“Improve Service at all points of Customer Interface” - On record

“Improve Service at all points of Customer Interface”

(Corporate Voice: Prof. G. Shainesh, IIM, Bangalore)

Q: You had a research conducted on the Bangalore-Chennai Shatabdi Express to identify 19 improvement areas. What were the top three sectors?

A: The top three areas for improvement identified were:

• Cleanliness – Clean Platforms, Clean Coaches

• Experience – Good food, comfortable seating and good ambience
• Safety Aspects – This may have come up due to the train blasts that took place just a few days before this survey was conducted

Q: Your study included only users of the Indian Railways. How would you factor in the non-user segment to take suitable decisions?

A: India’s population is approximately 1.4 billion. And the population that uses the railway facility is 2 billion, considering repeat travellers. So, if our survey takes care of the heavy users, then you are pretty much covering all the non-users who are very small in number and can be neglected. There is also a divide between customers who are loyal to the railways and customers who are divided between road, air and rail. Railways should think about serving the loyal customers better.                                                                                                                   

Q: From the tourism perspective, how do you think we can take brand ‘India’ forward, given the service capabilities available currently?

A: I think there is a lot of hype attached to tourism here at India. The ‘Incredible India’ campaign won a lot of awards but hypes tourism in India beyond reality. We have historical monuments, we have the cultural diversity, but we fail at the customer interface. If you ask the foreign tourists coming about their experiences in India, they narrate a lot of horror stories.

The tourism department and all the other major players like the hotels should realise that just showing a nice ad will not attract tourists. They should take care of the entire experience; right from the time that the tourist gets off the plane, till the time he boards his return flight.  It’s not only about the cost. It’s not about providing inexpensive travel across India. It’s about the service. Most tourists are ready to shell out a little more money for better service.  It’s about improving service at all points of customer interface.

Interview by:

Dilip T.P.

Ist Year, PGDM