Recently we reported on the president of Brazil’s decree that companies operating in his country will meet certain standards in how they deal with customers. While I’m not a fan of increasing government regulation I like the idea of making customer service standards a big deal.
That’s what Tata Indicom has done. Even better, they’re telling their customers about it.
They have made five specific promises to their customers in these areas of service:
1. Call drops (More than 1.5% and you get cash back)
2. Billing disputes (72 hour resolution)
3. Call backs (No waiting on hold more than 90 seconds)
4. Handset repair (They promise you’ll always have a working phone)
5. Free trial of value added services (You always get a 7 day free trial of additional services)
They call this their “Customer Charter”. I call it smart business!
I like this because they’ve made a promise to their customers. And they’ve told them about it. This helps them stay accountable. Promises are useless if the other person has no idea what you’ve promised them. (Yet many companies never reveal their customer service promises.)
By making these public, they give customers a good reason to do business with them, or to remain customers. They also give customers something to evaluate them with. This Customer Charter becomes the measuring stick customers can use to determine if Tata Indicom is doing their job. And it makes it easier for customers to give them useful feedback.
My only question would be: Are these 5 promises meaningful to their customers?
If they are, then Tata Indicom has done their job. If not, then they have wasted their efforts. Time will tell.
What about your business? What promises do you make to your customers? How do they know?
