Having been part of Avaya GlobalConnect, the company that has been making a concerted attempt to define Customer Responsiveness, examine its various facets and position it as a strong element of the business strategy of organizations, I have had a chance to really view Customer Responsiveness through the magnifying glass. When Avaya GlobalConnect (it was Tata Telecom in those days) decided to launch the CEO Forum for Customer Responsiveness, a platform for organizations to discuss and share customer experiences, we weren’t quite sure what we were expecting or likely to encounter.

Was the time ripe to talk about Customer Responsiveness? Did companies really care? Were any attempts being made within the realms of corporates to appreciate the value of customer intimacy and its direct bearing on their health and well being?

While Avaya GlobalConnect had already taken its first few tentative steps on the path of Customer Responsiveness, we were not quite sure where we would find some of our peers on the customer-orientation index. I must say, we were greatly heartened and delighted by the overwhelming response we received to the CEO Forum initiative. Not only were organizations thirsting to discuss in detail the anatomy of the new Customer Responsiveness being that had been unleashed upon the business scene, they were also keen to talk about their own Customer Responsiveness report cards.

At the end of the day, what companies began to appreciate was that to be successful, they had to perform and fare well on the Customer Responsiveness index. They had to deliver solutions centered around simplicity, flexibility and individualized client attention.Customer Responsive organizations, the real winners in this new environment, were the ones that knew their customers and knew them well!

Clearly, a number of companies are already on this track, which is what really encouraged us to launch a brand new initiative in the realm of Customer Responsiveness. Avaya GlobalConnect, in partnership with The Economic Times, has launched the Customer Responsiveness Awards for the first time in India. The Awards will be presented to organizations that have shown a commitment to Customer Responsiveness and measured high on a stringent evaluation procedure drawn up by leading business intelligence and market research firms in the country. The Award methodology, designed by Professor M. Janakiraman of IIM, Lucknow, is a revolutionary attempt to quantify the efforts the companies are putting into the Customer Responsiveness cause.

Avaya GlobalConnect is extremely proud to be associated with this pioneering initiative, as we believe it will spread the Customer Responsiveness movement across the nooks and crannies of the country and finally give customers their rightful place under the sun.

We are looking forward to taking this endeavor to its next phase of evolution in the years to come.

Niru Mehta
Founder, CEO Forum for Customer Responsiveness
Vice - Chairman & Managing Director, Avaya GlobalConnect Limited