If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it change the way you think about it.

The pandemic induced a lot of people to try new things, I know friends who tried yoga, cooking, cycling, running, walking, etc. Some enjoy it, some did it because they need the exercise and some did it as they needed some activity to get them out of the house.

I played a lot of sports as a youngster cricket, football, badminton and I was never interested in activities like going to the gym or running or walking. Although I did try it, I never enjoyed it and so stopped doing it completely. Since 2008, I have been playing badminton regularly (daily 6.00 to 7.00 a.m.). I enjoy it, look forward to it and it had become a routine (the alarm ringing every day at 5.15 am, getting out of the house by 5.40 am and ready to start the game at 6.00 am). Occasionally stopping for a cup of tea with fellow players after the game and so on.

The pandemic put a stop to it as sports clubs were shut due to lockdown.

Couple of months went by thinking 'things should be back to normal soon', but I realized its not going to be normal for a long time. After couple of months of zero activity, I decided that till the time sports complexes open, I will do some walking (I hated it, but I did it).

I am not a voracious reader but I do read a lot. A few years back my cousin had introduced me to audiobooks, which I did try but went back to kindle and physical books as I did not enjoy it. 

During my walks I used to call old friends and acquaintances to see how they are doing. I was speaking to the same cousin (audiobook guy) one day and he asked if I am still playing badminton. I said "no" as sports complexes are shut and explained to him that I walk for an hour now and don't enjoy it very much and so on. 

He laughed and said "you know what, you should try an audiobook while you walk".

I replied "I did try a few years back on your suggestion and did not like it".

"Try it again", he insisted.

I tried it the next day and I liked it, in fact I loved it.

Now I like audiobooks and because of it, I also like going for walks. 

People often need encouragement to get going and do what's best for themselves, the society or the country at large. Sometimes the encouragement is in the form of a pandemic or a friend/ cousin.

#randomthoughts #behaviourchange

Written by Naveen Nandan

Customer service and Customer experience

I recently dropped a cheque at the drop box of a bank ATM where I have an account. After I reached home I realized that I had written the wrong account number. I quickly headed back to the branch to retrieve the cheque as I was aware that if it goes for clearing then it might take me 7 to 10 days to get the cheque back.

I explained the issue to the person sitting at the enquiry counter who sent me to the cashier. I explained to her that I wrote the wrong account number on a cheque I dropped at the ATM in the morning. 

Without looking up she said "it has gone for clearing". 

I tried again "are you sure?". 

She said "we send it first thing in the morning around 9.00 am". 

"I dropped it only after 9.30 am", I said. 

"Are you sure", she asked looking up for the first time.

"Yes", I said.

"Ok, please take a seat. Maam is busy, I will check with her once she is free", she said.

 I sighed... relieved that there is a good chance of getting by cheque back.

I looked around, it was a Friday morning (around 10.30 am) the branch was empty. It was my first visit inside a bank branch since the start of Covid. Although I was not happy about it, I had only myself to blame for being in this situation. If I could have been a bit more careful, I could have avoided the visit.

There were two other customers apart from me inside the branch. One was speaking to the person at the enquiry desk and the other, I think, was opening an account and one of the relationship managers  (RM) was helping him. The cashier was waiting for the RM to finish with the customer to attend to me as she had the keys to the dropbox.

It took around 15 minutes for the RM to get free and I had the cheque with me in less than a minute and I was on my way.

On the way back home I started thinking, there were at least 4 other RMs/ tellers in the branch (apart from the office assistants) who were just sitting and playing with their mobile phones or chatting with each other. Anyone of them could have just picked up the keys and emptied the drop box and given me the cheque. 

As a customer I wanted to get out of the branch as soon as possible (Covid and all) but it looked like the branch did not care. None of them wanted to help their colleague or the customer. 

As a customer I was happy that I got my cheque back but I would have been a lot happier if had got it without the wait. Had the branch been crowded, I may not have thought twice about the wait time. But the empty branch got me thinking, had the customer service been slightly better or rather efficient, the customer experience would have been great.

#randomthoughts #customerexperience #customerservice

Written by Naveen Nandan

The Rule of Screens

Flat world devices, pushing humans apart.

