Naini Dalal walked in with the tea tray. At 6 am, the television had been allowed expression and her husband Navneet was on the treadmill, watching the World Cup grand finale all over again. "You surprise me," she said. "We watched the World Cup finals until there was nothing left to watch last night, called Prateek in Amsterdam and relived Dhoni's culminating sixer; and now again? Let us check out Libya and Japan!"Navneet: Naini, after how many days we are hearing one good news about India! Finally there is a real reason to be proud to be Indian! It has negated the false image that the political media has been trying to shove in my face.Naini: False image of what?Navneet: Of India, of Indians, and sometimes, me, too! Arre, every day you wake up to a Raju or a Raja or an Adarsh or an errant cop or an errant minister. I was fed up, yaar!Presently, the screen broke into an ad he had seen at least a dozen times before. There was an elderly couple astride an old scooter on a joy ride down India Gate in Delhi and they were chiding each other in the happy manner of Punjabis.Navneet: I like this ad, yaar. How sweet, just see. Nice Punjabi prem...."Warming up to the ad, he said, "I am grateful for these ads, they make me smile, they make me happy! You feel good about your Indianness! These ad-wallahs know the real India as funny, wholesome and loving. They can ignore the aberrations like scams and whatnot. But the political media is screaming, ‘Do we have a future?' (he said miming a news anchor)."Navneet was convinced that ads were contributing to the well-being of the average Indian. Next only to cricket, he mused.When Naini, who was a news editor, entered her office at C4 News that morning, she shared the incident with her colleague Pragati, and said "Why do we have to be the bad news people?"Pragati: But then what is the nature of our good news? Yes, we have news that is ‘not bad', such as ‘Ranbir Kapoor took an auto rickshaw home....' I have argued with TK that people need good news. News that will perk them up, make them feel happy about India. What makes you happy, Naini?Naini: Some of the ads today, like the ‘dil hai chhota sa' ad with the little girl and her mum in a bath tub — making history fun by mixing it with a song! Also, the Freshology series, the Reliance mobile ads — they are so amazing. You can just sit there and be with the characters. I love the HCL banker-HCL man ad, too.Pragati: You feel it defines you?Naini: See, there is a serious sociological drama at play. The consumer is torn between a macro picture of India and (hence) Indianness and their own perception of their limited world. The macro picture is a daily soap that gets from bad to worse. The Indian is also harassed by voices from out there that tell him ‘and what have you done about this mess, Gunga Din?' And every time he looks up between bites of idli, he sees another ugly side to India on the news.From scam to rape to murder to lies to utter idiocy, he sees it all. He wonders if this India is a reflection of himself. Between breaks, he sees Naukri dotcom's Hari Sadu and he feels restored. Hari Sadu's crimes are even enjoyable.Pragati: What I am seeing is that ads are sensitive to the human in me. News is not.India, as reflected by ads, comes in smaller helpings. It does not make a sweeping statement about India as a whole, but about individual segments of people. It seems to have the ability to slice thin and deal with individual stresses and joys in my life, revealing the national mood through a bouquet of myriad rasas!break-page-breakWith that Pragati flew to Advait Chattopadhyay's room, taking with her the recent ad for their channel, ‘C4 Sensation'. The same poster hung on his wall too — "Know the truth from us!"Pragati: We must rethink this, Advait. Don't you think you should tell the consumer what he wants to hear?Naini (joining them): The expression our channel lends is the fear and anxiety that our bosses want whipped up. See, once there was news. Now we are perennially in Breaking News mode! I don't think what is going on out there is representative of the entire country. But we are making it seem as if the whole country is corrupt and wanton, as if a great disease has come upon us. Cops are molesting the commoner, doctors are raping patients, governors are stealing from the nation... I mean, really! This does not describe the nation. It describes only the afflicted, and the afflicted are a few. Because they are in the governance, we see it; if not we would not. At lunch, the topic came up just as the head of marketing and communications, Govind Rana, joined their table. He heard their argument and said, "Both ads and news talk to the viewers directly, no doubt, but they have a distinct personality. And that cannot be compromised."Ads are the opposite of the news in some ways and compete to engage the viewer. News by definition tends to focus on what's wrong with society (not on what is right). People expect that from news. Whereas, ads try and portray the way things ought to be in life and society. So ads are feel-good capsules which try and feed your personal identity in a positive manner!"Pragati: Then shouldn't news also bring some newness and not just newsiness? News is meant to be a lot of reality and no fantasy, I understand, but our news is far too dramatic and severe.Govind: Yes, we have had a lot of bad news but we are not producing false news! I know the amount of bad news from Raju to the Adarsh scam to Raja to CWG to Thomas has been a year-long parade of ethical obscenity. But these are what is unfolding in the country.Naini: Every television has at least 8-10 news channels. Each news channel largely derives its packaging value from its news reader, even though the news is the same. All news channels get advertising, and all advertising is nearly common in spirit across the channels. Only, news gets aggressive and hyper in tandem with the degree of competition it has to parry.Govind: The process of selecting what constitutes news involves selecting events which are considered to be worthy of being talked about or printed as news, and excluding those which are not. What makes for news for India TV is different from NDTV 24X7, which is different from that for us. But the tone of presenting while being a stylistic choice, cannot change the content.Akshay Dhawan (news editor): Naini's point is that all news point to corrupt behaviour. As a result, we are watching more news than we did before. Earlier, we scanned the headlines and moved on to Discovery, NatGeo, Star Plus, or movies. Now, we are getting hooked to news because the drama being created is so intense that we must know what happens next. So we flip from one news channel to another worried we may miss something! Content is one thing Govind, but it is the format also. The so-called investigative approach, arguments, local inputs are noisy, hyper!Pragati: And as a result we are locked into a long engagement with bad news, which leaves us depressed.Naini: This morning, between news, an ad came on air. It was just a couple on a scooter and their harmless ribbing and jibing. What they said to each other had nothing to do with the brand, its attributes or its offering. Once you start watching the ‘story', you do not even focus on the brand anymore... and when the story is over, you take away a smile and a good feeling. It seems ads these days are an act of kindness on the laity! I have seen this ad several times before, and my husband endorses this saying, "These ads make me happy about who I am and what I am!" In fact, he said he preferred it to news!Govind: I guess he just liked the ad very much and identified with it. See, ads work very hard. Agencies kill themselves to produce communication which your mind will permit perceiving! There is a school of advertising called ‘interruption advertising'. It comes from a realisation that people do not watch the television or read the newspaper for ads but for viewing editorial. So, there must be a reward for viewing the ad. The first rule is that above all else be entertaining. You cannot bore your consumer to buy your product. And try and weave in your message and brand in a manner that you can own that. Research guys call it ‘branded memorability'.Advait: Fair, Govind, but news is competing with movies, serials and ads. Yet, ads are getting more happy eyeballs!Govind: Because brands have become carriers of religion-like ideologies — ‘Just do it', ‘You are worth it' — and provide new anchors for identity construction or means of creating purpose and meaning. Like Tata Tea's jaago re, which, through a purposeful exhortation, is also establishing the tea brand with a strong identity.Advait: No! No! What I mean is, more people are watching more ads, more