When the entire country was reeling under the brutal clasp of the second wave of the global pandemic, 24Seven assistant store manager Ranjan Kumar was going above and beyond to make lives easier for the home-isolating people of Noida. On one such day, Ranjan received a home delivery order from a lady, but upon reaching the location he found himself standing at the threshold of a moral dilemma. He realised that there were in fact two ladies in the house and both had tested Covid positive. They requested Ranjan to get some medicines as they had no one to help them, given the tumultuous situation around. Moved by their plight, despite the restrictions imposed by the Government and the prevalent scarcity of medical supplies across the city, Ranjan visited more than five stores and chemists for those women in need. Living up to the saying ‘where there is a will, there is a way’, he somehow managed to source all the medicines for them and deliver them to their doorstep. This selfless gesture of Ranjan Kumar to put society first by helping a couple of strangers in need is a true example of dedication and pure compassion.

The biggest takeaway from the pandemic-induced lockdown has been the power of kindness. So when Eyeplus store optometrist Deepak Kumar Chaubey got a distressed call from an old customer who's lenses had fallen off the frame, he knew he had to find a way to help him out. The customer was particularly worried because all the physical stores were shut, and he was currently working in an International Airport and had essential meetings to attend, which was impossible without his glasses. Despite the unavailability of technicians, Deepak managed to find one in the locality, picked him up and took him directly to the store. Meanwhile, he asked the customer to reach the store with his glasses. Then came another hiccup. Upon checking, the technician said the glasses could not be fixed without some special tools that were not present in the store at the moment. But Deepak wasn’t one to be dissuaded by challenges, so he immediately set out on his scooter, looking for any optical store that was even partially open. He actually found one with the required equipment and was able to get the frame repaired in time for the customer to attend to his duties. The customer was relieved and delighted by Deepak’s kind gesture, which he humbly believes is a part of his duty.

When no rain or storm can stop a truly dedicated person like Imagine employee Pallavi to put the needs of the customer first, she risked herself against bad weather and odd hours and emerged victoriously. During the pandemic, when customer a customer needed his iPhone 11 delivered at his doorstep Kasturi Nagar, nobody was willing to take up this task as it was late in the evening, and it had already started to rain. Without any hesitation, Pallavi stepped in and accepted the assignment. She not only delivered the phone to the customer's place with all necessary precautions but did so fearlessly, despite being drenched completely in the heavy rain. To make matters worse, the customer’s card wasn’t working so Pallavi had to wait patiently for more than an hour for the payment to get cleared. Her single-minded focus and drive did not deter her from her task, despite the discomfort. Her sheer dedication ensured such a hassle-free experience for the customer, that as an appreciation for being such a wonderful person, he offered to clean her scooter before she left for home. For him, Pallavi’s commitment and truly selfless service was a very heartening and deeply motivating experience.

Hailing from the remote city of Dahod, Gujarat, Pritesh Solanki worked as a construction worker, alongside his father, till the age of 16, to pursue his graduation and support his family. But life had other plans in store for him. In his early 20s, Pritesh had let go of his further education plans to move out of Dahod in search of work. That is how he joined Bigbasket in 2019 as a delivery partner. Ever since, Pritesh has exhibited sincerity and accountability towards his work, achieving 99% delivery efficiency, without any consumer complaints. Today, as a Customer Experience Executive in the B2B sector, Pritesh delivers approximately 20 orders every day to kirana shop owners, handling up to 1.5-2 lakhs in cash every day. In April 2021, when Pritesh completed his second delivery of the day at a store, he received the payment of 10,000 rupees in cash. But, while tallying his orders at the end of the day, he realised that the customer had mistakenly paid twice for the order- once online, and in cash. Pritesh immediately informed his superiors and the customer about it. Knowing the value of hard-earned money, he travelled 10kms on the same day to return the amount to the customer. Not just that, he also provided tips on how to avoid such situations in future. Pritesh’s display of integrity and honesty, not only helped reinforce the customer’s trust in Bigbasket, but also in humanity in general.

