# 064 Quality is promising what you can deliver in otherwards delivering what is promised.

Quality is promising what you can deliver in otherwards delivering what is promised.

Corporates - Beware of exaggerated claims !!

Two class action lawsuits have been filed against the Welspun India and its US subsidiaries in New York alleging it perpetrated ‘widespread fraud’ for years by using inferior and less expensive cottons in its bed linens and towels and marketing them as premium Egyptian cotton.


“Welspun uses inferior and less expensive cottons in many of its Egyptian cotton bed linens. For years, Welspun has sold and marketed bed linens as made from Egyptian cotton, which commands a premium in the market because it is perceived as higher quality. As a result, consumers who have purchased Welspun bed linens have overpaid for an inferior product. This action seeks full recompense for Welspun consumers as well as punitive damages for the egregious conduct,” the lawsuit alleges.

Citing a corporate presentation by Welspun that claimed “Your comfort is our commitment”, the lawsuit said Welspun’s commitment is to its own profits rather than the consumer.

# 055 Quality is not for someone else to notice but for one’s own satisfaction.

A visitor to a temple under construction saw a sculptor making an idol of God and noticed a similar idol lying nearby.

Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same idol?"

"No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage."

The visitor examined the idol and unable to find any damage asked, “Where is the damage?"

"There is a scratch on the nose of the idol." said the sculptor, still

busy with his work.

"Where are you going to install the idol?"

The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high.

"If the idol is that far who is going to know that there is this minute scratch on the nose?" the gentleman asked.

The sculptor stopped work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, "I will know it."

Quality & the desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else appreciates it or not. "Quality" is a drive from inside; it is not for someone else to notice but for one’s own satisfaction.

आत्मनस्तु कामाय सर्वं प्रियं भवति

Atmanastu kamaya sarvam priyam bhavati

It is for one’s own sake everything else is loved.

Climb a Mountain with an intention to see the World, not for World to see you.

# 052 The way people behave .....................

The way people behave never ceases to amaze me. 

Jet airways flight from Kuwait to Mumbai on 31/1/2015 - As always I chose an aisle seat at the back of the aircraft in the hope that the middle seat is vacant. Chances that the middle seat is vacant is very low, if you choose an aisle seat in the front. To my bad luck, it got occupied. But I was happy the window seat was vacant! So I requested the passenger next to me in the middle seat to move over to the window seat so that both of us could be comfortable. But he didn't move over. To this day I can't figure out why he didn't want to be seated himself comfortably - in the process helping the fellow passenger to be seated comfortably too?What is more, he was continually disturbing me with his constant movements across the seats to grab drinks, food and what not! I was surprised that even though the flight took off at mid night (early morn) at 1.10 am, people like him keep taking food, perhaps because it is free!!

The Mumbai to Bangalore flight saw another peculiar behaviour. I tried to keep the flask (which I always carry) in the pocket in front, removed magazines and  out of politeness asked for permission to keep them in pocket in front of the person seated next t me. He regretted since he is keeping his Passport and so no other papers could be kept. In fact I found out that I could not keep my flask in front of seat because of his having transferred the contents from the pocket in front of him to mine !!

# 051 - Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar

No one can make you serve customers well.
That's because great service is a choice.

Here is a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.

Harvey was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing  he noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey.

He handed him a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'

Taken aback, Harvey read the card.

It said: Wally's Mission Statement:

To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'

Harvey said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'

Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.'

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.'

Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.'

As they were pulling away, Wally handed Harvey another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.

Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

'Tell me, Wally,' amazed Harvey asked the driver, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I  spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.

He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It .Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.''

'That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally.

'Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said.

'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it.

You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.'

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. Harvey probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever Harvey goes to their cities, He gives them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told him all the reasons they couldn't do any of what he was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

Smile, and the whole world smiles with you...

Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar

# 050 Customer Focus - Changing the mindset of the employees

This happened recently. 

The sales person of Bata showroom in Malleswaram informed the that the price is Rs. 500/= to my inquiry. I was a bit surprised since Bata’s popularity came through, at least in part, their habit of pricing any articles @xxx9. I didn’t think much of it at that time assuming that he is tired of repeating the exact price and rounded off the nine to the nearest zero. 

But more surprise was in store when he raised the bill also at Rs. 500/=. I again assumed that Bata, for once, has changed the pricing strategy. But it was  a real shocker to me to find that the price was indeed Rs.499/= ONLY when I reached home and opened the packing and by chance glanced at the price tag before throwing!!

Another unfriendly act also happened with the same purchase. When I opted to pay through Amex credit card the very same employee told that the company do not accept Amex. I was surprised since I had purchased a pair of shoes from the outlet of very same Bata in Phoenix Mall with Amex card just a week earlier. When I pointed out this he simply shrugged his shoulders and stood his ground.I am sure Bata can not have different policies between their outlets. 

Why did the Sales person behave as he did? Could it be he is trying to play smart or is lack of awareness on how such seemingly simple acts can put off customers. Either way it stems from his basic attitude; lack of Customer Focus – “couldn’t care less” attitude.

How do you change the attitude? That is the biggest challenge today - changing the attitude of employees. 2015 version of ISO 9001  therefore includes 'change management' as one of the requirements for QMS

# 048 Customer Focus: Policies & Core values - where are they ?

ISO 9001 talks about Customer focus as one of the principles, most important at that, on which a Quality Management System should be based in an organisation. It is sometimes easier to drive home principle simply by citing an example to the contrary. I thought following incident would make a good case study.

Just the other day I went to Bata to buy a shoe for walking. When the sales person informed me the price is Rs.500/=for the pair selected, I didn’t pay much attention to what he said and thought that he is simply rounding off the figure to make it easy to comprehend the amount correctly. Again when he raised the bill and I paid off using my credit card I didn’t care to look into the amount I signed for ! But I was certainly surprised when I came home and noticed that the amount was Rs.500/= when I had a cursory glance at the charge slip. Curious to know whether Bata has changed their culture of Rs.xx9/=, I checked the bill only to find indeed the price is Rs.500/=. However when I opened the bag and found the price tag carrying a price of Rs.499/=, I started reflecting on how a seemingly innocuous incident has much greater significance viz. a company’s culture, policy et al. 

It is one thing to indicate the price (orally) as Rs.500/= quite another to actually raise the bill for Rs.500/= when the official price is Rs.499/=. It is not the question of absolute amount but the fact that there is an inconsistency between the price tag and billed amount.

Is it okay if the amount involved is small but not correct when it is high? It is akin to people saying (I have heard it many times) “ Chi chi, he is a telling a lie for such a small amount.” Does it mean one can tell a lie if the amount involved is high? How much amount is high enough will next pop up! And who draws a line and decides the threshold limits?

This is where the organisation’s core values, policies and culture comes in along with the awareness of these on the part of the employees. It may be easier to define and document the policies etc. but very difficult to make the employees understand and assimilate the responsibilities that such policies impose on their day to day transactions and behavior.

The incident got further uglier with this particular outlet of Bata saying the company does not accept Amex card. But just a week before this incident  I purchased a shoe on Amex card at a different outlet of the very same Bata. How can there be a difference between the outlets? Even if it were to be a Franchise outlet such inconsistencies should be allowed to be happening.Is Bata listening?

This is an example of an organization having no customer focus, not having a consistent/uniform procedure and not being able to make employees aware of the policies & procedures, if any. It is okay as long as it is an exception. Otherwise this could impact seriously business results in the long run.