Good Service

THE HOUSE MAGAZINE OF GODREJ & BOYCE MFG. CO. LTD., VOL. 11 NO. 6, NOV-DEC 2012

GOOD SERVICE THE KEY TO KEEPING AND WINNING CUSTOMERS

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Integrity Trust

To serve

To serve

Respect

A short note which explains why serving well matters.

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n 2000, G&B had adopted five values as above. These values were accepted after a long debate amongst the senior management of G&B at an offsite, which was externally facilitated and where Mr. J N Godrej was present for its entire duration. There was much discussion about whether the word ‘Service’ should be included in the statement of values or a bit awkward phrase of ‘To Serve’.

Finally, taking a larger perspective of ‘serving’ into consideration, it was decided to have the phrase of ‘To Serve’ as one of our values.

‘To Serve’ has several ramifications; internal, external - as relating to our business and society. Internally, the value of ‘To Serve’ is meant to inspire all the Godrejites to serve each other well so that in turn every Godrejite develops a mindset of serving. It was meant to emphasize the concept of internal customers and the need to have them served well, so that a culture of customer centricity is cultivated in Godrej which would in-turn lead to better serving of our customers for leadership in markets.

As for those Godrejites who serve customers directly, this value was meant to inspire, empower and encourage them to serve our customers in the best possible way. Also, it was meant to highlight the fact that the very purpose behind their being in the organisation was to have them serve our customers well, relentlessly. Further, the value of ‘To Serve’ was meant to communicate the hard reality of the business that the only way to have sustainable value creation in the business is to serve customers well, always.

Each Godrejite should ask himself/herself everyday the questions, am I serving my customers- internal and external well? How do I know? What do I measure? What can I do to serve my customers better? What improvements have I made in my work processes lately? Reflective enquiry such as this would go a long way in institutionalising the value of ‘To Serve’ in G&B. In the context of the society at large, this value is meant to act as a reminder that besides serving the interests of our business, Godrej and Godrejites have an obligation to serve the society in a meaningful way. This is more so, as service to society is a long cherished heritage at Godrej and there is a great deal of evidence supporting it.

Recently, G&B has adopted ‘Good & Green’, a group wide ‘corporate social responsibility’ initiative to have in a formal way all of its societal contributions under an all encompassing umbrella.

Employability, Good Products and Greener India are the three key thrust areas for action under this imperative.

The value ‘To Serve’ has contributed significantly in shaping the mindset of Godrejites for building a brighter future for all.

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Environment

Editorial

Culture of serving counts

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o deliver great service consistently, both the hardware and the software have to be right and well aligned. Here, the hardware consists of the service infrastructure, technology and equipment, parts and tools, communication network etc. and the software consists of the service team, their work processes as well as the work culture. Out of all these factors, work culture has been always found to be a determining factor that governs the quality of service rendered.

At Godrej, we have a heritage of being strong at serving our customers, particularly after sales and the society. In fact ‘To Serve’ is one of our core values.

Here we remember Sohrabji and his service as a citizen to the city of Mumbai in a piece written by Vrunda.

Over the years as our businesses grew and the competition intensified, there was a pressing need to revisit our existing service models and upgrade them to meet the challenges of our new consumers. Also, the operating scales of

services offered had to be enhanced to take care of the growing volumes. In some businesses, after-sales service offered opportunities for revenue generation and margins. All these factors are being built into their redesigned service models by our businesses with the twin objectives of servicing customers better and earning healthy margins.

In this issue of CHANGE, we have five of our businesses sharing the stories of their journey of revamping and upgrading their service operations. Designing of a service offering is an emerging new area for getting the service right; Farid Talhame shares his experience with us to help us design new service offerings as well as redesign the existing ones. Two of our brand values Empathy & Experience embody the spirit of service; Parampal links these values to our people who in fact are the face of Godrej Brand. In the same wake of thought Juvekar and Deepak share with us how our service technicians view their work and share with us what makes them provide good service relentlessly.

My friend V S Mahesh, an accomplished and versatile individual, just passed away and I am glad to share with you his excellent article on ‘Moments of Truth’. A moment of truth is one where

service is delivered and it is here, where its quality is judged by the recipient. In the final analysis, the quality of service at the moment of truth is what builds or destroys the reputation of a business.

Apar t from the above, we have interesting complimentary features for giving you an expanded view of the theme of service. In the public domain, railway ticket booking system - IRCTC portal, is a helpful development that has evolved over a period of time. IRCTC’s story in brief is shared with us by Neha Kumra, a regular user of IRCTC portal.

Notwithstanding some shortcomings, today this portal is one of the largest and most versatile in the world. It has changed the way we travel by rail.

The theme of the next issue of CHANGE is Relationships.

As always, I look for ward to your comments and feedback to make CHANGE better and enjoyable.

Happy reading!

Indrapal Singh

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Contents

Welcome to service design!

Sohrab Godrej: Relentless supporter of preservation of Mumbai’s heritage

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Managing the service moments of truth

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Journey of creating inspired service delivery

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Challenges of service at site

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Service at Godrej Locking Solutions and Systems

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Customer Service: Much more than a differentiator!

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Role of service for market leadership

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Edit Board For private circulation only. No part of the magazine can be reproduced in any form without due permission of the editor.

You can mail your contributions, suggestions and feedback to: The Editor, Plant 11, 2nd Floor, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., Pirojshanagar, Vikhroli (W), Mumbai 400079, INDIA or email us at change@godrej.com Published by Indrapal Singh on behalf of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. Design & layout by thought blurb thoughtblurb.in Photography by Shivaji Ghag Printed by Silver Point Press Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai Visit us online change.godrej.com

Anil Verma | Head, Edit Board

Nalini Kala | Edit Board

Service to humanity

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Great service helps build a Brighter Godrej

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What it is to be a good service technician?

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Understanding and managing anger

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Deepak Banota | Edit Board

Indian Railways - At your service 36 In the spirit of service

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Nariman Bacha | Distribution

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Sohrab Godrej: Relentless supporter of preservation of Mumbai’s heritage

By Vrunda Pathare, Godrej Archives

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ith rapid urbanisation, our city is facing a growing need to accommodate ever-growing human population and many a times it is been done at the cost of our built-up and natural heritage. Some of our citizens who care for the heritage along with the heritage activists took up the cause and are untiringly campaigning since last 2-3 decades to protect Mumbai’s natural and built-up heritage preserves.

In 2007, Shyam Chainani, the environmental campaigner and the founder of the Bombay Environmental 1

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Action Group (BEAG) chronicled these crusades against the general apathy towards the preservation of Mumbai’s environs and heritage in a form of a book ‘Heritage and Environment: An Indian Diary’. The person who emerges from these chronicles as the relentless supporter of these crusaders is none other than Sohrab P. Godrej. The book is dedicated to Soharbji by Mr. Chainani.

May it be a campaign challenging the demolition of the Naval Dockyard frontage of Lion Gate or the Clock Tower at Fort or the 200-300 years old Jain Temple at Pydhonie, Sohrabji gave his unstinting support over the decades to protect these heritage buildings. Sohrabji, as a Chairman of the Bombay Chapter of Indian Heritage Society, fervently opposed the demolition and reconstruction of the Jain temple at Pydhonie as it would have meant the destruction of the last surviving showpiece of Jain architecture in Mumbai. He instead advocated the protection and preservation of the temple and suggested restoring it to its past glory. In spite of the threats and allegations, he was unstoppable in his combat and he stood firm against the demolition of the heritage.

green mangroves abutting it or of both’.

Notwithstanding tremendous demands on his time, Sohrabji continued to be a pillar of strength throughout these long drawn campaigns as he took up these causes as a way to serve his city and its citizens.

It is only through these pioneering efforts of the citizens as determined and committed as Sohrabji, it was possible to bring about significant changes at the national level in the legislation and policies pertaining to the protection and conservation of environment. Even today, Sohrab Godrej remains an inspiration to many citizens who are engaged in fighting numerous battles to protect the environment and conserve it for the citizens of our city as well as of our country.

Reference: Chainani, Shyam, Heritage and Environment: An Indian Diary, Urban Design Research Institute, 2007.

1. Sohrab Godrej with members of Rotary Club of Bombay Seacoast, 1994 2. Sohrab Godrej planting a Tree at Karjat, 1987

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Sohrabji was among those few who supported Mr. Chainani in his lone battle against the Coast Guard Base to be established at Nhava which would have meant ‘the destruction of either the Nautical Institute, or of the lush

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Welcome to service design!

By Farid Talhame Service blueprint, a time-tested tool for designing a service system for delivering relevant customer experiences.

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ervice design is an ever-evolving field without a single inclusive definition and no fixed boundaries. We might say that service design is the holistic application of design thinking methods to develop experiences that are useful and desirable from the user’s perspective and profitable for the company offering them.

For so many years we have been product-centric, as a manufacturing company our focus was on engineering products to deliver quality. But now we have to consider so much more than just product and product innovation, we have to innovate in the domain of services that surround the product and engineer entirely new customer experiences.

