Recently Tata Croma had an offer on one of their products. They were bundling a set of Sennheiser headphones with an ipod nano. It seems this offer was quite popular with the people as the headphones were out of stock when my wife and I went in the evening to check it out.

What is more interesting is the series of events which took place there. We first went to the Croma store and inquired about the offer. They said the headphones were out of stock, but you could buy the ipod now and get the free headphones in a week or so. There was an Apple store just close to the Croma store. So we went there to check out the prices. The price was exactly the same in both places. My wife being the way she is, asked the Apple sales guy about the Croma offer. Surprisingly the sales guy was ready to add some value add for us. He offered us a USB based speaker to match the Croma offer. I examined the speaker and found it not too exciting. So we told him we’ll rather buy from the Croma store. Before leaving, we directly asked him if he could match the offer of Tata Croma store and give us a decent pair of headphones. He called up his boss but sadly his boss didn’t agree. So we went back to the Tata Croma and booked an ipod nano from there.

Why I find this interesting is that normally the high-end stores/brands like these do not offer any value-add on their products. It would be rare to see an Apple store in the US even trying to match such offers from let’s say Walmart or some such store. But here in India the equation seems completely different. The exclusive Apple store had to offer a significant value-add compared to the mass retailer which was definitely taking a significant chunk of their sales. Even though the products on both sides are the same, but the sales guy would be taking a hit just because the Apple store couldn’t match the offer. Note that this Apple store was the same one which once offered me to load new apps and games if I bought an ipod touch from their store.

So its Big Bazaar against Converse/Adidas/Reebok, or Tata Croma against Apple, or a local mobile phone dealer versus Nokia Exclusive stores. Unless the branded store can offer some kind of value-add, the mass market stores would kill their sales.  Thankfully some of these branded stores are taking note of this fact. And that is good news for the Indian consumer. But the best way to get such offers – is to simply ask. As an Indian consumer, you are well within your rights to do so without feeling the least embarrassed.

Caller: Hi Sir, can I take five minutes of your valuable time?
Me: Yes

Caller: Sir, I’m calling to inform you of a very attractive credit card scheme which xxxx Bank is offering just for you.
Me: I’m not interested.

Caller: Sir, at least please listen to the details. It is a very attractive scheme.
Me: For the bank?

Caller: No sir, of course for you.
Me: Then why is your bank willing to give me this scheme?

Caller: Sir, because you are a valued customer.
Me: Ok, tell me the details.

Caller: Sir, we have this new scheme where we offer you a Gold Credit Card with no annual fees.
Me: Hmm hmm

Caller: The interest rate is very low also sir
Me: But I already have a credit card which fulfills all my requirements.

Caller: Sir, which bank’s card are you currently using?
Me: The Reserve Bank of India

Caller: [Pause]…. Umm, ok sir but this Gold card has many attractive features
Me: Like what?

Caller: Sir, no annual fees, low interest rates, large payment period…
Me: Reserve Bank provides me all of this

Caller: We will also give you a free gift sir.
Me: What is that?

Caller: A chance to participate in a lucky draw for a Honda City car
Me: Hmmm…

Caller: Sir, are you interested? We have hundreds of satisfied customers who have taken this credit card
Me: Reserve Bank has a billion satisfied customers.

Caller: Yes sir, but this Gold card has many advantages
Me: STFU

<Beeeeeeeep>

A tale of two cars

Two ads for two different cars have caught my attention in recent times. One is for the classic Maruti Suzuki and the other is for a new entrant Honda Jazz. These two completely different ads shows how important it is to keep the message to the audience simple.

Here’s the Maruti ad first. The brilliance of this ad lies in its simplicity. Notice that this ad doesn’t show any car at all. Instead the images and emotions used in these ad are more reminiscent of previous ads for chocolates or diapers. It shows a mom putting mehndi on her hands while she asks her relatives to take care of her baby. No matter what the relatives do, the baby keeps on crying. Until the mother takes the child in her own hands. The tagline shown after this is simply amazing. You cannot help but smile at the simplicity yet the power in that message. The message is simple, if you love your car, you’ll take good care of it.

On the other hand, take this ad of Jazz. It shows a man putting a cactus in the backseat of the car and driving around town to pick up his girlfriend. All other cars seem to burst in bubbles around this new car. When the man does pick up her girlfriend, she sees the cactus and gets shocked. Then it shows a hand plucking a flower from somewhere on the cactus. Both of them get into the car and drive off happy. On top of that, the tagline used by the ad, “Why so serious?” a totally unoriginal line. Moreover it doesn’t even fit with the whole ad. Didn’t expect this from the same (car) company that produced this masterpiece of an ad.

P.S. Read this article later on AFaqs. The creative head tries to clarify the ad, but makes it all the more muddled.

Three conflicting messages versus one simple one. That’s the power of a simple ad.

This incident took place when I was travelling from Chennai to Mumbai by train. A vendor was selling an assortment of food items including potato wafers, chips and other eatables. As is the style in Indian trains, he was continuously shouting out what he was selling. This mainly included, “Wafers… kurkure…”.

But as soon as he came near our berth, where four of us guys were sitting, he immediately started shouting out “…cigarettes, gutkha, Manikchand…” How’s that for effective customer segmentation? Not that we bought anything from him, but on average this strategy would definitely help him garner more sales. Who says you need an MBA from a B-school to be an effective seller?

One of my favourite ads is the Priceless series by Mastercard. This is where they list down a few expenses and then as the punchline, deliver something which cannot be measured in money. It conjures up a beautiful combination of pride and emotion for the viewer. Here’s my own version of the ad if ever the Indian Railways decided to follow that format..

Read more…

It has been my general experience that there is a wide chasm between the budget allocated for sales and that for after-sales service. Most people would argue that after-sales service is a part of marketing and that according to marketing gurus, marketing starts well before the product is developed and continues well after the consumer buys the product. A standard textbook definition. But in real life, does a company really focus on that after-sales part diligently? Few companies do so.

Take the case of banks, for example. Private banks nowadays send a representative to your house when you tell them you want to open an account. They help you fill up the new account forms, they take the minimum account opening balance from you etc. But does the bank maintain that level of service once the account is active? When I want to change my address, I have to go to the nearest branch. To reset my ATM pin (when I’ve forgotten my old one) I have to visit the nearest branch.

The most obvious point of difference is the type of interaction itself. While opening an account, a ‘representative’ from the bank comes over to your house. While doing other transactions, you are forwarded to a call-centre where after you press (quite) a few buttons, you reach a human at the other end. And what happens then? Even for a simple request, the call-centre ‘executive’ tells me to visit the nearest branch!

The counter-argument would be that it is because of the security aspect. Banks would like to be sure that they are dealing with a genuine customer before they do a sensitive transaction like closing an account or changing ATM pin or issuing a new ATM card. But its not that personal interaction would get rid of all these problems. We still have news reports of people duping the bank branch by forging a signature while sitting in the bank itself. Investing in technology can be (if the bank wants) justified in terms of providing customer service.

Another major difference seen between these two services is that while one is an integral part of the organization, the other is generally outsourced. Would any company dare to outsource its sales division? No it won’t. Yet companies do not hesitate while deciding whether to outsource the after-sales service division. It is less of a headache they say, dealing with irate customers and product returns.

Why can’t organizations be more balanced in the level of both these kinds of services? If B-schools have a specialization for sales and marketing, why can’t they have a specialization for after-sales service? Isn’t that what is required in the service-oriented economy?

I’ll wait for the day when the banks agrees to send a representative to my house to close my account. Until then providing a 24×7 customer care number is just another gimmick in order to attract and impress customers.