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Friday, March 29, 2024
YourTurnSubscriberWrites: India’s ‘service’ industry misses the mark. Feedback last priority for providers

SubscriberWrites: India’s ‘service’ industry misses the mark. Feedback last priority for providers

Customer complaints , if they find their way to the organization , are left to back end teams to handle and close, writes Alok Kumar.

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(Understanding the root causes  and road ahead for government services as well as product and services companies seeking to raise the bar of overall experience of their brands ,while competing in Indian and International markets) .

India is a ‘Service Economy’ growing at a rapid pace- yet how are the citizens/customers feeling ? In this Government is the largest provider of ‘services’ ( to citizens) . 

How often have you been frustrated trying to fill and complete an online form on a government website for any e governance service that have rolled out with the push of digital enablement of citizen services. Instead of these online services being intuitive and designed for minimally digitally aware majority of the citizens, they often need skill and proficiency for navigating and completing these forms. The user of e governance services on digital platforms end up with the feeling of frustration /helplessness, eventually resorting to use of services of agents/dalals that flourish outside government service offices (eg RTO, Passport ,etc) or approach a Common Service Center (CSC’s) that have been set up the government for facilitation of citizens needing help on digital government services.  CSC’s are very much akin to the bygone PCO’s and serve as a good facilitation point for digital unconversant user needing any e governance services.  CSC’s provide access to e- governance services even to the remotest corner of the country. CSC operator being conversant with the complexities of navigating/using an  e-governance service portal  becomes a critical cog  in the delivery of citizen services. However by application of UX (User Experience) methodologies, robust user feedback on ease of use, deploying feedback methods to assess direct citizen usage experience of these services, a redesign of the portal can  work wonders to empowerment of common citizens for availing  of government services.  Strong foundations of digital enablement for government services have been laid out, however the ease of use by common citizen is still a ‘blind spot’ that needs to be addressed urgently and continuously. 

Having said this for government services, are the experience while dealing with private organisations any different? All too often, even for very reputed brands, the post purchase support,  be it trouble shooting or for additional requests /queries leaves one struggling to reach a valid service center number or get a prompt response from an online support channel. Reaching an empowered  / informed after sales support team and have your issue recorded and resolved satisfactorily in a time bound manner usually is often an uphill task, leaving consumers frustrated. This is the experience across product categories – appliances, telecom products , airlines, e- commerce /travel sites,etc. Exceptional service providers are more the exception that the rule.

In a land where often you see the quote of Mahatma Gandhi ‘ Customer is God – ‘Athithi Dev Bhavo’ ‘ is often seen, why does the actual experience of consumer/citizen be so different/contrary to desire?

Having been engaged in the support leadership roles in many organizations have found a few core /fundamental issues – that lead to the situation of below par post sales experience for major brands and citizen services.

  1. Area of service/support is often neglected in organisations, since it is seen as a ‘cost’ and therefore everything is done to curtail the ‘expense’ ( eg cutting down manpower attending customer calls, etc). In a big market like India where there is ample demand – chasing sales through advertising , sales promotions, sale channels become the growth drivers. Customer complaints , if they find their way to the organization , are left to back end teams to handle and close. 
  2. The causal impact (positive and negative) of post sales experience to the brands overall strength /reputation in the long run has not been properly callibrated/studied (currently it an intuitive judgement taken by leadership – mainly the CEO). So, resource allocation for support areas become difficult, as business case creation often relies on judgement of long term impact to the brand/customer loyalty.
  3. Service & Experience Management is still is taught only as an optional elective subject in only a few management schools – so organisations are missing out on assimilation of various tools and techniques that have developed over time in advanced consumer economies for service experience management practices. Designing and delivering a robust service experience needs knowledge / skill for deployment of technology, systems, processes and for getting a ‘Customer First’ cultural ethos created within an organization.  Time is ripe for ‘Service Experience’ Management to be brought out as a core management stream , if India wants to be the Service Economy leader to the world.  

Absence of Service Capability assessment framework that helps guide evaluation of service delivery organisations – and ensures the interests of citizens/customers are properly addressed.

 


Also read: SubscriberWrites: Bhagwat’s visit, aligning with regional parties–BJP’s gameplan in Meghalaya and Nagaland


 

These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.

 

 

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