Customer service relationships aren’t always restricted to the four walls of the store. Some even go far and beyond what our closest friends or family wouldn’t do. One day, Darpan Vyasha suddenly received a call from one of his old customers. With a heavy heart, she informed that her husband had passed away due to COVID-19 and that no one was there to perform his last rites at the cremation ground. Darpan couldn’t believe his ears. He immediately rushed to the location to console and morally support her. He waited for her sons to arrive and complete the rituals and then returned to the showroom. The very next day, Darpan’s day started with another devastating call, only this time it was from the customer’s sons frantically looking for a ventilator for their mother, who had also started showing COVID-19 symptoms. With the pandemic around, ventilators weren’t easily available so Darpan got in touch with another TBZ regular customer who owned a hospital. After making numerous calls to the hospital, Darpan finally succeeded in getting a ventilator for the customer. After getting her admitted, Darpan and his colleague visited her regularly, till she recovered and returned home safely. After a few months, when she visited the TBZ showroom, she couldn’t control her tears. She couldn’t thank Darpan enough for being the family she never had.

Our entire being is a miracle of the universe. The things we are capable of are often beyond our own understanding. One such person is Ravindra Ramrajya, a specially-abled man who proved what sheer determination and will power can manifest into. When a lady came to the store looking for a specific Samsung handset model, store associate Ravindra attended to her to patiently understand her requirements. Upon checking the availability of the particular model, he realised that it was not currently available at the store, but was available at their Surat branch, located roughly at a distance of 100kms. Owing to his physical challenges, Ravindra can not ride a bike. All the other store associates were also busy assisting other customers. But Ravindra did not want to let go of his customer. So without hesitation, he asked the customer for her house address and contact details and promised to personally deliver the product to her by late evening. Ravinder then took a public transport to Surat to collect the handset and make the delivery, as promised. The customer was overwhelmed by Ravindra’s selfless gesture that went way beyond his call of duty. She simply couldn’t thank him enough.

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Many love stories were put to test during the pandemic, but Sales Executive Subair Puzhakkal helped one blossom even in distance. Having been associated with Bhima Jewels since 2019, Subair was particularly known for his exemplary customer service. So last year, when a soldier posted in Palakkad on election duty, approached him with the intent of buying a chain for his beloved wife, Subair left no stone unturned to make it possible. As per COVID-19 protocols, the store was only open twice a week, so he helped the soldier select three chains for his wife via video call sessions. A date was also finalised for him to collect his purchase from the store, but life threw another curveball his way. He was asked by his superiors to join the force in Delhi immediately. Feeling helpless, he called Subair. Unfortunately, the store was closed on his day of departure. Wasting no further time, Subair called his managers and made arrangements to get the store open only for the soldier, before his flight to Delhi. Absolutely thrilled, the soldier lauded both Bhima Jewels and Subair for going the extra mile just to make their customers happy.

Perseverance and patience are like two peas in a pod when it comes to customer service. But there are people like Hemant who have unknowingly redefined the very meaning of it. Stores often complain about losing customers when they either aren’t given enough attention or when they choose to look around on their own. One such customer visited the Bilaspur Mochi store where he was greeted by Hemant Himant warmly welcomed him and enquired about his needs, but the customer politely responded saying he was only looking around and had no intentions of purchasing. Hemant was not one to give up easily. Without losing hope, he started conversing with the customer, to try and gauge his preferences. The customer eventually gave into the conversation but still wasn’t willing to buy. Hemant assured him that he could simply try and test the feel of the new designs, absolutely without pressure. As it turns out, the customer did end up liking a pair, but unfortunately, he did not have his card on him. Taking the leap of faith, Hemant promised to personally look into the delivery of his shoes at his doorstep, despite the location being remotely located. Coordinating with all the available bus route operators and personally tracking the delivery, Hemant did what no retailer, online or offline, could ever do- He earned Mochi a loyal customer for life.

