Chetanas R.K.

Institute of Management & Research Report on

Customer Delight
Submitted by

Amit Thokal

12th Sep, 2011

CRKIMR | Customer Delight

In the nineties, management gurus started urging corporate leaders that they must delight their customers. This was primarily due to: i. ii. iii. Similarity between products and services offered Increase in competition Need for a differentiating factor

In terms of products and services offered, marketers offered a satisfying customer experience but not something that would wow the customer. It was a result of delivering up to the standards of customers expectations but not going further to exceed these expectations. For example, companies like Hindustan Motors delivered an experience that the customer could be satisfied with but not a one that would transform the customer into an evangelist. Companies like Apple innovated, and provided products and services that were beyond the realms of the customers imagination. It proved that constant innovation is the key to customer delight. During P. Chidambaram's previous reign as Finance Minister in the mid-90s, he presented a budget where tax cuts were announced (middle classes delighted), more funds were allocated to spend on social welfare (lower classes delighted) and yet the fiscal deficit was shown to reduce (upper classes delighted). The budget was universally welcomed and promptly given the grand title of "Dream Budget." The stock market reached new highs, foreign investors applauded and there were rumours that the Nobel Prize committee took notice to see whether this budget presentation deserved the prize for Economics. Thus to summarize the above examples, customer delight takes place when the marketer goes beyond customer satisfaction to create a product, service or experience that appeal to the customers attitude and personality. However, the newer product, service or experience that once led to customer delight becomes a commodity that delivers only customer satisfaction. Due to this, an organization must constantly innovate to create value for the customer.
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CRKIMR | Customer Delight

The key to providing customer delight is by changing the traditional outlook of the organization to a modern customer oriented organization. The traditional outlook can be represented as follows:

We see that the customer is given the least importance. Companies that have such kind of an outlook follow the selling concept that may result in customer dissatisfaction as the focus is on selling what the organization offers and possibly, a product or a service that the customer may not want.
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CRKIMR | Customer Delight

The modern outlook can be represented as follows:

On the other hand, companies that have the modern outlook follow the marketing concept wherein the focus is on the needs of the customer. This results in a satisfying customer experience that can be developed into an experience that provides customer delight.

CRKIMR | Customer Delight

Customer delight can be achieved with the help of the M.I.P.E. Method represented as follows:

1. Method
It is necessary to define a measure for all aspects of service. If a commitment is set then it should be communicated to the customers. This would not only ensure that organization complies with them but also improve credibility every time the organization surpasses these standards. This is the stepping-stone to Customer Delight For example, Dominos advertizes that the pizza will be delivered in 30 minutes. Otherwise, the customer will not be charged for the pizza. Similarly, McDonalds advertizes that the customer would receive the order within three minutes from the time he enters the queue. If the order is not delivered, the customer is provided a coupon which can be redeemed for a burger for free.
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2. Information
The most important aspect here is personalization. Most companies collect information about their customers tastes, preferences and other personal details. For instance, Amazon provides personalized book recommendations to its users based on the information gathered about the user preferences and similarity between various books purchased by different users over time.

3. Passion
The organization should be passionate about the product or service that it offers. This should be reflected through the USP of the product or the service, the commitment of the organization towards creating customer delight and maintaining consistency in the quality of its product or service. This passion must be an integral part of the organizations culture and should be communicated to the customer. For example, the passion of providing the best product and service is reflected through the messages of Harley Davidson Motorcycles and Brussels Airlines.

4. Employees
For every customer, the point of interaction with the organization is the employee. This interaction makes or breaks any further relationship. So, it becomes imperative for every employee to be informed, trained and empowered to take ownership and initiative to deliver customer delight. The employee must be ready to go the extra mile to delight the customer.

CRKIMR | Customer Delight

Need to delight the customer and its effects

1. Build and maintain brand image Organizations like LOreal, Vodafone, Adidas, Dell, Bose, etc. where able to achieve tremendous success due to the fact that they innovated continuously and in the process, offered products and services that have created a strong, positive image of these organizations in the minds of the customer.

2. Identify unfulfilled or partially fulfilled demand Before Apple launched the iPhone, there was no existing mobile phone that could be operated with a human touch. Similarly, Bajaj Auto launched the Kawasaki Ninja 250R in India to cater to the unfulfilled demand of a high performance motorcycles. Such steps provide the first mover advantage to the organization that cannot be replicated. This adds to the competitive advantage that may already be acquired by the company.

3. Avoid negative publicity Companies like Toyota, Coca Cola and Cadbury were able to successfully ward off negative publicity due to the efforts taken by them in creating customer delight and also maintaining it through constant communication with the customer. Through their efforts, these companies displayed their concern for the customers and have come out their individual crisis rather unscathed.

4. Customer retention and acquisition It leads to: i. Increase in profits and market share as the existing customers promote the organizations product or service through word-of-mouth (evangelists) and help the organization acquire new customers. ii. It also increases the brand loyalty which is creates a barrier for the competitors in increasing their customer equity.
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Conclusion

For an organization, the main source of revenue is the customers. If the organization is not able to satisfy the needs, wants and demands of these customers and create customer delight, then it risks losing them to the competitors. This would subsequently lead to declining profits to the point that the organization may cease to exist. Thus, for an organization to sustain itself, it essential that the needs, wants and demands of its customers are satisfied and it is of paramount importance that customer delight is created. Therefore, it can be said that Customers ARE Business.

CRKIMR | Customer Delight