Home and Dry …

In the last blog, it had been discussed how the ironing shop may be losing out on cashing in on consumer surplus. In this post, we discuss the reverse scenario, where we find how a dry-cleaning store handles its operations to churn out extra moolah based on situational factors and the dynamic willingness-to-pay of its customers.

The dry-cleaning shop in question located in my hometown is named “Delight”, but as was quite evident from my experience with them this time, they do not consider customer delight as the necessary paradigm to strive for. Instead, their mechanism of working is to generate the maximum possible contribution without causing perceptible inconvenience to the customers either service-wise or in monetary terms.

As in all other vacations, there are always some clothes which I take home for dry-cleaning, and it was no different this time round. The change was that unlike other times, I had delayed visiting the shop to drop off these items. As a result, when I finally went to the dry-cleaners, there were only 4 days left before my return to XLRI.

Since it was necessary that I get my clothes returned before leaving Kolkata, I asked the person at the counter whether I would be guaranteed return of my clothes within the next 3 days. When I told him that I had a train to catch, it was evident to him that the situation for me was pretty important, and this is when he started pitching to me how normally they return the clothes in 3 days time, but due to the rains it sometimes gets delayed.

At this point, he suggested that if I go in for “Urgent” wash, I would definitely get my clothes back in that period, at an extra cost of 8/- per piece, which is about 50% over and above the actual cost of dry-cleaning. While I could clearly see that he was playing with my situation, I did not consider it worthwhile to take the risk of going in with the normal procedure. After all, in case my clothes were not delivered in time, I would have to spend much more in procuring a new pair of jeans.

The fact remains that if it is possible for the shop to provide delivery with guarantee within 3 days for urgent washes, they could have easily gone the extra mile and got it done for me at the normal cost, had simply delighting the customer been their prerogative. However, the business is run in a slightly different way I realized, and the categories of “urgent” and “semi-urgent” have been kept with an eye for situations very much like this.

EXPECTATIONS PRIOR TO SERVICE ENCOUNTER:

From my past experiences, I had always received timely delivery from this shop. However, never before had the situation been so tightly linked to my departure date as this time. I was therefore a little worried about the assurance of delivery, which gave the service person a hint as to me being a probable customer for the “urgent” category.

SERVICE CLASSIFICATION

1) The service in terms of the dry-cleaning was tangible, and was consistent with earlier experiences. However, with the added constraint of deadline, the intangible service experience was slightly different.

2) This is another case of possession processing, since anybody else could have taken the clothes to the shop on my behalf.

OUTCOME: While initially I was a bit dissatisfied at being pushed to avail a costlier service, when the package was finally delivered on time, some of the erstwhile dissatisfaction abated to a large extent.

INTERACTION: While the interaction with the service person at the counter was trying to push his cause, it has to be noted that he was always extremely cautious in ensuring that he did not overstep the line – forever making it appear that the final decision would be mine (the customer’s), without leaving any alternatives in reality than to take up the offer.

SERVICE RATING

a) Reliability: 4

b) Assurance: 3

c) Tangibles: 4

d) Empathy: 2

e) Responsiveness: 4

Profits de-pressed?

The other day, I had gone to collect a few clothes I had given for pressing from the ironing shop back home. After collecting my clothes, I asked how much I was required to pay. One of the people in the shop, apparently one of the new recruits said that it would be Rs. 30/-, at the rate of 3 per piece. As I prepared to pay the money, one of the others at the shop, an old timer, asked me to wait for some time.

There was another customer at the shop, upon whose departure he repaid me Rs. 5/-. When I asked him what was happening, he said that since my father was an old timer, he was charging us lesser than others.

While like any other customer I was happy at the bargain made, no matter how small, as I left the shop there were a number of questions that I was left pondering over.

Firstly, is it really a feasible practice to carry out this sort of price discrimination between customer groups?

Next, it is not unusual to see people cribbing over delayed deliveries of their clothes at this very shop, arising from the very high load due to the shop enjoying a virtual monopoly in the area. Such being the scenario, is it really worthwhile to retain the so-called ‘old-timers’? This is especially relevant with the growth of new multi-storied apartments in our locality and their occupants whom the shop may be missing out on due to delayed deliveries.