In Michael Porter’s model of competitive advantage, services were the last and smallest part of the equation. The way competitive advantage was established and maintained was by creating better products at a lower cost. However, competitive advantage is now gained by developing services that deliver great customer experiences. This can be achieved by putting the customer’s experience at the centre of what we want to create and then building a series of activities within the organisation to engage the customer in co-creation.

A better way to design a service offering There are countless tools and methods applicable to designing a service, however one of the most powerful is the ‘Service Blueprint’. This framework maps the customer’s activities and paths through a service while illustrating the resources required from the service provider to deliver the desired experience.

All too often companies don’t consider the user’s experience until a problem occurs. Creating a service blueprint provides a holistic view into understanding a user’s perspective, journeys, and touch

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points within the context of an offering before the user ever interacts with the company. They help identify inefficiencies such as congestion or inaccuracies within a system as well as potential business opportunities for the service provider, leading to better customer experiences.

Ser v i c e b lu e p r i nts a re t y p i c a lly produced collaboratively by a cross functional team within the organisation, offering a shared awareness of the customer’s needs. They are meant to be living documents that highlight potential gaps and overlaps within the offering while identifying the most important components of the system. Throughout the implementation stage blueprints get further refined providing a roadmap for service delivery. A benefit of using this tool is that it requires no special skill and when used correctly can help create a significant competitive advantage.

A blueprint of the service blueprint Prior to designing a service blueprint we must define the segment/segments we want to serve as well as aspects of the experience we want to deliver.

Answering some simple questions as a group can be a starting point.

1. What service or service process do we want to blueprint and what is our objective? Select the customer segment and service to focus upon; it’s important to note that each of the segments may receive service differently, requiring different blueprints.

2. Who should be involved in the blueprinting process? The quality of the team has a significant effect on the final output. We want to consider all aspects of the experience, which benefits from the diverse perspectives that a multidisciplinary team offers.

3. How does service or processes currently happen? Whether the service is currently offered or we want to create a service to enhance an existing process, the group should map the current state.

This immediately aligns the group and

brings to the surface gaps, overlaps, inefficiencies, etc.

4. Where is the user in the existing model? It is essential to remain focused on our user. Team members who have greater familiarity of the current organisation process tend to get engrossed in the steps of the process instead of user’s needs.

5. How will we capture the process?

During a blueprinting exercise it is common to gain insights into how the organisation currently operates its service process. Also, disagreements occur about the way in which service should be delivered in the future.

These insights and suggestions should be captured and set aside for further consideration as they emanate from the existing internal problem areas, hence are worth examining later, separately, for having minimal no. of flaws in the design.

The next step is to understand the structure of a service blueprint and how the pieces fit together: User Actions a) Frontstage (employees, systems and processes that are visible to the user) b) Backstage (employees, systems and processes that are invisible to the user) c) S u p p o r t P r o c e s s e s ( p e o p le, processes and systems that enable the delivery of service) d) Physical Evidence (Touch points usually found at the point of service) Stage Lines The ‘line of interaction’ illustrates touch points where the user and service provider interact; experiences above the line occur independently between the user and environment.

The ‘line of visibility’ divides seen and unseen activities of the service offering.

Process components that are observed (seen, smelled, tasted, touched, heard or perceived) by the user occur above the line. Located below the line are unrealised processes that are conducted onsite by that result in the delivery of the service.

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CUSTOMER

Physical Evidence: Artifacts that the customer see and/or comes in contact with.

Customer Actions: The sequence of events the customer experiences at transactional phases in a service.

Line of Interaction: The areas where employees interact with customers.

CONTACT

Front Stage Contact: The area of interface between the customer and the service provider.

Line of Interaction: Elements visible / invisible to customers.

Back Stage Contact: The service providers’ actions and roles invisible to the customer.

Line of Internal Interaction: Between the service elements and support infrastructure.

SUPPORT

Support Processes: The infrastructure systems supporting activities.

1. Understanding the components of a service blueprint

The ‘internal interaction’ line separates backstage processes from the support systems required to make the entire offering possible and are independent o f a n i n d i v i d u a l u s e r ’s i n te r a c t i o n (i.e. database maintenance, material warehousing or production line staff.)

Reinventing the burger Let me illustrate the principles of designing a service blueprint by an example.

McDonald’s is the leading global food service retailer with over 34,000 restaurants located in 119 countries serving 69 million people daily. Considering that more than 80% of these restaurants are independently owned and operated we have to wonder how they can consistently deliver locally relevant experiences. The answer is simple, they remain customer focused at all times. Since posting their first quarterly loss in 2003 the “Plan to Win” strategy has helped McDonald’s regain its position as the market leader

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by creating experiences through five elements; People, Products, Place, Price, and Plan. While deployed globally, this framework offers enough flexibility that it allows for local adaptation.

By the nature of its offering, McDonald’s face a dif ficult challenge as they are both a goods producer, as well as a ser vices provider. Behind the ‘line of visibility’ they are a mini manufacturing facility producing products for mass consumption. In the ‘front stage’ they are a services business catering to several segments using the McDonald’s brand name in different ways. The key elements of the manufacturing systems and that of services system taken together make the designing of the integrated system extremely challenging.

Since McDonald’s produces a relatively low margin and highly perishable commodity within a crowded space, it can’t rely simply on products to drive sales. In today’s market, customers are no longer brand loyal, they are offer loyal, so the best deal wins and the service offering becomes the only opportunity to create differentiation and gain market share.

How McDonald’s builds relationships through services McDonald’s often uses the service blueprint as the first of five steps to exploring a customer’s experience and improving aspects of their offering.

1. Focus on the customer journey The journey is driven by multiple touch points and is distributed over time.

Using the service blueprint they start with the customer’s journey in centre, which allows them to evaluate physical evidence such as menu boards, customer interaction points, and the support processes needed.

2. Telling a story - Showing the process or compelling narrative that users can see themselves in, creating scenarios is a great way to test assumptions and plan great experiences for a two year old in the restaurant or an eighty year old in the Drive-Thru, simultaneously.

3. System design - Identifying the components that are required to deliver service and how they integrate into the l a rg e r syste m e q u i p m e nt d e s i g n, logistics, environmental impact, and ingredient sourcing. At the scale of McDonald’s if they were to suddenly change a menu item it could impact the global supply of a particular ingredient creating a shortage.

4. Experiment and prototype - The process of simulation is conducted daily in one of three reconfigurable full-scale test kitchens located at its innovation centre. This allows the team to optimise and measure ever y aspect of the offering from the taste of a milkshake or the way in which the bag is handed to the customer to prototyping the Drive-Thru experience with golf carts.

5. Back casting - Beginning with the desired future vision then working backwards to determine the right approach, scale and impact of a design change using predictive models.

This is just one example of how service blueprints can be leveraged to create service innovations.

At Godrej, a multidisciplinary team is currently using service blueprints i n ad d i ti o n to oth e r m eth o d s to design a food court at Plant 13 A, Pirojshanagar, Vikhroli.

The Godrej advantage With 14 business units, a diverse portfolio and incredible brand equity, Godrej is in a unique position to create service innovations across multiple businesses. The best services typically come from larger platforms leveraging unrelated competencies and there aren’t many companies structured to deliver service offerings without the need to acquire additional resources or seek outside partnerships, and Godrej happens to be one of them.

2. McDonald’s simplified blueprint 2

Entice

Physical Evidence

Enter

Engage

Exit

Online

Smell of Fries Staff

Branded Items

Website

Delivery Vehicles

Layout

Marketing

Order Kiosk

Ronald Bench Large Windows

Wireless Waiter Order Counter

Register

Extend

Order Board Prep Station Electricity

Carry-out Items

Children’s Toys

Packaging

Branded Napkins

Furniture

Trash Bins

Website

Furniture

Digital Menu

Straws

Network

Rest Room

E-mail

Branding

See-thru Kitchen

Condiments

Facilities

Promos

Tables

Parking Lot

Loyalty Program

Display Cases

Playland Parties Customer Actions

See Marketing

Enter Restaurant

Chooses Line

Interacts With Staff

Determines Purchase

Interacts With Staff

Pays

Greets Customer

Takes Order

Confirms Order

Process Payment

Waits

Eats

Works

Discards Trash

Loyalty & Promotions

Line of Interaction Onstage

Cleaning

Line of Visibility

Backstage

Update Website

Staging Orders Loading Food Trays

Order Sent

Prepare Order

Equipment Inventory Credit Card Accounting

Clean Restock Prep

Promotions Planning Scheduling

Line of Internal Interaction

Support Processes

Corporate Communications Inventory Equipment Logistics

HR Management Inventory System Maintenance IT

Inventory Janitorial

Wi-fi

Core Activities

Waste Disposal CRM Marketing Recycling Services

Peripheral Activities

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Managing the service moments of truth

By V. S. Mahesh Front-line staff is crucial for service quality. Empower them, don’t micro-manage.