Customer service is the service extended to the customer. But, intuitive customer service is one that goes a step beyond and Manikandan stands as a living embodiment of it. When an old customer visited the store with his little kid, Manikandan greeted them with the warmest welcome. But what struck him was the kid’s teary eyes. While Manikandan showed his father around the store, the kid kept crying and fussing over something. Manikandan even tried to coax him into accepting his favourite chocolate, but he refused vehemently. Upon asking his father, he found that he had lost his toy earlier in the day. Manikandan did not think twice before stepping out and buying him a new toy to play with. Almost instantly, the kid’s face lit up with newfound happiness and fulfilment. The overwhelmed father was so touched by Manikandan’s gesture, that he ended up purchasing a duffel bag, a backpack and some jewellery to gift his loving wife on her birthday. As promised, Manikandan got the jewellery delivered on time to the man’s doorstep, despite his location being on the outskirts of the city. Manikandan’s simple act of kindness made not just his customer, but also his little one’s day.

Customer loyalty can not be achieved in a day. Yes, the foundations of those relationships are laid over particular incidents, but maintaining them for years is what requires consistent hard work. And, Avantra by Trends employee Shahana is a true embodiment of that. She not only caters to the store’s existing client base, but also proactively takes initiatives to expand her personal clientele. Within a very short span of time, regular customers have started asking for her assistance in getting clarity on new products and services. Her in-depth knowledge of fabrics, mixed and pure, gives her the extra mileage in helping customers shop better, at the right price with the right amount of information. One such instance was when a customer required her blouse stitched on the same day, Shahana patiently explained how the tailoring services require at least 24 hours to get the job done. But when the customer informed that she had a wedding to attend the very next day, Sahana stepped in and ensured her blouse was readied on priority. She even managed to personally deliver it at her doorstep the same day, late in the night. That customer now is one of Avantra's regular clients, all thanks to Sahana’s steadfast resilience.

The pandemic has made us come face-to-face with many new scenarios. From stores being completely shut to being partially open, people have been put in situations they had never been in before. One such thing happened with stylist Prakash Singh Rawat last April. Stores were closing at 7 PM, at 6:50 PM, a customer walked to the cash register with two pairs of denim. After clearing his payment, he requested a quick alteration. But unfortunately, the store did not have an in-house tailor. The customer added that he had a flight to catch the next morning from Mohali airport and he wanted to wear the pants for an event the next day. That is when Prakash stepped in. He promised the customer to deliver the altered denim at his doorstep before 5:00 AM the following day, well in time for his flight. Prakash then bicycled to a tailor 6 km away from the store, got it altered in his presence and reached home at 10 PM. As it was too late, he woke up at the break of dawn and bicycled for 8 kms to live up to his words. Moved by Prakash’s dedication and efforts, the customer thanked with a bar of chocolate, after Prakash refused to take any money for the service. As a stylist, Prakash’s extraordinary commitment to the customer is truly an inspiration for many.

Bringing people back to the store post the pandemic trauma, making them feel safe and special has been a priority among all the employees, but placing customer centricity to the forefront has always been a personal goal for Spykar employee, Prem Prakash. One such small gesture of appreciation was surprising the loyal customers by celebrating their birthday at the store itself. So when Prem called a Bank Manager on his birthday, he was delighted by the good wishes and mentioned that he will be visiting the store on the coming weekend. The customer did visit the store, but while he was busy shopping, Prem got him a birthday cake and all the employees wished him in unison. The child-like glee on the customer’s dace face said it all. He was delightfully surprised by the whole effort. He expressed with gratitude and appreciated the personal touch that he had never experienced before with any other brand. By this gesture, Prem Prakash not only forged a personal bond for a lifetime but also rightfully earned that customer as a loyal customer forever.

Ratnapal Reddy and Ankur Dumbre showed exemplary professionalism, tenacity and aptitude when dealing with an unprecedented order placed by a customer in the Marks and Spencer store in Hyderabad. During a regular working day, when the store was being manned by Ratnapal, a customer placed an order for 200 pieces of garments whose delivery was expected overnight. An order that would be considered quite overwhelming due to the sheer volume and specific nature of the order was tackled with unimaginable speed and efficiency by Reddy and Ankur. By deciding to use bus service to source all possible units of the product from stores across the country, the two sacrificed personal time to fulfil the requirement of the customer, which left the latter satisfied and overwhelmed with gratitude for their service.

