Thought Leaders Forum: Intuition, Innovation And The Enteprise

The evening of November 11 witnessed the coming together of Biztech2.0 and Genesys (an Alcatel-Lucent Company), a contact centre software solution provider, at the ‘Thought Leaders’ Forum’ focusing on customer experience as a competitive advantage. The customer is seen as more than a king during these times of economic crisis. Jason Stirling, VP, Genesys, for India, New Zealand and Australia and Kevin Panozza, CEO, Salesforce.com, shared their experience and expertise on how to meet customer demands and make the most of today’s tough times. The ten participants included experts from various sectors like telecom, BFSI, retail etc.

Stirling made a presentation on various contact centre technologies and kick started the discussion. The medium of mobile Internet is under utilised in India for purposes like marketing. Customers often contact or reach particular organisations through call centres or the Internet. However, the catch here is how to bring about these siloed customers together and serve them. Stirling came up with some innovative ideas like agent webchat and e-brochures to retain e-customers and protect them from competition. The theme that the Internet is the real contact centre was emphasised over and over again.

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Panozza continued the discussion on a completely different note by making those present see the recession in a surprisingly optimistic light. According to him, the recession is not only a time of great uncertainty but also great opportunity. His presentation revolved around how work culture can affect customer service. There are a lot of factors, which curb the potential of an employee. To avoid it, an organisation should encourage a free work culture. The concept of ‘intuitive learning’ was stressed a lot during the discussion. Letting the employee take intuitive decisions, which he feels is right, can add a lot of qualitative weight to the way he meets customer expectations. Salesforce has designed an eight hour long, animated e-learning training programme to encourage intuitive learning in a fun way. Rule-driven work culture can be a major roadblock while catering to the customer. In short, if an organisation wishes to have satisfied customers then it is very important to have satisfied employees first.

The presentations were followed by a dynamic panel discussion, which brought out very striking points. Considering the hype around Internet marketing, the main worry with organisations is how to penetrate the rural market. The interesting part here is that many telcos are working with the IITs to develop applications, which will help them reach the rural market.

Another point, which came out, was that Internet lacks human touch, which makes it an unpopular marketing tool. Organisations should strike a balance between Internet and physical reach out to customers. This problem is mainly faced by the BFSI sector wherein high level customers always prefer representatives catering them in person. The level of interaction through the Internet often becomes limited.

In a nutshell, the ‘Thought Leaders’ Forum’ threw up lots of gyan with its brainstorming sessions.