Honda recently launched its Jazz model. The car looks good, it's from Honda and therefore, I am sure there would be thousands of customers wanting to have a close look at this car. I am one too. So, I went online and registered myself for a test drive. 3 days on I haven't heard from Honda. This isn't the first time - I see checking customer responsiveness of companies as part of my learning process - I had asked for test drive of Honda Civic as well - 8 months back. I still haven't heard from them.
People who are familiar with the automobile industry tell me that generating test drive is the most important milestone for a new car launch. If this is such an important metric, can Honda explain why their full page advertisement for Jazz does not have a prominent "Call for a Test Drive" with the number as the call to action? I looked at the ad as a consumer and as a marketing professional and I felt like saying "I am sure this money could have been made to work better".
Honda possibly needn't worry about their lack of focus in handling leads. My experience with Hyundai has been no better. My online registration for i10 has not been responded to yet - it's been 3 weeks. Jai ho!
I was at a mobile store the other day for a new connection - it was a small store but seemed like a popular store in that area. In the 10 minutes I was there, 2 people came asking for Reliance GSM Prepaid cards - the store didn't have it. Now, you have a high profile campaign endorsed by a celebrity and you have created the demand. But potential sales are leaking due to lack of distribution. What I saw was a small pocket. Could there have been thousands of such small packets leaving not just loss of sales but disgruntled consumers?
If one looks at each of these examples closely, actually all it needs is for a few people to put their heads together and frame a process. I am sure there is one but the internal system seems to have completely re-engineered the process to produce results that are not just business threatening but also customer-hostile.