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ome of the golden rules that have remained unchallenged in factory management do not hold good for management of services. One such rule is: if you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it.

Research findings clearly indicate that customers rate a service organisation as excellent – the sort they will return to and also provide very positive referrals for – when it exceeds their expectations on intangible aspects such as ‘speedy resolution of customer problems’, ‘delivering on their promises right the first time’, responsiveness, accessibility, flexibility, courtesy, front-line competence and communication.

Organisations such as HDFC, Taj Hotels, Indigo and Landmark are rated highly not because their top management pe r sona ll y se r ve eve r y custome r. It is their front-line staff who deliver the customer experience through every ‘moment of truth’ (MoT) — defined by Jan Carlsson, former CEO of Scandinavia Airlines System, as “every instance when an organisation provides an opportunity for a customer to make an assessment of the quality of the organisation”.

Lest it be thought that such MoTs are only a few, let me share the results of a research project I supervised on the experience of lady customers entering fashion garment outlets in India. In less than a minute, such customers decide ‘whether or not the shop is likely to have the sort of merchandise they would like to purchase’. There were about 150 MoTs that impacted them in that minute — a few tangible aspects, such as visual display, layout, aisle space, hygiene, smell, sounds and colours, and many intangibles like frowns, smiles, greetings, willingness and competence to help.

Observing all of these MoTs, let alone

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measuring them, is an impossible task.

Nor can one anticipate the MoTs that make all the difference.

What, then, is the solution to measuring quality of service? As Deming had suggested, quality is best assured through those who produce rather than by third-party inspections. In the service context, front-line staff who deliver service are in the best position to assure service quality. When they are trained and motivated (intrinsically) to achieve the right quality, and provided with clearly enunciated customer-defined standards to aim for, they will seek to achieve the right results by themselves. Many of these standards are for intangible aspects of service such as courtesy, friendliness and approachability, which do not easily lend themselves to hard measures. The only way to score highly on these standards is for front-line staff to be intrinsically motivated to do so.

Front-line staf f ought to feel like ‘forwards’ in a successful football team, who know for certain that the ball would be passed to them by the midfield without having to ask for it. Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi are not expected to beg and plead with the backs to pass the ball to them. Likewise, in an effective service organisation, customer contact s t a f f s h o u l d r e c e i ve i n te r n a l s e r v i c e a t q u a l i t y l e ve l s c o m m e n s u r a te w i t h what is expected of them by external customers. In Ken Blanchard’s words, the organisational pyramid ought to be philosophically turned upside down, with customers on top and front-line staff immediately below, with the responsibility to make them repeat customers. The rest of the organisation should be viewed as forming the lower, tapering-down part of the triangle, with their responsiveness to front-line staff as their key responsibility.

A true-life example of how this works in practice is what happened at the UK’s Anglian Water (AW). A customer rang AW customer care on a wintry Friday evening, with temperatures close to zero degrees.

The customer said there was no gas supply to heat their house. He suspected that the AW workman who had been sighted repairing the water pipes outside had inadvertently damaged the gas pipe. With two young children at home and the wife away, he was at the end of his tether. The 22-year-old AW employee who received this call thought on her feet and told him: “As it is late Friday, it might be difficult to get British Gas to repair the gas pipes till tomorrow. So, could you please check into a local hotel for the night with your family and tell me what number I can reach you tomorrow before noon? Meanwhile, I will try to get the problem fixed and let you know when you can get back home. We will be happy to reimburse you the cost of the hotel rooms up to £50.”

measures, as some of these measures work against their interests. For example, with a view to improve their productivity, call-centre agents hurry customers to the extent that they might not even listen to their complaints properly.

One is reminded of the driver searching for his car key under a street light. When asked how sure he was that he had dropped the key there, he answered that he had actually dropped it somewhere in the dark alley beyond.

As there was no light there, he chose to search for the key where there was adequate light, he explained.

Rather than spending time micromanaging irrelevant tasks, it is best to try and emulate the likes of AW, who spent years trying various ways of putting a genuine smile on the faces of empowered employees, and letting them run with the ball.

Courtesy: Business Standard

Far from reprimanding the employee, the Customer Service Director of AW went around the company telling everyone to try and emulate that young lady. Not surprisingly, AW was rated #1 in customer service among all UK utility companies for several years in succession. An essential point to learn from this is that the AW management could not have anticipated an MoT like this, let alone go about micromanaging it.

Unfortunately, many organisations that are locked into the manufacturing paradigm have fallen into the trap of measuring what they can. Call centres, for example, measure the number of calls per agent per hour, time per call and the number of rings before taking a call.

Some even measure the time taken for every toilet break an employee takes. No customer would suggest these irrelevant

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Journey of creating inspired service delivery

By Ravi Bhat, Godrej Appliances Here is an amazing story of grit and perseverance called for in building of a large scale service superstructure.

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here was a time when after-sales service used to be a back bencher.

It never used to be discussed alongside in the typical “P’s” of marketing. The situation is however changing very fast. From a perennial back bencher, service has now become a visible much talked about front runner. When the impact of traditional differentiators like product, price, etc. is diminishing, after-sales service is being increasingly considered as a possible game changing differentiator.

In Godrej Appliances, service has always been at the centre stage and yet it has fallen behind when considered in the context of our global competitors. To close the gap and give first rate service to our customers, about 3 years ago we embarked on a significant journey of making ‘service’ a strong differentiator

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for our Appliances business. This journey has been a fascinating one with many roller coaster rides, hits and misses, successes and failures. Today we stand firmly on our chosen path and would like to share with you the key actions that were taken which have enabled us to traverse so far.

First we carried out a benchmarking exercise, as there was no syndicated data available on industry wide service levels, we had to carry out research ourselves, which we did by engaging a well reputed research firm- IMRB. IMRB carried out in-depth research using modern tools to understand requirements of our customers. The findings gave us the boundaries that we will have to attain and break to create a meaningful differentiator.

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Inauguration of Chandigarh model ASP by Mr. George Menezes, COO, Godrej Appliances

In 2009, when we embarked on the journey, our service team had 200 engineers, 600 Authorised Service Providers (ASPs) and 3500 service technicians across the country. The challenge was to inspire all of them and encourage them to travel the path that we had chosen. How do we get to this? We decided to launch a massive communication initiative. The package had to be simple and understandable and had to clearly enunciate the service vision of Appliances. Our COO, Mr. George Menezes, addressed some of our leading ASPs directly, a practice not common in the industry. This was followed by meets across regions at many locations and for the first time a unified common message for lifting our service to new levels was communicated to such a large audience with impact and swiftly. In retrospect, I can say that this communication exercise helped us a great deal.

Having laid the foundation of the new edifice, we took several important actions for building the service superstructure, which will enable us reach our goals.

Access: Customers should find it easy to contact when they need to. Toll-free number sticker was put on each and every appliance so that the customer knows where to make the contact.

For the first time in durable industry, we started 24x7 call center. Two new partners were chosen and today, our call center works 365x24x7 and provide support in 10 languages. Also, customers can send SMSs and request a call back for registering their call. In case customers prefer to register their service calls at the place of purchase, then also the access to the system was made available at the dealers’ place to register the calls into our system. To

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have a comprehensive inventory of calls at the call centers, a mechanism was put in place, whereby the call centre would contact trade partners everyday to collect any customer call which were somehow not registered in the system.

After the registration of call, customer gets a confirmation SMS giving the details of the call. Also, a Customer Satisfaction Number (CSN) is provided to customer at this stage. CSN is a three digit secret number given to customer which the customer can share with us only when he/she is happy with the service provided.

Connectivity: The next step in the service delivery chain is the connectivity of service providers with our system so that as soon as the call is registered, service centres can access them. More than 100,000 pin codes were segregated service centre wise and connectivity was established with the service provide. Today, barring a few areas in the north east area, all our service centres are connected to our system. Smart Net, our CRM system is one of the most comprehensive CRM platforms for handling customer calls.

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Technicians: Service technicians are the most critical element of the service value chain. We began recruiting technicians on the basis of specially designed recruitment tests so that persons with right attitude and mindset are recruited.

Post recruitment, technicians are trained extensively and their skill development is monitored through Skills Matrix and are encouraged to develop their skills to higher levels through a system of star rating test in which one star mean the lowest and three stars mean the highest.

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The network of service providers: Today we have one of the largest networks of service providers with a presence in about 370 cities. The challenge is to improve the working of the service providers on an ongoing basis. We have put in place an adequate system of supervision to improve the performance of ASPs. Some of the specific actions taken are issuing of new uniform and identity cards to all technicians. A thorough audit of assets was undertaken to evaluate the service infrastructure and the tools in use so that the same could be upgraded and the gaps bridged.

In many parts of the country, in summers electric power is not available for more than 10 hours at a stretch, resulting in loss of productivity. To overcome this loss we have deployed about 50 vans fitted with generators to provide service as promised even in power deficient areas. Additionally, about 100 normal vans are deployed to improve our service response in remote areas.