often!Govind: Advertising that tries to tell you a story about how the brand built lives, will necessarily have people watching it as closely as they would a story in a news clip about a young bride from Meerut narrating her story of dowry harassment. The story gets more attention when she gives inside details. The same goes for brand stories that hang on problem-solution advertising; such brands can exaggerate the problem or present it subtly, like the cracked feet ad, "chehre se rajraani...", etc.Pragati: Sorry, Govind, I am not convinced. It is not as if something new is happening. We have had television in India for 30 years now. We have had news and advertising coexisting. But today I find I am happier watching ads than news. That is the point!Ads make me happy today, and this is unusual. News was always boring but today news has become exciting in form and structure. But, news distresses me. News has reached a point where I am anxious all the time!Both news and ads portray me. Ads, the Indian me, while news is portraying to me India and through that, me the Indian, in a convoluted way.Naini: We have become sensitive to news rhetorics like ‘Kya India corrupt hai?' ‘Kya humne sahi leaders ko chuna hai?' Navneet feels the perception of the Indian by ads is based on sensible research (hence, defines the Indian better), whereas the news people base their research on news, and through news they define the Indian. Pragati: It's the packaging, or the presentation. Content is one thing but to apply that content to define India or Indians... For example, can you look at Ariel detergent or Parachute hair oil ads and say this is P&G or this is how Marico is?Govind: Ah... in fact, they should reflect each other. The values of the corporate brand must be seen in the product brand, since they are mother and child. Anyway, so tell me, how is the brand Indian getting defined through the illnesses of the India brand?Pragati: When you announce a new scam daily and global media picks it up. When foreigners in India tell me, "You Indians are corrupt", I want them to know that Indians are not corrupt, the Indian political community is.The entire political fraternity is not even equal to 1 per cent of the country's population, yet the remaining 99 have to carry the can for the sins of the one? It depresses me. When my little son hears all the arguments and shouting on television and asks me, "Amma, are we bad people? Did we ‘do' wrong thing?", I want to be able to give him easier explanations. Brand India is not easy anymore.Advait: But the World Cup is a good thing? We are good cricketers! Tell your son that!Pragati: For how long? The glory of the WC lasts one week, in between two more scams will surface... I am not asking for a solution, Advait. I am saying news is depressing, demoralising; and advertising is restoring, renewing, accepting. Yes, this is it — news is alienating, advertising is accepting.Govind: See, ads try and talk one-on-one with a viewer. That is how they design their communication. News is passive. Interpretive reporting requires reporters to give shape to the news, and they tend to shape it around their perspective on politics. To journalists, politics is not a struggle over policy issues. They see it largely as a competitive game waged between power-hungry leaders. But in the case of a product, there is no scope for subjectivity. The product has to sell for what it is and you cannot bring in your opinion.Then again, the brain devotes more attention to anything that appears threatening. Our automatic vigilance for threat has given us an enormous survival advantage throughout the ages and we now do it continuously, subconsciously, and instantly. This is what makes news harsh on the psyche. And when a whole period is stress filled, as it has been lately, news kills.break-page-breakNews is as much a commercial product as ads and has as much a need to sell. So yes, news people also try and grab TRPs and cater to their TA!Pragati: Then how is it that ads tend to impact so much even if they are fantasy and not fact? Could it be that ads do not have the potential to shock us? Then how come we do not plan for good news as our content too?Govind: The best ads are a transportation device to a transformed life; they tap into a human aspiration and try and make you believe that it is possible through science or nature or miracle — what they call RTBs (reasons to believe) — that through the consumption of the product, they will enable the experience of an altered but desired state.Brands give you belief, like Apple's assumption that ‘there is a creative genius in you' or Dove's reassurance that you are beautiful the way you are. These are essentially tapping into your insecurities, your anxieties and then presenting them to you in a manner that your anxiety is removed.Naini: Govind, I still feel there is a difference. I am contrasting ads and news and that is where I feel that ads talk to me in a way that makes me feel reassured, happy, which is the complete opposite of what news does to me.Govind: Naturally. News cannot sell you hope. News tells you things as they are... and that can be hopeless too!Pragati: No, much more. News channels and newspapers actually take the pains to package news in horrific sights and sounds. They make bad into worse. For example, recall the Bhopal gas tragedy. I remember a magazine's cover (I was in school then) that showed an infant half buried, with scalded eyes, blinded by the leaking gas. It was a picture that destroyed you.They say Raghu Rai wept when he took that picture. But it kept showing up on every newsstand, on every coffee table, in every waiting room. Tragedy entered the drawing room. It was called ‘Portrait of a Corporate Crime'. A technically sound picture... but its impact? It aimed to keep you engaged with grief. And when the Bhopal gas news was refreshed recently, the same picture was back, engaging your grief. During such a moment, if you watch ads, they restore...Govind: Brands tend to address an anxiety head on and even say it as such. So we have brands that provide happy reconciliations for the new emerging contradictions in a society going through a rapid change, the good mother versus the classical strict mother (Surf's Daag achche hain); Saffola's Kal se, for instance, addresses the knowing-doing gap — that life is stressful, we must take care, but it's difficult to exercise. This is what makes us resonate with ads. Because they mirror our dilemmas, our unwillingness, our fixations! So what was until then a private angst, comes out in the open, and that is the comfort you feel!Brands have thus taken to presenting easy, simple and credible answers to life's complex issues, in a disarming, direct way, leaving behind a business card that says, this is my name, brand and purpose. No ‘Breaking News' dramatics.Advait: So are you saying news reflects the society we live in?Govind: News is not "what the audience wants" and it does not simply "reject society". But ads tell you the state of society in a different yet endearing way. It is just that it is woven into the storyline. Take the insurance ad that Naini mentions. How are the visuals connected to insurance? Life insurance used to be about meeting a commitment and fulfilment of duties after the death of the chief wage-earner. Now, as prosperity is increasing, the code of life insurance is becoming ‘enjoying life while you are alive', life mein life add karein!Now this behavioural issue must have emerged out of observing people's reaction to uncertainty, no? The moment we buy insurance or are faced with buying a policy, it seems as if there is a suggestion of finality, mortality, a finish line. These may have been seen as roadblocks to policy sales? So there is an attempt to ensure happiness and enjoyment by saying, insurance does not mean morbid, morose or mortality. Insurance means ‘bad news does not have to be worse'!Yes, the fundamental difference is that ads come dressed as ads — maybe that helps!Classroom discussionNews engages you, but not with you as a stakeholder. Hence, news is alienating casestudymeera(at)gmail(dot)com(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 09-05-2011)
