04 LEADINGTHENEWS

TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2010, DELHI WWW.LIVEMINT.COM

mint
THE FIRST RULE OF
CUSTOMER SERVICE
M
y recent column on the importance of establishing an ethos
of strong customer service that extends all the way from the
chief executives office to the front lines touched a nerve for some
readers. These two questions are typical of many of the responses
I received:
How far should you go to please a client? At some point,
theres a risk of compromising your business. How do you keep
customers happy without getting hurt in the process?
Lee Boss, Kenya
Must a company be governed by internal written rules and
regulations?
Prisca Were, Nairobi, Kenya
An organization must establish a clear framework employees
can refer to when carrying out their duties, and that framework
will involve written procedures and rulesparticularly when cash
and accounting are at issue. That said, however, sometimes rules
really are made to be broken.
The rulebook should not become an excuse for poor customer
service or an obstacle to great service. Almost everyone has at
some point experienced a situation where a customer service
representative has blamed the rules for his inability to help.
If your company is going to stand out from the rest due to its
truly excellent customer service, staffers should treat the rules
more as flexible guidelines, to be followed as the situation
demands. The customer is not always right, and neither is the
rulebook. The customer service representatives goal should be to
strike a balance that serves both the customers and companys
interests in the best way possible.
To a great extent, this can be achieved by empowering the staff
at call centres, on aircraft and trains or in retail environments to
use their common sense when handling questions and problems.
Encouraging a good attitude toward problem solving is crucial,
but so is a corporate culture that rewards initiative and does not
discourage a creative approach.
One customer service mantra that I have always loved is: first to
know, first to handle. In other words, when a problem arises,
there is a fleeting opportunity to solve it on the spot.
Resolving problems this way has multiple benefits for both the
customer and the company. For the customer, the advantages are
obvious: The problem is solved, or at least alleviated. And for the
company, there is an obvious public-relations benefit: the
customer is likely to tell other people how well the situation was
handled.
There are also significant cost
benefits. For example, a reduction in
the number of back-office customer relations staffers required to
handle a formerly lengthy back-and-forth process for resolving
customer complaints.
At Virgin, a few senior managers and I host an annual Stars
Dinner recognizing top performersstaff members who have
been nominated by their peersand celebrating their
achievements. We look for the best examples of customer service,
innovation, community service and environmental work. This sort
of event demonstrates to employees that you care about them and
that you notice and appreciate their hard work and initiative.
In the world of customer service, nice words from a supervisor
are relatively easy to come by; the real proof is in positive
feedback from customers. Thats when you know that the right
kind of culture is taking hold.
I was particularly pleased by a note I received recently from
Phil Williamson, a Virgin customer in Kenya who wrote to me
about a trip to London hed booked with his wife. Shortly before
the trip, Phils wife was travelling for business and was able to
meet Phil in London using an aircraft ticket shed received from a
client. So they put her original ticket aside to use another time,
but later, when they tried to book a new flight using that ticket,
they found that it had expired because they hadnt paid a change
fee.
Hawa, a Virgin representative based in Kenya, explained the
Williamsons situation to an accountant, who evidently told her
that rules are rules, and that the airline would not make an
exception in this case. In the end, though, Hawa appealed to
another supervisor, the ticket was refunded and a new one was
purchased.
Alls well that ends well, Phil told me. But wouldnt it have
been so much better if the accountant had displayed a little more
general business sense instead of sticking to his strict
interpretation (of the rules)?
Phils story aptly demonstrates how close organizations come
to losing customers every day, due to rigid adherence to rules and
not enough thought on the part of those supervising front-line
employees. Keep in mind this classic statistic: an unhappy
customer will tell 10 people about a problem, while a satisfied
customer will only tell four people about a good experience.
So, work on developing a corporate culture thatas Ive said
beforetries to catch employees doing something right, and
rewards dedication and initiative. Looking after your staff is the
best way to look after your customers and keep them coming back
for more.
BY NYT SYNDICATE
2010/RICHARD BRANSON
Richard Branson is the founder of the Virgin Group and
companies such as Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America, Virgin
Mobile and Virgin Active. He maintains a blog at
www.virgin.com/richard-branson/blog. You can follow him
on Twitter at http://twitter.com/richardbranson
COLUMN
RICHARD BRANSON
BRANSONSPEAK
Your comments and queries on this column, which runs every week, are
welcome at feedback@livemint.com
IRS R2 2010
Rankings of Indias most-read
publications stay unchanged
BY ANUSHREE CHANDRAN
anushree.m@livemint.com