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2. Fleet of Maruti vans with generators to improve speed of response 3. Mr. Menezes rewarding performance

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Spare parts: Availability of parts at the right place and right time is another crucial factor in improving service level. As we have a few thousand SKU’s to work with, we are using ‘replenishment method’ to improve availability of parts. Availability of critical parts at ASPs is carefully controlled and monitored.

Rewards and recognitions: But all these will not work well until we have a vibrant team to deliver amidst pressure. A large portion of our own team at the field consist of young ambitious engineers who need to be motivated.

Similarly, the large team of technicians needs to be charged up and inspired so that entire team works in a coordinated way. We have put in place a sophisticated system of incentives which works on quality of service delivery parameters.

For the ASPs, we have service delivery contest where ASPs fight to become best service provider of the branch, zone and then best of the country. There are cash rewards and recognition. Top

3 ASPs of the contest are rewarded in a glittering function at Mumbai and awards are handed over by the COO of the organisation. There are formal ASP meets, technician meets, plant visits by the technicians, sports meet, to name a few. Rewards in the form of bikes, durables, cash rewards in front of their family are given. There are special recognitions of our star technicians in the form of rewards. CSN is another form of reward where ASPs and technicians can earn handsomely if they make customers happy with the service level.

Annual service conference is their time to show their strength, present best practices, learn and get noticed in front of the top management.

Ongoing surveys: To obtain unbiased, professionally obtained feedback about the quality of service rendered by our ASPs and technicians, we commission independent 3rd party surveys every year. Likewise, we also survey the end-users of all our appliances to know where we stand and take corrective action as required.

4. ASP meets: Bonding with the ASPs 5. Star Summit with top 40 service partners of the country

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Performance monitoring: To monitor the performance of our system, a carefully designed system is put in place which throws up all the key statistics on a daily basis in the form of a dashboard and it is made available to our team and ASPs. This system enables them to check their performance on a daily basis and initiate corrective action as required. A powerful system to enable our people to stay on course.

All of these have started yielding results. From 20 hours (avg.) of first attending time, today we are around 10 hours (avg.) of attending time. Resolution time on an average dropped from close to 50 hours to about 30 hours. Today, we are the fastest service provider in the durable space. For CSN initiative, we got business excellence award for “Good Management Practice” last year.

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However, there is a lot more to be done.

I would like to end with a quote from the poet Robert Frost “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.”

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Service at Godrej Locking Solutions and Systems

By Babu Govindan A crucial link for becoming a provider of solutions.

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n 1897, Godrej pioneered the manufacture of locks in India and over the years grew to be a market leader.

Till 1998, LOCKSS Business used to utilise the service infrastructure and set-up of Security Equipment Business to provide a few essential services like forced opening of locks, as and when required. In 1998, LOCKSS embarked on the journey of setting up of its own full-fledged service set-up – a first in the locks industry!

1. Technician training program being conducted

by Debanjan Goswami (RSE) at Kolkata

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When the Ultra series of locks were launched in 1998, it became essential to establish a service set-up to meet the commitment of free installation promised to the customers for these locks. Sales distributors were persuaded to take up the task of providing after sales service. A team of 14 workmen from the manufacturing plant in Vikhroli – experts in installation and servicing of locks –

spread across the country and trained distributors’ carpenters over a period of 28 days. Simultaneously, a toll-free helpline facility, managed by Caretel and Lawkim, was set up in 8 major branch towns to enable easy accessibility to customers to avail the services provided

by LOCKSS Business. Procurement of key duplication machines by the distributors was facilitated. The bouquet of services provided included installation, repairs, key duplication and emergency opening. In 2007, four Regional Service Executives (RSEs) were recruited for providing services to institutional customers, particularly in the hospitality sector.

2000- A watershed year: The Y2K event and the subsequent emergence of the Indian IT service industry changed the demographics of the country. The teeming literate Indian youth started becoming the IT service providers to the world – providing bestin-class services – to a vast array of industries across continents through the offshore model. This change in the economic situation necessitated a change in the way services are provided to Indian consumers whose own expectations for services were inspired by the way they themselves provided world-class services to people across the world.

New service model: To meet the expectations of the modern Indian consumers, LOCKSS felt the need to change the model for providing services. Providing service

2. Carpenter Kit developed by LOCKSS for ease of installation and enhancement of productivity of technicians and carpenters 3. Simulation Centre at Vikhroli for integration and testing of solutions and hi-end products 2

through sales distributors was apt for the times when they were introduced. The changed circumstances necessitated focus on services, and that too, to be provided through specialised service providers. In 2011, LOCKSS embarked on the process of appointing Authorised Services Providers (ASPs) who would focus only on after-sales services in major cities with the help of a webenabled call management system. A chain of Key Duplication Centres is also being established to provide reliable key duplication facilities in major cities.

Another customer centric initiative was the acquisition of an exclusive all-India toll-free helpline number (1800 209 4543) for LOCKSS, managed by a BPO at Navi Mumbai, to meet the accessibility needs of its customers. The basket of services was expanded to include AMC services, project installations, up-gradations and master-keying services. Regular training is provided to technicians, with the help of practicals as well as audio visual aids, to keep them updated and make them competent to provide services for the new products being introduced from time to time. A set of productivity enhancement tools and kits have been developed and made available to these technicians. The service resources are also utilised to provide training to freelancing carpenters and contractors on installation and servicing of locks.

More than 20,000 carpenters have been trained so far under this initiative.

Service structure: At th e S e r v i c e s e t- u p i n th e manufacturing plant at Vikhroli, a team of 7 members centrally co-ordinates the services activities across India, assisted by 7 RSEs in the field. One of the major activities undertaken at HO Service, Vikhroli, is the Corrective Action / Preventive Action (CAPA) taken on field to return defective products and thereby provide inputs to Design and Manufacturing teams for improvements in existing and new products. A Simulation Centre has also been set-up for integration and testing of solutions and hi-end products, online remote trouble shooting, preparation of instruction/installation manuals, Do’s and Don’ts, etc.

The business itself was undergoing a large scale change, moving away from being a supplier of products to being a provider of solutions, and hence renamed itself in 2012 as Locking Solutions and Systems (LOCKSS).

The challenges today: The journey to revamp the service netwo r k h a s b e e n f r a u g h t w i th c h a l l e n g e s, a m a j o r o n e b e i n g the availability of technicians and carpenters with the right service-oriented attitude, to provide door to door services to customers and end users. This issue is

sought to be resolved through the CSR initiative of ‘Employable Workforce’, under which LOCKSS is planning to train unemployed youth in various parts of the country in the trade of ‘Locks Service Technician’ and ‘Basic Carpentry’. T i l l date, 600 youth have been trained in Bengaluru, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Gurgaon and Raipur. Another challenge being faced is the cultural change required to be brought about in the use of the web-enabled call management system, for which rigorous training is being provided to the ASPs. Currently, the Godrej LOCKSS helpline facility caters to consumers and endusers in more than 215 cities and towns across India. The number of service requests handled through the helpline facility has increased from 500 calls per month in 2005 to 11,000 calls per month in Dec. 2012; with a first time call connect service level of about 98%.

The all-India average response time for providing services is below 24 hours.

The future: Over the years, the service set-up of LOCKSS has indeed become a key differentiator in the market place. However, we cannot rest on our laurels. And rightly so, since service is one of the strategic levers, particularly in the growth areas of Architectural and Glass Hardware.

Surely, superior service will play a key role in helping us realise our aspirations.

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Challenges of service at site

By Abhinandan Baishya, Godrej Interio Executing a large project at a remote site is very difficult especially when proportion of the new work is high.

I

ndia has a huge interiors market where complete interiors are supplied by vendors on a turnkey basis. To make an entry into this huge market and grow the business, Godrej Interio set up a new vertical of Godrej Interiors in the year 2003.

The mission of this new vertical is to provide Godrej customers unmatched value in terms of quality and reliability with execution that exceeds customers’ expectations.

Being a new player, projects are carefully screened prior to entering into the competitive bidding process.

Recently, Godrej Interio was awarded a tender by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune. It is a premier national institute, dedicated to research and teaching of the basic sciences. The aim of the institute is to improve science education in the country through research into the way science is taught, make it currently relevant and enhance the quality of teaching to global standards. As IISER is slated to be an organisation of international repute, obviously it has to have the interiors which match the global standards.

The built-up area of the project is approximately 4.2 lakh sq ft.

Scope of work for Interiors: The order received stipulates that a complete turnkey interiors solution is provided for the five blocks namely the lecture theatre, chemistry, physics, biology and the entry block. The scope involves supplying of complete interiors with special emphasis on high end acoustical fittings which conform to exacting specifications of noise reduction as specified in Bureau of Indian Standards.

