Friday, 13 December 2013

excellent customer service case studies in retailing in india

1. On 02nd Sept Kalpana was about to close the store around 9pm, a customer named Shekar rushed in and was requesting to transfer the data. She said its closing time. Please visit tomorrow. Customer started requesting Kalpana that he is traveling to abroad next day morning at 4 am flight and data transfer is urgent for him, he said can you ask any guy to handle him. Kalpana said this is an Angel store where only female employee works. There was no sound from customer. Understanding customer urgency she said. "Sir I will help you". She started transferring his data from Nokia to IPhone. it did not support, time was passing on, she tried again in vain. She could notice tension on customers face. With the help of store manager she called up back-end team for support and some setting in RED BOX(DATA transfer machine). She finally transferred the data successfully and the shop was closed around 11.40pm. Customer was very happy that his work was done.

2. One of our customers, Ms. Sadaf Khan, claimed that she had forgotten her sunglasses at the Customer Service Desk (CSD) when she came to collect her altered garment. We searched for the sunglasses but could not trace them anywhere. While going through the CCTV footage of the section it was noticed that the sunglasses were purloined by another customer who pretended as if they were his and sneaked them into his carry bag. Though we could see the customer picking up the glasses, we did not have any details about him. 
The CSD team member tried calling associates from the Menswear team to identify the customer by the purchase he had made. During this effort, one of the associates recalled selling Allen Solly trousers to the same customer. Team members were able to find the details of the customer from the alteration slip. This issue needed to be handled with sensitivity and tact, as it involved theft by a customer. Satish Pandey, one of our most reliable team members, called up the customer and requested him to return the sunglasses, claiming that they had ended up in his carry bag by mistake- thus seeking a resolution without offending him. Initially the customer was reluctant but when Satish cited the CCTV footage, he agreed to return it. 
Satish and Team Leader Manish Rana visited the customer and collected the sunglasses and handed them over to Ms. Khan. She was overjoyed and pleasantly surprised. In the entire episode, Satish maintained a very firm yet polite approach. He managed to collect the sunglasses without embarrassing the customer. A classic example of balanced and systematic approach to address a complicated situation.

3. Mr. Jitender Singh came to our store one evening to buy a suit for his marriage. Our Senior CCA, Ravi Sharma, showed him some elegant suits from our ceremony collection. Mr. Singh liked a white suit. Ravi showed him shirts and ties that matched the suit. Mr. Singh tried them on and was very happy with Ravi’s suggestions. He appreciated Ravi a lot and told us that his wedding would take place two days later in Meerut. He purchased the merchandise and left, promising us that he would come back to Van Heusen on his next shopping trip. 
The next morning, Ravi got a call from Mr. Singh saying that his suit had been misplaced somewhere while travelling from Delhi to Meerut. Mr. Singh felt very sad as he had liked that suit very much and didn’t have the time to come again to the store to buy a new one. Ravi told Mr. Singh not to worry and promised him that he will arrange another suit before his wedding. 
He searched the whole collection and found a suitable tie and shirt in the store but could not find the suit anywhere in Delhi NCR. After continuing his search in other locations, he found the same kind of suit at the Van Heusen store at Chandigarh. Ravi wanted to keep his commitment as he had promised Mr. Singh a complete suit for his marriage. Though it was raining heavily he left for Chandigarh by bus. He was drenched but still managed to catch the bus, reach Chandigarh in the evening, collect the suit and from there leave for Delhi at night. 
Next morning, he left for Meerut well-dressed and reached Mr. Singh’s home with the suit and a bouquet at the eleventh hour. When Mr. Singh looked at Ravi, he was so delighted that he hugged Ravi heartily and requested Ravi to join them and enjoy the wedding ceremony. He introduced Ravi to his whole family and told everyone about Van Heusen’s marvelous customer service.
4. Chabiraj Jaiswar is a 50-year old employee, serving with his extraordinary skill in our sports department. Being the oldest staff member in this department, he manages the assembling of cycles, fuzeball tables, treadmills, home gyms etc. He also visits the customers’ homes to solve their issues.
