Jamal Mecklai: You've got mail

MARKET MANIAC

Over the past few weeks, I have needed to get in touch with the CEO of one of the leading""and reportedly high service-quality""private banks, as well as the CEO of a large, and very quality and corporate governance conscious, manufacturing organisation.

In both cases, the issues I needed to discuss were related to CSR (corporate social responsibility)""both organisations, incidentally, are reasonably well-known for their CSR initiatives.

(Incidentally, the term CSR is, in my view, a misnomer, suggesting as it does a charitable effort. Businesses have no business in providing charity; however, social and community works can""and should""be designed to provide value both to society and to shareholders at the same time.)

In any event, returning to my efforts, I sent emails to each of the CEOs and was, at first, surprised when I didn't receive a response within 24 hours. While I happen to know both the CEOs personally, my expectation was not related to my relationships.

I believe that any successful organisation needs to keep every possible antennae open to its various constituencies""that's the only way it can remain sensitive to the dynamic and volatile business environment.

Thus, accessing all inward communications is critical. Responding to them is, first of all, a matter of courtesy (and brand maintenance). Responding to them in a determined amount of time is a matter of professionalism.

In fact, as a standard practice, I would sell the stock of any company where the CEO does not respond to an email query within""OK""48 (not 24) hours. (Incidentally, it took another two emails and a further week or so to get any response from either of these bastions of corporate India.)

Well-run companies have a policy which requires all inward communications""after firewall vetting""have to be responded to in a determined amount of time. To keep the company on its toes, this determined amount of time""24 hours, 72 hours, whatever""should be disseminated widely. Of course, living up to such a commitment is tough""it takes focus, time, and, of course, money.

I recall an amusing encounter I had about five years ago with the customer service function of Dell, widely recognised as one of the most service-savvy organisations in the world.

My son, who was in school in Austin, was turning 18 and I thought I'd get him a gift certificate from Dell, running the entire transaction on-line to show him that I, too, was getting tech-savvy.

So, I logged on to dell.com and went to the services section; they had a wide menu of offerings but no gift certificates. So, I selected "custom services" and typed in my request; they accepted the request with a pop-up that said something to the effect that, as a result of the current load, it would take 72 (or was it 96) hours for my query to be addressed, and, if I needed more critical service, I should contact a different (defined) email.

I was suitably impressed but since I was in no hurry, I didn't push it. Seventy-two (or 96) hours later, I didn't hear from them. I was surprised but decided to give them another day.

One day later and I still hadn't heard from them; I pulled down their customer service form and sent in a complaint, with a copy to "michael.dell@dell.com". I usually write to the boss when I want service. I was certain that this would trigger some action.

I was utterly shocked when 24, then 48, hours passed and I got no response. Angered, I opened my Outlook Express and drafted an email to Mr Dell""it was something to the effect of:

"Dear Mr Dell, I understand you are a very wealthy man and that most of your wealth is locked up in Dell stock. Well, let me advise you to sell""your customer service is ********** and it won't be too long before the market finds out ..."

After writing this out, I hemmed a bit and then thought, what's the point; the hell with this, and didn't send the mail.

The very next day I opened CNN.com and almost fell off my chair. The lead headline was "DELL STOCK FALLS 7.5%." While it wasn't because of my perception of failing customer service""it was because of some production problems in Taiwan (or something)""I missed my chance at being a leading Internet stock guru.

While the incident is amusing, the point is that (a) you need to articulate your customer service guidelines, and (b) you absolutely must adhere to them. Incidentally, I discovered years later than Michael Dell's email was michael@dell.com, not michael.dell@dell.com. So he stands exonerated as well!

Returning to India, it is clear the communication failure I mentioned is directly related to the amazing growth the economy and both these companies, specifically, have experienced. But, if they don't shape up ...

However, the good""I should say great""news on the subject is that there's another sector that is proving to me wonderfully responsive. Around the same time I also had occasion to send an email query to one of the new, young (under 30) Members of Parliament.

Again, while we had a modest personal relationship, the query was related to some public works. To my delight and amazement, I had an email response the same day and a call from his office the next.

Perhaps, this is the start of a new responsiveness in government. Wouldn't it be a change if the government can teach the private sector a thing or two!

(The author is CEO of Mecklai Financial)