Who cares?

Most companies these days brag about their focus on ‘customer care’, not understanding what it really takes to do that. I recently visited two different banks and experienced two different types of customer ‘care’. Care?

I stepped into a swanky looking private bank and went to the cash counter. The person behind the counter was formally dressed. I presented a ‘self’ cheque to withdraw cash. He gestured and asked me to wait for two minutes. In not more than two minutes the transaction was over. From the time I parked my car at the gate till the time I came out, it took exactly 15 minutes.

After withdrawing cash I had to get a DD made from a very popular national bank. I went inside and saw a huge business floor, which looked as good as the private bank I visited 20 minutes ago. Each counter had a TFT screen and a telephone. The people behind the counters were also well dressed. But with the perception I had about the so-called gov’ment banks I found the people not so ‘caring’. I didn’t know which counter to go to since there were no easily noticeable labels. Not knowing what will be the response, I approached a lady behind one of the counters. This lady was quite ‘caring’ enough to tell me to go to the 6th floor and get a number generated for the DD.

The lift stopped at every floor irrespective of whether there was anyone getting-off or getting on. I reached the sixth floor and went to the first counter with a wild guess, ‘this must be it’. I was right and I patted myself for my unusual sixth sense. The woman (again a woman) asked me if I was carrying any address proof since I wanted a DD payable in a foreign country. When I told her I did not have any address proof but I have a voter’s ID, she directed me to the next counter to take the gentleman’s approval. This man first insisted that I need an address proof but later agreed to my voter’s ID. (I think he liked my jacket). I got the photocopy of the ID and handed it over to the ‘first’ counter along with a form. The woman entered some number in a huge ledger file and in about 10minutes she asked me to deposit the cash in the counter on the first floor. I took the staircase to get to the first floor because that seemed faster at that point of time. I hurried to the ‘first’ lady and deposited cash. She didn’t have a cash counting machine so she used her expert hands to do so. After completing the process of stamping and scribbling she asked me to ascend to the 6th floor to collect the draft.

I took the lift because I would rather spend more time in the lift than at the counter. The lady asked me to wait for 5 minutes. 10 minutes later, I started feeling impatient. I looked for the washroom, which was as good as the toilet in the train. There was a coffee machine kept at a noticeable place and I went there to take a cup of coffee but a boy insisted that he would serve. I thanked him and retired to the couch. The coffee cost me 4 rupees.

The total time I spent in the bank to get a DD made was 75 minutes. Whether it was customer care or customer focus I cannot tell the difference, but I had the experience of a lifetime.