Gujarat Is Powered Up but Customers Want Even More
Gujarat is Powered Up but Customers Want Even More!
The power problem is always on the minds of India residents. Even in the capital city of Delhi and in Bangalore (India's equivalent to Silicon Valley), dependable power is elusive. Population and business growth, infrastructure, time to market for new energy technologies…all of it helps to explain the problem. 
  The good news is that there are pockets of growth and stability to sustain hope! Gujarat is one example. While the rest of India is waiting for new power plants and investors to save the day, Gujarat has a power surplus and one of the most aggressive, ambitious power generation plans in the country, with solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, as well as other unconventional options on the horizon.  
  In Ahmadabad, the Ahmadabad Electricity Company (AEC) was acquired by Torrent Power and it generates and distributes power to provide one of the most dependable infrastructures in India and, as a result, Gujarat enjoys continued growth in the business and residential sectors. But Gujarat still has some issues to resolve. 
   
   Torrent Power has made great strides in customer service and customers are grateful for dependable power, infrastructure and new services like mobile apps for service management, mobile neighborhood vans for payment collection, and a 24X7 customer service call center. 
   
  Now, it is time to take customer service to the next level and provide a true customer experience by improving processes, the integration and availability of repair and maintenance data, and accessible, up-to-the-minute information that allows customer service reps to give customers swift, clear feedback and information. The difference is in the small, but critical, aspects of customer service. 
  Although power outages are rare in Ahmadabad, let's use an example of calling in to the customer service center during a power outage. When the customer service representative takes the call, they cannot look up the record by name, phone number, address etc, so customers must reference long customer service account number, or they must memorize the account number! 
   
   How on earth is a customer supposed to find and read a utility bill and a lengthy account number in the throes of a blackout? 
   
  Estimated outage times could also use some refinement. Torrent Power often overestimates the repair time required, perhaps following a model established by airlines. In order to avoid penalties for flight delays, airlines purposely increase the estimated flight arrival time. If a flight is delayed, they can still achieve 'on time' status because they include additional time in their estimates. Perhaps Torrent Power is doing the same thing. If they believe a repair might take one hour to complete, but they tell their customers that the repair will take two hours, they will look like heroes when the power comes on earlier than estimated. 
   
   The result of this estimate manipulation is that customers cannot accurately plan. In fact, because customers know that estimated outage times are not dependable, they do not take them seriously. 
   
  Perhaps Torrent Power is not purposely manipulating the estimated outage times. Perhaps they simply don’t have the expertise or data to develop dependable estimates or maybe they simply do not have confidence in the uniformity and dependability of maintenance and repair processes, materials and teams. 
   
   Whatever the reason, Torrent Power can significantly improve customer satisfaction and efficiency by striving to transform customer service into a 'customer experience' that resonates with the community and helps to build confidence and appreciation.  
   
  Investment in business processes, software and data integration and an enhanced customer service outreach and access will go a long way toward creating the ultimate customer experience and making Gujarat the envy of India! 
  About Kartik Patel 
  Kartik is the founder and CEO of Elegant MicroWeb, specializing in software services and products. For two decades, Elegant MicroWeb has provided a full suite of innovative offshore technology services, serving clients worldwide, with sustained business partnerships. The flagship ElegantJ BI business intelligence solution offers a Smarten approach to BI, with Plug n' Play Predictive Analysis, Self-Serve Data Preparation and Smart Data Visualization. 
  ElegantJ BI was listed as a Representative Vendor in the 'Gartner Market Guide for Enterprise-Reporting-Based Platforms', as an Other Relevant Vendor in the Gartner MQ for Business Intelligence and Analytics Platforms, as a Niche BI and Analytics Vendor for the Gartner Report, Competitive Landscape: BI Platforms and Analytics Software Asia/Pacific and a Listed Vendor for Other Vendors to Consider for Modern BI and Analytics, Gartner Report.
 
