We Appreciate Your Business, Please Stay On the Line !!

This is a very good article I came across written by Robert Plant. Though the topic under discussion is very different than what I use on my blog, I am posting here as its very relevant and applicable for all customer service oriented industries.

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On a recent business trip I somehow left my credit card at a restaurant in San Juan. No big deal, I thought: Simply call the bank. When I got home, I eventually found, hidden on a remote corner of the web site, the number to call for lost cards. I was assuming this would be an important call for them, but I was left on hold to think about the power asymmetry between service provider and customer.

During this time I was subjected to sales pitches for sundry credit-protection services and told it "only takes a few minutes to enroll." Clearly, this institution believes it's less important to meet your service needs than to get you to spend more. But what could I do? I couldn't hang up. I had to resolve the problem. So that's how I spent the next 31 minutes.

I experienced a similar asymmetry when a credit-card company informed me that the terms and conditions for claiming hotel rewards had changed. For example, the number of miles needed for a free night in a top-category hotel room had gone from 125,000 to 160,000. "If you're not satisfied with these changes you can cancel your account by calling us," the statement said — hardly an attempt at building customer satisfaction or loyalty. Just as before, I was stuck; I didn't want to cancel the agreement and forfeit my accumulated miles.

Customers — maybe even your customers — experience this kind of thing every day. They feel small compared to your bigness. They feel weak in comparison with your power. But it doesn't have to be that way.

Companies in a few industries have adopted policies of transparency and accountability that reduce some of the asymmetry. Airlines are a good example. JetBlue offers rebates under clearly stated circumstances: If your flight is delayed an hour and a half to an hour and 59 minutes, you get a $25 credit; if you're delayed six hours or more, you get a round-trip ticket.

But airlines did this in response to new government regulations establishing fines for companies that leave customers sitting for hours in planes on the ground. Those regulations themselves were the result of a push by customer-advocacy groups such asFlyersRights. If the airlines had assumed that consumers were weak and insignificant, they were wrong. Consumers got so mad that they figured out how to be powerful.

Your company shouldn't wait for customers to do that. The time to revisit your customer guarantees is now.

Here are a few proactive steps a company can take to reduce the asymmetry that customers despise:

• Make it an ironclad policy to honor original contractual agreements, come what may. If you're a credit-card company or a hotel and you've told customers they need a certain number of miles or points or whatever to get a free room, keep the requirement at that level. If this becomes a burden for the company, make it harder for customers to earn future points. That way you're not punishing people you made a commitment to in the past.
• Don't punish customers by manipulating the rules. Companies that play bait-and-switch not only create dissatisfied customers but generate resentment and end up with lower loyalty rates. For example, phone companies that promised unlimited data plans and then, at contract renewal, changed the mechanism to retain these functions are seen by customers as unreliable partners.
• Explain why an action is being taken, and be trustworthy. If a call center is busy, don't tell customers the hold time is five minutes and then, after four minutes (as higher-priority customers enter the queue), revise that to 10 minutes. If the wait is going to be long, have the system take customers' numbers and call them back — and if you say you're going to call back, do call back.
• Be there for customers when they need you. If you've explicitly or implicitly offered a certain level of service, just provide it. Don't try to nibble away at its corners or mindlessly try to turn each service encounter into a sale. Customers don't enjoy hearing recorded pitches when they're holding for your service reps.
• Don't conceal important information. Don't take the phone number off your web site or hide critical service information deep in a site. FAQs are great, but customers still need to talk to your people. Open the person-to-person channel, and monitor it: Measure the call center's queue length, answering speed, and abandoned-call proportion, as well as customers' rate of zeroing out (hitting "0" repetitively to get an operator).
• Empower your employees at all levels to change processes in customers' favor. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh instills this approach into the company culture, with the desired aim of "wowing" customers.

If you don't take these steps, you're leaving yourself open to customer flight. Customers' memories of the times when they were poorly served tend to be a lot more vivid and longer-lasting than their recall of seamless service experiences. You also leave yourself vulnerable to possible retaliation through social media. Reacting to a social-media disaster is a much more expensive proposition than providing excellent customer service and first-time problem resolution.