One day in 2020, late evening around 8:50 a customer called Himmat sounding in a rush. She informed him that she had done some urgent shopping for her husband who was unable to accompany her since he landed at Jaipur late evening the same day and was leaving for Bangladesh the very next day by an early morning flight (post special permissions), however the merchandise she bought for her husband was a size too big. She requested him if he could do something in this regard. Himmat told her that he would check and get back but to not get her hopes up. Himmat called up the store manager and other people who he thought could help with opening the store however everyone declined. Finally, he called his arena manager and narrated the scenario and assured him. Initially, he too declined but Himmat was able to convince him to open the stores and guaranteed that all safety protocols would be followed. Himmat then informed the customer to reach the mall and with reassurance that the products would be exchanged, simultaneously he spoke to security personally and request permission to enter. After all the efforts he lastly spoke to the Security Supervisor and convinced him narrating the gravity of the situation. Finally, the customer was able to get her merchandise exchanged and was very gratified with the gesture and all the exertions that Himmat took to provide the solution.

Last September, a regular customer came in for an eye checkup at the Titan Eyeplus store. His eye-power had changed and he was informed that it would take 5-6 days for his spectacles to arrive. The customer went on to explain that he was moving to Nepal for work and would not be able to pick up the spectacles within the time frame. The team assured him that he would receive his spectacles before he leaves. The team then contacted the courier partner requesting them to put a rush on this order. The partners were hesitant as the order was worth `2 lakh and they didn’t want to risk the product’s safety. During this discussion, Madhab happened to be there and immediately volunteered to deliver the package himself, taking full responsibility of the product inside. At that moment he didn’t think he wasn’t a part of the sales team or the service team, he only thought about the urgency of the customer. With Madhab’s team player zest and concern, they agreed to this arrangement and informed the customer. Madhab reached the location and handed over the parcel. He was extremely grateful to Madhab, and to show his gratefulness he took Madhab out for lunch and later asked his driver to show Madhab around town, and then drop him at the station.

One rainy evening, Sanket saw a couple outside the Reliance Jewels store desperately looking for shelter. He invited the distressed couple into the store and offered them some tea and snacks. As the couple, Riddhi and Bhavesh Chauhan gratefully sipped their tea, Sanket made polite conversation and asked them the reason to come out in this weather. It was Riddhi’s birthday and the couple was going for dinner. Sanket wished her and requested his manager if he could order a cake and surprise the couple. With the manager’s permission, Sanket came up with a birthday cake for Riddhi. The couple was delighted by his act of kindness. After the cake cutting and some music, Sanket offered to show them the gold and diamond collection as a diamond would be the perfect birthday present. The couple fell in love with a ring from the collection and purchased it. Sanket managed to turn the store into a birthday celebration with music, cake and jewelry. When the rain stopped, the couple made their way out but before leaving, thanked Sanket for truly turning around this day and making it special.

One evening, a customer approached Kamal at the Imagine store regarding a service problem. His mobile phone’s face ID was not working and his screen was frozen. The customer was in a hurry as he had to board a flight. He had also contacted the ‘toll free number’ of Apple, which had requested him to go to the service centre. Even the store asked him to go the Customer Service Centre, but as he had a flight to catch, Kamal decided to help him out. Kamal did a system IOS restore which was the direct solution for a system backup, but it did not solve the issue. Kamal then began to check the mobile’s exterior where he found that the mobile had a tempered glass, from a local vendor which was blocking the face ID sensor. He then proceeded to remove the tempered glass and clean the exteriors of the sensor in hopes for the issue to be resolved. By this time, it was the closing hour but Kamal resolved the issue and handed the fully functional mobile to the customer. However, it didn’t end here, when the customer checked his mobile, he found that some data from the back up as missing. Kamal initiated the data restore process, which would take up to three hours. As the store was closing, the customer agreed to do this process at home. At 10.30 in the night, Kamal got a call from the customer, requesting him to come to his house and help him in restoring the data. Kamal went to his house and found out it was a Wi-Fi router problem. He fi xed the router and helped the customer to retrieve his data as he boarded his morning flight with his phone working properly. He thanked Kamal for his help and even offered compensation. However, Kamal refused to take the monetary compensation and requested the customer to spread the word praising the services of the store. The customer who happened to be the CFO of a private firm referred the store for its service, to many of his clients and consumers.

