"A Day in Richa – Sana's Life" - Part II

In Part-I of this article Scene 1 and 2 ?we have seen two friends since college days - Richa and Sana decide to spend a Sunday together. They?go to a naturally customer-centric restaurant and a progressive co-operative bank. Let us get on a journey further with them……

Scene 3

At 11:20, they entered "Fun Island," - a newly started multiplex- posh and perfect with modern-day gloss and glitz. With the grand multiplex theatre, a coffee bar, a food court, shops, play areas, and other attractions.?

It was here, Richa remembered her first encounter with uncomforting service. While Sana was trying to look for the parking slot, Richa checked on the "Book-my-show" app, which movie would be a better watch. As exorbitantly high as any weekend ticket could go, she ignored the surged price and glimpsed at the listed movies in the theatre. (But she still decided to buy the tickets on the counter, assuming the price would be relatively lower) Standing across the counter, she enquired that they needed more clarity regarding the movie and if they could get some good suggestions. "Why don't you look up the screen and come - yes, next!" sharply said the lady, with a voice void of courtesy or any welcoming tone.?

Finally, they decided on the movie and bought two tickets for Rs. 780/-, which were delivered to them mechanically. After watching the movie, Richa immediately reached the customer feedback Kiosk outside the theatre to register her unsatisfactory experience with the service that couldn't be perceived as value for money. The same dull story of "No value for money & indifferent service" continued when they bought coffee, an afternoon meal at the food court, and another snack corner. While the whole environment was spick and span with ample attention to cleanliness, the all-important humane element was missing in the whole proposition. No wonder those grand shopping stores could not pull the expected footfall and eyeball despite renting the shops to big apparel brands such as Westside, Pantaloon, lifestyle, etc. Richa thought, hadn't been for the sole purpose of watching a movie on a big screen, how hard would it be for a modern-day multiplex like Fun Island to stand on its own? Was Fun Island a classic case of abundant "Hard" elements and a gross lack of "soft" service elements? How will it keep ill-treating the 'Service literate' customer?

Scene 4

For the evening, Richa surprised Sana by taking her to "Books r U,"; a newly started shop (part of an all-Indian chain) for books & allied stationery/gifting products. She was positive that the avid reader and book lover Sana would cherish this visit.

Customer-friendly displays, a reading arena, a coffee shop, proper lighting, a good ambiance, and the total effect created were the definite differentiator in this shop.?

Sunday evening drew a heavy crowd at the shop. While finding any flaw in the overall experience was challenging, Richa wondered about something. Sana and Richa purchased Rs. 10,000 worth of books & some reading accessories, but the shop manager and other staff were so occupied managing the crowd that they barely bothered to note down important details of these high-ticket customers. CLTV – Customer Lifetime Value of both of them to 'Books r U' was very high. Developing a strong database is thus the first step towards developing a CRM initiative for any organization. Though the customer acquisition rate for the newly started "Books r U" was visibly incredible, Hardcore marketing person Richa contemplated again and again. Do growing businesses like "Books r U" have to face a trade-off between "profit combined with operational excellence" and "achieving excellent customer relationship management gradually"? When she shared her views with Sana, she said, "Look at the mad rush Richa! Do they really need it? ". Richa responded, "Well, yes. Perhaps.!" but not without a note of interrogation in her mind…..

(This Case Study is a revised version of the case study: 'Old age vs. New edge' by Abhay Kardeguddi, published in Anthology of Indian Cases and CRM book by the Author of SCDL, Pune. Sanika Sapkale assisted the author in rewriting the case in a new form and context. Sanika is a Marketing specialization student at Symbiosis – SIIB, Pune)

Two Questions:

1. Suggest 3 innovative additions and solutions to Shefali and Fun Island, respectively. (Refer part-I of this article for Shefali)
2. As discussed in case Scene 4, do excellent customer relationships come at the expense of profit for growing business? What do you think?

Author: Abhay Kardeguddi and Sanika Sapkale

(CXM - Customer Experience Management Series: Article 4)

(CXM or CEM = Customer experience management, the latest development in Marketing. It is a system of marketing strategies and technologies that focus on customer engagement, satisfaction, and experience.)

abhay kardeguddi

CEO and Chief Consultant-Trainer

NIVA Growth Consultants

Pune I Dubai I London

www.nivagrowth.com

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/abhay-kardeguddi-4b02216/