind Nike would last for 2/3 years. That has been my experience till date.

Didn’t have the time and patience to drive down to the store and show the shoes. Got it fixed at the local mochi and “Just did it!”

I do not know when I will buy my next sports shoes & if I will buy a Nike or not, but this experience will remain and come back with great force every time I cross Nike store, see a Nike TVC and get overawed by it or read a Nike case study. And of course will talk about it to someone who is buying a NIKE.

Apple ipad2

I have 1000+ unopened mails in my inbox (gmail), but this one mail I had to open. Whether I buy it next month, whether it works in India 3g, does it have a camera, how will it compete it with others, did Jobs give the key note…..The power of IPAD, it’s publicity, the sexiness of brand, the veil of health issue which Jobs and hence Apple’s future. Reams and reams of press coverage on tablet pc since I Pad got launched

All that leads to that one moment of truth when – “inspite of the fact that i am travelling from tomorrow and had a job list running into pages, 10 mails popping in outlook inbox (in 7 mnts), 4 missed calls……..Nothing mattered – I had to look at the key note, the sexy new ipad 2 NOW!!!!! Not in the evening, not after my meeting, not after I finish that presentation I have to make. Now means NOW!

I also know the first thing I will do when I reach Hong Kong on sunday and walk into “Chunking Mansion” is ask for the “IPAD 2″.