Hi Ramanujan, tell us about yourself and your background.
I am an Entrepreneur running an MSME start-up called Musicloudstudio & Technology. Also, I am a CX – Project Manager in Cisco. I was a musician and wanted to be a musician. But when I started to work as a freelance artist parallelly with my IT job, I realized there are a lot of opportunities within the Sound / Music & technology domain. In 2017, I started Musicloudstudio & technology, and we provide media production services.
How did you first start working in the CX space?
From day1, I was in CX space. I started as Network Operation Centre helpdesk support. I worked in Volvo for 1.5 years and then joined Cisco; working in these companies made me understand how CX is key. It does not matter what infrastructure you have, but what really matters is how you ensure Customer journey with you.
What are some of the common misunderstandings related to customer experience?
Most of the time, Customer Experience is misunderstood as Cost or giving something for free. It’s not the case. The key to CX is there should be personalized connection and creativity enough to solve their problem. Most of the time, they come to you to help them. After all, we are humans! This is one reason I feel BOTs cannot take all over.
Have you seen any interesting new trends in eCommerce this year?
The world is changing for sure & eCommerce will just get bigger & bigger. “Data” based AI / ML is already creating a lot of changes within eCommerce.
eCommerce boomed in 2020, and consumers started leaving more product reviews online. How can we make the most out of this momentum?
I think this is the new norm. With AI & ML tools evolving every day, we can gather the reviews, analyze and fix them much faster, as you hear it directly from the consumers. This should help most Manufacturer / Service providers understand the consumer’s need in optimizing the efforts.
What are some CX companies/solutions you’re keeping your eyes on right now?
I have worked with Volvo previously; this was the first place where I realized what CX is all about. They are so passionate about CX. Later, I joined Cisco and am currently with Cisco. Cisco’s leadership focuses on CX. CX is the Vision!
So many things changed in 2020. While some things are going to return to “normal,” what are new trends and habits you think will stay with us in the long term?
It’s really tough to answer; all I can say is “Learning & Unlearning” will be continuous. We need to have an agile mindset for the long term!
Do you believe focus groups are still relevant in the era of eCommerce? Why?
I think it depends on several factors, what is the product & how you want to do it so on. If you ask me if Focus groups are relevant? My answer is Yes, focus groups are relevant in eCommerce as well.
Last but not least, what is your favorite CX metric?
I would go with CST J as CSAT drives my business on Google!
