• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• Smartbuy

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Bindu D. Menon

New Delhi, June 11 Durable majors are all set to tweak their after-sales services to ensure repeat customers. While some are introducing new time-bound concepts, others are using the internet or toll free numbers to enhance the consumer experience.

Currently, it is estimated that Indian companies spent less than two per cent of their revenues on after-sales services which is notches below the global average of five per cent.

While LG has come up with a concept of ‘211’ to tackle its after-sales services issues, Haier and Samsung have online call registration system. Even durable retailers such as Vivek’s Ltd, Reliance Digital and Croma are aggressively looking into the after-sales business.

Says Mr Pranay Dhabhai, COO and Whole Time Director, Haier Appliances India, “It is a known fact that if you increase your customer retention by five per cent, you can increase your profits 25 per cent to 100 per cent.”

Besides a 24X7 call centre to take on service requirements, Haier’s replacement policy extends even after the expiry of the warranty period.

This apart, its service centres are encouraged to ensure 100 per cent customer satisfaction, he said, adding that Haier at present has a 132-strong franchisee network across the country.

According to Mr V. Ramachandran, Director (Sales and Marketing), LG India, while product quality has improved over the last few years, after-sales services levels are still a far cry from the global standards.

Not surprising that the size of the unorganised after-sales services in India is estimated at Rs 30,000 crore.

“Our latest ‘211’ initiative is a step towards fulfilling the customer’s after-sales needs. Within two hours of calling the number, the call centre will depute someone to attend to the complaint.

“The runtime of the problem will be 24 hours and the product will be delivered to the customer after maintenance within a day,” he said, adding that significant investments have been made into IT related infrastructure.

While some companies have in-house service facility, most companies outsource the service network.

Korean durables major Samsung India too, has an e-based service helpline. Samsung, in fact, was the first to introduce service on wheels and pagers for service engineers.

“The nine Samsung service plazas and over 600 authorised service centres also work towards inching close to the consumer,” Mr R. Zutshi, Deputy Managing Director, Samsung India, said.

Durables companies are also linking up their service network chain in semi-urban and rural areas where unavailability of replacements is a major cause of customer dissatisfaction.

Multi-brand retailer Vivek’s Ltd is addressing the problem by having a service centre that caters to 31 leading brands.

“We have 42 product categories, from toasters to refrigerators, and handle as many as 1,200 calls a day. Since after-sales is a highly unorganised business, we opened a service widow to become a one-stop solution for the customer,” Mr B.A. Kodandaram Setty, the company’s Chairman and Managing Director, said.

More Stories on : Customer Relationship Management | Consumer Electronics

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Western Union to maintain rural focus

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line