Go! Enchant the World....

It started with

...Customer Satisfaction

then

...Customer Retention

and then later

...Customer Delight 

And now what?

Enchantment! 

When I first encountered this word in a business context I thought to myself, here’s more BS* in a ball gown. It must be some clever Marketing guru’s concoction. A crafty writer's attempt to rename/repackage concepts already made popular by Philip Kotler and others in that league. After all isn’t packaging and positioning a large part of Marketing? ;)

And it turns out that the person who brought this word to mainstream business was none other than Apple’s former chief evangelist. And given Apple’s growing influence on people’s lifestyle, he’s hardly a person I want to challenge :-)

But to some extent I was right. Enchantment (in a business context) is all about bringing a voluntary, enduring, and delightful change in other people (not just in the business ecosphere but also in personal relationships). It is about the art of influencing people in such a way that they change their hearts, minds and are ‘bought’ over by your idea or product/service - the very same basic principle around which Customer Delight and Satisfaction have been centered (for decades). Really, nothing new at a fundamental level...

Besides my complaint of redressing an old concept with a new name, there are two reasons why I second the concept of ‘enchantment:

1.      - With time, phrases such as Customer Delight and Satisfaction become so hackneyed that they lose their significance. The fact that they have been quoted or referred to for decades, in boardrooms, sales trainings and reviews, have made them so trite… so commonplace, that every business assumes it is already doing enough of it. Therefore relooking age old wisdom with a new catchphrase does help to look at things with a new eye.  A fresh perspective. A new thinking hat. For that reason alone, it helps to give an old concept a new image (name). 

2.       -Enchantment refers to influencing everyone, not just customers (unlike Customer Delight/Satisfaction…and such). It extends the art of influencing to all spheres of life not just people who would buy your product or service. Especially in the age of digital influence, it offers some insight into how to build, retain and capitalize on digital goodwill.

Several people in the corporate world seem to be enchanted by Enchantment and have offered generous appreciation and praise for this former-evangelist-turned-successful-author, his new approach to influence and the anecdotes and examples he uses to preach this concept. But I think one huge reason why Enchantment is catchy and sticky is the sense of humor that it has been delivered with. Not just in print but also in spoken words. Yes, there is something about elucidating a new concept with wit….something about eliciting laughter from the audience….something about eliciting a ‘orbicularis oculi muscle smile‘, instead of a ‘Zygomatic major muscle smile’ :-)….that makes a concept very memorable. 

(*BS = Bull Shit)

Book Review: Mother Pious Lady By Santosh Desai

Mother Pious Lady contains a collection of essays on common Indian attitudes, mindsets and habits – the quirky, the inherited, the imitated, and the acquired. The author, Santosh Desai (one of India’s popular social commentators and columnists), has an enviable sense of humor and an inimitable style of writing that stems from a deep understanding of various subcultures within India. 

At first glance the title of the book intrigued me, but the words preceding the title— typical phrases found in matrimonial advertisements in Indian publications—elucidated the content. Having been born and raised in India, I didn’t need any further reason to pick up this book. 

Many books have been published on Indian history, its politics, emerging middle class, and varied landscapes. There are also numerous short stories offering a pinhole view into India from a superior perch outside. And recently, there has been flood of literature on India’s emerging status as a “rising star” nation. But Santosh Desai’s book is a breath of fresh air. This comprehensive collection of essays written by an insider (=Indian) provides welcome insight into the ineffable parts of India and its people.

Each essay highlights the ethos of the emerging urban middle class through everyday situations and scenarios commonly seen and confronted in modern India and the India of the past. The essays are grouped under broader themes, so they can be read out of sequence, and although many of the essays were written for Indians, they can also be enjoyed by anyone who wants to understand India through its people rather than its economy and projected growth rates. Mother Pious Lady won’t offer much hope to business types trying to clinch a percentage of India’s vast market, but it will provide a profound perspective on the seemingly insignificant details behind the conundrum called India.

Unlike Timeless Civilization, Uncaged Tiger and Slumdog Millionaire—labels which have categorized India in recent years, this book that shows us what it’s like to be Indian. Santosh Desai says: “To me, the essence of growing up as an Indian, if there is such an essence, is really in understanding what it takes to actually experience India in all its trivial everydayness.”