In the month of October during the festival season, Pulkit got a call from Dr. Harish Sood, one of their regular customers and also a dedicated Doctor and social worker. He required a Public Address System, as he was hosting a gathering of rural people of the area on the health safety. Dr. Sood wished to purchase the product from the store and requested if he could get the product before 10 am (before store opens), from the Vasant Kunj store because of his busy schedule and urgency of the gathering. Pulkit agreed and began making arrangements for the same, regardless of the fact that the rural town was 150 kilometers away from the store. Pulkit wanted to make a difference and do his bit for the cause, he didn’t let the distance get in the way, all he knew was that he had to deliver the product regardless. He volunteered to go to the rural town as well, he booked a private cab at his own expense and he even reached 4 hours earlier to the store to collect the product and ensure that it reaches on time. When he reached the location, he met the customer and immediately set up the Public Address System. The customer thanked and appreciated the lengths Pulkit went to helping him. Later, Pulkit was promoted to Team Leader for his determination and diligence.

It was a regular day at Spencers Retail, when Shanu saw a customer with a physical disability entering the store. The customer seemed to have an orthopedic disability, as he was on a wheelchair. Shanu noticed he was facing a slight diffi culty taking forward his wheelchair and he made his way to help him. Shanu assisted him throughout his shopping trip by pushing his wheelchair, collecting all the items on the customers list. The list was long and had a variety of products to be collected. Shanu, effortlessly fetched him all the items with a smile.. Later, Shanu stood in queue for billing on behalf of the customer. The customer was laughing and smiling all through the shopping trip, Shanu made polite conversation with the customer and made sure everything was taken care of. Later, Shanu carried his purchases as well as the wheelchair to the car park. The customer was grateful to Shanu for assisting him throughout his shopping trip and gave her the blessings.

It was almost closing time and Onkarnath was preparing to close the store, when Mr. Sahari, Incharge, CRPF Mess in-charge, Guwahati and his team entered the store. They were in hurry and looked tensed as they had to purchase groceries of 400 jawans who were on an operation at the Assam border. The troop had a day halt in Guhawati and they had very less time left to stock up. Onkarnath realised that this was incredibly urgent and comforted the team, promising them that everything would be taken care of. He took the list from the team only to realise it was a big task to complete in a short span of time. Nevertheless, Onkarnath remained determined to deliver the goods for the sake of the selfless jawans. The list was huge with multiple stock keeping units, which were stacked and placed across the 34,000 sq. feet store, they needed to be identifi ed, picked, packed and delivered. Onkarnath contacted other department managers and began compiling the list. Throughout the process, Onkarnath kept reassuring and updating the team about the progress. Post-midnight the bill was generated and payment was received. But the task was not over yet. The team had to pack, load and deliver the items. By 2.30 am, the goods were loaded and dispatched from the store. The next morning, Onkarnath received a call from Ms. Misso, Commanding Offi cer, CRPF who thanked and appreciated all his efforts. ‘Thanks to your efforts, my jawans will not be hungry today’ were the words of praise for Onkarnath and his team. This delivery made Reliance Market, Guwahati team the highest single bill of `5.81 lakhs in record time to CRPF 9th Mile Headquarters. Onkarnath’s commitment towards Customer Experience has added all the CRPF Unit’s based out of Guwahati to Reliance Market’s customer base contributing 25-30 lakhs of business every month.