GoI, Embrace CRM To Deliver Better Quality Of Life

Industrialist Harsh Goenka recently tweeted his guruji whther all fairytales begin with ‘Once upon a time’ and got the quickest of replies: “No, many of them begin ‘If I’m elected, I promise….’” This need not be the case.

After 75 long years of independence, India is still fighting for Indira Gandhi’s “Garibi Hatao” slogan. The 2022 global poverty index has put India even below the notoriously corrupt Nigeria. Juxtaposing global corruption index with the poverty index, one wonders if there is a linear correlation between corruption and pverty.

Every policy or slogan Indian policymakers have coined seems to suit their “interests” only. The rich has become richer and the poor, poorer. This must stop. Policymakers should bring out flexibility in execution, based on the needs of the society.

The much-touted “Develop India 2047” is the latest case in point. After letting skill developers drain tens of thousands of crores of taxpayer money in the guide of building human development index via Skill India, why is GoI  pushing a similar scheme without learning from its failure?  Skill India was launched by the UPA government based on the premise that developed nations have 55-82 per cent skilled workforce. 

Just as enterprises having a CRM (customer relationship management), governments too should have a CRM – Citizen Relationship Manahement – to drive real development and modify the genetic code of policymakerss in ending corruption. The Modi government with all its fascination for tech strategies will be best poised to implement this. If done right without PR and propaganda, it won’t need any propaganda to win 2024. 

Who will not want a leader who wants to know the real issues of citizens, inherently caring for their welfare and strongly demanding excellence from his team? 

Most readers know CRM as CUSTOMER relationship management because marketers and tech companies popularised it for decades. It is ironic. Business cannot exist without building customer relationships; yet, it is only recently that companies have started embracing CRM in a big way. 

Simplistically, CRM is a methodology that focuses mainly on servicing existing customers. CRM works by gathering data of existing customers such as shopping preferences, lifestyles, preferred brands, etc and hence offering them more choices based on their likes and dislikes tailored specifically for individual customer ideally, but mostly a customer segment with similar needs/preferences. CRM enables enterprises to manage their customer relationship in an organised way and it usually involves a customised tech tool. The technology allows the profiling of customers, which tracks purchases and other details. When a customer tries to buy a book on architecture in say Amazon, and if they have a sale on a contemporary architecture documentary in Prime, then from the database, they can make an offer to the customer.

Why can’t the State or Central government adapt CRM in a different way in order to improve the overall social indices and inclusive growth? Apply the same concept of CRM from a government's point of view and imagine how it can use it as something different from the traditional “high on hype, low on execution” policies. The tools of citizen relationship management must go beyond the traditional phone call to e-mail, web portal, mobile apps, kiosks, etc that allow two-way communication. Such a solution will allow citizens to call into a central toll-free number, similar to what some chief ministers have done in the past. 

The telephony system would then interact with the caller via interactive voice recognition (IVR). Once the caller has confirmed the relevant identification such as Aadhar and hit the relevant phone keys, he/she may be routed to the next available “citizen relationship executive” (and here is an opportunity to provide employment for the skilled labour from Skill India initiative). As soon as the executive takes the call, a snapshot of the caller is flashed on the screen to enable the executive to identify the caller details and provide personalised service. The executive will also get to view previous interaction history of the caller, the status of his/her outstanding complaints, enquiries and suggestions provided over time. In short, an entire 360-degree view of the caller can be obtained, if desired. And it won’t be breach of privacy any more than what it is today.

Furthermore, the executive would be able to address the query as well as direct to the right people to solve the issue for the citizen, and provide a deadline for the same. However, in case the executive is unable to resolve the issue, he/she would then log the call, provide a call ticket number to the caller with relevant information and at the same time, route the call ticket to the appropriate department for immediate action. 

By offering better services to existing customers, companies are able to retain their customers and gain higher revenues from them. Governments can mop up citizen support, build social capital and win elections if they can serve them better in more meaningful ways than mere PR. If the current Central Government under the dynamic leadership of Modi can implement such a system linked to Aadhar and give every citizen an electronic ID for communication, this can easily be implemented for real benefits to all.

By diverting the funds from ads to acquire new customer to schemes that can take good care of existing customers, enterprises gain a strong customer loyalty, which in turn, works out to the best for both parties. A good CRM platform where citizens and communities can get their grievances resolved, enable feedback mechanism to enhance citizen schemes and help devise customised schemes for different communities will go a long way in improving quality of life.

Real improvements in quality of life can only be the most important objective of any government. As a direct result of continually analysing citizen interactions, in terms of contact channel and information requirements, the government will be able to identify various preferences and enhance their policies and service delivery to the citizens. Else the new fairy tales will continue.

The author is the co-founder and chief evangelist of the non-profit Medici Institute. [email protected]