In big companies, it's easy for managers to forget that the acquisition of each customer represents a real victory for product development, marketing, and sales. Don't squander that effort by letting customers slip away due to service failures. By fighting the slide to a power-asymmetry culture, you'll bind your customers closer to your company, a very desirable outcome in an environment of decreasing consumer loyalty.

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Orient Cement gets environmental clearance for 3MTPA cement plant at Karnataka

Orient Cement Ltd has received environmental clearance for its three million-tonne-a-year cement plant at Chittapur in Gulbarga district of Karnataka.

A top source in CK Birla Group toldBusiness Line that the company began construction work at the project site recently. The new Rs 1,75- crore project would be largely funded by internal resources.

"It is expected to be ready by the end of December 2015," the source said. The project would increase the cement output capacity to 8 million tonne-a-year (mt) a year. Orient Cement is the hived off cement business unit of Orient Paper & Industries.

It has a plant at Devapur in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh and a split-grinding unit at Nashirabad, in Jalgaon district of Maharashtra. According to the management, the company aims to reach 15 mt a year by 2020.

Orient Cement, once a division of Orient Paper and now a public company (the demerger took retrospective effect from April 1, 2012), is yet to list its stock.

The group sources said the process of listing was on and it would be over "shortly". The shareholders of Orient Paper have been allotted shares of the new company in the ratio of 1:1.

The face value of the new entity would be Re 1. It is to be listed on both NSE and BSE.

In Innovation, India ranks 66th among 142 countries

India ranked 66th among 142 countries in the Global Innovation Index 2013, and first in the Central and South Asia region in the innovation efficiency ratio (which reflects the innovation output per unit of input in the economy).

The report, published by Cornell University, INSEAD, World Intellectual Property Organisation and the Confederation of Indian Industry, studied the emergence of local innovation eco-systems.

Overall, India's performance was mixed. While the country was strong in gross capital formation (as a percentage of GDP) at rank 9, investment in new business (20), industrial cluster development (29), it ranked poor in áreas such as political stability (123), ease of starting business (128), school life expectancy (109), pupil-teacher ratio (108) etc.

In the global rankings, Switzerland and Sweden topped in innovation, followed by the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States. Among regions, innovation was seen improving the most in Latin America.

"The results of the GII (Global Innovation Index) provide testimony to the global nature of innovation today. The top 25 ranked countries on the GII are a mix of nations from across the world-- North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Middle East. While high-income economies dominate the list, several new players have increased their innovation divide exists." said Soumitra Dutta, co-editor of the report.

The index looked at 142 economies around the world, using 84 indicators such as the quality of top universities, availability of microfinance, venture capital deals. Published annually since 2007, the index has become a benchmarking tool for business executives, policy makers and others, the release added.

Dalmia Cement Plans Rs 1800 Cr Expansion

To strengthen its presence both nationally and in the North-East, cement maker Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd (DCBL) plans to invest Rs 1,800 crore for capacity expansion over the next two years.

While the company would invest Rs 1,300 crore for its upcoming 2.5-million tonnes greenfield project at Belgaum, Karnataka, its plants in North-East would entail an estimated investment of Rs 500 crore, Puneet Yadu Dalmia, Managing Director, told reporters here on Friday.

According to Dalmia, the company currently has a total capacity of 17 mt and wants to add nearly four mt by 2014-15.

The company has recently acquired Meghalaya-based Adhunik Cement with an investment of nearly Rs 560 crore and increased its stake in Calcom Cement in Assam.

Meanwhile, OCL India Ltd would invest nearly Rs 500 crore for a 1.5-mt grinding plant near Salboni in West Bengal. DCBL holds 45.4 per cent stake in OCL India.

According to Dalmia, the project should be commissioned by the end of 2013.

Meet your customers, don’t Google them

The biggest mistake plaguing most of corporate India, and many international companies, is the distance from customer base

December 27, 2012:  

With signs of depression all around and foreboding predictions of gloomy days in times to come, several corporate Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) have often asked me what's the best thing to do these days to just 'stay afloat'.

I have resolutely maintained that the singular prescription to keep business ticking and maintaining your brand's residual equity is to 'roll up your sleeves' and go 'back to basics. Personally interact with your customers every day. In more ways than one. Because your life depends on it.