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All the world's a stage… but will the world pay for it? The usual dilemma is faced by WCPA, Ammini Eappen, aunt Omanna, Eappen and its large cast of actors - all of them seemingly challenged by the concepts of marketing and economics. After all when it comes to art, or for that matter, matters of the heart, does the twain ever meet? The "Centrestage with Pricing" case raises three fundamental questions. First, whether this kimd of theatre actually caters to the consumer's unmet needs, and can it stoke that need? It is a fundamental marketing question. Second, can these needs be converted into a product or service, viz, 'WCPA theatre offerings' which can be packaged, marketed, priced and positioned in a consumer relevant manner. Third, what are challenges ahead such marketing ventures and how they should be addressed in a holistic manner?The WCPA operates in a consumer driven entertainment market. At a deeper level theatre reaches out, touches people through its live performance in a manner cinema cannot, captures and fires the imagination, and finally asks the consumer for a share of his or her wallet in return for the joy it provided. While it seems that Ammini and aunt Omanna are typical creatures of passion for whom the pleasures of theatre, and its economics are not necessarily related, it is only the financial realism of Thomas Kodipalli and Bishen Dagar that jolts them into reality. It seems that establishing a break-even price is an esoteric matter divorced from mundane issues such as costs, break-even points etc. The WCPA's work when compared with other theater that charge as low as Rs.75 per ticket and traditional/folk theater which are often free is making the decision on pricing an issue. It is almost weighing them down.Ensuring affordability and the passion to extend theatre at low prices to mass audience seems to be the heart of dilemma.So what is the case all about? At its core, it is about accepting market realities. It is also about recognising and reconciling theatre as an art form with cost structures and market dynamics. To me the answers to this case are not blowing in the wind but they are in fact anchored very much in WCPA's Mango Grove premium location. The product is not a low priced mass market offering - it is in fact a premium aspirational product which needs a marketing tweak to reconcile the seemingly irreconcilable. If I would enter into this angst ridden cast, as an intruder perhaps I would do several things. Ammini, aunt Ommana, Dr Teja and the other dreamy eyed idealistic theatre lovers would need to be won over. For that I would need Thomas Kodipalli and Bhishen Dagar as allies. Next, I would analyse the Mango Grove location - its catchment area, potential (theatre going) customers and their entertainment needs. I will find out the competition from other entertainment sources. This would lead to a well developed positioning and marketing plan which would put oomph into WCPA's offerings. It is my conviction that the inadequacy of theatre-going space in urban India has grossly inhibited its outreach. What has worked in the rural landscape is bound to work in urban areas. After all even Hollywood and Bollywood fail to engage audiences all the time and urban audiences are seeking alternatives for entertainment. What better than theatre with its ability to adapt, engage, entertain and capture people's imagination in a manner that no other medium can? Indian history of theater, and more recently the global success of theatre proves this point.Finally, the issue of pricing. To me if the product is adequately packaged with entertainment value, in an excellent ambience at a premium location, a premium pricing is a natural outcome. Yes, this is definitely a venture with the future.After all isn't all the world a stage?The author is President Corporate Strategy at HCL, a $6bn Technology/IT enterprise. He is also a Senior Advisor to the Shiv Nadar Foundation. He has worked in several global firms and assignments in Unilever, Pepsi, and Groupe SEB before joining HCL.
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Dr Teja watched his colleagues in agitated discussion. Their intense economics was far removed from Teja's poetic life. Yet he could not help admiring how serious they all sounded. The Waltair Theatre Company was Teja's nest, nay cocoon, where he spent his life. Today, it had become The Waltair Center for Performing Arts (WCPA) as they had now built their own covetable theatre. Today, it did not have to wait for dates from other theaters to perform. It had its own stage. WCPA was the creation of Ammini Eappen and her grand aunt Omanna Eappen. This is how it happened. Ammini had been all of 21 when she met Hugh Caldwell on a cruise, fell in love, married him in Australia and before long separated from him as well because Ammini got seriously involved in street theatre in Sydney and wanted to study theatre in the US. After an intense study and practice in the US, Ammini returned to Mumbai where she invested her soul deeper into the stage. Bitten by the theatre bug and banished from her parental home in Kozhikode, Ammini was rediscovered by aunt Omanna when Ammini lay ill with typhoid in a ramshackle hospital in Kurla, Mumbai, with not enough to pay for medical care.Thereon the entire story of her life was rewritten with structure. Aunt Omanna lived in Vizag, slaving over a thankless research on bacterial pathogenesis. It was rather absurd as the lady had spent 22 years of her youth chasing microbes and their ilk and had lost touch with reality until news filtered to her from deliberate gossip flowing from her brother's illom (ancestral home) in Kozhikode, about the dying Ammini, whom she salvaged or rescued.Aunt Omanna had a four-acre plot of land, and over thin arrowroot gruel that she was spooning into Ammini's mouth, she said she had no idea what to do with it. Ammini told her about theatre. Aunt Omanna's bacteria were laid to rest, and together with Ammini, she set up The Waltair Theatre Company. As Ammini soared sky high producing plays and acting in them as well, Aunt Omanna's paper got published and together they began to shovel in good quantities of money into their savings accounts.In 2010 (18 years later), they pooled in every paisa of their savings (including the money AO got for her thesis) and set up WCPA.Now they were sitting on a real investment — land and building together valued at Rs 2 crore — but without much idea about how to turn it into a profitable business. Ammini did not have a repertory group. She already had a decent reputation in Indian theatre having performed with several groups. She knew the right talent set. She had the theatre. Vizag was hungry for culture and had the right pace for enjoying good theatre. She needed people to buy tickets at a good price so that she could pay full-time actors to perform well. Or should she keep rates low, focus on good theatre, and have many shows to pay for the actors? The classical ‘volumes or value' dilemma. Question was: were there enough people in Vizag for multiple shows? Aunt Omanna's answer was terrible: "If you investigate how L. monocytogenes manage to survive and exploit the environment present in foods...." Ammini got the drift. Many questions flooded her head: how must she price the tickets? How were audiences composed and what were their expectations from entertainment? Mercifully for her, Bali Kashyap, a good friend and a stage actor with a keen sense for business, decided to sort out the answers with her.Bali drew a line on the number of people she would hire: the theatre director, the production manager, and the box office manager who would also double in as facility in-charge. Ammini could not afford too many people, not now, not ever. Theatre drank money. All three were people with whom she had worked closely over the past 17-18 years in theatre; people she had developed deep respect for and trust in.That was how Dr Teja Lahiri was sitting there, face in cupped palms, elbows resting on the back of a chair, listening to the intense debate going on before him.WCPA's personality had been recast. Earlier, not having their own stage meant inconsistent visibility, as also large gaps in public appearance as they waited to get dates from other theatres. This also meant a break in earning, which meant that people in the repertory group had to seek employment elsewhere to make a living. This made theatre secondary in their lives — not a good idea for a repertory theatre group for which its actors were a key result area. Earlier, they would have to adapt their productions to different kinds of stages — expensive, time consuming and pointless exertions. Now they could invite other theatre groups (that use a similar stage) as well. Having your own performance area helped professionalise theatre — an important aspect of bringing quality to stagecraft.Neither Ammini nor Aunt Omanna had a business background. Their calling card was their love of theatre. And like so many people who love to ‘do' things, they did what they thought best — except now they sat in the atrium tossing questions and answers. They had wanted to create a repertory theatre. They created it. But it came with an appetite for revenues. The disturbing word ‘revenues' was