One day, Chabiraj went to attend to a customer’s complaint. The customer had some issue with the bicycle he had purchased and was not able to bring it to the store, so he wanted someone to visit his house and repair it. Chabiraj left the store around 5:00 pm that day. He had to travel a long distance as the customer was located at Powai. As it was evening time, all BEST buses were crowded. 
He somehow got into a bus but the bag which he was carrying along remained hanging out and got entangled in a car’s mirror. Chabiraj was yanked out of the bus and onto the road. He suffered a cut on his forehead and started bleeding. A man fifty years of age, even in that injured condition, continued his journey and reached the customer’s place. The customer was shaken after looking at him. He requested him to leave the job aside and to visit a doctor. But Chabiraj completed the task and then left the place. He had satisfied the customer by solving his problem. 
The next day, he came to the store and narrated the whole incident. We offered him casual leave and asked him to leave but he resumed his job within two days. He continues at the sports department with a scar on his face.
5. Exceptional customer service shown by eyewear consultant Mr. Selva Kumar.
One of our customers, Mr. Dudani, aged 76 years, is a resident of M.G. Road, Bangalore. He is a retired army officer and owing to illness he was not able to walk or stand properly. Mr. Dudani used to be a customer of another optical store but when he came to know about a discount offer that Titan Eye Plus was offering during that period, he decided to get his spectacles made at Titan Eye Plus. He called up the store and was curious to know if the store could provide service at his home. 
The eyewear consultant (EC) at the store Mr. Selva Kumar went over to Mr. Dudani’s house with a few frames that would suit a person of his age. Mr. Dudani selected a frame and placed an order for spectacles with bifocal lenses. When asked for the prescription, Mr. Dudani handed over a prescription which was provided to him by his family doctor. Selva Kumar found that the prescription was not clear as the power mentioned in it was not specified clearly. Since Mr. Dudani could not help Kumar with this, Kumar thought of an idea. He contacted Mr. Dudani’s family doctor and visited his clinic to get all the doubts related to the prescription clarified. Mr. Dudani was moved by this gesture. He didn’t expect that a store staff would take so much trouble for the sake of a customer. He blessed Kumar from the bottom of his heart.
6. Chandan is a wonderful guy. He is very helpful to everyone. I was a stranger to him, but within a short time I became a fan of his. I thought, in today’s world still there are people who can do so much for an unknown person. I had come to Kolkata from Patna for my friend’s wedding. I had ordered a pizza but I was in market for shopping. It was going to take me some time to reach the hotel room where pizza was supposed to be delivered. Unfortunately, when I was on my way to the hotel, someone stole my wallet. In the meantime Chandan had arrived at the hotel with the pizza. He called me and asked me where I was. I told him that I wanted to cancel my order. He asked me the reason. I told him what happened. He asked me to take the pizza and told me that I need not pay for it. I was surprised by his reaction. After I reached the hotel, I saw him standing there. He gave me the pizza and told me that he would pay for it. He even asked me how I would go back to Patna without money. I told him that I had booked return ticket. But still, I had to pay for the hotel rent. Chandan offered me 500 Rs. and told me that I can transfer it to his bank account once I reach Patna. I thought if he had not helped me then how would have I faced the situations without money. He was like a miracle for me. May god bless him with all the happiness of the world.
7. On 8th of April 2013, Mr. Gurdit Singh was busy assembling and displaying sports equipment on the trading floor. He saw a customer in his section. Leaving his assembling job, he asked for the customer’s requirement and was told that the customer was interested in purchasing treadmill. He showed some treadmills to the customer and gave a demonstration of all the machines available on the floor. The customer liked a treadmill that cost Rs. 25,000 and enquired about the Home Delivery service. As per the store policy, Home Delivery up to 30 kms is free and for distance beyond 30 kms, the customer needs to pay Rs. 15 per km. After getting to know this home delivery policy, the customer’s interest in purchasing the product dwindled because his residence at Palampur District in Himachal Pradesh was 250 kms away from the store. 
