Rajesh Kamath
Consulting editor
People & Management
GIVING IS
IN SEVA
R
ecently, at an MTHR Global event in Chennai,
participants were treated to some engaging
sessions from exciting speakers, who belonged
to various walks of life, with many interesting stories
to narrate. This is neither surprising nor unusual
because MTHRG events often feature a good mix of
personalities. But not many were expecting an auto
rickshaw driver to be part of an event themed around
“Wellness’. What does Wellness have to do with an
auto driver? An auto rickshaw ride in any city of India
does not exactly bring an image of comfort and health
to mind, does it? But this ride was so enjoyable, that
no one seemed in a rush to get off. The auto rickshaw
driver, named Annadorai, (after an erstwhile political
Leader from Tamilnadu) declared his motto, which
we have heard hundreds of famous speakers rattle
off – “The Customer is God”. There was one difference
though. Annadorai Rickshawwalla (as he is called)
actually lives this motto every minute…every day…
of his life.
Having been moved by the difficulties of a
passenger, with a relative admitted in hospital, ten
years ago, he decided to take matters in his own hands
to provide every kind of amenity that can possibly
be provided – from 8 newspapers to 30 magazines, to
wifi of every Telecom service provider, to a tablet, to
a laptop, to freezer stocked with bottled water and
juices, to card swiping machine, to an LCD screen
playing songs in 9 languages (of customer’s choice)
– he does not charge an extra paisa for any of the
services mentioned, beyond plying them to their
destination. Crazy customer service? You have not yet
heard enough. Quoting Bill Gates on Customer loyalty,
he told us that he not only keeps present customers
happy, he also strives to get their references. So he
has customer loyalty schemes, wherein he actually
gives cash back to customers once a certain number
of rides get logged. He holds various contests for
customers where they get rewarded. Every kind of
day celebrated by his customers is also celebrated
by him – Valentine’s Day, Mothers’ Day, Woman’s
Day and so on. He also declared how he gives free
rides to employees of companies on the birthdays of
their CEOs. How would he know the birthdays? He
recounted the names and birthdates of these CEOs
from Jeff Bezos of Amazon to C P Gurnani of Tech
Mahindra, from memory….he wowed the audience
and left them wanting more.
Vol. 10 Issue 2 • FEBRUARY 2019, Delhi NCR |
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