thanks to Thomas Kodipalli, production manager, who also brought up the pricing issue. So while their eyes were gently touching every corner and direction of the new property, allotting it a function and role, saying that will be a lovely little reading room with quaint chairs, this will be a cafeteria, out there will be an alcove for script writers... Thomas said, "And what are you expecting the monthly upkeep cost to be?"break-page-breakBishen Dagar, the box office and facility-in-charge, had done a rough list and gave a figure of Rs 2.5 lakh per month. Sensing Ammini's question, Thomas said, "I have heard of something called break-even point; it is an amazing approach to knowing the point below which you are heading for the cleaners." Then they all took turns defining it, interpreting it. Bishen said, "Okay, so let's start at the very beginning. Ticket prices... we must charge Rs 300 a piece...."It was at this point that Dr Teja stopped rocking himself, as Ammini's voice rang out, "Oh no! How can we?! Other theatres in the city charge Rs 75. Theatre, you see, is seen as the poor man's entertainment in India."When the truth is quite dramatically different, thought Dr T. Reaching for his laptop on the floor, he flipped it open, activated his Photon, peeped into his GTalk window, found his intellectual guru Partha Pandey online, clicked him open and asked, "Bandhu! Why this perception that theatre is poor man's fare?" Partha Pandey (MR expert): As always, in India everything is context sensitive. So ‘poor man's fare' gains its definition from theatre's roots in traditional forms, which were folksy and easily accessible to all. The Ramayan (Ramlila) and Mahabharat first recognised plays. So did Bhavai from Gujarat, Jatra from Bengal, and Swang from UP. Then there is nautanki, tamasha, puppet theatre, Indian street theatre.... For the elite with western education, their references come from Roman and Greek dramas and operas.Away from his GTalk window, Ammini was continuing to dig in her heels, in deference to which Thomas had come down to Rs 250. Thomas: Times have changed, Ammini, rather the consumer has changed. The expectations from theatre and what we want to deliver cannot be labelled at Rs 65!Bishen: I would say even Rs 250 is too little. Let us look at what it will cost us to run this 200-seat theatre — keeping the lights on, the phones working, the website up and running, maintenance, and the security — each day is about Rs 9,000 a day. That is Rs 2.7 lakh per month. Rough incomes from renting the theatre for four weekends a month is Rs 1.2 lakh. That leaves us to worry about a deficit of Rs 1.5 lakh — which has to be made up through rentals for rehearsals, talks, product launches, seminars, discussions, etc. But these revenue streams necessitate that you indulge in marketing....Aunt Omanna: Mango Grove (where WCPA is located) is partially elite. So there will be takers for Rs 350 — this is true of the whole of Vizag, too, because we are talking 200 tickets, not 2,000! But there are also buyers for Rs 250 in Mango. Both price points can deliver a full house. But the two price points deliver a different theatre experience. Which is the right theatre experience to deliver, is the question. Ammini: While I want to stay with 65-75, yet, how different is the Rs 350 from the Rs 250 experience? I assume you are benchmarking the cinema theatre experience? Therefore, what is the experience that a live play theatre goer would seek as against a movie goer? Aunt Omanna: Mini, first of all, we need to dissect your ‘others charge Rs 60-75' theory. Raaga, Manishan, Naatyakala charge 75 and they hire out the theatre for Rs 2,500 a day. But they do only language theatre. As opposed to us, who will do only English theatre and the audience is very different, plus... it's a far smaller market than the language theatre's! Given Mango Grove, we are looking at a discerning, quality-conscious, English language consumer. So, the differences are huge, Mini! Bishen: I am not sure that we must think about high price, low price and all that now. First of all, serious theatre itself is a gamble. As long as we were wandering minstrels it was okay — we produced, acted and moved our caravan to a different city. Now we have a fixture, which has to be looked after and must come to stand for excellent theatre. Then again, what is the attitude to entertainment in Vizag?Movies, malls and McDonald's are also entertainment. So your Rs 250 competes with Rs 30 for a McChicken... do you see them paying Rs 250 for a play, although I believe that the audience for theatre come with a natural attitude for premium pricing?Bali: I have some concerns too — not problems — I just want us to have answers. Theatre is core to Indian culture so I don't see a roadblock there. And I believe the theatre goer is real. He is not trading a play for a McChicken. But is there a pronounced demand for quality theatre as we understand it? So should we be doing regular theatre first and then step up to investing in a repertory group? I feel the pricing will be defined by answers to all this.Thomas: How important is a repertory group to a theatre in this country that has barely experienced professional theatre? A repertory group is the raw ingredient required for regular theater with a consistent quality. Do theatre goers recognise this? Be it Vizag or Versova... what is the appreciation for quality theatre and how big is your market? Unless the theatre goers have an appreciation for this, they will not be willing to pay extra for the performances. Ammini: Okay, so the alternative to a repertory group is importing productions, but they will not have consistence in terms of theme, language, cultural fit and so on. Aunt Omanna: But in a globalised, flat world, why are we cribbing about this? Isn't this part of being globalised? What the hell are you doing eating McChicken and Pepperoni Pizza anyway sitting in Vizag? That is not even on the border of your culture! Thomas: But the bigger question here is: is theatre a buyer's market or a seller's market in Vizag? Because, if it is a seller's market, the tickets can be Rs 450, too, in a place like Mango Grove. This will now begin to exclude all Rs 250 folks and the quality of the theatre will have to cater to the Rs 450 market. Bishen: Theatre is not a buyer's market — challenge this please! The seller decides what to sell and the buyer has to acquiesce! Hence, seller determines pricing too... Thomas: Because the demand for theatre is so huge (in certain societies, economies and geographies), it is a seller's market. There was a time when people paid anything for an Alyque Padamasee or a Gerson D'Cunha play! Then came groups like Motley, and others. But the supply isn't there nor enough theatres to stage productions! So WCPA with a good play plus a good production plus a good venue is poised to be a winner! We are in a seller's market! Ammini: Are we jumping the gun talking pricing before quality? The need is for good theatre. Let us first give them the experience of good theatre, then they will be willing to pay for it.Thomas: But that's the point. To get good theatre, you need quality productions, quality actors, good sound, light, rehearsal areas, great seating... all of it goes into the creation of a comfortable and memorable experience. And better gate pricing helps deliver all this.Bishen: Local theatre has seen minimal improvement because there is no money in it. The commitment that theatre demands is single-pointed. Quality theatre experience needs intense devotion to rehearsals. The earnings are meagre, time for rehearsals will be replaced by side jobs to earn more... back to pricing, then!Ammini: True, we need commitment from actors and it does cost to train as an actor. Recognised theatre schools don't come cheap. But my point is that if you raise prices without super performances to back them, there will be no audience.Aunt Omanna: No, Mini, a lot has changed and we must rework our expectations sensibly. One, the consumer himself has changed. He lives in a virtual supermarket of choices, and demands that he be entertained. Two, the environment that caters to his demands has changed, too. break-page-breakCompetition for theatre isn't from theatre anymore. It is not just Raaga or Naatya, everything else is also fighting for the viewer's eyeballs. While you were building Waltair, the outside world changed! There is a thousand-fold increase in good television programming, access to movies has improved, live music performances, there is, oh dear, IPL! The real competition to entertainment now comes from weekend outings, gourmet dining and mall hanging.Today, for many, live performances are just a hazy memory. They have moved on to other forms of