A few days back early one morning I saw my wife engrossed in some textual conversation on her cell phone while I waited patiently for my usual cup of morning tea. After waiting a few minutes (when I did not get my tea) I sent her a text - ‘it would be great if I can get some tea’. The reaction was immediate, I got my tea in the next 10 seconds (it was barely warm as it was ready for some time but forgotten as she was concentrating on the screen). 

Its become difficult to have a conversation with somebody who is concentrating on a screen, you don’t know if they are listening to you or not. So you have to communicate to them in a way they are used to (when my call for tea went unheard, I changed the method of communication to what’s app message that got an instant reaction). 

Screens (cinema, television, laptop, tablet, mobile) have become a part of peoples lives and the most popular among them without doubt is the mobile phone. Thats the place where new content gets created by the minute and it cuts across all the other screens. While watching a movie people post/ tweet about it and reviews are created. Constant discussions are happening on whats app on who is going to exit a popular reality show. You also share an interesting article you finished reading in your laptop on Facebook / Linkedin and so on. 

All discussions have become screen based, the flat devices that has helped in making the world flat has widened the gap between humans who are very near and dear. 

It’s bring people who are far away closer and is driving apart people who are close.

LOST IMPRESSIONS

Over the last 18 months or so I shared jokes with friends on WhatsApp, I also shared photos with friends on WhatsApp, and I shared updates with different groups… also using WhatsApp. In short, I used WhatsApp to communicate with all and sundry at large.

What was the impact?

I stopped using SMS, well… who would want to spend money on text messages when you have a FREE tool right? (kind off free anyway). Now the only SMS that I receive are bulk messages from Domino’s, Shoppers Stop and other retail outlets and alerts from banks etc.

My usage of Facebook for updates and interaction with friends has also reduced drastically. They are all there on WhatsApp and it’s convenient, easy and takes very little time. While mobile phone operators lost revenue because of WhatsApp, Facebook may have been losing impressions due to WhatsApp. In a December 2013 blog post WhatsApp claimed that 400 million active users use the service each month. Could a few million of those be lost impressions of Facebook.  

And yesterday (February 19, 2014) Facebook buys WhatsApp for $19 billion… is it a move to buy back the LOST IMPRESSIONS.

Written by Naveen Nandan

PHONE BANKING... INR 50

I received a message from a Bank which said “From 1^st October 2013, calls at phone banking services on IVR will be free. Agent handled calls up to 2 per month are free. 3^rd call onwards there will be a charge of INR 50 per call. For more details visit www.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com”.

I happen to hold a credit card of this well known international bank that sent me the message and happened to recall an incident that happened with me a month back. I had realized that I had accumulated some reward points on the credit card and wanted to redeem it. I visited the Bank’s website and selected the reward and tried to redeem it online. I was asked to verify some details like DOB and mobile number. When I entered the mobile number I was told that it does not match with the one in their records and showed me 4 digits of a number that I had discontinued when I moved from Bangalore to Mumbai 6 years back. I had also made it a point to call the Bank and inform them my new address and telephone no. I know they have my current details as I happen to get alerts and updates on my new mobile number.

I called up the call centre to inform them about the issue. After spending about 5 minutes with the IVR, I managed to get a phone banking executive who asked me for my mobile number so that he could verify it. After listening to me he said “YOU ARE MISTAKEN SIR, WE HAVE THE CORRECT NUMBER IN OUR RECORDS”. I then explained to him how I was trying to redeem my reward points online and the mobile number there was not matching my current mobile number. The phone banking executive then says “OK, I GET IT NOW. YOUR NEW DETAILS HAVE NOT BEEN UPDATED IN OUR ONLINE DATEBASE”. The executive then put me on hold so that he could verify the records and the call got disconnected before he could come back on the line and confirm that it has been changed. Since I had already spent 15 minutes I did not bother calling again.

The point I want to make here is, if the Bank is charging me INR 50 per call to speak to a phone banking officer, shouldn’t they be paying me INR 50 as I had to speak to a phone banking officer because the Bank failed to update my records online (for the last 6 years). Shouldn’t they also pay me another INR 50 because the line was disconnected and now I have to make a second call and spend another 15 minutes explaining the same story to another phone banking officer?