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1. Designer ceiling pattern spanning the corridor ceiling of Lecture Theatre block

The scope of work mainly includes procurement and installation of Interior items such as High end wooden finishes, Vinyl flooring, Gypsum partition walls and ceilings etc. plus supply and installation of a large numbers of high end noise reduction and absorption items such as Hanging baffles, Flat clouds, Wooden slats for walls etc.

As far as work norms are concerned, we have to fully comply with CPWD norms rigorously enforced. As the work content is huge, many agencies are involved who have to work concurrently to get the project completed in time.

The conditions of dependencies prevail, so unless the tasks identified are completed in the given sequence, progress is not made, hence close coordination and supervision is required continuously so that the required tasks are completed on time.

As the budgets are restricted, rework is unaffordable and the work has to be carried out carefully to avoid rework.

Also, there is independent client/3rd party inspection of work at site. The issues raised by them have to be resolved in real time to let the work proceed smoothly.

Challenges galore: The scope of work described earlier gives rise to many daunting challenges; some of the major ones are as under:

Selection of vendors: • Deeply understanding the work involved: as bulk of the work concerns acoustical installations of which we had limited knowledge, we had to study in great detail the specifications which were required to meet and the specifications which were being offered by vendors.

Prior to selections of a vendor and the items supplied by them, it was essential to understand the technical parameters in-depth, match them with what the client wanted, articulate the gaps and then either ask the vendor to bridge the gap or offer an acceptable substitute for the approval of the client. This process of getting all items technically fully accepted was extremely essential as it would save costly penalties for variations in items supplied at a later date. • Likewise, it was also a revelation to some of us that the minimum lead time of 12 weeks was difficult to compress further because of the very nature of the products and the fact they were required to be imported.

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• And finally, tradeoffs between prices and lead times had to be negotiated and navigated carefully to ensure that the required items were made available in time at best possible prices. Let me say here that this was quite difficult and challenging especially in view of the limited time available.

2. Wooden ceiling under construction 3. Items stored in uniformity

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Chaos at site: IISER site is an amalgamation of various activities. Being huge, the quantum of work is large and so is the number of agencies. And where we have many agencies, chaos is inevitable. In the beginning it was important to identify who is responsible for what in order to follow up and get pending work done.

Secondly, small issues keep arising frequently; be it a tiff between two labourers undertaking different work at the same spot or the stoppage of work by one agency due to unresolved issues of the other agency. Last, but not the least, when a number of 100 workers at site is crossed, managing manpower becomes difficult. My site engineer was deployed specifically to do a labour count twice a day and to keep track of how many labourers were deployed at what location and doing what work.

This helped us exercise control on the absconding labourers and bring about a measure of discipline.

Storage at site: Once the orders were placed, materials started pouring in. Handling and storing them at site was a major challenge.

The safekeeping of high value items in itself was a worry and likewise was the risk of fire breaking out as a result of a carelessly thrown butt of a cigarette or electrical short-circuit due to haphazard wire management. Imagine the loss were a fire to break out.

Theft was another issue to be kept in mind and hence incoming and outgoing materials had to be kept under a vigil eye.

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4. ‘Namaste’ furniture being installed in one of the classrooms

Installation: In reality, the physical installation of approved items does not proceed as smoothly as described in the manuals because of numerous variations that come into play when actual work is being carried out. Sometimes some unexpected events occur and the work gets stalled. And sometimes in the well understood work some variations are encountered which unless rectified, the work cannot proceed further. It is extremely difficult to foresee onsite problems and hence, they have to be solved quickly and effectively as they arise. Therefore, the supervision at sight has to be alert and proactive and competent to resolve a huge variety of problems faced and yet make progress meeting with the timelines provided.

Lessons learnt: Many valuable lessons are learnt whilst executing this large project, some of the major ones are: • Nothing can be taken for granted; everything has to be crosschecked twice or thrice so that customer requirements are met and all the required items i.e. full kit is made available for the work to proceed. Last minute non availability of items is very expensive in terms of the delay and content of work.

• Coordination amongst seven to eight vendors, some of whom are under control and others are not, is not an easy task. One has to create an atmosphere of full cooperation as well as the feeling that we are working together to meet the interest of the client. Many give and takes have to be made to let the work proceed. Conflicts are best avoided, and if they occur, have to be handled quickly and diplomatically.

• The client has to be kept well informed about the good things happening and the bad things that could happen at site so that he is fully aware

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how the work is being done at site. Full, transparent and honest reporting is a must for establishing a bond of trust. It is the overall interest of the project that has to be always kept in mind and take quick decisions for letting the project move forward. Day-to-day control of activities is required for keeping the overall project under control.

To conclude, I would like to state that I personally find this kind of work at site very thrilling and would like to experience a sense of pride by completing the project in time by working as a team and keeping the flag of Interios flying high.

A good and timely execution of this project will create a favourable reference for us, which will help us win orders from similar institutions being established in public and private sector. Also, the skills of project management developed through this experience will enable us to overcome many challenges encountered late in the project upfront itself as we will be able to foresee them clearly. All in all, this entire project will create a reference project for Interios which will be showcased frequently to establish our credentials.

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jewellery, critical documents, basically valued assets which are very valuable and need to be protected well. This makes our security solutions very important from the point of view of the customers.

What does highly sensitive mean?

The manner in which a service call is attended by our team makes a strong impact on the service levels offered by our customers i.e. banks, to their customers.

Customer Service: Much more than a Differentiator!

By Pushkar Gokhale, Godrej Security Solutions Ser vice helps build stronger business relationships making GSS a market leader.

C

ustomer service is emerging as a critical differentiator for businesses. At GSS, customer service is more than a differentiator, as in the field of security it has some additional dimensions which makes it serious and different, thus unique.

So, what is so peculiar about our service function which makes it such a serious subject?

Service effectiveness can be measured through the lens of the common metrics like First Response Time & Call Closure Time. What makes the service function at GSS more demanding and critical are the additional dimensions of it being highly sensitive and it also concerns a quantum of risk which needs to be mitigated. In fact, these dimensions shape policies, systems and processes of the Service function.

As you are aware, the products offered

by GSS are meant for the storage of cash,

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Take the case of banks that purchase Safe Deposit Lockers from us for the purpose of leasing them out to their account holders. Often there are instances wherein we get service calls from banks as their customers have misplaced or have lost the keys for their lockers. In such situations, our customers’ customer (bank account holder), become desparate to get his/ her locker opened. All this happens at the eleventh hour when some valuables are to be retrieved from the locker, urgently. The account holder is now in a state of panic and becomes very edgy where even a small thing going wrong is good enough to make him/her very angry. Further, as the time is passing away an acute pressure starts building up in the mind of the account holder.

Imagine a situation where the next day is a bank holiday or a bandh, which would greatly add to the prevailing panic and a feeling of helplessness.

Here, a quick and prompt service offered by our team can help the bank satisfy their customers and create a positive experience for the account holder. On the other hand, if the service call is handled inappropriately, then not only will it reflect poorly on the bank but it will also agonise the account holder to no end.

I would like to share yet another example.

Huge number of our products like Burglar Resistant Safes and Strong Room Doors are being used by many banks for very many years. There are cases where these products have been installed by the bank over 50 - 60 years back. We often come across instances where a Strong Room Door or a Safe has developed a snag and the Custodian (bank personnel having custody of the keys) is not able to close or lock it at the end of the working day.

Imagine a real life situation where there are several crores of rupees stored inside the vault and the bank personnel are trying hard but are unable to close the vault room door and it’s getting darker at the end of the day. With every passing

moment, the pressure and even the heart beats of the custodians are increasing.

These are the times when prompt and quick action is required. This kind of situation can arise at any bank branch across the country.

You would be wondering as to why I have mentioned earlier the word risk.

Let me explain this crucial element of our business.

Service calls attended by our technicians are often about addressing problems like a lost key or a jammed door or a forgotten password in case of electronic safes, where our team has to often break open the safes or lockers or force open doors and so on.

I call it a High Risk proposition for our business as one is talking of ACCESS to valuables and when we are carrying out such service tasks of forced openings of safes etc., we have to be extremely cautious to make sure that we take proper authorisations from the customers and maintain these carefully in our records to avoid complications later.

For example, take a case where there is a service call request to break open a safe deposit locker. Lockers have a dual control lock where one key is with the bank (custodian key) and the other key is with the account holder or holders in case of a joint holding. This service call could be a genuine case of a lost key or could be because of something like a dispute between the account holders, where possibly one of the two wants to get the safe deposit locker opened but actually does not have the key, but in fact the key is in the possession of the other holder.

When our technician visits the bank and attends such a call, he would not have the slightest clue to the background of this request. It is easy to imagine the consequences or complications which we could get into as a company if the technician carries out the task without taking adequate precautions w.r.t the authorisations or letters from the bank confirming the assignment of the task of breaking open of the locker to us.

We have stipulated clear SOPs and mandatory documents which need to be taken beforehand from the customers in the form of official letters, Indemnity bonds, ID proofs etc., depending on the nature of the service to be rendered.