Further, with the change of generations, the willingness to pay among customers is also changing – just as I would have not realized the difference had he charged me at 3/- per piece. In that case, is the shop not losing out on substantial consumer surplus, and how does it intend to tackle this handover of generations without losing out on the possible extra pie?

The more I thought about it, the more I had reason to believe that this press shop was actually de-pressing its profits by following this price discrimination exercise.

EXPECTATIONS PRIOR TO SERVICE ENCOUNTER:

The only expectation that I had prior to collecting the clothes was to get them in properly pressed condition, as long as the price was not unusually high to draw my notice. The clothes were pretty much neatly pressed as required, and in all probability I would not have noticed the price hike had it not been distinctly brought to my notice.

SERVICE CLASSIFICATION:

1) This is a tangible service in terms of the quality of ironing and the timeliness of delivery.

2) This is a case of possession processing. If required, anybody else from my family could have gone ahead and collected the delivery.

OUTCOME: I, the customer, returned home a happy man. However, the organization in the press shop may be losing out on sizeable profits in order to satisfy customer groups that they can do without.

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE QUALITY: The shop is set up just like any other ironing shop in the city. However, this is one area that they can improve upon by taking simple measures such as moving the prime pressing activity to the background in order to provide a better interface to consumers without incurring too much of an extra cost.

SERVICE RATING

a) Reliability: 3

b) Assurance: 4

c) Tangibles: 2

d) Empathy: 4

e) Responsiveness: 3

The cutting edge …

In one of my past blogs, I had recounted my rather miserable hair-cutting experience with the Plaza saloon at Jamshedpur. This time, I am writing about my experiences with my tried-and-tested barber back home in Kolkata.

I had been surprised in my last visit to the saloon I have been going to since childhood and not being greeted by the friendly face of Vinod. Upon questioning, I came to know that he had quit the saloon a month back.

This time round, I was informed by my dad that Vinod has opened his own saloon at a place a bit further away. As I had sustained injuries to my forehead, extra care was required and I had been reluctant to get a hair-cut from the newbies at the original saloon. The knowledge of Vinod’s whereabouts was therefore great news and I set forth to get a hair-cut done.

What was touted as a saloon was nothing more than a crudely manufactured wooden seat set under a polythene cover next to the walls of a football ground, with stone slabs for the waiting customers. However, notwithstanding this plebian setting, I could find a lot of known faces among the people waiting for the hair-cut. These were erstwhile customers at the saloon in which Vinod used to work.

As usual, the man was quick to enquire about my studies and the like as I had always known him to do. Upon interrogation I found that he had left his work due to certain altercations with the management at the earlier saloon.

As I sat there and awaited my turn, I couldn’t help pondering how apt an example this was for the concept of real and pseudo-relationships we had dwelled upon in our Services Marketing sessions – the reason for my incorporating this in the blog. Gone were the plush interiors, the comfortable barber-chairs, the array of expensive colognes and shaving accessories and the like – and yet, strangely the customers were ready to put up with the current hardships and switch to this new setting. Such then was the power of the relationship this man had built with his clients over the years (not much different from an ace consultant or relationship manager leaving the organization discussed).

The hair-cut itself was consistent as ever, and as expected, he was extremely careful to avoid the wounded area of my head. However, in my opinion, in this case the relationship built by this man towers over his skill in his domain in ensuring that he has the final cutting edge …

EXPECTATIONS PRIOR TO SERVICE ENCOUNTER:

While I had not expected the settings to be as abject as they were in reality (quite obviously his earlier employers had over the years fleeced the poor guy), at the end of the day, my requirement was getting a proper hair-cut and without the fear of a steel scissor poking into my wounds. That was my expectation when I visited Vinod in his new setting, and in my book, he lived up to the promise.

SERVICE CLASSIFICATION

1) While the hair-cut in itself was tangible and markedly better than the one I had got in Jamshedpur, I feel that the intangible aspects of the encounter had a much greater bearing and will ensure that I revisit the saloon in future.

2) This again is a case of people processing.

OUTCOME: I got the desired hair-cut done, and my wound was unscathed at the end of it all. The care taken by the barber in the exercise ensured that it didn’t turn out to be a ‘close shave’.