Dear Bank, please realize that the phone banker is a services you have given me because you want my money. I do not wake up in the morning and say “today I will speak to a phone banker”. In fact like me most people hate calling up customer service as they first have to go through IVR and then speak to an agent without any assurance of the issue getting resolved. So please think again, is PHONE BANKING AT INR 50 really worth it.

Written by Naveen Nandan

Math Tales

Charlie Eppes is a mathematical genius who helps the FBI solves crimes using data and mathematics. Charlie Eppes is a character from the American television series NUMB3RS. I have been watching it for a few weeks and in every episode of the series Charlie’s mathematical theories/ formulas helps in solving a crime by finding a target or finding a victim or something else.

Mathematics has been the nightmare of many during their school/ college days. Given a choice I wouldn't have wanted to do anything with it. What Charlie did using maths in the series looked interesting to me which got me wondering why was it that I hated maths so much or even the thought of it. I had a few theories of my own and wanted to test it. I tried doing a small survey among a few friends to figure out what their favourite subject in school was. Keeping the languages aside a majority said History (which happened to be my favourite too). There were people who liked maths and physics but history was the clear leader… why?

History told us stories about nations, empires, warriors, great leaders, events and so on. The stories were easier to remember and relate to. You had a story/ stories against a name like Indus Valley Civilization, Maurya Empire, Maratha Empire, Chandragupta Maurya, Chattrapati Shivaji, Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Bal Gangadhar Tilak. These are some of the names or stories you never forget. Mathematics was all about a, b, x, y, sin, cos, tan, derivatives and so on which I could never relate to. Nobody created a story or event around any of these characters and hence it created more complications for me.

I like it when the FBI uses mathematics to solve crime. Maybe if maths was taught by explaining what one could achieve instead of just finding x and y it might have become slightly more interesting (at least for me). Think about it maths explained using stories… I might finally figure out what x or y could do. Those who have kids who hate mathematics might try explaining to them how we use math every day to predict weather, to tell time, to handle money, win a lottery or even solve crime. As Charlie Eppes explains in the series “Math is more than formulas or equations, it’s logic, it’s rationality, it’s using your mind to solve the biggest mysteries we know”. 

Written by Naveen Nandan

Heroes, Superheroes and other filmi formulas…

My favourite superhero is Spiderman. My friend loves Batman and has a collection of Batman toys. Superman is the favourite of another friend who told me how he had dressed up in the superman costume and had gone to the airport to receive his dad (when he was in school). My wife’s favourite superhero is Salman Khan…

Salman Khan does not wear a cape or a mask and he doesn’t have any powers… I say. So what... he can still jump from buildings, lift trucks, dodge bullets, send bad guys flying and save the world which is all the things that a Superman or a Spiderman does… is her answer.

So, in movies there are two types of superheroes the first is the western kind where it’s the mask/ cape/ weapon etc that makes the person playing the role a superhero – Christian Bale as Batman, Toby McGuire as Spiderman. The actor playing the part display characteristics of the superhero. The second type of superhero which is prevalent in Indian movies, where the person/ actor himself is the superhero Salman Khan in Dabangg/ Wanted/ Bodyguard or Akshay Kumar in Rowdy Rathore or Ajay Devgan in Singam.

I recently overheard a conversation in office where some of the Indian heroes were compared to the Hollywood superheroes. There were some very good points both the groups had to support their hero/ superhero. The Hollywood group said the superheroes have weapons/ vehicles specifically designed for them that help them to fight the bad guys. The Indian group countered that by saying our heroes can use anything that they see nearby to fight the bad guys – sticks, pipes, cycle chains, bikes, hand carts etc.

There are people who watch movies for entertainment and then there are fans. There are fans of genres or there are fans of heroes. The fans love all the films released on their favourite genre/ hero even if the rest of the world believes it sucks. A friend of mine is a sci-fi fan, watches all the sci-fi movies that are released and describes them all in one word ‘brilliant’. He knows all details of the sci-fi movies that are going to release and believes half the world is waiting for its release. Similarly, Salman and Akshay fans love all the movies released of their favourite heroes irrespective of it being action, comedy or drama.

To conclude, I think a movie’s success to a large extent depends on the number of fans the hero/ director/ genre have. The expectations from a new movie with an unknown director/ cast will be totally different than that of a known director/ cast. Popular genres like thrillers and comedy is more eagerly awaited that drama or musical.