December 10, 2013

Amazing logistics lessons from Mumbai Dabawallahs

An incredible logistics story from Mumbai’s legendary Dabawallahs. In his TED talk Dr Pawan Agrawal explains how this Indian group rivals the likes of DHL …..many hail from the same village and they deliver hundreds and thousands of tiffin boxes daily to Mumbai workers. Dr Agrawal reveals the secrets that won  this awesome team accolades from Forbes. Their Dabawallah Code and the secret of their success is based on centuries old traditions. They recruit on enthusiasm and their delivery output and efficiency is something many Blue Chips only dream of.

From an innovation perspective, looking at related worlds, other cultures and sectors can often yield fruitful stimulus to apply to your own.

Tiffin and tea anyone ?

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August 24, 2013

The Amazings – a wonderful example of innovation for the ageing population

 

I love these people and their idea. Let’s face it, most of the stuff out there makes getting old sound pretty rough. The team at ‘The Amazings’ is changing all that. Based on a simple notion that we can learn from our elders, executed in an upbeat, friendly, collaborative way – it’ll have you wanting to learn Tango in no time. They have a section on their website outlining their story, I applaud their candour and wish them every success. Really interesting to note the step changes in their journey and what happened when they brought the idea to life using videos of their Amazings – the elders who have a lot to teach us all.  This is exactly what UK innovation hub NESTA should be funding too. Well done guys! Check out their story and follow @TheAmazings

The Amazings

July 1, 2013

Business, brands and the blindingly obvious: turn poor customer service into a virtue

How to make an honest deal with your customers

How to make an honest deal with your customers

Don’t promise what you can’t deliver. Blindingly obvious. So why do so many brands and businesses persist in creating illusions of customer service they simply cannot fulfil ? If I know what I am getting /signing up for, that’s cool. If you over promise and don’t deliver, I get mad, I tell my friends how mad I am with you , I start writing letters, or posting on social networks about how hacked off I am with you and maybe I don’t ever come back to your store. Brands need to be honest about their operational capabilities, customers will love them all the more for their honesty. Moreover, we won’t loathe them for letting us down. Obvious.

Swedish furniture retailer IKEA is a great example of the art of not over promising.  Not only that, they make a virtue of their lack of customer service. We have all been and had family rows in their stores and been irate about their returns policy and nearly killed ourselves or a loved one wrestling with an IKEA self assembly erection! But they don’t promise it will be easy, quite the reverse. IKEA ran an in-store communications campaign themed ‘Why ? That’s why!’  designed to reiterate what customers get in return for all that hassle… you pick up your stuff yourself from their warehouse, transport and build  it all yourself …. and in return you get exceptional design at eye-wateringly cheap prices – ‘Why ? That’s why!’ explained that at key ‘moments’ in the shopping journey, reminding you of the customer service ‘deal’ you are making with the store. Ultimately you only have yourself and your wallet to blame for the trials of the purchase , self selection and self assembly. You can’t loathe IKEA for under-delivering.  They never promised anything extra.

What can brands learn from IKEA’s approach? Simple. Don’t over promise. Explain what the deal is. Stick to it. Done. Obvious. Check out the blog list of the top ten ‘not so excellent customer service’ issues below for more.

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