enjoyment, and may probably feel that the quality of theatre has reduced in light of other forms of entertainment. So, the theatre experience has to be really good to get them back. And, you must have ready access to theatre in the neighbourhood, say, within 4 km. Otherwise, it is too painful and you will opt out of it.Ammini: I wonder.... Theatre caters to a special kind of audience. And if you are a born theatre aficionado, 4 km is mere dancing distance away! What differentiates plays from movies? Tata Sky and DVDs make movie watching flexible but mess up the anticipation value!Thomas: So what has changed? The socio-economic fabric, the definition of ‘good', or the definition of recreation? Yet let's not forget that a PVR can charge Rs 250 for a movie that comes out of a can... and we fear taking it beyond Rs 75 for a live performance!Ammini: A play is a different experience, Thomas, I am not even sure you watch a play for entertainment! Live entertainment is a big part of Indian culture: a live performance by Sonu Nigam or SRK is prized. People pay huge amounts for it. Why this is so is difficult to tell. Maybe it has to do with the proximity it offers to cult heroes. Maybe it is the aura of the super stars. For example, the musical Bollywood dance extravaganza at Kingdom of Dreams, called Zangoora, is priced between Rs 750 and Rs 3,000 and is not considered high priced! Bali: I am keen to understand the mindset and behaviour of a movie goer and that of a play watcher. For example, an avid movie watcher, if he goes to a movie hall to watch Tanu Weds Manu (TWM), does not get tickets, he will buy in black. If that fails too, he will jump into an auto and go to another hall and watch any movie! No doubt he will come back another day and make sure he watches TWM, that loyalty won't change, but the ‘need to watch a movie' is a high one for him.Can we say this about a play goer? Bishen: If a theatre goer is unable to get tickets to Tumhari Amrita, he won't go to some other play. He will wait for Tumhari Amrita to come around again. Loyalty to theatre is very high because it is not about ‘getting entertained', it is about being stimulated in a specific manner.Bali: Correct. So, we are seeing two different kinds of people; two completely different behaviours. And from behaviours we get to demand types, needs from environment, from entertainment. Am I speaking your language now?Bishen: There is economics involved. For a movie hall, the key result area is bums on seat. If it is a 500-seat hall, and he gets 500 bums to take a seat each, he is happy. He doesn't care if some of the audience didn't like the film. In a theatre, the owner shoots for much more than bums on seats.Ammini: So, what are we charging for? For content or for packaging? On the other hand, what does the consumer pay for? For the experience also or the content only? Dr Teja: The answer lies in changing your belief that theatre is poor man's entertainment. Let the play unfold... it will call its audience!Classroom DiscussionIs the theatre consumer outside the defining shackles of conventional marketing parameters?casestudymeera(at)gmail(dot)com
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It is difficult to define ‘good theatre', which is central to the issue of pricing a live theatrical performance. There are other elements that come into play — if you will excuse the terrible pun — into the pricing matrix: the script, its relevance to the audience, the calibre of the performers, the music, effects and props, the nature of the theatre facility, the sound and light infrastructure, the theatre's location and the timing of the show. I can relate to the dilemma faced by Ammini and her aunt Omanna. I am trying to answer the same questions they face at The Waltair Center for the Performing Arts. Is theatre somehow a ‘superior' form of entertainment and should, therefore, be priced higher? Should theatre do all it can to bring down the cost of productions so that a wider swathe of society can enjoy it? Is there a way to package theatre so that a production becomes accessible to different audiences?I need to answer these questions because after 25 years of being in theatre, I am finally on the cusp of my dream — we (my husband Jagdish and I) have a theatre of our own that opened its doors in early-2011. Jagriti Theatre is a 200 seater in the quiet suburb of Whitefield in Bangalore. So, Ammini and Omanna are like our twins.For quality theatre to emerge, a repertory group is an essential accelerator: professional actors bring consistency to productions. Audiences like that. They know what to expect and are willing to pay for it. For a repertory theatre group to make an impact, the actors should take to theatre full time and professionalise their approach. To do this, they must earn enough from theatre. Ergo? Everyone has to raise the bar, including the paying audience. From an audience (consumer) perspective, what is the right price to pay for a play? I wish we were a biscuit producing factory. I'd have the answer pat: don't change anything, just bring down the packaging size for rural consumers, so that they can afford to buy two biscuits at a time at a lower price than the 14 biscuit-pack; supersize the packaging for urban consumers with fat wallets so that they don't face the problem of going out to buy the biscuits repeatedly. And the problem of pricing is solved — a real piece of biscuit. Fortunately for biscuits, packaging does not make all that much of a difference. This is not so with theatre. Packaging plays a role in the pricing, the quality of the actors does and so does the quality of the director. But the bigger problem continues to be the definition of quality theatre. I have been to performances where I dozed off but the cast got a standing ovation. And I have been to performances where I was deeply moved, but I had just a dozen other people in the audience with me. And critics panned the play. Yes, even Thespis would agree, theatre is slippery and quality theatre is subjective. We have a repertory theatre company called the Artistes' Repertory Theatre (ART), which has 75 productions under its belt. And now ART has the platform to stage its plays with regularity at Jagriti. But a repertory group like ART needs to have full-time actors who are paid just compensation for their effort and talent. It is not possible for actors to work in a BPO by night and rehearse during the day for a month, then stage the production and make just about enough to pay for the taxi fare back home. Stage actors need to be paid like anybody else. They need to make enough to be able to afford a course at a drama school, hone their skills and turn acting from a passion to a profession. I must confess that a self-sufficient, independent repertory group is a dream at the moment; perhaps an even bigger one than having a theatre of our own. It certainly appears to be a more daunting dream. But its outcome will have far reaching effects on the business and quality of theatre in India.When theatre gets professionalised, youngsters will begin to consider it as a career option. More talent will be infused into theatre. Audiences will be assured it is theatre they are consuming and not an embarrassing charade. More people will be encouraged to set up theatres in their communities because audiences will be willing to pay — and come to think of it, will have one more alternative to IPL!What are the answers that Jagriti has for the business end of theatre? We have figured out the packaging conundrum. We are planning to package 6-7 plays in a Jagriti Season. You can buy tickets for the entire season up ahead (there, we supersized); and if you wish, you can buy tickets for a single show (well, in a manner we downsized). But, crucial to the success of the strategy is consistency. This, of course, brings us back to the concept of a repertory group that introduces consistency and makes everything else possible. Exeunt, stage left.Arundhati Raja has over 30 years experience in theatre, and is founder and artistic director of Jagriti, a centre for performance, in Whitefield, Bangalore
