By Anand Gupta, Knowledgebase Author

India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world but is yet to hit the peak.  Climbing up the ladder of success, and boosting the economy, has been aided by several technologies. They helped in cutting down costs and incorporating quality. Now, as the competition is increasing, maintaining economic growth is a huge challenge. Customers are spending their money with companies that can save their time and provide accurate information.

Yet major Indian companies and organisations are falling short on customer satisfaction. Most of them are shockingly unaware of it. While basking in the glory of success, they tend to think everything is alright. This is where they lose the connection with people.

Small companies in India are unable to afford call centres for resolution of customer issues. A contact centre requires a huge budget and infrastructure in place. Yet, having a call centre isn’t always the best way to serve customers. Connecting to a call centre agent consumes customers’ time. One needs to go through the grind and wait until the agent receives and answers your query. It may take a while and causes people to lose interest in buying from the company.

In India, people are often confused when it comes to contacting product manufacturers. There’s not much information available to them sometimes as to how to get the information and support they need.

Luckily there are solutions available to Indian companies to build better connections with customers. Chatbot technology is easily the most compatible, affordable, and easy to use solution. It is hassle-free, connects 24/7 from any place with just an Internet connection, and systematically answers the most FAQs without any human intervention.

India is an explicitly diverse nation housing multiple languages and dialects being spoken in distinct states. Not every company is capable of hiring a bunch of people at call centres to meet the needs of its customers’ languages. But a chatbot can accommodate the regional languages. It can process the queries in them and revert to the client in the same.

Here in India, Creative Virtual has successfully executed the technique in two states: Rajasthan and Maharashtra. We created our NLP (natural language processing) in the local languages, including Rajasthani, Marwari, Hindi (along with English) for Rajasthan (for the government project Bhmashah), and Marathi for Maharasthra (PCMC, government). It was a unique exercise that became pathbreaking in the industry with others looking to emulate. Now, people from remote areas don’t need to walk down to a government office. They can check the government schemes on mobiles phones and download e-cards provided to them for availing facilities.

As we celebrate Customer Service Week, here are some expectations of customers that companies in India need to keep in mind to better serve their customers:

• Options to connect with a company without a long wait
• Accessibility from anywhere
• Proper and deep information of a company’s product or service
• Resolution of their problem in their local language
• Responsive user experience
• Information readily available and help that is customary and free
• Ability to connect with a human helper if they have a complex issue that can’t be resolved through self-service

Research is key for companies in India as it is a country of over a billion people with different needs. They must get to know their customers so they can build connections. Companies must be artisanal in their approach to customer service which includes flexibility when catering to a varied customer base. Requests and suggestions made by customers must be respected and worked upon. Word of mouth is key in success in the Indian market.