Hit the markets

The biggest mistake — in my opinion — plaguing most of corporate India (and perhaps many other international companies as well), is the sheer distancing that marketers and CEOs have developed from their customer base.

Gone are the days when young management trainees, advertising agency representatives and even the odd product engineer spent time in the market, getting his/her hands dirty, interacting with customers in the first person, understanding their wants, expectations and experience from your products and services. The onset of technology seems to have given all corporate executives the license to browse through reams of data in the virtual world, all in the garb of 'consumer understanding'.

Primary research and field sales visits have been conveniently replaced by secondary data browsing and analytics. Today's youngsters in marketing even choose their job and employer based on the number of days they may be expected to physically travel away from the air-conditioned environs of their work-station and computers.

Technology: Not the solution

Trends indicate that world-wide the amount of money companies spend in primary research has seen a modest growth of 0.4 per cent in the last three years compared to 14 per cent + growth seen in the customer relationship management/business analytics area.

A recent article, which made the rounds among the business strategy populace was the death of the once-famous strategy consulting firm, Michael Porter's Monitor Group. Once touted as the hottest consulting firm, predicted to give even Boston Consulting Group (BCG) a run for their money, Monitor died an inglorious death last year. Experts have opined that the singular cause of Monitor's downfall is that its entire consulting model was based on optimising strategy vis-à-vis competition, rather than by understanding customers!

All these indicators sadly indicate a common truth that the age old adage adorning the walls of many a dusty kiranastores, 'THE CUSTOMER IS KING', is all but forgotten. That marketers and CEOs seem to believe that 'smart' decisions can be taken in the comfortable atmosphere of plush boardrooms using straight-jacketed consultants and analysts, who cleverly spew out charts and graphs and dazzle you with analytical tools using modern technology.

Nothing can be farther from the truth. It is my sincere belief that technology is no doubt important. But it is merely a means of documenting that most vital statistic — knowledge of the body, mind and and soul of your customer. And that knowledge will come only by interacting with the customer face-toface.

Art of Leadership

Just as great Generals can inspire soldiers to make great sacrifices on the battlefield, compassionate leaders can take their teams to great heights. — KAMAL NARANG

Genuine leadership is of only one type - supportive. It leads people, it doesn't drive them. It involves them, and doesn't coerce them. It never loses sight of the most important principle governing any project involving human beings - that people are more important than things.

Consider a situation in which none of the above statements might seem valid — the battlefield. To a General, the most important thing, obviously, is victory. In the cause of victory he must commit men to possible, and sometimes even to certain, death. Is not victory, then - an abstraction, a thing - more important to him than the people he leads?

Yet, the difference between great Generals and mediocre ones may be attributed to the zeal great Generals have been able to inspire in their men. Some excellent Generals have been master strategists, and have won wars on this strength alone. Greatness, however, by very definition implies a great and expanded view. It transcends intelligence and merely technical competence. It implies an ability to see the lesser in relation to the greater; the immediate in relation to the long term; the need for victory in relation to needs that will arise once victory has been achieved.

Lead from the front

Leadership implies running at the head of the pack, and not driving it from behind. This is true also in military matters. Those who serve under a great General know well that he asks nothing of them that he would not first do himself. Such a General feels himself at one with his men, not superior to them. He knows that he and they are simply doing a job together.

A great general is a man of vision — necessarily so, for only with vision can he inspire his men to heroic action; only with vision can he make them desire victory as ardently as he does. He persuades them not by angry commands, but by the power of his own conviction. He involves others in his vision, and inspires them also to be visionaries.

People, even in warfare, are more important than things. Yet, there are circumstances in which people can fulfil themselves perfectly only by total self-offering to whatever they believe in. There are times when, for the welfare of the greater number, individual lives must be sacrificed. The great General inspires his soldiers because he believes it also for himself, the realisation that whatever may be demanded by the exigencies of war, death in a great cause is a life lived victoriously.