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Like all startups, growing up pangs are clearly visible at Artemis. The initial eight-year phase was consumed by growth and the startup team consisting of Madhur, Atul, Rassal, Harish and others seem to have been comfortable working through the issues without focus on structure and other required levers that are an imperative to scale and complexity. The case throws up many issues: structure, decision-making styles, fairness and issues around transparency. These are very typical of organisations at certain tenure and scale. The current situation offers Madhur and team a chance to re-look at operations to ensure critical organisational processes are geared to manage future growth. Else, they are bound to flip-flop along the way. The first question that needs to be understood is, how come Madhur gets to know the real issue of financial misdemeanour at the last stage. Why has Harish not discussed this with Madhur to ensure proper governance? Using organisational re-design as a means to message poor performance is poor management. How come Harish took so much time to cite the real cause? What happened to mutual trust and confidence? If it is to do with financial mismanagement, then it does not have to go through all these layers of confusion and chaos. The decision making is simple and straightforward and asking Atul to go is, in fact, good for the organisation and its culture. But what happened in the process makes Artemis very vulnerable to employee perception of fairness and other related interpersonal issues. The other important area that needs consideration is the role of HR and how to effectively leverage the capability of that function. It is understandable that managers are always under pressure to perform and ensure task completion, but the difference between being effective and ineffective lies in the ability to draw upon skills of other colleagues to ensure focus on all matters. Rassal’s travel is no excuse to not involve him. And what about seeking Madhur’s opinion when Harish took the call to change the structure? It is sad to note that Madhur also gets to know of Atul’s role change through an e-mail! And if hiring Ashwin is to do with a larger strategy of forming a JV with Gevore, it seems to be submerged under many layers of Artemis’s decision-making styles. And when Rassal points out the conflict of interest, Harish’s remark “these things happen in business” should make Rassal stand up and think about Harish’s outlook to ethics. Madhur and Rassal also need to investigate deep into the roundabout views of Harish on Atul till he finally states it to be a case of financial fraud. When considering factors that influence a firm’s success, topics like strategy, technology, markets and leadership get significant managerial attention. But the important factor of organisational design — the accountability system that defines rights, roles, responsibilities is often left to evolve naturally without conscious planning and thought. This is clearly the case at Artemis with such a casual approach by Harish. Structuring is a critical area that requires a lot of deliberation and involvement of all key stakeholders. What is worse is that Artemis is using organisational design as a means to oust someone. Structure is not fossils like coral reef that can be used by people in power. Madhur should take note of this and make necessary changes in the roles and responsibility matrix regarding organisational design responsibility. HR should own this area and Rassal and his team should use this case as an example to set things right. Last, it is important for practitioners of management to know and understand that human interactive networks are a lot dependent on organisation structure as much as they are on informal relationships. It facilitates the flow of information in an organisation and that directly impacts the culture. Strategy, structure, culture flow need to be appreciated so as to build organisations that withstand human errors of judgement and individual egos. Structure is a critical component of corporate governance and sooner Madhur and the founding team realises that, the better for the future of Artemis. There are many levers to ensure and sustain organisational success. As Artemis grows in size and scale and complexity overpowers people into chaos, the current situation is a great starting point to make necessary changes. The writer was till recently Executive VP & Global Head of HR at EXL Service (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 20-10-2014)
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Dr Tara Chaitanya was stunned to see the installation engineer walk out of her clinic casually. After much drama — and four week’s delay — the AA-SW13, a top-of-the-line ultrasound machine, had been installed. But uniquely, when she tried to fiddle with its keys, the machine had failed to respond! Tara, who had to deal with so many problems during the purchase of the AA-SW13 from Company A, had been alarmed. This had been a huge purchase, made with her life’s savings and her husband’s...Why were the keys not responding? What else was going to fail? But Rasesh, the installation engineer, had pressed a few keys and remarked: “Just press two or three times, it will be all right, slowly-slowly...” And when a stunned Tara had protested that it was not normal, Rasesh had shut shop saying, “My job was to unbox the machine and set it up. I have done it. You please call the company and log in a complaint...” All Tara could do was refuse to sign his installation report.Tara called Company A’s Awasthi, the regional sales head who had sold her the machine, and told him stiffly how shocked she was. Awasthi tried to placate her, saying: “These things happen. Keep using, over a few days the machine will settle down....”That same refrain! “What do you mean settle down,” she asked. I have unboxed similar machines in the past, they never behaved like this! I am not using a whimsical machine! The AA-SW13 is a healthcare device, not a plaything. I don’t buy this ‘settling in’ logic! There is clearly a malfunction, please come and fix this!” She waited for a day, and a week, then a month. Her attention now shifted from her patients to the machine and its whims. Press the keys gingerly... look at the screen, did keys respond? No?... This was not how the machine was meant to work!Company A did not jump to attention and Tara kept calling Awasthi asking him to change the keyboard. Yet Company A kept stonewalling, call after call. Till one day another service engineer Paul Anand landed up for a probe calibration. Young, bright and just out of college, he immediately acknowledged the problem. Testing the keyboard, he agreed that several keys were unresponsive. Thereupon Paul called the call centre and ordered a replacement. And within seconds, Tara even got a confirmation SMS! And sure enough in two days, the new keyboard arrived. The simplicity with which the problem was fixed astounded her. Paul had called the call centre, not his boss, and ordered replacement with confidence. It took him 20 minutes to open the machine cover, unplug the old keyboard from its connector, replace it with the new one, and screw back the cover. Dr Tara: Why was your colleague unwilling to admit there was a problem? Paul: Just different people, I guess. (Then dropping his voice) Please don’t quote me, but sometimes engineers do not withdraw spares since they are appraised and evaluated on how low their spares consumption is! That’s also the reason my boss would not have supported me if I had called him for the new keyboard. But I made the call directly to the call centre. That call from a field service engineer cannot be buried...”Tara was further stunned. Company A’s service-ability was clearly person-specific! She had been compromised in order to aid someone’s appraisal! Company A prided in being a world-class organisation, but its service team could tweak the system to ignore her pending service calls, and even her refusal to sign off on installation closure, which were less important than the value of spares withdrawn? The scales fell from her eyes. Anyway, the AA-SW13 was now working fine and her practice was back to its pleasant hum. A year later, Awasthi asked to meet Tara to present to her why she should consider upgrading to the new model, AB-SW15. He chased her, left numerous messages... This was the same man who had absented himself when she was in difficulty. But Awasthi was a salesperson and knew where to mine his commissions. He followed up repeatedly to tell her about the special offer: Company A will take back the AA-SW13 at nearly 40 per cent of the cost of the SW15. He hard sold that the SW15 featured not only a new software version and a faster processor but also boasted of a new feature, cavito-sonometry. Tara had been hearing of cavito-sonometry — Company A had been drumming up its benefits for over six months at every conference. The new feature will be a good addition, she thought, a scanning modality for the future.... She was familiar with the series too and some leading specialists had recently upgraded to this model. Tara accepted the offer. And so the premium SW15 was ordered. Of course, it arrived late yet again! And with a fresh bag of problems! Unbelievable! This time the keyboard worked fine — but the touchscreen did