For a profit-making organization, Customer Service means ensuring that all its customers are satisfied with the product or service that he/she bought from them. Any firm which ignores Customer Service post sales, stands to have its patrons/customers lose trust in the enterprise, and perhaps move on to a competitor. Word of mouth on frequent incidents like this frames an unreliable image of the company in the market.
The Indian solar water pump industry is barely mature and the concept of customer support in this industry is neither very evolved nor well developed in terms of providing support post installation. Solar pumps are popular mostly in rural areas and in agricultural belts. They help Indian farmers combat their dependence on petrol and diesel for running pumps. Using these fossil fuels is a relatively expensive and demand a lot of maintenance. In order to combat this problem, the solar pumping industry is working towards setting up solar pumping system across the nation. But what happens once the installation process is complete?
Customer service in solar pumping industry, currently
The lifespan of a solar pump is, in most cases, of 25 years and the warranty provided by the manufacturing company is approximately of 5 years. During and after the warranty it is the responsibility of the service provider to ensure that the consumer is given full assistance in case of any damage or technical defect. However, in many cases, the solar pump is installed in the most remote areas, where transportation problems prevail. In such situations providing technical help is problematic and the time taken for servicing ranges from 15 to 20 days, which is long enough to hinder the operations of the farmer, who uses the solar setup. Most service executives in the solar industry possess an indifferent and inattentive approach towards the consumer problem and don’t deal with them in an effective manner, thinking that their job is completed once the installation is done and the payment is received. These issues take place a lot in any organisation where there is lack of commitment towards the customer, and poor teamwork among employees. Another big obstacle is that most of the communication between the consumer and the agent is done online or over phone, but due to poor cellular network and lack of literacy among farmers, the communication holds inadequate or incorrect information.
Why is customer service important?
Customer service is the most important part of any venture, not just the solar industry. Without providing this service efficiently the business is not likely to succeed. Below are some points which show how essential providing full assistance after the purchase is mandatory for a successful business:
- Without ensuring effective customer service the consumer will lose their trust in the organisation and will not return to them for future purchases
- The brand image of the enterprise will be hit and this could be detrimental for its reputation in the market
- In the internet era every person can post reviews, both negative and positive, for a particular product or service. This could mean the opportunity to gain more orders, also losing potential ones in case the review is negative
- Recommendation is significant for the flourishing of any organisation. If the consumer experiences dissatisfaction, they will not recommend the product or service anywhere.
We at Claro energy try to provide full customer support to the people we sell our panels and pumps to. Even in the remotest of areas where transportation facility is not very developed we take the pains to solve every defect faced by the consumer. We provide assistance within a maximum of 72 hours after the complaint has been filed and irrespective of the area. Ours is often regarded as the best customer service in solar industry sector.
Mr Praveen Tiwari the head of customer service department shares with us his views on the importance of customer service in the industry and how we are continuously working towards achieving this goal.
“Customer care is the most difficult phase for any company and if we don’t carry it out efficiently the consumers will lose their interest in the respective enterprises. We at CLARO try to provide service as well as we can, and help other ventures as well who are unable to provide service to their customers on time. No other company in the solar market offers such a service timeline of 72 hours irrespective of the area. Our vision is to provide the best service even after 5 years of purchase, when the company has been fully equipped to solve all service woes. We aim to frame the best image of us in the market by strengthening our services vertical.”
We at CLARO Energy are happy to serve you!