A great General is also loyal to his soldiers. Only in that spirit of loyalty does he demand loyalty of them in return. Thus, we see that even in critical times when stern command is necessary for proper leadership, the essence of genius in leadership is supportive, not dictatorial. An example of a great General, though not always a great tactician, was George Washington. Rather than billet his tired and hungry soldiers on civilian homes, and rather than feed them by foraging, he chose — for himself as much as for his army — discomfort, cold, and hunger. Historians who have concentrated only on his need to win the war have criticised him as impractical, if not even indecisive, but Washington understood that the need of the hour was as much to draw people to the concept of revolution as it was to win the revolution itself. It was his breadth of vision, and his concern for human values, as well as his greatness as a man of honour that made him one of the great Generals of history.

If it is true even in the military that leadership means leading others, and involving them, not driving and coercing them, then how much more is it true in matters where total self-sacrifice is not the issue. More can be accomplished by working with people than over them.

Handle with care

Leadership is an art. Bad leadership is usually due more to clumsiness than to ill will. Leaving aside the natural bullies - most of whom, except in circumstances where bullying has been imposed as the norm, have neither the intelligence nor the perceptivity to earn positions of real authority - people who fail as leaders usually do so simply because they are ill at ease in positions of leadership. They are like the untrained singer who bellows loudly to conceal his inability to produce a pure tone; and like the actor who bludgeons his audience with bombast because he hasn't learned how to win them with subtlety.

Any tailor knows you can't merely jam a thread through the eye of a needle. The strands must be brought carefully to a point, then inserted cautiously into it, allowing not a single one of them to escape.

The same is true of any art. One cannot bluster. One must attune himself sensitively to the requirements of the medium he is using. To paint fine lines, an artist must use a thin brush, not a thick one. To depict loneliness, a composer may well limit himself to a simple melodic line; certainly he won't use crashing chords.

Bluster, unfortunately, is the response of many people in positions of leadership to even sensitive issues, issues where finesse and patience are essential if the support of one's subordinates is to be won. At such times, especially, the temptation often arises to consider things more important than people. Often, indeed, in such situations, one hears the justification, "But it's a matter of principle!" Is it? Sometimes, perhaps. But even then, is not kindness also a principle?

People in positions of leadership need to see their roles not as 'big shots', but as artists whose medium is the dynamics of human cooperation.

Because the suggestions offered in these pages are people-oriented rather than job-oriented, they will prove helpful as well to anyone whose lot it is to work with others, whether in a position of leadership or not - for example parents, teachers, store salesmen or anyone wanting to win others to a point of view.

Even people who live and work alone may find suggestions in these pages for drawing the best out of themselves.

(The author is a spiritual teacher and founder of the Ananda World Brotherhood Community.)

Schmersal India to set up Ranjangaon plant

Schmersal India is setting up a manufacturing facility at Ranjangaon, near Pune in Maharashtra with an investment of 8 million euro. It will produce safety devices, lift switchgear and electronic sensors which finds applications in machinery serving food, pharma and other FMCGs. The plant is expected to go operational in 2013. It may be noted, Schmersal India is a 100% subsidiary of German based Schmersal group.



ANUP SHAH

Adroitt Flow Control Pvt Ltd-India

Cell +91 9820501463

anup@adroitt.net



(Sent from iPhone)

10 characteristics of highly successful people

Some people have a passion for music. Others can't stop watching reality TV. My accountant collects baseball cards. Me? I've got this thing about trying to figure stuff out. It's like my brain never stops working, which is probably why I drink too much.

Today, I'm thinking about the dozens and dozens of people I've known that made it big. CEOs, VCs, entrepreneurs, VPs, business owners -- all sorts of success stories. Some were so ridiculously improbable -- shocking, really -- that only now, looking back on it, does it even begin to make sense. Others, you just knew all along they had what it takes.
Now, I hear from readers all the time about the losers they work for. The incompetents, back-stabbers, and game-players that somehow manage to get themselves into positions where they can order people around and feel like big-shots. They are out there; I've known a few myself.
Does slow and steady win the race?
Where do big ideas come from?
How to schmooze your way to business success
But here's the thing. Nobody's perfect. Not you, me or them. If they're just low-level managers, fine, it can happen. But if they made it to the top or anywhere close, I'd be willing to bet they've got some positive characteristics, as well. Speaking of which, if any of these ten attributes describe you, you've got a decent chance of making something of yourself.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying you've got to have one or more of these characteristics to be successful; I just can't think of anyone who managed to pull it off, at least not today. If you think I missed something, be sure to let me know.