not. The touchscreen, which was designed for the doctor to mark points and select areas on the image for various measurements, was now mere cosmetic. But this time, there no Paul who had left for higher studies. Another young service engineer, Aman Yadav, had taken Paul’s place. Tara again logged in her complaint, stating the touchscreen malfunction. Aman did not acknowledge the touchscreen as a problem. Even as he entered, he looked at the machine from afar and told Tara it was likely that her hands ‘got greasy through the day’ and touchscreens do not work if hands are unclean. His tone was offensive.He hadn’t even tested the screen himself! And what was that about greasy hands? She had been working on touchscreen machines for years at her previous jobs, including the SW13! This man hadn’t even inspected the screen, let alone try it. And the next thing she knew, he was leaving. Tara was beginning to find all this surreal. Just then, her husband Shiv called to ask, “Did he fix it? What did he say.” He was worried. After all, they had just coughed up another Rs 25 lakh to upgrade! “Shiv, something is weird. The touchscreen is clearly not working and I have used these machines before, but this new service engineer they sent has come up with an absurd verdict!” And she narrated it to him.Shiv: Arre, but you use touchscreens all the time, your Nokia touch phone, your iPad... Dr Tara: I have been thinking. That man’s response was based not on reason but on conditioning. He spoke to me like he would to a woman in his environment, an unequal. Shiv: Then he shouldn’t be allowed to get away, whether he’s showing his incompetence, or poor attitude. Dr Tara: I am very angry. This is a top drawer machine manufactured by a Fortune 500 company. That automatically comes built with values, and must assure me right attitude and right approach. So, where does this guy come in? Oh, damn! Shiv: Perhaps you are right. He may be from a place where women are not seen in positions of decision-making and control. Hence, he lacked the script to speak with reverence. But... that does not exonerate him. So, he will learn on the job, Tara! I tell you this time and again, don’t be overwhelmed by the situation, instead overwhelm it. Climb above his disdain and tell him where he gets off! Never mind the machine.Sadly, Tara’s problems were only just resuming after a pause. For Tara, the machine was verily an extension of her brain. It ‘talked’ to her, performed the commands she ordered, while the patient merely lay down, placing total faith in the doctor, to find the problem areas…Tara was at a loss. In the absence of the touchscreen’s proper working, she was forced to use the keyboard, losing speed and precision. Presently a new quirk showed up (even as Tara promised herself never to touch Company A again and also warn all her colleagues). This one was a shocker. Read Analysis: Harish Natarajan And Dr Uma Nambiar break-page-breakTara used two printers to print out the high-resolution colour images of the scans (which she gave her patients as part of her report), and it had worked fine with the earlier AA-SW13 machine. Now, the printers had been connected with the AB-SW15 on which the printer driver software files had been successfully installed. But now, the new machine would intermittently not print the scan images. Patients had to be told to come the next day. They grew worried...But Aman blamed the printers, not the SW15. But the printers had worked fine with the SW13, then what was the problem? The printer was a DD790, manufactured by Dustin Dempa, a world class name in printers. DD’s service engineers checked and serviced the printers thoroughly and gave both printers a clean chit. If anything they felt that the new ultrasound machine was likely not rigged up properly to download its data to the printers, however Aman again stonewalled, “Ours is a world class machine, it is sought after by doctors and works successfully everywhere. Only at your place there is a problem. I suggest you buy a new printer,” he ended confidently.The printing roadblock was a huge hurdle for Tara. Patients could not take a scan image with their report; most patients had onward appointments with their gynecologists or their physicians. Tara was struggling to be fair and helpful to her patients. So she made a quick decision: she asked Dempa to send a new colour printer at a cost of Rs 25,000. But oh! No. The AB-SW15 continued to malfunction —the print command would invoke the printer, then midway printing, the print would begin to get distorted. Expensive photographic paper and even more expensive ink cartridges were wastefully consumed. Time was wasted as images had to be printed twice, three times, to complete a satisfactory report. Tara was confused.But by now, she sensed that the trouble lay with the SW15. Dempa’s service engineer, who waited while she tested the new printer on the SW15, was surprised that she was buying a new machine at all, when both her current printers were perfect, and, in fact, one was still within warranty period. Now, when the third printer too did not respond, Aman was again called. This time he asked her to move to a different brand of printers justifying that with some exotic explanation. So, here was Dr Tara Chaitanya, having just upgraded to an even more expensive AB-SW15 after trashing two printers, bought a new one also costing a small fortune and had gotten nowhere. She looked at Aman and saw there a novice, who knew nothing. He had no trouble-shooting skills, nay... he had no installation skills to begin with. He was using her as a guinea pig to try anything that came to mind. She could not help recalling Paul — same age, same skill set, but what a difference in their approach and effectiveness at problem resolution!Meanwhile, another situation had quietly arisen. Just eight days after the new machine had thrown her life out of gear, Tara noticed that the SW15 had started to hang or restart while the patient was being scanned. This is what happened. Mariam, a 25 year old suspected to have an ovarian cyst, was being scanned. Tara was explaining to her about the cyst that was likely not growing, but there were some darker areas on screen that needed to be investigated ... and then, the machine just froze, the probe stopped responding, the screen image disappeared…and all too suddenly, the machine restarted on its own after 20 seconds.This happened again with another patient. And again. Twice in the first week. Four times in the next week. Tara felt like she had been handpicked for disaster. Like the printing problem, this too was intermittent and clearly pointed to some problem with the machine’s hardware or software. Tara knew machines. She worked with them all the time. Something was not right. She called Awasthi, who promised to get more technical help to probe and address the issue.But her clinic was in trouble. All in all, work had become such an unusual challenge — caused not by lack of clientele, or funds, or lack of wisdom... but because of the most critical aspect of her practice — the ultrasound machine — which helped the patient’s body communicate with her. Tara was waking up to her worst fear: probable loss of patient confidence in her. It was no use telling the patient, “Sorry, this is the latest, best machine...” Especially if the machine was suddenly shutting down and the patient was reading the error message. How would they trust her? Tara was in her clinic one Saturday, the busiest day of the week, when the printers again malfunctioned. Patients had been waiting for two hours and more were landing up at their appointed times. Given how poorly the machine worked, the time per scan had risen significantly and she had begun to work weekends as well. She called Company A’s service line and Aman’s mobile several times. Her patients left, unhappy, but also confused. She moved some of them to Sunday morning in the hope that by then a solution would be found. Read Analysis: Harish Natarajan And Dr Uma NambiarShiv knew when enough was enough. He did not call Awasthi but left a most menacing message for him: You get an hour from now. If I do not see you at the clinic the AB-SW15 will be up on Pinterest with this caption: Don’t trust this machine. Tara only marvelled at why men worked best when treated like a beast. For, Aman and Awasthi arrived within the hour making poor excuses. Together they reinstalled all printer drivers, taking till midnight to do so. As Shiv kept vigil, Tara printed a few pending reports but with problems. Patients had to be texted in the middle of the night to please come on Monday, their Sunday appointments now rescheduled. Tara was totally unhappy with the way things were going on. This was never how she worked. But what ailed the SW15? To be continued...casestudymeera@gmail.com (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 02-06-2014)
