Hi rodinhooders,
This is my first ever post on the website and I’m looking for some insight. In the following paragraphs I will try to outline problems majorly faced by a lot of telecom and other utility consumers in India along with my idea that could help the consumers including you and I. So please send me your feedback/comment/critique etc on the same!
Consumer 1: Devvrat, A young professional who works rough hours for a big auto-manufacturer. In fact he not only works long hours during the weekdays, but he is also asked to show up on some weekends. He wants an internet dongle, the best and the cheapest.
Problem: He has been to several stores and couldn’t decide on any, as he cant evaluate which will give the best speed in his area and will satisfy his needs. Every telecom company claims that it has the best coverage in the area.
Solution: Can a 3rd party unbiased evaluator help Devvrat with his options of obtaining the best internet connection, based on hard empirical data on the network strength and his usage habit?
Consumer 2: Mr. Banerjee, a retired head of a big Indian bank. Lives along with his wife. He is not well versed with technology but would love to make use of it; without taking any pains of maintaining it.
Problem: He damaged his SIM card somehow, but has no clue of how to get a new one. Even if he did, he is too old to be doing the chore.He simply wants to enjoy his latest iphone that his grandson gifted him, the pain of navigating through his dangerous device is enough for him to handle, he wants minimal involvement in running the backend of the services.
Solution: Is there scope for a ‘Man Friday’ to jump in to take care of all his utility issues. A reliable service provider that would bridge the gap between Mr Banerjee and the telecom company.
Consumer 3: Saket Gupta, an accountant at a SME company, he is busy doing data entry, writing cash vouchers and making bills whole day long.
Problem: Not only does Saket manage the accounting department, the poor chap is also busy managing the company’s telephone bills, electricity bills and other subscriptions. Swarmed with so much work, Saket’s efficiency in doing top notch book-keeping is taking a dip.
Solution: A service provided that will take upon all the responsibilities including paying the bills in advance and managing all their requests.
The main point: A business model that would facilitate the communication between the greatly troubled Indian consumer population and the various utility providers.
Speaking as a customer, my issue isn’t really that the service XYZ had a hiccup, but my issue is that the post sales service provided is rubbish and it takes ages to get something fixed. I dont have the time and the patience to deal with it, can someone do it on my behalf. I realize that at the end of the day I cant improve the core services, but can I help consumers ease their pain and save some of their time?
Please please please shower me with all your inputs and the advantages/disadvantages that exist.What assumptions have I taken that will fall flat? Where am I fundamentally flawed? Does this exist? etc etc etc
Hit me what all you’ve got!
Warm Regards,
Arjun Jalan
Image Source: https://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/mfl/lowres/mfln610l.jpg