Arvind Singhal: First moment of untruths

MARKETMIND

In an earlier column, I had written about a P&G initiative named FMOT (First Moment of Truth) wherein the venerable FMCG giant is attempting to influence the customer at the point where she is most likely to take a purchase decision. In this column, I wish to share encounters that appear to me the "first moment of untruth", wherein there is a jarring dissonance between the promise and actual experience with the product or the service.

Mobile phone companies, long known for insensitivity towards the privacy of their customers, are currently spending heavily for reinforcing their brand identity and trying to communicate to consumers how much they care. Yet, while continuing to part with mobile numbers of the same customers with impunity, they now routinely "welcome" customers who have just landed in a new city (away from their home city) with a series of inane messages offering greetings, information, and advice that no one needs. The reaction of the recipients is an irritated series of deletes for the first few messages as soon as they power-on their cell phones again.

American Express and ICICI Bank are both wooing premium customers with their platinum and other high-end cards through high-decibel advertising and other communication. Yet, neither thinks twice before giving their sales agents access to their existing clients' mobile numbers and billing addresses where they are mercilessly pestered with offers for new cards and taking loans/transferring loans.

Delhi's Hyatt Regency hotel has discovered a new way to gouge money from hapless guests and other visitors""evidently New York- and London-benchmarked room tariffs and restaurant charges are not good enough. They have recently outsourced car parking to an agency that now helps park the guests' car by charging""upfront""Rs 100 and then giving a receipt that purportedly absolves them of all responsibility and liability from any damage to the car or any other loss. The Hyatt's management has certainly given a new definition to high-end hospitality. Some suggestions for them""how about charging guests for using the lobby, housekeeping, or even air-conditioning in the rooms?

Several hotel chains, especially those under management from American hospitality groups, believe that they are under a unique threat from car-borne suicide bombers. They now mechanically stop their guests' cars (including those belonging to the hotel itself) to go through the motions of looking under the front section through a mirror and then peeking in the luggage compartment (most probably the only thing they can really discover is if there is an oil leak from the engine or is the luggage compartment kept in clean condition). The Renaissance at Mumbai last week took it amongst itself to even rummage through the belongings of its guests""notwithstanding the fact that there were no sophisticated scanners or other equipment to really look through any packages, and the agency that was conducting it had guards that were probably no more trained than to put on their uniforms correctly each morning!

Jet Airways, to counter the absolutely superb First Class offer from Kingfisher that offers among other wonderful features for business travellers such as adequate leg space, in-seat power outlets, and passenger coaches replete with real leather sofas, has inducted some newly designed coaches on the ground that now require passengers to climb several steps up, then expect all tall passengers to stand hunched before boarding out through a DTC bus inspired exit located next to the driver.

Department stores, like other retailers, are regularly becoming bigger and routinely located on 2 or more levels in the new shopping malls coming up across India. All profess to care for their customers, and then all continue to believe that their customers are shoplifters and hence should be made to deposit all shopping bags and other bags before entering their hallowed premises. Obviously, this also forces the customers to exit from the same level and gate as they entered if they have any desire to retrieve their possessions.

FMCG companies, including processed food companies, are regularly launching a slew of ready-consumer products. Yet, many design the packaging as if to ensure that it can never be opened unless one is armed with scissors or has strong teeth. Fruit juice companies have been launching new variants by the day""yet some of them have screwed-on caps that ensure that the pressure needed to unscrew them is enough to crumple the packaging itself causing spills before the first glass has been poured out.

The Indian consumer is being wooed like never before. The best of the best in every consumer product and service category are coming out with new products and services that are intended to entice the consumer to spend some of their discretionary income on. All profess to be consumer-driven, and most promise to offer the consumers an experience like never before. To be fair, most are making a serious effort to live up to the expectations. However, as some of the examples given above show, many still have a long way to go before they can deliver the promise and give a seamless, consistent service. In my view, ITC consistently meets or exceeds consumer expectations in every business it is in. Kingfisher Airlines has given even Jet something to learn from. Today, the Indian consumer has many diverse interfaces with consumer product/service companies and an increasing number of choices. Each interface should be seen as a potential "moment of truth" and therefore focused upon insightfully, pragmatically, and with an application of common sense.

arvind.singhal@technopak.com