Executive Summary:

The Rukmini Devi case is a case that highlights the importance of being customer
centric for organizations. The journey of Rukmini Devi is employed to show how
lack of customer centricity in organizations can lead to customer dissatisfaction.
Rukmini Devi is an old woman whose cheque got bounced even though the banks
credited funds to her account seconds later. Moreover, the bank imposed a fine
of Rs. 5,000 for bouncing of the cheque. Extremely agitated, Rukmini decides to
write a sarcastic letter to the bank to express her displeasure with the bank’s
services. The letter shows us that her displeasure arises not only from the
situation related to the cheque but also several other factors including the bank’s
impersonal way of dealing with customers, lengthy applications and procedures
for simple requests, long PIN number requirements and charging of fees for
unnecessary procedures.

Business Problem Analysis:

Let us analyse the problem to identify the pain points for customers and come up
with solutions to address them.
On the face of it, it seems that there are problems with the bank’s cheque-related
rules. However, that is a very narrow view of the problem. To arrive at a solution
that truly erases the problem, we must identify the underlying cause of problems.

Cause of the
Problem

Narrow View Broad View

Bank lacks
Bank's cheque-
personal touch
related policy
and customer
is faulty
centricity
The bank’s overall perception by Rukmini Devi (or any other customer) may be
that the bank feels like a cold and distant building to customers. The bank lacks
that personal touch that creates successful organizations such as Amazon.
In the modern world, banks are known to have a personal touch where they try to
engage customers as much as possible. For Example, Axis Bank provides
customers with a designated Customer Relationship Manager who is a phone call
away to solve each and every issue that the customer is facing. The lack of this
personal touch and thus customer centricity is the actual root cause of the
problem.

Proposed Solution:
The bank must relook at its whole customer strategy. Instead of operating like a
traditional bank, it must transform itself into an organization that puts the
customer first.
This will involve changes to the bank’s rules and procedures, front end operations,
back end operations among other areas. Further, the bank will have to invest in
training and development to help employees adjust to the organization becoming
customer centric.
Doing this is may take a lot of time but will yield huge benefits in the long run.

Short-Term Suggestions:
Along with the long-term solutions, the bank must implement short-term
suggestions:
• Apologize to Rukmini Devi and refund the Rs 5,000 amount charged
• Request her to allow a personal visit by a middle level manager to discuss
and identify the problems she faces and assure that the bank is trying to
overcome them