LARGEST CORPORATIONS REMAIN LARGEST AND SURVIVE LONG FOR ONE OF THE SIMPLEST REASONS FOR BEING ABLE TO HEAR AND REMAIN RESPONSIVE TO THE SMALLEST CUSTOMER

 

LARGEST CORPORATIONS REMAIN LARGEST AND SURVIVE LONG FOR ONE OF THE SIMPLEST REASONS FOR BEING ABLE TO HEAR AND REMAIN RESPONSIVE TO THE SMALLEST CUSTOMER

Sharing some real life experiences including just one of today to justify my postulation above.

I have written many times about Dr. Verghese Kurien who is well known to all of us in India and Internationally. Dr. V. Kurien's success in getting success for "Amul" and the massive Dairy Development Programme in India that he spearheaded, can be safely attributed to one of the simplest reasons (out of many other reasons that can be identified and postulated) for his ability to hear and be responsive to smallest customer ( or say smallest stake holder ) in whatever he did. I have written some time back, about how he never allowed even a Post Card written to him and if it reached his office, may be even written from any corner of India and the World or whoever he may be, even a person from the streets, to go un-noticed and not-responded. I have cited an example of a Post Card written by a Lady BDO (Block Development Officer) named Ms. Prabha Gupta from a very remote place named as "Murhu" of Jharkhand State ( Bihar at that time ) in around 1986-87 asking in that Post Card whether "Amul Cheese" was Vegetarian or Non-Vegetarian and I was commissioned to answer the said BDO by visiting her personally and explaining the real situation that Amul Cheese was vegetarian, while Dr. Kurien was the Chairman of GCMMF (Amul) ( in addition to being Chairman of NDDB-National Dairy Development Board of India ) at that time, while I was working as a Senior Sales Officer at that time in GCMMF (Amul), Patna (Bihar Office) then.

The Other Person comparably, I find in India's Contemporary Corporate World who is very responsive to smallest Customers' concerns is : Shri Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries, Mumbai in India. I cite impartially and honestly, only two recent experiences, while one of it just today ( where as Mr. Mukesh Ambani has displayed his responsiveness to queries I have raised many times as a small customer in the past) :

1. During height of Covid-19 and its lock down, about one and half years back, I had an Old Philips LCD TV that got break down and became dead, was not reparable. After spending about more than 60days without a Television, I found that the Reliance Digital Store was the only Store open at Andheri (West), Mumbai at that time ( as only a few of such stores were open at that time from where you can buy a TV ). I went there and picked up a 40" LED TV of Samsung of a very new model. Within about 75 days of use, while the new TV was under warranty, its LED Panel had a break down and became dead. When I contacted the Reliance Digital Store and Their Service team, they came and said that the TV will be repaired by replacing the LED Panel. I insisted as the TV's main and core component is LED panel, it is a manufacturing defect and the TV has to be replaced. I wrote to Reliance Digital CEO and Samsung India MD, but things were not moving for some time. After that, being aggrieved, I forwarded the email I had written to Reliance Digital CEO and Samsung-India MD both, to Mr. Mukesh Ambani's email id which I have. I just made a one line comment saying; " I wonder if the the CEO of Reliance Digital deserved his Job". Mr. Mukesh Ambani read the email. Immediately, I received a call from his office (Chairman, Reliance Industries Office , he has a team to handle and address the matters and communications get escalated to him). After that the things moved at a faster speed, both Reliance Digital and Samsung India worked together, the defective TV was taken back, giving us a full refund voucher of the amount we had paid, allowing us to choose any other model or whatever TV I wanted, I chose a different model and of bigger size (55") of course a Samsung TV and it is working fine for almost more than 1-year without hassles. (Of course I paid the price difference also as I chose a Bigger Size LED TV then).
2. Last Night, at about 1.00 AM night, while we were awake at home, I asked my elder daughter who is a Doctor, to make payment of Rs. 824/- the monthly post-paid amount we pay to Reliance JioFiber as we have a JioFiber connection at my home for internet. I asked her to pay, because it is children who are now a days very efficient making such payments of Google Pay or whatever Pay(s) in digital mode are there in market. She quickly made the payment of Rs. 824/- by Google Pay to Reliance Jio Infocomm by a QR Code, but we never got the sms and email confirmation message for payments that come very quickly when payments are made to them on our account. I was wondering where the money go in that case. I got into investigation, both we the father and daughter had to remain awake, though Rs. 824/- was a small amount, but I was very curious of the matter to find out the fallacy and I found it finally. What had happened was, when Reliance JioFiber is sending the Post Paid Bill, they are sending an Original Bill that is due to be paid by us it has a QR Code of the Original Bill, and they also send a Step-By-Step Guide to view the Bill, which encloses a Guide/Sample Bill, that is not our Bill but it is just a Sample, but it also has an active QR Code that belongs to Reliance Jio Infocomm, money can be payable in that Sample QR Code but it will not be credited to the Customer Account when paid by that QR Code, it will just be paid to Reliance Jio Infocomm and the customer if not like me, can remain hanging as to where did the money go ? I called the 24x7 Reliance Jio Infocom Customer care over phone even around 2 AM in the night explaining the difficulty, but the results of what they said was not satisfactory. I asked them their customer care email id where I can send an email. I wrote an email to Reliance Jio Infocomm explaining the whole fiasco and enclosing the Google Pay Receipt and their Guide/Sample Bill QR Code where the payment of Rs. 824/- was made. And purposefully, I copied the email to Shri Mukesh Ambani, Chairman RIL, in the interest of thousands and millions of customers they may have, so that they do not suffer like me as I suffered because of the confusion of Two-QR Codes coming with the Bill. I advised them that in the Guide/Sample Bill the QR Code they are showing should not be a payable QR Code, at the most it could be a Dummy or Inactive QR Code. Only QR Code that should be payable should be on the Original Bill. I sent the email to Reliance JioFiber and copied to Mr. Mukesh Ambani at about 3.00 AM and went to sleep after that, it can be understood the agony it caused at such late night. I received a call from some Executive from the Chairman Office of Reliance Industries (Mr. Mukesh Ambani's Office) at about 1.00 PM of today in the afternoon, who understood and fully agreed the point I had highlighted to Mr. Mukesh Ambani about two QR Codes ( one is Vague but payable and the other is Original of the Bill ) coming with Reliance JioFibre Post-Paid bill which can create great confusion as it happened with me and would be very painful for both sides creating havoc. I advised him what I have explained above ( to send only One Original and Payable QR Code ) and he agreed with me fully and he assured that they will take action to rectify their system to remove this confusion and anomaly. I believe and I can trust, as Mr. Mukesh Ambani now knows it, it will get resolved for all of their customers of Reliance JioFiber in India.

