Caring for customers

In their book, Where is my ketchup? How to give and receive exceptional customer service, Cyrus M. Gonda and Kalim Khan illustrate why an unhappy customer is a customer lost. The title germinated from the experience of a group of students, one of whom liked ketchup as an accompaniment to every meal. When a restaurant manager rudely refused to serve ketchup with the biryani that had been ordered, it engendered a feeling of indignation and deprivation that lasted for years. The hurt later metamorphosed into the nemesis of the restaurant owner when he lost the catering contract at a concern where the "ketchup fan” worked. Lack of service is the reason why some of the biggest brands are failing today, the authors maintain.

A shining example of how to make customers feel good and want to return is the service offered at Paris Bakery in Bombay where everyone is smilingly welcomed, state the authors. If the salesperson is busy with another customer he immediately acknowledges the presence of other clients. He then comes and informs the customer about the specialties on offer. A plateful of goodies is provided for sampling, with no pressure to purchase anything — even badampak (a rich sweetmeat made predominantly with almonds) which contains expensive ingredients. The authors wonder how many organizations have such a positive impact on their customers.

Authors Cyrus Gonda (left) and Kalim Khan

Where is my ketchup? How to give and receive exceptional customer service was published in India in 2008 by Embassy Book Distributors, 120, Great Western Building, Maha­rashtra Chamber of Commerce Lane, Fort, Bombay 400023. The writers are MBAs working as senior faculty members in the Rizvi Management Institutes and know their onions. Over the years they claim they have trained over a lakh of corporate participants and management students.

Using a simplistic method that often crops up in the book, the authors analyze the "goodness” of ketchup, using each letter of the word as: kindness, empathy, trustworthiness, care, honesty, uniqueness and putting it all together. Conversely, it could also stand for: kill relationships, estrange yourself from customers’ requirements, taking the customer for granted, carelessness, haggling over trifles, underhand dealings and pride.

The text is presented in a rather contrived narrative style, interspersed with thought-provoking quotations. However, the analysis offered is often repetitive and clichéd. S. V.