Barbara Wold
Walt Disney once said, “There`s no magic to magic, it`s all in the details.” How right he was. He understood what it took to create the magic – hundreds of small, seemingly insignificant details repeated perfectly day in and day out to build a “Fantasy world” experience – a world that had never before existed. Fuelled by his fantastic vision, he took some empty land and some imaginings and created an all-new reality.
What`s the reality of your customer experience?
Let`s take a look, beginning with the prospect experience:
- How much time and energy does it take to find out about you? Can potential customers find you easily in directories, on the Web or through your professional associations?
- Do you make a positive impression with your logo, your tag line, your packaging and your welcome page? Is your phone system easy to navigate?
- Do you give the customer the impression that it will be a joy to have them as a customer when they do buy? Do you make it easy to buy? Do you thank them for their business?
- After a prospect has bought from you and becomes a customer, what do you do to make sure they are using your product or service in the best way for their unique needs?
- Do you make it easy for them to find information and to ask questions? Do you have maximum response times for answering emails and phone messages?
- Are your phone messages kept up-to-date and changed daily or weekly so customers know about special events and promotions?
- Are you accessible both physically and emotionally?
What are the dozens and dozens of details in your business that could create magic?
Details… details… details… They are critical to the success of every experience you provide for your customers and prospects. Look at the ‘ordering` experience, the ‘calling` experience, the ‘returning` experience, the ‘browsing` experience, and the ‘aprés sale` experience. You get it. Now, make a list of ALL the details that make up the customer experience and ask what you can do to make them each a little better. Get the whole team involved. Put yourself in Walt`s shoes and create some magic!
"It’s kind of fun to do the impossible."
Walt Disney
Barbara Wold is a street-smart, down-to-earth business speaker, presenting topics from sales and marketing to customer service and tourism.She is an international speaker who has addressed over 230,000 people from all 50 of the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, India and the United Arab Emirates. Her email ID is [email protected].
The new generation of `old money` is a sophisticated lot – they have schooled at Harvard and Wharton, Cambridge and London Business School. What is most interesting about them is that despite their immense international exposure, they retain Indian nuances. They do samosa s and chai as effortlessly as they do wine and cheese.
The `nouveau riche` set, on the other hand, is new to luxe. The newly prosperous in India – a product of India`s liberalisation of the ‘90s – include entrepreneurs from fields as diverse as IT and pharmaceuticals, as well as wealthy farmers from states like Punjab. Not all of them are in a hurry to acquire luxury, though. There are entrepreneurs like Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy who travels economy-class despite heading a highly successful IT business, and there are others who symbolise “high living, limited thinking” – like the rich classes from Haryana, Punjab and Delhi, for whom the price of possession is a tool to brand themselves in society.
Unlike the wealth of the ‘old money` set, new money in India is not necessarily sophisticated. Understanding of the product or brand is not important – what is, is the bling tag. A $4,000 Gucci bag, which will brand its possessor immediately to society at large, is what will speak. This is especially true of Delhi society, where showing off has always been the rule of consumption.
How does India compare against luxury shopping stops like Dubai and Hong Kong? Does the higher duty structure affect sales?
Import duties and tax structures are certainly difficult in India, which translates to higher prices for Indian consumers. However, what is significant is that luxury products are not any cheaper in other Asian markets. On average, the price of a luxury product in Japan is about 40 per cent higher than in Europe. In China, it is about 25 per cent more than, say, in Paris. Ultimately, it boils down to market characteristics – consumer education, evolution and retail spaces that draw in the aspirational sets to take home a piece of that luxury. Whatever the price.
What is your take on luxury retail spaces in India?
Ironically, it`s a case of water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink! None of the 350-odd malls that will be operational in India by the end of this year, have the necessary class and ambience for luxury retailing. India`s high streets are not available and are, in any case, tacky and chaotic.
Space developers need to understand that luxury brands always like to be in control of their environments. A good example is presented by how Ashish Chordia, the entrepreneur behind the super-luxurious Thanks multibrand store in
