What could be the height of customer
service – this question was answered by a former Managing Director of LIC of
India during an informal gathering – and he had described it as a hypothetical
episode:
“A customer walks into the LIC office,
a multi storey building in south Mumbai, gets his life insured, climbs up to
the top, and takes a jump from top which would definitely result into his
death. While he is falling down, an LIC official extends his hand out of the
window and presses a cheque for his claim settlement, so that the claim is in
already in his hand when he is hits the ground and is discovered dead.”
Howsoever macabre the narration may feel,
the reality of expectations both from the point of customer and
customer-service personnel is captured realistically.
Marketing chases growth through a
combination of four basic approaches –
(1) expand the possibility for
consumption,
(2) enlarge the number of occasions for
consumption,
(3) swell the number of consumers, and
(4) increase consumption per occasion to
consume.
A simple example for any typical
mouth-wash will show the above approaches in practice. Let us understand the
product and its evolution.
We have probably been cleaning our
teeth ever since humans began using tools. From toothbrushes made out of
sticks, to dental floss made out of horse hair, we have always been mindful of
our oral health. But what about a mouthwash and when did we start swishing
liquid around hoping for cleaner mouths?
There are references to mouthwash in
Chinese, Greek, Egyptian and Roman literature, but the most well recorded early
instances of humanity using mouthwash comes from ancient Rome, in A.D. 1. The
Romans used to buy bottles of Portuguese urine and use that as a rinse. GROSS!
Importing bottled urine became so popular that the emperor Nero taxed the
trade. The ammonia in urine was thought to disinfect mouths and whiten teeth,
and urine remained a popular mouthwash ingredient until the 18th
century. [So much for the modernists of the world who ridicule, deride, mock
and scorn at the medicinal use of urine of cows and auto-urine therapists like
Morarji Desai]
People have used some strange
combinations – besides urine – as mouthwash. Tortoise blood was once thought to
disinfect mouths and clean teeth, and mixtures of berries, mint leaves and
vinegar or wine has also been used as mouthwash. In the 12th
century, Saint Hildegard von Bingen advocated that swishing pure, cold water
could remove plaque and tartar.
Known as the “father of modern
microbiology,” Anton van Leeuwenhoek is credited for discovering oral bacteria
in the 18th century. Upon his discovery, he experimented with a
variety of solutions that could kill the bacteria. Leeuwenhoek discovered that
he could immobilize and kill bacteria by dousing them in ammonia and/or
alcohol. It is around this time that alcohol became the most popular ingredient
used in mouthwash – and it is still used today!
In 1865, English doctor Joseph Lister
became the first surgeon to perform an operation in a chamber that had been
sterilized with antiseptic – a practice that was very uncommon. After Lister’s
practice was discovered to reduce mortality rates, it became a more widespread
practice.
Inspired by Dr. Lister, Robert Wood Johnson
and Dr. Joseph Lawrence modernized surgical sterilization practices and
established the iconic company Johnson & Johnson. In 1879, Dr. Lawrence
created Listerine – a mouthwash used for cleaning mouths and sterilizing
surgical wounds.
By 1895, Listerine was sold to Lambert
Pharmaceutical Co. and dentists began to observe the cleaning power of the
mouthwash. In 1914, Listerine became the first prescription mouthwash to be
sold over the counter in the United States.
Today, we can buy mouthwash for gum
health, to help with plaque build-up and to prevent gingivitis. There is
mouthwash for just about every oral ailment that we can have. [expand the possibility for
consumption].
We are advised to use mouthwash every
time we brush our teeth but also before every social interaction [enlarge the
number of occasions for consumption].
Mouthwash is for everyone,
adolescents, adults and the elderly, with normal oral health [swell the number
of consumers].
We are advised not to dilute the
mouthwash, its pungency being an indicator of its efficiency and to use
sufficient (more) quantity of mouthwash - as per the measuring cup provided
free - every time we use it [increase consumption per occasion to consume].
