The Hindu Business Line : ‘Customer getting central to innovation’

Hyderabad, Aug. 24 Customer interaction management is undergoing a paradigm shift, with enterprises making customer central to their innovation, according to management guru Dr Mrityunjay B. Athreya.

The Indian market is witness to phenomenal growth in the areas of telecom where it is adding about 6-7 million customers a month and on course to expanding this to about 500 million by 2010.

Indian enterprises are investing significantly for building capacities and this can be gauged from the fact that Reliance Industries alone has announced plans to invest over Rs 100,000 crore in five years.

Kerala has three airports run by private parties and all of them are profitable, all these indicate rapid changes.

Addressing Custommerce 2007, Dr Athreya, mentor for the movement, said that the initiative was all about taking commerce to the next level, where unlike the traditional business approach the focus is on customers, their sensitivity and feedback to innovate for better service.

Quoting a study, Dr Athreya said that 74 per cent of customers leave not because of price or product but due to poor service; 97 per cent of customers are unhappy with inconsistent service across different contact channels; 64 per cent switch service provider at least once a year and 92 per cent form their opinion about an organisation based on interaction.

These only illustrate how enhanced customer interaction was important for enterprises of current day world where business models are constantly changing. India accounts for barely one fourth of China’s exports. But lately it is felt that one need not export, since there are new models that are going beyond boundaries, setting up plants or making acquisitions.

Acquisitions of Wipro of Infocrossings and Corus by Tata Steel are illustrative of this trend.

Speaking about the Custommerce movement, Dr Athreya said: “These are early days and we need to expand its reach and relevance. It would be appropriate not to make it a bureaucratic set-up. Instead, the best way would be by creating a virtual platform for membership and interaction.”

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