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Poor Dr Tara Chaitanya! Murphy’s law appears to be working overtime in her case. There are several dimensions to the problem: 1) The overzealousness of the salesperson 2) The lack of post-sale customer engagement 3) The gender debate — was Tara being mistreated because she was a woman?Below these are the more serious ones that are being faced by the entire healthcare industry of which Tara is a part: 1) The inability of many hospitals to provide meaningful careers to bright doctors 2) The rush to buy the biggest, newest, most expensive machines — and the consequent pressure on utilisation, revenues and pay back 3) The paradox of wanting to do things the right way — but lacking the deep pockets and staying power 4) The entrepreneurship vs employment dilemmaThe Awasthi model salesperson prides himself at being able to sell snow to Eskimos. He will promise and do anything to make the sale — ignoring customer needs. At the core of the issue is how companies traditionally manage performance. Salespersons are seen as hunters — and are lauded for deals struck, customers acquired and the size of the kill! Companies are now beginning to recognise this folly and rewarding repeat business and customer engagement disproportionately. While not adequate, it’s a start.Similarly, service engineers should be rewarded for customer delight, equipment uptime, mean time to repair (MTTR) and mean time between failures (MTBF). To ensure that service engineers like Rasesh and Aman will not sacrifice customer satisfaction for better appraisals. In this instance, the company appears to have taken the easy path — of tracking revenues and costs. It is all about fixing the “what” of performance measurement before getting lost in the “how”.Then, there is accounting nomenclature — land and buildings are tagged as “assets” but spends on brand equity building and customer service are labelled “costs”! This has to change if companies want to send the right message.Companies like Nordstrom, a US-based fashion retailer, on the other hand, have done this very effectively. Nordstrom customers can return items without even producing receipts. This has, over the years, resulted in happy customers buying more! Ritz-Carlton allows employees a discretionary spend of $2,000 to redress guest complaints — and delight them. “Good service is all about surprise and delight,” says Diana Oreck, vice president for the company’s executive training facility. These simple actions reflect the attitude of the company, empower employees, model right behaviour and ensure that core values percolate to the last person. One admires Tara’s courage for plunging into entrepreneurship to serve her patients better. Yet, will she be able to face up to the challenge of her investments not paying off for several years? Many doctors start as crusaders but are soon faced with the inevitable challenge — compromise on your ideals, or go under! Is there a middle path — one that will help Tara build a sustainable business without compromising patient interest? I firmly believe that there is — by building long-term care partnerships with patients, families and communities.Tara needs to resist the urge to be everything for everyone — and do just what the patient needs. She should stick to what she does best, and build strong referral networks to direct patients to when their condition warrants different equipment or expertise.Best machines don’t always produce the best results. In fact, most experienced surgeons swear by techniques and tools they have developed comfort with. Most successful practices are those that operate within their means. They will upgrade their equipment when their practice demands it. Tara may like to think about this.The road to being an entrepreneur can be incredibly tough and arduous — it is only when one takes the plunge does one realise the full extent of the challenge. Yet, to quote Thomas Edison: “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.” Tara has to draw inspiration from within — and have faith in her own ability. (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 02-06-2014)
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This case clearly is a manifestation of some serious maladies in the manner some of the equipment makers function. Whereas a large part of the problems encountered by Dr Tara Chaitanya in the case study has been due to certain deficiencies in Company A’s outlook and focus on its after-sales service coupled with poor customer relationship management, there is also a problem of the doctors’ lack of understanding of different aspects of purchasing any equipment. Company A, a Fortune 500 company, clearly has a very good product in its stable in terms of technical superiority but is plagued by highly inefficient, uninterested, untrained and unmotivated after-sales workforce as evident throughout; which is at cross-purposes with an aggressive sales force. Such a contradiction in its customer relationship management will most likely backfire in not-too-distant future to spell doom for the company. It appears that Company A just wants to makes sales at any cost, a very short-term approach. Despite the fact that it enjoys a good market position today, it clearly lacks a strategy for efficient after sales or for technical and behavioural training of its employees. The technical workforce of the company (barring a few) is not only limited in its knowledge of the products but seems to also suffer from a ‘laisse faire’ attitude. These pose a serious threat to the company’s market positioning since trained a workforce is as much an asset of the company as its products are and they compliment the technically superior product. Servicing of clients by professional employees is the key to retaining loyal customers. The word-of-mouth publicity, which a satisfied client can give, is one thing, but the word of mouth of an angry Tara can destroy the reputation of the company in the very exclusive and elite client base of specialist doctors. Each equipment in healthcare is critical and any equipment posing the risk of inaccuracies related to diagnosis is unlikely to remain popular with doctors. It is imperative on the part of Company A to ensure that whether by way of technical nature or by effective servicing of complaints, this continuum of patient safety is maintained. Accuracy, rapid response, and patient safety features are also the cornerstones of the confidence of the doctor which translate into patient satisfaction and successful practice of a clinician. Given that Tara was already an aggrieved customer of SW13, one would have thought that Company A would have ensured its systems had the mechanism to identify Tara as a special client to be ‘handled with greatest care’ and spent extra effort on increasing her faith in the brand. None of this was evident in this case. In fact, the same team in the field continued to dispense very shabby treatment to a client who was already a dissatisfied customer. This, for any company, is a serious error, bordering on indifference. Company A really needs to do some soul searching and institute mechanisms to upgrade skills of the technical staff in addition to its gender sensitisation and behavioural/ attitudinal training. It must also look at changing the appraisal mechanisms so as to incorporate customer satisfaction as an important key result area than cost savings on spares! On the other side, doctors also need to educate themselves about purchase agreements and conditions of after-sales service and payments. It is important that the initial agreement must clearly define and include criteria for satisfactory installation, user training on the equipment and payment should be pegged to performance — both installation and satisfactory working of the machine. This clause ensures that the finance department of her outfit follows up the payment and identifies failures and pins it to the performance clause. Clinics and hospitals will certainly benefit by insisting on a penalty clause. Additionally, at the time of making a second purchase (or upgradation) was the best time to correct this mistake. Tara had an opportunity to insist on a performance clause and include downtime of equipment, loss of patient confidence and subsequent potential loss of clientele. The writer is special advisor to the Minister of Health, Djibouti. She has worked in India in diverse capacities across the industry as neurosurgeon and senior healthcare administrator(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 02-06-2014)
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