INTERACTION: The interaction with the service provider reminded me of the old times when I used to visit the saloon with my dad. There is something personal in the way this man deals with his customers, and that is what drives them to be loyal to him.

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE QUALITY: This is one aspect which he needs to do some serious thinking about soon, else his chances of acquiring new customers is sure to take a beating. Further, it being a one-man show at present, the long waiting times too can cause him to lose key customers, especially on busy days such as Sundays.

SERVICE RATING

a) Reliability: 5

b) Assurance: 4

c) Tangibles: 1

d) Empathy: 5

e) Responsiveness: 4

A stitch in time …

Around 14 million passengers travel by Indian railways each day. Now, when one of these trains is travelling at a speed of around 80-90 kmph, what is the probability of a pebble being pelted by some obscure kid in a village at the moving train manages evades the window rails to hit one of these passengers bang on the forehead? Well mathematics will put the figure as abysmally low, but unfortunately anything above zero probability may still happen, as the victim in me realized the hard way on my way back home after the fourth semester.

Within seconds of my feeling the dull thud, I had become a fountainhead spewing blood, becoming the cynosure of the eyes of fellow passengers – attention which I least desired. Amidst the commotion that prevailed, some wiser soul managed to find a travelling doctor (a physio with the TFA football team), who with one look at my wound affirmed that it was imperative that I get it stitched. The GRP was also called in, and conveyed that the nearest station at which the train could be stopped was Chakuliya, which had a Railway Hospital. Travelling all by myself, I had to think fast, finally deciding that I would wait till Kharagpur with the open wound.

The thought of going to a Railway hospital and getting stitches was bad enough; I did not want to get it done at some place I had barely heard of. After around 45 minutes, which seemed like ages, the train reached Kharagpur station. I was escorted by the GRP personnel to the office of the station-master, who after noting down the details, promptly called for an ambulance – which however took another half an hour or so. (It is amazing to note here that the station boasting of the longest platform in the world does not have a basic amenity such as an ambulance).

The Railway Hospital was much as I had expected it to be – wailing kids, makeshift rooms separated by old green curtains, et al. I was made to sit on a steel stool beside the emergency bed, as the compounder stitched another patient, whose howls sent a chill down my spine. Finally, it was my turn, and after a painstaking experience (during which I surprised myself by managing to remain silent; possible outcome of social behaviour primed by my upbringing – psychological musings which I shall not delve into in this blog), I was finally sewed up.

All I can hope for is that the conditional probability of being hit by a stone in a moving train having been hit already once being even lower, I do not fall victim yet again …

EXPECTATIONS PRIOR TO SERVICE ENCOUNTER:

I had never been to a Railway Hospital prior to this incident, but experiences of others, TV and newspaper viewings and the like had created an image in my mind, which was vindicated to a large extent. On retrospection, I consider it a prudent decision on my part not to have alighted at Chakuliya station. However, the experience of getting stitched itself was not as bad as I had expected – proper sterilization measures were taken, and the doctor was appeared rather skilful – possibly resulting from the fact that he has been repeatedly doing the same for 10 hours a day for the past 4 years as he put it.

SERVICE CLASSIFICATION

1) This was an intangible service, and I feel that considering the situation at hand and the alternatives available, my zone of tolerance had been expanded considerably for me to perceive the service quality level in this case as decent 2) This is a case of people processing (How I wish someone else could have gone and got stitched on my behalf!).

OUTCOME: I received the first-aid that was so necessary at that point. I later got my wound checked by our family physician, so asserted that the doctor in question had done a good job.

INTERACTION: While the doctor was not really forthcoming, I tried to engage him into a conversation primarily to overcome my fears. The general impression that I got, though, was that performing the same procedures day in and day out has hardened his emotions.

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE QUALITY: Pathetic, to say the least. And yet, I feel I escaped worse by persisting on waiting till Kharagpur. The Railways sure have miles to go with respect to their medical facilities.

SERVICE RATING:

a) Reliability: 2

b) Assurance: 3

c) Tangibles: 1

d) Empathy: 2

e) Responsiveness: 3