You're a fierce competitor. Maybe you've got something to prove, even if you don't really know to whom or why. Some people have a real killer instinct; they've just got to win. And one of the reasons they do is because they're relentless about getting the job done no matter what. That's a big deal in the business world.

You're really, really smart. You may be quirky and dysfunctional, but if you're smart enough and don't screw up too badly, you'll manage to do something cool, especially these days. You see, Jesus was misquoted. He actually said, "The geek shall inherit the Earth."

You're a turtle. I knew somebody back in the day at Texas Instruments who was anything but a shining star. But you know, he still managed to accomplish things, just one step at a time. He paid attention to detail. He did the right things. And slowly but surely, he climbed the corporate ladder. Now he's a CEO. It happens.

You're an idea guy. Some people somehow come up with big ideas. Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, Albert Einstein, and Steve Jobs, to name a few. Are they geniuses? I really don't know, but I do know that those who are capable of brilliant inspiration and innovation don't always fit the classical definition of smart.

You've got instincts. Some people don't have their own ideas but they're very good at recognizing a good idea when they see it. They may not be brilliant, but they can see it in others. Some VCs are very good at picking and developing winners. They trust their gut instincts and it works.

You're a born leader. When you speak, people listen. When you say go there, folks do it. Some people have a knack for inspiring others. So people follow. Where you lead them doesn't really matter; you'll probably make a name for yourself anyway.

You think you're special. Of course you're not. We're all the same, flesh-and-blood people. Maybe you're a little bit delusional; who knows? But that characteristic can drive you far. In other words, it can be self-fulfilling, at least to a point.

You're a narcissistic psychopath. Leaders are sometimes identified that way. Well, some are. Keep in mind, there are shades of gray here. We all have egos, but too much and you've got narcissistic tendencies. Some people are capable of compartmentalizing their feelings. That alone doesn't make them psychopaths, although it's a good start.

You've got a head for business. The kid that made money selling comics and trading baseball cards grew up to be Donald Trump. Sometimes it's parenting, which almost certainly played a role in Trump's case. Bill Gates, too. Some people just have business in their blood. Head, blood, DNA -- I don't know where it is, but it's there.

You're a schmoozer. The word schmooze often has a negative connotation. That's just wrong. Whether you're good with relationships, have the gift of gab, or can sell ice cubes to an Eskimo, you can call it schmoozing or anything you like, but it just means you can relate to people. That's a very good thing in the business world.

ANUP SHAH

Adroitt Flow Control Pvt Ltd

Cell +91 9820501463

anup@adroitt.net

(Sent from iPhone)

10 things to learn from Apple Store

My friend, Carmine Gallo, has written a book called The Apple Experience: Secrets to Building Insanely Great Customer Loyalty. The Apple Store is the most profitable retailer in America, generating an average of $5,600 per square foot and attracting more than 20,000 visitors a week.

In the decade since Steve Jobs and former head of retail, Ron Johnson, decided to reimagine the retail experience, the Apple Store not only reimagined and reinvented retail, it blew up the model entirely and started from scratch. In his research for The Apple Experience, Carmine discovered ten things that the Apple Store can teach any business in any industry to be more successful:

1. Stop selling stuff. When Steve Jobs first started the Apple Store he did not ask the question, "How will we grow our market share from 5 to 10 percent?" Instead he asked, "How do we enrich people's lives?" Think about your vision. If you were to examine the business model for most brands and retailers and develop a vision around it, the vision would be to "sell more stuff." A vision based on selling stuff isn't very inspiring and leads to a very different experience than the Apple Retail Store created.
2. Enrich lives. The vision behind the Apple Store is "enrich lives," the first two words on a wallet-sized credo card employees are encouraged to carry. When you enrich lives magical things start to happen. For example, enriching lives convinced Apple to have a non-commissioned sales floor where employees feel comfortable spending as much time with a customer as the customer desires. Enriching lives led Apple to build play areas (the "family room") where kids could see, touch and play on computers. Enriching lives led to the creation of a "Genius Bar" where trained experts are focused on "rebuilding relationships" as much as fixing problems.
3. Hire for smiles. The soul of the Apple Store is in its people. They are hired, trained, motivated and taught to create magical and memorable moments for their customers. The Apple Store values a magnetic personality as much, if not more so, than technical proficiency. The Apple Store cares less about what you know than it cares about how much you love people.
4. Celebrate diversity. Mohawks, tattoos, piercings are all acceptable among Apple Store employees. Apple hires people who reflect the diversity of their customers. Since they are more interested in how passionate you are, your hairstyle doesn't matter. Early in the Apple Store history, they also learned that former teachers make the best salespeople because they ask a lot of questions. It's not uncommon to find former teachers, engineers, and artists at an Apple Store. Apple doesn't look for someone who fits a mold.
5. Unleash inner genius. Teach your customers something they never knew they could do before, and they'll reward you with their loyalty. For example, the Apple Store offers a unique program to help people understand and enjoy their computers: One to One. The $99 one-yearmembership program is available with the purchase of a Mac. Apple Store instructors called "creatives" offer personalized instruction inside the Apple Store. Customers can learn just about anything: basics about the Mac operating system; how to design a website; enjoying, sharing, and editing photos or movies; creating a presentation; and much more. The One to One program was created to help build customers for life. It was designed on the premise that the more you understand a product, the more you enjoy it, and the more likely you are to build a long-term relationship with the company. Instructors are trained to provide guidance and instruction, but also to inspire customers, giving them the tools to make them more creative than they ever imagined.
6. Empower employees. I spent one hour talking to an Apple Store specialist about kids, golf, and my business. We spent about ten minutes talking about the product (a MacBook Air). I asked the employee whether he would be reprimanded for spending so much time with one customer. "Not at all," he replied. "If you have a great experience, that's all that matters." Apple has a non-commissioned sales floor for a reason—employees are not pressured to "make a sale." Instead they are empowered to do what they believe is the right thing to do.
7. Sell the benefit. Apple Store specialists are taught to sell the benefit behind products and to customize those benefits for the customer. For example, I walked to the iPad table with my two young daughters and told the specialist I was considering my first iPad. In a brilliant move, the specialist focused on my two daughters, the 'secondary' customer who can influence a purchase. He let the girls play on separate devices. On one device he played the movie, Tangled, and on the other device he brought up a Disney Princess coloring app. My girls were thrilled and, in one memorable moment, my 6-year-old turned me to and said, "I love this store!" It's easy to see why. Instead of touting "speeds and feeds," the specialist taught us how the device could improve our lives.
8. Follow the steps of service. The Apple Store teaches its employees to follow five steps in each and every interaction. These are called the Apple five steps of service. They are outlined by the acronym A-P-P-L-E. They are: Approach with a customized, warm greeting. Probe politely to understand the customer's needs. Present a solution the customer can take home today. Listen for and address unresolved questions. End with a fond farewell and an invitation to return.
9. Create multisensory experiences. The brain loves multi-sensory experiences. In other words, people enjoy being able to see, touch, and play with products. Walk into an Apple Store upon opening and you'll see all the notebook computer screens perfectly positioned slightly beyond 90-degree angles. The position of the computer lets you see the screen (which is on and loaded with content) but forces you to touch the computer in order to adjust it. Every device in the store is working and connected to the Internet. Spend as much time as you'd like playing with the products—nobody will kick you out. Creatives who give One-to-One workshops do not touch the computer without asking for permission. They want you to do it. The sense of touch helps create an emotional connection with a product.
10. Appeal to the buying brain. Clutter forces the brain to consume energy. Create uncluttered environments instead. The Apple Store is spacious, clean, well-lit, and uncluttered. Cables are hidden from view and no posters on placed on the iconic glass entrances. Computer screens are cleaned constantly. Keep the environment clean, open, and uncluttered.

The three pillars of enchantment are likability, trustworthiness, and quality. Apple's engineers take care of quality, and the Apple Store experience personifies likability and trustworthiness. I've never left an Apple store without being enchanted—in fact, I seldom leave the Apple Store on University Avenue in Palo Alto without being enchanted and buying something too! Resisting Carmine's book, like resisting an Apple Store, is futile, so just get it here: The Apple Experience: Secrets to Building Insanely Great Customer Loyalty

ANUP SHAH

Adroitt Flow Control Pvt Ltd

Cell +91 9820501463

anup@adroitt.net

(Sent from iPhone)