In the pursuit for such growth in
sales, more particularly in case of consumption of services, machine driven CRM
software has had a field day. CRM specialists can be heard professing, “If you
are not focused on receiving and using customer feedback, you are missing out
on an amazing growth tool. Gathering customer feedback throughout the entire
customer journey is of great importance to the buyer life cycle, marketing
campaigns and the entire consumer experience. As focuses shift to improving
this experience, continuous feedback will be required.”
There are other claims of the kind,
“Due to the recent technology and digital transformation boom, an entire
‘customer revolution’ has taken place and a new breed of informed and socially
engaged Customer 2.0 has appeared. No longer is price or product the reason why
a customer does business with you. Today, it’s all about the customer
experience. To be competitive, you need to go above and beyond expectations and
deliver a great experience.”
While all such exaggerated statements
are correct, the missing link is treating a customer as a human being with
‘individualized identity’ and not as a commodity.
A sad and inhuman experience a few
months back is an example of how customers are undifferentiated items of a
commodity. [This is not a made up story and I have documented evidence to prove
it should the hospital in question wish to challenge it].
Smt xxxxxx Gupta, mother of my close
friend breathed her last at a premier private hospital in Jaipur. Since CRM systems of hospitals maintain
Customer-records in the name of patients, their automated CRM system sent a
message “Dear xxxxxx Gupta, Thank you for availing services at Fortis. Request
you to spare 60 seconds to share your experience with us. Click here: https://tinyurl.com/y3pufy8n?id=FxBCHqV8a ”
The system did not capture that Smt xxxxxx
Gupta was already dead. My friend, a higher-ranking vice-chancellor, was
crestfallen with the experience. He responded, “on behalf of my mother in the
heaven, I am sending you the following response... ‘your customer service
manager is welcome to visit me here in this tranquil and serene place (cremation
ground) for a feedback’ …”
The CRM system was at its best in
replying to late Smt xxxxxx Gupta, “Thank you for your valuable feedback. We are sorry to learn that your experience
wasn’t up to your satisfaction. We have taken your feed back into consideration
and shall take appropriate action. We wish you good health always.”
The counter-response to the reply
supplied by my friend against the request for feedback from late Smt xxxxxx
Gupta is rubbing salt in fresh wounds.
What has really gone wrong? The answer
is simple – the CRM database refuses to acknowledge the difference between a
customer and a consumer. In this case, Smt xxxxxx Gupta was a consumer while
her son was the customer. The contact details captured were of the customer but
the feedback was being solicited from the consumer. The CRM system did not know
if it was seeking feedback from the consumer of the customer. This is a case
where the consumer is dead and the post sales feedback has rendered a disservice
to the customer.
I have had personal experiences of
receiving unending trail of phone calls from Maruti Authorised Nexa Service
Stations chasing me for feedback, so much so that upon my refusal to provide
feedback, I have been chastened by the customer service executives that I was
legally duty-bound to provide the feedback. I have evidence to prove that the
nuisance did not stop much until after I had escalated my suffering and
harassment to the senior management of Maruti Udyog Limited.
These days, I and my spouse are
suffering at the incompetent, uncaring and arrogant customer service team at
Axis Bank. They are very good at hitting the self-esteem of their customers. We
have been their customer since last 25-years. I have taken up the matter with
the RBI Ombudsman and hope that the service failure is now dealt with quickly
and squarely. A similar unpleasant experience with Corporation Bank was dealt
with by their management very quickly and humanely where I was treated with
dignity. They have succeeded in retaining me as their customer.
It is unfortunate that many service providers
use Customer feedback to soften and pre-empt customer reaction to lapses in
service rendered rather than any genuine concern for better customer service or
improved customer experience.
It is time for the customer to stop
taking bullshit from marketers and service-providers. It is time for the
customer to REJECT such marketers and RAISE VOICE against such disservice.
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First published 17 Dec 2020
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Labels: Branding, Brands, Business Management, Consumer, Customer, General, Marketing, Public Discourse, Social, Strategic Marketing
