Last week I went to IIT-Madras to arrange a talk about customer-centricity to the students. The campus is very different today, compared to the days when I studied there. It has many eateries and hang-outs such as Café Coffee Day. Much against my teenage daughter's advice, I mobilised the courage to walk into Coffee Day. I ordered a puff. It was served with a sachet of ketchup. I seriously wondered how to open the sachet and apply a layer of ketchup on the puff without spilling it on my shirt. I thought it would be indecent to use my teeth to open the sachet. I requested the waiter to open the sachet with a pair of scissors and give it to me. I was taken aback when the waiter refused to open the sachet for me. In fact, he gave me tips on how to open the sachet using my teeth. He also said that all his customers did the same thing. I did not make a big fuss and used the proven tool, my teeth, to open the sachet. While getting out of Coffee Day, I knew there was a lot of work for our foundation. I was wondering how to make Indian companies customer-centric?

In this episode, I felt that two companies could have been customer-centric.

First, the sachet could have been made user-friendly. I have seen abroad that most of the sachets come with a small cut from which it can be opened easily. That was missing here even though it was a leading brand of ketchup. The sachet was made with a thick layer of plastic film and was difficult to open. I wonder what women do with their delicate hands, and who may not want to smudge their lipstick with ketchup! Today various brands of hair-oil, toothpaste and Fevicol come with a tapered mouth (like in toothpaste) even in small packs which are easy to apply. In fact, these small improvements open new avenues of business. I always buy the small pack of toothpaste and Brylcreem for business travel. In fact, I had to shift to Brylcreem from the time-tested coconut oil only because it wouldn't spill in my suitcase and it does not freeze in the North Indian winter. It is not for me to suggest a solution but to highlight that the product should be made user-friendly. Was it Kissan ketchup which refused to come out of the bottle? Maggi sauce is not only free-flowing, it also moves faster from store shelves. I wonder whether the ketchup company product manager ever tried to use his or her product in a restaurant setting wearing a white shirt?

Second, Café Coffee Day being a large chain, it should train its staff in customer service. Helping to open the sachet is like opening the mineral water bottle or soda in a restaurant. Maybe all the waiters can carry a pair of scissors. The Japanese have improved their products by making a lot of small improvements over a period of time. Maybe this can be a starting point in improving customer service.

What is being customer-centric?

Placing the customer at the centre of a company's effort.

The ability of everyone in the company to continuously learn from their customers and to respond appropriately from what they learn.

Shift from pushing products to delivering genuine value to the customer and the company.

Shift in mindset from selling products to solving problems.

To be customer-centric, a company needs to watch and listen to its customers with intent. This is particularly important at the point of customer interface. The front-end staff should be trained to keep their eyes and ears open. There is scope for immense learning as well as a company can pick up useful, implementable ideas and improvements.

I have been a loyal customer of Raymond's for many years. Last time when I went to the store, a young salesgirl showed me socks with a Lycra sticker on them. I asked her what Lycra was and its benefit to me. The sales staff did not know. She showed me another garment which had the label Dobby. Again, the staff did not know what Dobby was. It is essential that the front-end staff have adequate knowledge about the store's products as well as that of their competitors. Only then will they be able to answer the customer's queries. This product knowledge also gives a lot of confidence and reassurance to the customers. The knowledge could be on how to apply foundation make-up or how to download e-mail in the Nokia E-series phones or which shoe is right for playing tennis.

Many years ago, when Wills entered the garments business, it advertised and sold trousers in sizes with single-step increments unlike what most of the industry practices, in two-step increments. It was a good customer-centric move. I went and bought a few trousers with a perfect fit. I did not mind paying a little extra as I had earlier wasted money on buying three trousers that were either tight or loose. However, they seem to have stopped this later. Of course, this adds to enormous production and inventory complications. Smart companies manage this delicate balance, very often by using technology.

It's never too late to become customer-centric. One way of doing this would be to tell all your company staff to report to the customers from tomorrow!

The writer is CEO of Custommerce Service Excellence Foundation, a non-profit foundation striving to make Indian companies and India customer-centric. The views expressed here are personal.

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