Gurdit spoke to his Team Leader and Manager, but they refused to provide free home delivery as it was going to cost them around Rs. 8,000 for the product priced at Rs. 25,000. It was tough for Gurdit to decide whether to sell the product to the customer or not. He spoke to his Team Leader Mr. Vishal Chauhan, who belonged to Himachal Pradesh and came to know that there was bus service between Amritsar and Palampur. With this knowledge, Gurdit asked the customer to get the product billed and committed that he would deliver the product at Palampur free of cost. 
The next day Gurdit went to the bus stand to meet the driver and conductor of the Palampur bus and got their permission to load the treadmill on the condition that he himself will travel on the bus with the product. On the 10th of April, with the help of store staff, Gurdit loaded the product on the bus, coordinated with the customer and requested him to be present at Palampur Bus Stand. Gurdit thus delivered the treadmill to the customer successfully. After this, Gurdit received four more orders for treadmills from Palampur which he delivered in the same way and our store now regularly supplies sports equipment to Himachal Pradesh too.
8. One of our customers, Mr. Jugal Jhajharya from Sikar (which is almost 100 kms away from Jaipur), visited our store to purchase a suit for his wedding which was to take place at Sikar. Saleem Kuraishi, the sales person, attended to Mr. Jhajharya from the beginning till the end. The customer had earlier visited the store two or three times to purchase a tie, shirts and a suit. During these visits, Saleem had developed a strong bonding with him. Mr. Jhajharya invited Saleem as well as the entire Raymond Store staff to attend his wedding in Sikar. He was clearly very happy with the service provided by Saleem and gave a note of appreciation to the store manager.
At the time of trial, Mr. Jhajharya had informed us that he wouldn’t be able to come to collect his suit as he was not allowed to go outside the home post the haldi ceremony. One of his relatives would therefore come to collect the suit. The delivery date was two days before the wedding. Saleem called Mr. Jhajharya for the delivery on his mobile phone and later even on the landline number, but no one answered the calls. He continuously tried to reach Mr. Jugal for two days but all in vain. 
On the wedding day, around 6:00 pm, Mr. Jhajharya called the store and asked for his suit. The store team informed him that no one came to collect the suit and also the numbers given by him were not reachable. Mr. Jhajharya was worried and said that he thought his brother had already collected the suit. He explained that he had to wear that suit at 9:00 pm for the reception and even if he sent someone right away, it would take more than 4 hours for them to get back. Saleem reassured him and gave confidence by offering to travel to Sikar and deliver the suit before time. The bridegroom-to-be relaxed and thanked Saleem for going that extra mile. 
Saleem immediately left the store after discussing the situation with his store manager and boarded the train for Sikar. He reached his destination at 8 pm and then took an auto to Mr. Jhajharya’s home which was about 2 km away from the railway station. When the auto had moved only about 200 meters, a vehicle coming from opposite direction suddenly dashed into them. Both Saleem and the auto driver were injured and had to be admitted to a nearby clinic. 
The doctor bandaged their wounds, gave them pain killers and suggested that they take rest for the next two-three hours. Saleem requested the doctor to allow him to go because an anxious bridegroom was waiting for him. He explained the entire story. The doctor and his team appreciated his dedication and service-oriented attitude. The clinic’s peon quickly arranged for a taxi for Saleem, thus allowing him to reach the customer’s house.
Mr. Jhajharya and his parents were waiting at the door and heaved a sigh of relief as Saleem handed over the suit. Mr. Jhajharya saw the bandages on Saleem’s body and asked him what happened. Saleem explained the situation. Everyone was shocked at hearing this and were moved to tears. They thanked Saleem and the entire Raymond staff for such a level of dedication. They offered him some dinner as well. After the dinner, Saleem took their permission to leave. The entire family was so happy with him that in spite of being busy with wedding chores, they dropped Saleem to the railway station.
9. One day a customer came to the store with old merchandise for exchanging. I recognized the customer as I had personally assisted her with shopping. But it was long time back. The merchandise she wanted to exchange was almost a season back and she had lost the bill too. When I asked her the reason for exchange she said that she no more liked the design as much as she did at the time of purchasing. I informed her about our exchange policy & hearing the same she was a little disheartened. Looking at her sad face, I suggested her that I can make her look good in the same kurti. Excitedly she asked “how? “. I told her that I would need some measurements and couple of hours for alteration. Though she was in a hurry she gave permission for the same. She came back after 3 hours and asked for her kurti. I showed her the altered kurti and asked her to go for trial. She was very impressed with the final result.She said that I brought a smile back on her face. She said it feels as if she has bought a new season dress. She complimented me by saying that I should go for fashion designing course.