MUMBAI
T
he quarterly study on
readership of newspa-
pers and maga-
zinesthe Indian Readership
Survey (IRS) R2 (Round 2)
2010presents no surprises
with the top order of Indias
most-read publications re-
maining unchanged.
The findings prompted one
media executive to appreciate
the surveys new quarterly fre-
quencyit was half-yearly till
2009while an advertising ex-
ecutive said the new frequency
merely highlights erratic fluc-
tuations.
Varghese Chandy, senior
general manager (marketing)
at Malayala Manorama, said
the new frequency helps ad-
vertisers and publishers un-
derstand market dynamics
better, but Srikanth Raman,
general manager, Starcom Me-
diaVest Group, said every-
ones flapping their wings ev-
ery three months based on er-
ratic changes. You need to
study figures (for) long term in
order to observe trends.
Media Research Users Coun-
cil (MRUC), a non-profit body
that does media research, con-
ducts IRS in partnership with
Hansa Research Group Pvt. Ltd.
The survey is released quarter-
ly and gives readership figures
for 450 publications across the
country.
A study by audit and con-
sulting firm Pricewaterhouse-
Coopers says the Indian print
media industry is projected to
grow 7.4% in 2010-14 to
`23,050 crore by advertising
revenue in 2014. Suresh Nim-
balkar, vice-president, Hansa,
said recent rounds of the IRS
clearly indicate a continuous
increase in the reach of the
print media. The total reader-
ship of newspapers and maga-
zines has gone up from 325.5
million in the first round of the
survey in 2009 to 334.3 million
in the current one.
Among the top five newspa-
pers by readership, the Dainik
Jagran saw a marginal decline
in readership, while Hindustan
and the Malayala Manorama
saw a marginal increase.
Hindustan is published by
Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd,
a subsidiary of HT Media Ltd,
which publishes the Hindustan
Times and Mint. The Dainik
Jagran is published by Jagran
Prakshan Ltd.
These numbers are the aver-
age issue readership, or AIR,
which refers to the number of
readers who read the last edi-
tion of a publication.
Malayala Manoramas
Chandy attributed the papers
growth in readership to efforts
that had increased circulation.
Amit Chopra, chief executive
of Hindustan Media Ventures,
said: In UP (Uttar Pradesh),
our readership grew by 12%
and, in Jharkhand, by 8%. We
are setting up an additional
printing facility in Gorakhpur
which will further consolidate
our position.
The Hindustan Times has re-
tained its top position among
English dailies in both daily
readership (AIR) and total
readership (TR, which meas-
ures a publications reach) in
Delhi city as well as the Na-
tional Capital Region (NCR).
In Delhi NCR, the Hindustan
Times had a TR of 3.18 million
and an AIR of 2.16 million,
ahead of The Times of India,
which has a TR of 3.08 million
and AIR of 2.15 million.
In Delhi, the AIR lead over
The Times of India has been
further strengthened to 76,000.
The Hindustan Times in Delhi
also has the highest number of
solus readers at 1.34 million
(readers who read the Hindu-
stan Times exclusively).
Among the business papers,
Mints numbers have grown
166,000 readers in the current
round, an increase from
158,000 readers in the previous
round. The Business Stan-
dards readership, too, has
gone up from 131,000 readers
in the previous round to
142,000 readers now. And The
Economic Times readership
has declined from 760,000
readers to 753,000 readers.
Recent rounds of the
nationwide readership
survey indicate a
continuous increase in
the reach of print media
GROWING READERSHIP
The total readership of newspapers and magazines has gone up from 325.5 million in the
first round of the survey in 2009 to 334.3 million in the current one.
Top 10 dailies
*Average issue readership Source: MRUC
AIR* numbers in '000s AIR* numbers in '000s
16,313 7,035
7,088
3,467
3,453
2,159
1,204
1,124
717
831
760
600
537
2,185
1,211
1,152
836
786
753
588
518
13,329
13,303
9,914
10,143
9,583
8,491
8,417
7,361
7,402
7,353
7,402
7,035
6,685
6,698
6,566
6,900
7,088
9,841
15,925
Dainik Jagran
Dainik Bhaskar
Hindustan
Malayala Manorama
Amar Ujala
Lokmat
Daily Thanthi
The Times of India
Rajasthan Patrika
Mathrubhumi
Top 10 English dailies
The Times of India
Hindustan Times
The Hindu
The Telegraph
Deccan Chronicle
DNA
Mumbai Mirror
The Economic Times
The Tribune
The New Indian Express
(Hindi)
(Hindi)
(Hindi)
(Malayalam)
(Hindi)
(Marathi)
(Tamil)
(English)
(Hindi)
(Malayalam)
Jan-Mar Apr-Jun
ACTION PLAN
India to discuss Taliban strategy
with Afghan foreign minister
BY ELI ZABETH ROCHE
elizabeth.r@livemint.com