In fact, I have also Good experience with Mr. Anil Ambani, younger Brother of Mr. Mukesh Ambani in the past, when I had queries raised to his level regarding his companies, he is also very responsive to customer ( smallest customer ) queries if it reached him, would not like to cite examples more to make this post longer.

Many times I have also been critical about Reliance Industries on many other issues without sparing them when it deserved, but as far as being Responsive to Customer (even if the smallest customer), in genuine cases, Mr. Mukesh Ambani has proved right and very responsive as I have exemplified above from my own experience. Even as I said, his younger Brother Mr. Anil Ambani had proved right in that past, as per my experience.

As I said giving the examples of Dr. V. Kurien and Shri Mukesh Ambani or Shri Anil Ambani ( when I had addressed him in the past ) they have proved responsive and I can safely postulate :

LARGEST CORPORATIONS REMAIN LARGEST AND SURVIVE LONG FOR ONE OF THE SIMPLEST REASONS FOR BEING ABLE TO HEAR AND REMAIN RESPONSIVE TO THE SMALLEST CUSTOMER.

I wrote this article and placed here for the consumption and right understanding of the readers. I have no obligation to favour Reliance Industries in anyway, I wrote it as a customer experience, for the benefit of academic/professional fraternity and my intention has been to appreciate something which deserves to be appreciated.

Addition as Updation to this post on 20-August-2022:

The Following Paragraph remain added to this Post on 20-August-2022 as the updated situation and actions of resolution taken from the side of Reliance Jio Infocom Limited and it is appreciated well ( in the public interest of the People of India as well ):

I had written this article on 15-July-2022. It would be fair and reasonable on my part to mention and keep the readers who had read this post informed, that 

.... 1. Finally Reliance Jio Infocom Limited ( a Group Company of Reliance Industries Limited ) have agreed with my recommendation, have decided and have deactivated the QR Code that they were sending with the Sample Bill/Guide Bill so that no Customer of Jio Fibre can pay by that QR Code accidentally. 

..... 2. They have also Refunded the Rs. 824/- that was paid to them accidentally and out of confusion through that Non-Relevant QR Code that was active in the Sample/Guide Bill then and have been deactivated. Though the refund came after a month and belated, the refund finally was made on 19-August-2022; they have finally refunded to the source account, I confirm that. Of course I appreciate that finally they have made the refund, I appreciate it without hesitation.

It is a good case to demonstrate for students of management, when the Top Management of the Organization is concerned for service of the customer, it goes in the benefit of the Organization in the long term.

About the Author : Dr. Nimain Charan  Biswal is a B.Sc.(Agri. Science and Technology), M.B.A. and Ph.D.(Management Area ) by qualifications; and he has 36+ years of work experience in both  industrial and development sectors in diversified fields of social importance. He has been educated at Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT)-Bhubaneswar, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) and Gujarat University (with Resource Support of IIM-Ahmedabad). He is further educated at IIM-Calcutta, XLRI-Jamshedpur, Apple Computer Industries and Spar Inc., USA. He has worked for reputed National and International Organizations in Senior/Top Management Capacities at Board level as well as Managing Director and CEO. He is a management expert covering extensive areas from management in industrial sectors, management in agriculture and dairy, development management to management of public systems. He is a prominent professional of India and known Internationally as well. He lives at Mumbai in India.