Sometimes, asking for the required documents can rattle the customer who

is already in a state of panic due to the lost key, and he/she can get greatly annoyed if the task is held up for want of documentation. But these are truly sensitive moments where one has to explain to the customer the importance of the procedure to be followed without any exceptions and yet keep the situation under control. Thus, it is essential to be proactive and request upfront our customers to keep the required documentation ready for rendering the required service promptly. All this makes the service task quite challenging.

Our service team has stood tall and delivered services at odd hours and at extreme and distant locations, sometimes making huge personal sacrifices. We go much beyond simply delivering the product and establishing strong bonds with our customers. These are the moments of truth for us and a prompt service delivered at such critical times helps us build a fantastic connect with our customers, which I believe is the key to establishing a lasting relationship of our customers with the Godrej brand.

It is a well known phrase that “It costs you five times as much to win a new customer than to keep an existing one�. It will actually be foolish to lose a customer in our kind of B2B model where we keep transacting with the same set of customers and stake holders who make or influence buying decisions involving repeat purchases for meeting the requirements emerging from expansion plans, replacements and upgrades.

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Winning accolades: Customers have gone all out in terms of appreciating us and have even put their feelings on record. I have picked up few such letters, out of the huge numbers of appreciation letters which stand testimony to the kind of experience which we have been creating for our customers.

1. Winning Customers : Scoring a Point over Competition 1

In fact as you will read through the enclosed letters, there have been times when we have successfully offered effective service in cases where our competitors have failed to do so, even for their own products. Also, thanks to our reach, we have been able to offer service in far flung areas, one such letter talks of how we have rendered service to a Government office in Arunachal Pradesh,

a place called Yingkiong located very close to the China border, getting to that place was a challenge in itself.

The way forward: In response to government’s policy of inclusive growth, our customers viz. banks and non-banking financial institutions have started expanding, especially into rural areas. To extend our reach we are working on enhancing our network of Authorised Service Providers (ASPs). To enhance the quality of service, we have began a journey on the path of continuous improvement with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in place for everyone including ASPs. Our dedicated customer care centre is now working 24X7 and is in the process of switching to our smart net system for managing service calls effectively.

Technical skill building is another area of focus where people from our branches and ASPs will be given training regularly to keep up the levels of skills well honed.

Annual Maintenance Contracts (AMCs) is another important avenue for boosting our revenues and improving customer confidence. Online feedback system is established to give inputs to design and QA departments for initiating corrective and preventive actions. All this leads to a conclusion that a well thought out multipronged approach is deployed for taking our service to the next level.

Besides being a key differentiator for us, we also have to remember the commercial implications and expectations from the service Line of Business (LOB).

I am referring to the Revenue v/s Cost equation, which has to be maintained right, always. At GSS, service is one of the most profitable LOB and contributes to the Business’ profitability.

Customers are not loyal by nature but it is the emotional connect which influences their purchase decision and I believe that we at GSS have been successful in establishing this connect with our customers and hence have been able to maintain leadership position in the field of Physical Security.

At Security Solutions, the service function has been and shall continue to be an enabler for the business.

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2. Winning Customer Loyalty : Going beyond customer’s expectations

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Role of service for market leadership

By Neville H Mevawala, Godrej Material Handling An evolving force at Godrej Material Handling for keeping customers happy and boosting revenues.

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ervice has always been a critical success factor for our Material Handling business. Forklift trucks often work in harsh conditions and need maintenance to ensure good performance and a long productive life.

Our network and the competence in delivering technical services has given us an edge over competition and often been the differentiating factor to keep clients with us and create a positive referral for Godrej.

Traditionally, we offered spare parts and breakdown services to customers.

In the 1990s we introduced annual and preventive maintenance contracts that met customer expectations.

Days 8 6 4 2 0

Mean time for first site visit 2012

Mean time to resolve issue at site 2012

Objectives for key performance metrics

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During the economic recovery after the dotcom bust, customer needs began to change as volumes grew along with the complexity of their business. Users also began to feel the need to focus more on their core business rather than divert attention to aspects like forklift maintenance.

The sole purpose of a lift truck is to add value to the user’s business by keeping material on the move through the supply chain. This meant that forklifts had to have a high uptime and be available whenever required, irrespective of the scale of operations.

Evolving, enhanced scope: That was when we expanded the scope of service contracts to include comprehensive maintenance contracts.

Customers now did not have to worry about the cost or manpower to maintain their forklifts. For a fixed annual fee, Godrej took over the complete hassle of maintaining the equipment and promising an uptime. The scope included parts, labour and breakdown services.

Not only did this favourably impact our own service growth but since our staff maintained the equipment, their experience helped us to address issues before they resulted in breakdowns.

This hugely improved the availability of machines for the end-user.

1. Godrej Material Handling Service uniform 2. The Service leadership team (L to R) Gunjan Bhargava, Ronnie Tampal, P. G. Mistry, N. H. Doctor 14% 34% 17%

have entered the Indian market. Our strength in service has now proved a key weapon in fighting this new competition and protecting our market.

35%

Sales to customers

Maintenance contracts

Sales to channel partners

Hiring contracts

Service revenue distribution

Increasing cost pressures also made customers question the need to have forklift operators on their rolls because their activities did not contribute directly to the core business of the customer.

Again, Godrej stepped in and bundled lift truck operations along with maintenance services. Service partners were brought on board to provide the necessary manpower while our team managed the training and administration.

Around the same time, MNCs who were used to hiring lift trucks in other markets asked for similar solutions for their Indian operations. The learning from the evolution of our service business over the previous decade helped us quickly adapt to this new need and we responded with hiring solutions. All the customer was concerned with was the movement of a certain quantum of material per shift and an agreed uptime of the equipment. And this is what Godrej was able to offer.

Extensive service network: As our services business grew, we continually focused on building the strength of our network. Today we have 17 branches and over 50 dealers who provide services for Godrej lift trucks across India.

A wide network and an expanding scope of offerings helped this erstwhile small part of our business to come into its own and today services generates 22% of our total. We aim to keep increasing the share of services in Godrej Material Handling’s portfolio in the years to come.

Future plans include the implementation of CRM, leveraging IT and tailoring different service packages for customers with different needs. All with a view to keeping our customers’ materials on the move while improving our competitiveness and keeping materials perpetually in motion.

151 CAGR 23% 128

100

2010

2011

2012

(Indexed to base year 2010)

Service revenue growth 1

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Emerging competitive scenario: Over the last few years the competitive scenario has changed dramatically and global players with superior technological and financial resources

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Great service helps build a Brighter Godrej

By Parampal Singh A ‘sustainable distinctive advantage’ can be built in our businesses by delivering inspired service every time.

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lease look at the pictures accompanying this article. They are not just pictures of our employees; they are the face of our brand. It’s these very service providers and hundreds more like them that live our brand at the moment of truth for thousands of consumers every day. This test of our brand makes service not just crucial but extremely demanding.

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Two of the four Godrej brand values link up directly to service – Experience and Empathy. Given the context of consumer durables, service is the key to providing a delightful Experience over the lifetime of the product...and a delightful Experience cannot be delivered without Empathy. Although it is taken for granted, the importance of Empathy cannot be

overstated. It takes a deep understanding of what the consumer wants and a strong commitment to set up processes so that we can deliver outstanding service.

In my opinion, it is not difficult to be empathetic, even if one cannot do formal consumer interviews. Simply ask yourself, “What if I were the customer of such an organisation?”, “How would I feel?”, “What would I say about them, in what tone of voice?”, “How would I remember this company?”, “Would I re comme nd this c ompa ny a nd its brands to the people I meet at work, socially or other wise?” All of us and our friends and family are users of consumer durables. We all understand the pain of being locked out when we return home in the evening, the stress of having to wait even for a day for a refrigerator technician to show up, the helplessness when we don’t understand why our car mechanic had to change so many parts for a seemingly straightfor ward problem, the anger that an inconsiderate call centre employee can generate and the frustration that delayed delivery or faulty installation can evoke. So, all it takes is to put ourselves in the consumer’s shoes or rather our own shoes and draw a picture of such touch points as we go along building robust systems of service delivery.

for our brand that recommend it and thus, boost our reputation. A delightful experience also creates valuable sales opportunities. Consumers who have had a great service experience with respect to one of our products will tend to be predisposed towards the purchase of other consumer durables from us. Of course in a multi-category brand like ours, the converse is also true, which is what makes service a vital business enabling function.

The recognition of the criticality of the service function and the reward of excellent and consistent service delivery will help build pride within service teams, making them a force to reckon with and lending us a distinctive advantage at the level of the household. Thus service needs to be seen as powerful lever to embed a brighter Godrej, across diverse product categories, in the hearts and minds of our consumers.

M ac h i n e s c a n fa i l b u t p ro b l e m resolution mechanisms cannot afford to. Fixing machines is far easier as compared to the ef for t required to heal the pain of poor service delivery.