10. A customer, Mr. Avinash Mathur aged 54 years is a resident of HIG, Indore. He is a government officer. Owing to a paralysis in his lower part of the body due to a spinal cord injury, he was not able to stand and could manage to move with the help of a wheel chair. He visited the Titan Eye plus store at MG road, but since the store is situated at upper ground level, he was unable to come inside. He requested the driver of the auto rickshaw, in which he had travelled, to ask someone from the store to meet him. The auto rickshaw driver met the eyewear consultant Abhishek and explained him the whole situation. Without wasting a moment, Mr. Abhishek, the Eyewear consultant at the store went outside to meet Mr. Mathur. He took a few frames, a hand mirror and the optical measurement equipment (IPD meter) along with him. He attended Mr. Mathur in the auto rickshaw. All the testing and measurements were carried out in the auto rickshaw itself. Abhishek helped him in selecting the best frame. After a detailed discussion with EC Abhishek, Mr. Mathur selected a frame and placed an order for a spectacle with progressive lens. Mr. Mathur was extremely delighted when he received such care and support from Abhishek. Initially when he saw so many steps in front of the store, he thought it would be impossible to get his eyes checked and get a pair of spectacles made but Abhishek’s service and commitment proved him wrong.
11. A little girl came to our shop with her parents on a Saturday evening. It was her 7th birthday. She purchased dress and matching accessories for herself. She was eating chocolate and was probably imagining her birthday party. On Monday morning she came to me crying with her parents. She had broken a pink hair band that she had purchased matching with her pink dress. Adding to her worry that particular hair band from Disney was out of stock. I showed her all other available alternatives but she was insistent to buy the same one that she had purchased the other day. I kept on thinking how I could bring smile on her face. I started calling up all other stores in Kolkata to check if the same hair band was available anywhere. But other stores too had run out of stock. Finally I called up our store in Durgapur and found that they had one. But I kept on wondering how to get the product from such a far off distance. On several attempts I finally found out that an ADM from Durgapur was scheduled to travel to Kolkata the following day for training purpose. I personally requested the manager to do this favor of bringing the particular product to Kolkata. In the meantime, I called up the customer and informed him to come the next day. The next evening I handed over the same hair band to the little princess and she had the world in her hands. The smile was priceless.
12. On the 5th of August this year a customer, Mrs. Priya Mithun Puthran, visited our Whitefield store for replacement and transfer of ownership (TOO) of a connection which was in the name of her late husband Mr. Mithun Sumanth Puthran. Ms. Puthran met Harish, our executive, who explained the process and requested her to produce her husband’s death certificate for transfer of ownership and sim replacement. On hearing this, Ms. Puthran, who was in an emotionally disturbed state, said that it was her late husband’s number and her only contact number for her family in Mumbai. 
Harish was quite concerned after the interaction with the customer and brought the incident to the attention of Asif, a senior executive at the store. Asif called the alternate number of the and left a message for her to call him back regarding her number. Ms. Puthran was then advised to visit the store with her id and the original sim card. Asif and Harish informed her to visit the nearest BBMP office to procure her husband’s death certificate and get the TOO done. During the interaction they found that the customer was totally unaware of the procedures at BBMP and considering her emotional condition, they decided that Harish would personally go to the BBMP office and apply for her husband’s death certificate.
Ms. Puthran received the death certificate on 12th September 2013; she then visited the store with all the relevant documents for TOO of the number. During the discussion, Ms. Puthran informed them that she would be going to Mumbai for the next three days. Asif informed her that in order to ensure her connection is active while she was in Mumbai, the TOO request would be processed on Saturday night itself, thus giving her uninterrupted connectivity. 
Ms. Puthran called on the 19th of September and thanked both Harish and Asif profusely for the excellent service they provided. Both Harish and Asif went beyond the call of duty to help a customer who was genuinely in distress. They have raised the bar and set a great example for the rest of the team!