NEW DELHI
I
ndia and Afghanistan will
discuss the status of the US-
led war in Afghanistan and Ka-
buls plan to reintegrate Tali-
ban rebels with the main-
stream during Afghan foreign
minister Zalmai Rassouls visit
to New Delhi this week.
Rassoul is expected to arrive
on Wednesday on his first visit
to India since taking office in
January, Indian and Afghan of-
ficials said.
The visit comes in the wake
of a claim by the head of US
military forces in Afghanistan,
David Petraeus, that interna-
tional troops had started re-
versing Talibans momentum
in the nine-year-old war.
India, which has pledged
$1.3 billion (around `6,060
crore) for reconstruction activ-
ities in war-torn Afghanistan,
considers the country impor-
tant strategicallynot least
because it is a gateway to ener-
gy rich Central Asia.
An Indian official said New
Delhi will discuss the Afghan
war, in which some 150,000
troops from the US and its al-
lies remain locked in fierce
battles with the Taliban.
There will be discussions, I
expect, on President (Hamid)
Karzais plans to reintegrate
former Taliban rebels into the
Afghan mainstream, the offi-
cial said, asking not to be
named.
An international conference
of countries donating aid and
contributing troops for the war
endorsed Karzais plan to rein-
tegrate low-rank Taliban fight-
ers who renounce violence and
swear by the Afghan constitu-
tion.
India was initially against
the idea, but is now keen that
the process is managed by the
Afghans themselves. The insis-
tence follows Pakistans efforts
to broker a deal between the
Taliban and the Karzai govern-
ment. The government is wary
of a Pakistan-friendly adminis-
tration taking office in Kabul.
It has bad memories of the
nexus between the Taliban and
militants that operated in
Kashmir between 1996 and
2001.
Pakistan wants a friendly ad-
ministration in Kabul it can fall
back on in case of a war with
India. India, on the other
hand, would like to see inter-
national troops stay on until
the Taliban is routed.
New Delhi has noted Petrae-
uss comment that a July 2011
deadline set by US President
Barack Obama would be the
start of a process and not the
date by which American troops
would empty out of Afghan-
istan. He repeated this in an
interview to the BBC.
Its very important to re-
member what July 2011 actual-
ly is; thats a date when a pro-
cess begins, nothing more,
nothing less. It is not the date
when American forces begin
an exodus and look for the exit
and the light to turn off on the
way out of the room, Petraeus
said. The momentum that the
Taliban have established over
the course of recent years has
been reversed in many of the
areas of the country and will
be reversed in the other areas
as well, he added.
New Delhi does
not want Pakistan
to broker a deal
between the Taliban
and the Afghan
government
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service, go to www.livemint.com/teamwork.htm
Smartphone
sales to surge
by 15: report
AFP
feedback@livemint.com

SINGAPORE
S
martphones will make up
over half of Asian mobile
phone sales by 2015, with 477
million units likely to be sold,
an industry report said on
Monday.
Consultancy Frost and Sul-
livan said smartphones would
account for 54% of the Asia-
Pacific mobile market in five
years, up sharply from 5% in
2009. The sharp take-up rate
for smartphones will be a huge
revenue boost for telcos as it
means a surge in demand for
data services, it said.
The consultancy said data
usage from smartphones
would generate over $38 bil-
lion for the regions telecos by
2015, from slightly over $1.3
billion last year. Smartphones
are high-end mobile devices
providing faster access to data
connections such as email and
Internet browsing.
The Asia-Pacific market is
particularly interesting for
smartphones as there has been
significant uptake in emerging
markets like China, India and
Indonesia, even among pre-
paid users, said Marc Eins-
tein, the consultancys indus-
try manager.
PARAS JAIN/MINT