Retailers need to reinvent their customer service strategy?

My client knew where he was losing out as do many other Indian Retailers in the market today. The stakes have risen in the consumer market and we have to raise the value we deliver to customers, else our relevance in the market may be threatened. The key question; how do we accomplish the above objective in an increasingly crowded market?  There is no simple answer to this question, but the direction in which we need to move is clear.

We need to be more responsive to our customers at a time when their expectations are increasing, and also anticipate their emerging wants and desires, and no marketing research or advertising agency can this knowledge to us.  Also, for too long we have measured customer impact in the form of market share and demographics.

The Indian consumer has a wide choice, and has become mature, and this is especially relevant for the retail industry. And, it’s time the retail industry reinvents its customer service model and the way they delight customers, in a manner analgous to a dukaandar (shopkeeper) who values the first sale of the day, known as his bohni.

This calls for a two-way conversation with the customer. It was this realisation that motivated me to write the recently released book on customer-connect, It Takes Two To Tango to explore how Retailers can create a lasting customer-connect in India.