When a company experiences a problem with one of its products, the recovery process can be long and expensive. In Samsung's case, the battery problem of its mobile device is expected to cost the company more than $5 billion, but the long-term ramifications could be more costly if it doesn't start repairing the perception new and existing customers may have regarding the products it sells. To that effort, Samsung has launched a new customer service initiative in India that would be considered exceptional even in the most developed countries around the world.
The new customer service initiative was launched in India with a nationwide television and digital campaign called “Wherever You Are, We'll Take Care of You.” According to the company, the goal is to take customer service to the doorsteps of users in more than 6,000 subdistricts across 29 states and seven Union Territories.
These remote locations will be serviced by Samsung engineers traveling in 535 new service vans to make sure the services are delivered on time. “Our new initiative of expanding to rural India, right up to the taluka (sub-district) level, helps us in taking care of our valued customers, wherever they are,” said Ranjivjit Singh, Chief Marketing Officer, Samsung India.
Samsung is increasing its investment in India, even though it has the largest service network in the industry in the country with more than 3,000 service points.
The investment in the country regarding mobile is crucial because India accounts for 20 percent of the world's mobile phone subscribers. And when it comes to smartphones, there are half a billion users that are expected to ditch their regular cellular phones in the next three years.
According to Gartner, worldwide smartphone sales in 2016 fell to single digits for the first time, but in India smartphone demand is robust with a 29 percent increase, which is 22 percent ahead of market average.
The biggest driver in smartphone adoption in India is many of the problems the technology solves. This is a country that has limited infrastructure when it comes to banking and even Internet access for the vast majority of the rural inhabitants in the country.
By providing this type of customer service before the full adoption of smartphones picks up in earnest in India, Samsung is positioning itself as the go to company for mobile communications.