What is your carbon-footprint?

I’m sure everyone in Delhi must have been baffled and to some extent annoyed by the recent dust storm hitting Delhi and other parts of North India last week.

Baffled, because a dust storm of this magnitude and force has not been witnessed in these parts for some time now. And annoyed, because the inconveniences caused were not limited to lack of visibility and the strong winds – Delhi’s biggest commuting service, the metro was shut down and many parts of Delhi NCR witnessed power outages that lasted well into the night.

This is Mother Nature just showing a small glimpse of what it can do. If it can procreate, it can very well finish life, as we know it. We can very easily accept it as change and give it a fancy name like evolution, but the question to be asked is – how are we contribution to this change? Do we have the power to stop it or are we helpless at the hands and whims of nature?

We all know how greenhouse gases and other man made anomalies have the capacity to change the very nature of earth and its environment. But, do we take that point into consideration when we use products, which create these gases? We always think it’s the big industries and corporations who are to blame when it comes to environment damage when the harsh reality is that we at a personal level ignore the environmental impact of our usage of products and services which generate these gases.

The Wikipedia describes a carbon-footprint as "the total sets of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person." When you drive in your car instead of utilizing public transport services – you are leaving behind a carbon footprint. Do you want to know what your carbon footprint is for the last month or the last year? You can check that here:

http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/

We need to motivate ourselves to make the small changes to our lives, which can make a big difference to the environment. Reducing our personal carbon footprints will go a long way in ensuring that we live in a safe and clean environment that is capable of sustaining life for a long time to come.

Think green!

Smart People. Smart Solutions.

It’s a highly competitive world out there. There is a need to differentiate yourself. A need to create brand equity for your organization. To win markets, old and new. If ever Charles Darwin’s theory of Survival of the Fittest was true, it’s now. But then how must one survive? How do you make yourself or your business ‘unique’? The answer to all these questions lies in the age-old saying, ‘Customer is the king’. It has been and still continues to be the fundamental base on which the empires of successful enterprises are built.

But it isn’t that easy, mind you. The markets have become complex and so have we, the customers. Today we are smarter, technologically more equipped, with our ever-evolving needs. From the way we live and work to our preferences and choices, everything has transformed significantly over the years.

Smart People. Smart Solutions. – Our motto at HeroBPO didn’t just come from thin air. It’s a motto we live by. This weekend I glanced upon this quote and it some how got stuck with me. It goes like this:

"Surround yourself with smart, dedicated people - to build something isn't a one-man show. It's more important to have smart people who really believe in what you're doing than really experienced people who may not share your dream." - Niklas Zennstrom

True isn’t it? In my 20+ years, I have seen changes that might astonish you, developments that would make you sit in awe. I have learnt a lot, tried a lot of things but one thing that I have not underestimated is the power of the customers. One can’t do this alone. You need a team – a team of like-minded individuals. It will not be wrong to say that the key to winning partnerships lie in the ability to understand, customize and then service according to the consumers’ needs.

But how is this possible? To be able to create a winning product it is crucial to catch the pulse of what the consumer needs and what could make his or her life better, simpler. Though, we have many tools at our disposal to generate consumer insights, it would add a lot of value if we step out into the market, personally spend time with customers and get insights. Once the need is understood, the next step is customization. Categorizing customers as one homogenous lot can be useful as it helps streamline operations, however, one can not ignore the fact that each customer and his/her requirement is different from the other.

The question that arises is ‘How far are you willing to customize your offering?’ This flexibility has to be built in into organizational culture. Only when you are able to customize, you can truly deliver a superlative experience to the customer. People have become smarter, it’s time we offer them smart solutions as well.