Part - I

A few months ago I called my credit card company to send me a form for a direct electronic transfer from my account so that I would not have to waste time and energy writing out a cheque every month. When I did not receive the requisite forms in spite of a subsequent follow-up call on my request, I decided to switch the credit card firm opting for someone who would understand my needs better and provide me the service even if it were at a slightly higher charge. This raises a pertinent question, 'How many companies are losing high net-worth individuals as potential customers?' Every marketing manager worth his salt knows that it is more expensive to find a new customer than to retain an existing one and yet, companies are so callously ignoring existing customers in their pursuit of new customers.

In this particular situation, the company did not even have to identify the need, I as a customer had approached them with my need and all they had to do was service this need, for which they already had the facility. But, somewhere in the line someone probably thought it was not worth the trouble. It is frightening to think of having such lacunae in your service process that would eventually drive you out of business. The service staff probably did not receive sufficient training on the significance of retaining an existing customer or there was a system failure that lost my request or there was no motivation in the service staff to provide the service. Any of these situations spell doom for the company. It is unfortunate that companies spend a large proportion of the advertising budget in getting clients and then, are oblivious to individual needs and circumstances, in the process losing valuable customers for life.

Everyone seems to be aware of the fact that 'Customer is King' but most companies are just paying lip service to this philosophy. No attempts are made to understand the needs of the customer and cater to those needs. If you ask any marketing manager a basic questions, "Who are your customers?" you invariably get a generic response. Marketing managers do not make the effort to understand who the customer really is. It is surprising to find that most of them are functioning under the assumption that the customer is not intelligent and does not know what he wants. So, let's give him what we have designed, rather than asking him what he desires. But, companies that realise this are expanding their customer base and making profits. Mass-customisation is the need of the hour. What better example than Sabeer Bhatia who identified a need for people to communicate with each other and offered to act as a link, providing a free service that has become his most valuable asset, the Hotmail database.

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* Contributed by: -
Hanif Kanjer,
MBA (London Business School),
Director - Rustomjee International School, Mumbai.