Besides the requisite technical training, attitudinal guidance, including tone of voice, can go a long way in cementing a long term relationship with even the most irate customers.

Great, consistent service has outstanding benefits in terms of free and positive word-of-mouth. It can build evangelists

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T

he very nature of businesses of G&B is such that customer service has to be provided during the warranty period and also after it is over. This means a large number of interactions with customers where each of them managed to promote customer satisfaction.

It is not possible to render good service repeatedly unless the mindset of serving is embedded deeply in the very DNA of our people especially those who are rendering customer service.

To get an insight into this, CHANGE spoke to three service technicians from Appliances business as to what service means to them and the way they see their jobs.

The answers received are inspiring and have a significant relevance for all Godrejites.

Brief profiles of the service technicians are as under:

What it is to be a good service technician?

By Shashikant Juvekar, Godrej Appliances and Deepak Banota, Corporate Communications

Ajay Khaparey (AK) Has about 13 years of experience and is well qualified having secured many specialised certifications. He is very good at handling interactions with customers and as a result he often lands up attending to VVIPs and demanding customers. He has good knowledge of servicing physical security equipment and he wants to grow to be a technical Guru.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the real faces of Godrej brand are our service technicians!

Vadiraj S. Joshi (VSJ) Has about 4 years of experience with us. A Bachelor in Arts, he has worked for about 20 years as a teacher.

He is a self taught technician of good caliber. A team player who excels in motivating fellow team members.

P Sekar (PS) Has about 6 years of experience. His technical knowledge is very sound and is very good at diagnosing the problems.

He believes in team work and is always willing to share his technical expertise with his colleagues. Meticulous way of working is another of his specialities.

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Here are the edited excerpts from our talks: CHANGE: What is customer service to you?

AK: Customers must be satisfied as they are the providers of my daily bread. I always strive to do my best.

VSJ: Solving the customer’s problem at any cost is to me a customer service. The name Godrej means a lot to me and it is my duty to protect it. I will go to any length and do my best to earn a good name for my company.

PS: Helping people out of their situations is to me service.

CHANGE: What motivates you to serve the customers?

AK: I love meeting new people every day and I like trying out new ideas on the job to make it fun.

VSJ: The fact that the customers treat me as a doctor for their appliances.

PS: I always want to minimise the pain and problems as experienced by the customers. I enjoy being helpful and use my technical knowledge to solve the problems and make my customers happy.

CHANGE: Your work is demanding and repetitive. What keeps you going?

AK: To me serving to people is akin to serving to God. If we find praying to God everyday not tiresome, why should the serving of customer be boring?

VSJ: I enjoy diagnosing problems faced by the customers accurately and offer solutions as required. I am encouraged by their smiling faces and find them energising for giving good service each time, every time.

PS: To help someone different is definitely not monotonous, I like to understand their point of view and educate them to use their Godrej appliances correctly so that they don’t face problems and in fact enjoy using the appliance.

CHANGE: What do you do to ensure that the customers are happy with the service you provide?

AK: Good behaviour is the key to make the customer happy. You have to understand the customer and react accordingly, I am polite and helpful. I always give additional something like energy saving tips, things they can do to extend the life of the appliance and reassure them for their decision of acquiring Godrej Brand.

VSJ: After completing my job, I show them what work I have done and the parts I have replaced (if any). This is to let the customer know the authenticity of the solution provided by me. I always ask customers to check the product before I leave. Most of my customers reveal their CSN (Customer Satisfaction Number) to me provided to them by the call centre.

Some customers even say that next time if required only I should visit them to service their appliance.

PS: After attending to the problem, I make the customers check the appliance and ask if they have any doubts or questions. I try my best to reassure that everything is attended to properly and now the product will perform as it should.

Besides having sound technical knowhow, our service technicians are good at managing customer interactions.

No doubt they keep winning customers for Godrej.

CHANGE salutes these ambassadors of Godrej brand.

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Understanding and managing anger

By Aditya Mehendale Customer facing people often encounter unwanted aggressive behaviour from customers leading to intense stress and consequently anger. Here is a feature which unravels the mystery of this emotion to enable us to cope with it better.

Aditya is a final year BA Honours at St. Xavier’s College with Psychology as one of his majors.

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s anger an emotional state or a physical one? Is anger born out of experience or does it just come to life when our genetic blueprint chooses to play it out? Is anger primal or is it cultivated? Is anger good or is it bad?

These are just few of the many questions each of us arrested in the trappings of those moments of rage asks ourselves.

Moreover on countless occasions when we wake up to headlines which read, “Horrific outburst of violence”, “Grief after school shooting”, “Stabbing rampage” and even “City witnesses road rage once more” we again find ourselves asking questions such as what triggers anger, or more simply what is the nature of anger?

The truth is that anger is an overarching term for all those hidden cues that collectively build up to create a state of dire emotional turmoil.

From a purely psychological perspective, anger is one of the five most recognised forms of emotion. So does that make it normal to be angry? Yes. However what makes it a matter of concern is when its manifestation takes on an aggressive overtone. That’s where the channelisation and management of anger becomes crucial. Nevertheless before we divulge into any of that, it is vital to ask ourselves: where does the anger begin?

The answer to this question, as should be of no surprise, is in our bodies. The

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brain perceives a lot of information, both from the outside world and inside the body and there is this part of the brain called the amygdala that serves the function of sifting through all that information and asking one question: is this a threat? Once a threat has been perceived, there is a cascade of responses in our body which include the dilation of pupils, constriction of arteries, increased heart rate, escalated blood pressure, spikes in secretions of hormones such as adrenaline and nonadrenaline, all of which are preparing the body for what comes to be known as the ‘fight or flight response’. And therefore it is this very functionality of the amygdala that has led several scientists to zero in on it being one of the key initiators of anger. But human beings have evolved another part of the brain and that’s the frontal lobes and here’s where it gets interesting because the frontal lobes act as brakes on the amygdala. If you could think of the amygdala as being the engine for the threat response, the orbital frontal lobes are the brakes. So in effect what follows from the above is that when an individual is overwhelmed with anger and his or her response to the same is one of pure fury and rage, that individual’s pre frontal brain may not be working to its full capacity because if it had, it would have done more to pacify the responses generated by the amygdala.

Now that we know what initiates anger, it is equally important to know what instigates it. Some of the most common sources of anger are frustration, conflict, stress and competition, which could be born out of innumerable instances such as family disputes, work overload or even from suffering from low self-esteem.

Most people who suffer from perennial anger would testify that owing to the fast paced life that existence in modern times’ demands, one often fails to keep abreast with what’s happening around us, which in turn sets people up on this never ending cycle of trying to make up and keep up with everything that has occurred and is occurring. This in turn

leads to the build-up of stress which then takes the form of frustration and steadily converts into anger. Correspondingly, the display of anger in a large sense is also learnt, therefore, individuals who are prone to aggression are likely to be more exposed to acts of aggression whether it is at home or whether it is acquired from vir tual platforms such as video games and television.

Just as important as identifying the causes of the raw, unfettered and dark side of anger is, it is equally important to mitigate the causes productively by channelising them though harmony promoting mediums such as meditation, physical exercise and sports. Likewise, placing emphasises on love and compassion is also crucial as it allows us to find that sense of harmony and calm within ourselves.

In conclusion, it is vital to realise that while fighting the battle for anger, introspection and self-examination are key as they allow one to discover that his or her anger has a pattern which, when identified can be helpful in coping with it.

However, having said that, remaining tuned in to our own anger is not enough; we have to even tune in to the anger of others empathetically to alleviate it.

Learning to manage anger effectively can help us emerge unscathed from many a difficult/unpleasant situations.

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Service to humanity FAQs on Brahmavidya Answered by Guruji Suresh Mudaliar

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hange interviewed Guruji Suresh Mudaliar on Brahmavidya (BV) and its practice. The interview is much too long to be reproduced fully here hence, below are the edited excerpts from the interview for you to learn more about BV. To get good understanding of the subject, please read first the article ‘Becoming Better- the Brahmavidya way� pages 40-41, Sept-Oct 2012 issue of CHANGE, and then read the interview below. We are confident that these two features will give you an adequate overview of BV and would encourage you to undertake the classes and make it a part of your life.

CHANGE: What is BV in your own words and how does it work? Why is it so powerful?

Guruji: BV is an ancient science which is based on the belief that all humans have an element of divinity in them.

BV teaches us the ways to awaken the divinity and create capacities- physical and mental, to overcome failures, difficulties, and negative thoughts. It is also based on the belief that every individual has dormant power residing in him, if awakened can help him surmount any challenge, physical or mental. BV guides the practitioner on Pranayams, spiritual exercises and meditation.