13. The 26th of June 2013 was a routine day at the Big Bazaar store on Pune-Satara road. It was on this day that Mr. Ashish Shinde came to the store for shopping. Mr. Shinde was blind and Braille-literate, around 60 years of age, living with his wife. His wife was often ill and he had to step out to shop for the house. 
While he was roaming about the store, Ananda noticed him, inquired about merchandise he needed and offered help. Mr. Shinde told Ananda that he needed to purchase some biscuits, staple items, soap and shampoos. Ananda took him to every section and patiently handed over each and every item to help him feel the product and also explained about the product. Even though it was very tiring and time consuming, Ananda never lost his patience. After assisting Mr. Shinde for about 2 hours, Ananda took him to the cash counter and billed all items he had purchased. After counting all the items, he gave him his shopping bags and even hailed an auto for him.
When Mr. Ashish Shinde completed the shopping he said, “I have never had such a great shopping experience in my entire life. I always avoided shopping at malls and felt compelled to choose home delivery, due to which I missed the joy of shopping at a mall. But when I visited Big Bazaar I realized that still there are some people who serve their fellow humans like they would serve God.”
He also referred to Big Bazaar as "Bade Dilwalon Ka Bazaar". He thanked Ananda for his help during his shopping and for treating him well. After that experience whenever he gets time he visits our mall for shopping and every time Ananda or any of his available teammages assist him with his shopping.

14. One day, a customer named Ms. Priya Aiyer called up the Titan Eye+ store at Adyar, Chennai, and requested for a pair of spectacles for her brother. She said that her brother’s spectacles were not to be found anywhere after he met with a major accident and also she didn’t have any prescription for his eye power. 
We learnt that Ms. Aiyer’s brother had met with a major accident and as a result had slipped into coma for a period of 45 days. He had undergone surgery and had just been discharged from the hospital. The recovery process was slow and he was not even able to identify his family members correctly. Getting a pair of spectacles was very important to aid him in the recovery process. 
Immediately after the call, Mr. Raj Kumar, who attended the call, briefed the store optometrist, Ms. Anu Tharika, and asked her to find a solution. Anu evaluated few options and realized that it was possible to check the patient’s eye power by using retina scope and trail set. She made the necessary arrangements and left for the customer’s house along with eyewear consultant, Mr. Harikumar. Anu was surprised to see that the patient was not even able to sit properly. Lack of spectacles was a major hindrance in his recovery process. 
Without wasting time, she performed the eye test for the patient with the limited means she had and finally got the eye power of the patient. Another problem was that since the patient had suffered head injuries, he could not wear any heavy or rigid frames. Overcoming all such problems, spectacles with titanium metal frame with flexible thin side were made in a span of two hours and delivered to the customer. The patient’s family was more than delighted to receive such service from Anu.
Anu made the best possible arrangement under the given circumstances to test the eyes of the customer at his home with least trouble to him. Ms. Aiyer thanked her innumerable times for her outstanding support. Later, she couldn’t help but visit the store and thank Ms. Anu and her team for such humane and kind gesture.

15. On 12th March 2013, Mr. Abhigyan Kumar came with his two friends to our store to place an order. He wanted to place the order in Bengaluru. They had a friend in Bengaluru whose birthday was on that particular date. All CSRs were confused about how to place the order for a different location. At this time Ms. Neha took the responsibility of placing the order in Bengaluru. She wrote down the address of the place in Bengaluru where the pizzas had to be delivered. She called the Domino’s store which was near to the place of delivery. She asked about the VAT charges in Bengaluru, calculated the price and placed the order and collected the cash from the customer. She asked one of the team members to transfer the amount to Bengaluru Domino’s Pizza account. 
This is what the customer mentioned in our feedback book 
“When I first entered the store, I didn’t expect so much in a city like Patna. This Domino’s store defines customer satisfaction and service. Thanks to all the staff of Domino’s. You guys are rocking. The way you deliver is mind blowing, keep it up. May god bless Domino’s.” 
Abhigyan kumar.

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