As our life depends on our breath, it is through our breath we take in prana (Oxygen) which purifies the blood which in turn nourishes each and every cell of the body. Insufficient intake of oxygen makes our cells, millions of them in our body, unhealthy, making them prone to all kinds of diseases. Our health hence, depends on taking in the right amount of oxygen by following the right method of breathing. Regular practice of BV enhances oxygen intake in our bodies, making us healthier. Likewise, positive thoughts also make cells healthier,

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enhancing our health. Pure mind keeps a person happy, enthusiastic and healthy irrespective of the challenges faced.

BV includes the practice of breathing exercises, affirmations i.e. positive thoughts and meditation.

BV is powerful because it works at both the levels - body and mind.

CHANGE: Is BV a religious practice?

Guruji: BV is definitely not connected to any religion or sect. It concerns the universal truth. Any human being anywhere in the world following any particular religion or faith can benefit greatly by practicing it.

CHANGE: How does BV make a more evolved human being out of an ordinary person?

Guruji: The enhanced intake of prana in the body combined with pure and peaceful mind creates a huge amount of positive energy in a person. This energy when channelised appropriately with guidance and teachings, over a time gives rise to a new consciousness which transforms the person completely. In a way the person is reborn. All this happens with the blessings of the divine grace which is evoked through the process of meditation. The new energy thus generated helps the person overcome the barriers to self growth and facilitates total transformation.

CHANGE: What difficulties people experience while practicing BV? Guruji: To begin with, people do not follow regular timings for the practice of BV. As a result the quality of practice suffers simply because the intelligence of the body comes into play weakly.

The second reason being that people do not find adequate time i.e. one hour in the morning and half-an-hour prior to retiring for the night. Inadequate amount

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of time once again hurts the quality of BV. Thirdly, people do not concentrate deeply enough on the practice while performing it. Needless anxiety to have benefit of the practice quickly ruins the practice itself. It is only after 8-12 weeks of good practice after undertaking the basic course that the full benefits of BV are experienced.

CHANGE: Can women and children also practice it? What about senior citizens?

Guruji: Women of all ages can practice BV with the exception of expectant mothers. Children above sixteen years of age can learn and practice BV. However, between the age of 8 and 16, they need to undergo Sanskaar Shiksha. Please note that there is no age limit for any one to learn and practice BV. Persons in their advancing years specially those above 70 years of age have learnt BV and are practicing it for their greater wellbeing.

CHANGE: Today working people suffer from stress induced diseases; how does BV help cope with stress?

Guruji: As you are aware, stress arises out of the imbalance between the required capacity to do work and the available capacity. Of course unreasonable ambitions also play their own role and so do the means adopted to achieve the ambitions. As the practice of BV enhances the capacity of a person to do work, both physical and mental, it becomes easier for a person to perform the demanding tasks day in and day out without getting tired. Pure and peaceful state of mind attained through the practice of meditation creates an awareness of what is good and desirable viz a viz what is not good and hence, avoidable. This awareness helps a person make better choices resulting in desirable outcomes and a fewer undesirable side effects. Energy is used

more efficiently hence it is possible for a person to do much more work readily.

Peaceful mind improves concentration and clarity.

1. CHANGE team in conversation with Guruji Suresh Mudaliar

Therefore, it can be seen easily that the practice of BV helps eliminate stress and enhances capacity, confidence and the acceptance of the situations as they are.

BV helps cope with stress in a positive way.

CHANGE: Is BV spreading today?

What is your vision for BV’s future?

Guruji: Yes, BV is spreading rapidly. I myself conduct classes at Mumbai and Pune regularly. I have so far trained approximately 2000 number of people through my regular classes which are about 21 per week, with each class of about 3 hours duration. I have developed the BV practice material in five different languages – Marathi, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and English. My vision is to spread BV to all the major cities of India through a regiment of trained teachers who can take the basic course.

CHANGE: Any message readers of CHANGE?

for

the

Guruji: I would like to tell them that please evoke the divinity residing in you and leverage it with the practice of BV to become a healthier and a better person in every possible way. Involve your family members so that the atmosphere at home is conducive to the positive growth of everyone in the family. Attend BV refresher classes to stay motivated and improve the practice. Share your positive experiences with others and inspire them to take to the practice of BV. I assure you that miracles will happen in your life which hitherto not imagined by you. I invite you to take the first step of the BV journey by joining the basic course. Remember, it is possible to transform the lives of your loved ones and your own through BV.

For enrolling to the progr am please contact Freddy Wadiwala, HR office, Godrej Precision Engineering, 022-6796 2922

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Indian Railways - At your service

By Neha Kumra, thought blurb Public services in our country are woefully inadequate. Technology can play a big role for serving people better. Here is an example that can make us proud.

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have been born and brought up in this land of rich culture and varied demography. From the heights of the Himalayas to the depths of the Kerala Backwaters; from the history of Rajputana Palaces to the mystery of the Sundarbans, India is indeed, incredible.

But if it were not for the Indian Railways, this traveller’s dream would have been like a nightmare. Millions of commuters are benefited by its services everyday. Be it the facilities provided during the journey or the conveniences to book your tickets before hand, Indian Railways has done a remarkable job in assisting people.

Take an example of the ticket reservation system, the upgradation was commendable, but over-the-counter booking system has its own drawbacks.

Besides the never ending queues, there were touts who ruled the roost at the booking counters. To deal with this, the Indian Railways launched IRCTC website and life was never the same for most of us. It not only saved us from the hassles of waiting in long queues, but also presented us with a portal that helps plan every minute detail of our travel.

Another thing about travel plans is that not all of them can be planned. For several reasons, some of them are made at the spur of the moment. Well, for me, most of them are. So, this Diwali was pretty much the same story. I decided to surprise my family with an impromptu visit. The airfares were exorbitant and taking the road for the next 1700 kilometers was out of question. Hence, I made the best

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of the Tatkal scheme and reached home without any hindrance.

Good food accompanied the good times and before I knew, it was time to head back. My journey normally requires that I make a halt at Delhi and then board another train to my ultimate destination, Mumbai. It was the same this time around, except for a twist. It wasn’t until late in the night while I was packing to leave for Delhi, that I realised a major glitch in my plans.

In all the haste and amid rumours of malfunctioning of the IRCTC website, I had booked an on-counter Tatkal ticket to Delhi, a day before leaving. The ticket from Delhi to Mumbai could only be booked when counters opened the next day at 10 am. But my train to Delhi was leaving at 7 in the morning. How on Earth was I going to be present at the reservation counter at 10 am?

Nevertheless I got on the train to Delhi. My last and only hope was IRCTC website. So, while the train raced towards Delhi, I browsed through the IRCTC website on my laptop. Contrary to beliefs, the site functioned seamlessly. I tried getting a Tatkal reservation in the Delhi-Mumbai Duronto. And voila! A seat on Duronto was booked in my name while I was travelling on another train.

Feelings of relief flooded my head and I was grateful that such services are made available to us. With that burden off my head, I went back to admiring the view of the fast changing landscape as it rushed past my window.

In the Spirit of Service An excerpt from ‘Not For Bread Alone’ by Konosuke Matsushita

If you run a retail store, you yourself must first be convinced that “hello” service is necessary, and then convince your employees.

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fter-sales service is going to become important from now on, as the number of sophisticated devices on the market that would require a specialist to repair or adjust can only increase. It has already been found that the store which places equal emphasis on sales and after-sales service flourishes.

After-sales service is especially effective if you act before the customer complains about your product or something goes wrong with it. For example, when summer approaches and people take their electric fans, just drop in at the houses of customers who bought fans at your store last year. Say “hello,” and ask how the fan is working, then check the fan and clean it. I call this “hello” service.

The service is free, of course. There is no immediate profit. But the customer is pleased and his or her trust in you goes up by a large percentage. For a businessman, there is no greater happiness and sense of worth in your work than what your customers’ delight and their trust in you can give.

But free after-sales service, even before it is requested, demands extraordinary effort and investment. If you run a retail store, you yourself must first be convinced that “hello” service is necessary, and then convince your employees. Keep stressing why it is so important until they really understand it and are glad to make the rounds. Then your store will most certainly thrive. Your products should give no trouble, for, since you and your employees know the importance of service, you will naturally be careful to show the customer how to use a product properly when he buys it from you. And after-sales service will ensure that the product remains in good working condition. You will get fewer complaints from your customers, and they will be pleased with what you sold them. After-sales service requires close cooperation among retail store, wholesaler, and maker, but the role of the retailer, the direct link to the customers, is primary.

After a daughter marries, her parents worry and wonder if she is getting along with her husband and the in-laws. A product from your store is like a married daughter. Do not forget about it, keep it in mind, and wonder how it is doing. Think about the customer, too, who has, after all, become something like a relative. And check-up from time to time by giving “hello” service.

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Service that counts

10x

On an average, loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase.

70% of th e b u y i n g experience depends on how the customer feels they are being treated.

It takes

12 positive

It is 6-7 times more expensive to gain a new customer than to retain an existing one.

experiences to make up for one negative experience.

80% companies claim to deliver ‘superior’ service. 8% of people think the same companies deliver ‘Superior’ service.

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