 Hi, very good afternoon to you all. As you can see, thanks to this wonderful weather of Bombay, we are left with a slightly lessened panel team here. But I think Vikram and I will try to take the session forward as we go along, and we'll probably open the discussion to you guys as well. I think what we're discussing today is a very interesting topic. It's about how we try to humanize the brand, and what over the years have happened that has led to humanization of brands and how they have started acting more of like a person, how we know in real life. And from there on, while the human dependency has increased on artificial intelligence and say technology, in the meantime, I think people have also worked well towards turning these brands into more of a human, right? So it's the other way around. So I think my first question while Vikram is here, and we'll just keep it casual and really keep it like an open discussion itself. The first thing in today's time, I think we have also noticed post-COVID is that during the pandemic, a lot of brands actually became really, really empathetic towards the consumer as well, right? They were into relief funds. They were into helping people, providing essentials and whatnot. From that point onward, how the face of the brand has really changed and evolved in these today's times, I think that's what we're discussing. So we'll just ask Vikram what are his views on how brands are being empathetic in today's time. I think if we can speak about that. Thank you and good afternoon, everyone. One thing that brands need to start doing is, and I'm hoping it starts on, is no matter what weather, deliver on the promise, even though we have folks missing, but I'm sure they'll join in soon, right? In terms of brands really going out there and personalizing things, becoming extremely, extremely in your home space, kind of brands, one, of course, which even Google will tell you things like, you have to make sure that you listen to them, see what they're talking to you about, specifically in a brand which I represent, which is Bajajalian's General, it's an insurance company. And I was talking to Rishi and I was telling him that I see so many people here who can be relevant customers because everyone is under insured, unfortunately, no matter how personalized communication you make. The brand that I represent, Bajajalian's General, they're very clear that insurance is a conversational sale. We have to have to communicate with the people in the right way. And it's not just about saying the right thing, it's also walking that line just to tell you that when we were hit with COVID, we were probably the only insurance company that went out and bought 17 ambulances in 17 cities, opened them up for our employees, customers, channel partners. So it's not just about really saying that we're there for you, it's also actioning on something good. This was something that we did and we got a lot of positive love because I'm sure you did hear news back in those days about ambulances charging a bomb and it just doesn't make any sense. And this was my MD's decision where we realized that this is the need of the are. First, of course, our employees because if they aren't happy in the environment that they are in, how can they really take the digital bond to the next level because it's them who's really driving the show. Next, for our channel partners, if our channel partners aren't happy with what we do for them, how will they take the brand to the next level? And let's be honest, if you're a business that are run by channel partners, it is them who truly drive the brand and not what you do from the back end, right? So these were the things that we did. Apart from this, of course, you have to constantly listen to what people are talking about you on in the social realm and targeted and the moment they say try and respond to them because people today want instant, instant answers. They're not looking for a 24 hour delay or even a four minute delay. When you write something, they want to listen to you and if you tell them exactly what they want, it will bring you positive reinforcement back. I think that that's a good point of what Vikram also mentioned that while you need to show intent and being empathetic in that aspect, I think it's also important for us to be very, very time sensitive. I think if a brand realizes as they progress into their journey that, okay, this is a very time sensitive issue, I need to probably treat my consumer, the end consumer in a way that we are not even helping, I'm not trying to help them out only, but I'm also being very, very empathetic towards them in terms of understanding how valuable their time is, how valuable their inputs and whatever the services that if they are demanding any, we really need to, our intent is to basically take care of that. So I think if the intent is in place, Vikram, you wanna add something? I'd like to add one more thing. So it's also not just listening to what customers say, it's also acting on that. So I don't know how many of you know back in those days when you, if you're come into an accident, to get a claim, you have to go to the office to get a car. To that, to where we are today. So we were having a review with our MD and CEO, Mr. Tappan Singhal, and we said that we're doing a great job and we're settling motor claims in 24 hours. And a lot of customers on social were saying that, you know, why can't we get the claim faster? So on and so forth. And then he asked me to prepare a list of the queries people had. And one of them, the highest of them was, how fast can we get a motor insurance claim? And he told us and the team and Bajaj Aliyan's general is one of the leading insurance companies. So the team is definitely the best there. He said, why can't we do it in minutes? And a lot of us, all of us went numb. And we said, we'll go back to the drawing board and come back. In a few months, happy to tell you, we launched a feature called MOTS. It's called motor on the spot. And the beauty is, let's say if your car meets with an accident, of course, if it's not a total loss, if it's a bumper to bumper, you get off, you click photos of the accident via the caring Leo's app, the company app, upload it. We're a 22 year old company and we've got a lot of customer intel with us. And we do AI in the back end and we tell you in 15 minutes, how much money do you get as per us on the claim? So let's hypothetically say, we tell you 11,000 and we ask you, do you want the money? Yes or no, you say yes. In five minutes, the money hits your account. You go to a garage and let's say the guy says that your car will get fixed in 9,000, the 2,000 are for you to keep. So to the point that it's not just listening, it's also acting on that is what makes brands more relatable, more acceptable, and only then will people write to you more because people do like to write, but if you just don't listen to them or act on it, then it has no value, so yeah. Correct, I think just a very, very important point what Vikram also said, just stemming from that, while you value the time of your customer, another thing is really important, I think from the value part, also derives the respect part, right? If you, how respectful you are towards your end consumer, are you respecting his time, his money, what exactly that person is bringing to the table, what are the needs, what are the demands and all of those things, right? In today's time, I think brands have also learned how to be respectful and not just towards one say one individual, but also towards other aspects also. We know a lot of brands actually that are respectful towards the environment, right? As we all know that H&M is that one brand which is working towards climate positivity and their goal is to reach to being a climate positive brand by say 2040, right? If that brand is working towards a positive culture in certain aspects, I think it's respecting the environment, I also feel that there is a lot of brands which are not only working towards say an individual but also different aspects. I think you said about Bajaj being that one brand which is truly standing for respecting the time of the customer, right? If there is an adverse scenario, how can I help the consumer make the life easy and make it probably a little more convenient in this adverse time? I think that really speaks a lot. Also, see, you also have to understand the industry that you belong to. In insurance, when you buy a policy, it's not the policy that you're buying, the actual product is the claim. So if I can't make that easy for you to really get that, then I'm not doing justice. Unlike an H&M, when you buy an H&M jacket or a shirt, you get immediate gratification of buying that thing, right? So in times of need, you have to understand what your product is. A lot of people confuse that and if you can't wear your product and your brand on your sleeve, you may not be able to deliver to your end customer the way that you want to. And I think it is that belief that MD and the team had in terms of getting claims to the customer's ASAP because that is the final product, is what really got us to bringing MOTS to life, which otherwise would have been 24 hours and we would have been happy in what we were doing, right? But it's about pushing yourself to understanding what you can deliver. I think from that, what Vikram also said that a lot of times we tend to forget as brands that we do not have to just value the time of a consumer but also be really, really responsive to their queries. I'm sure queries is a really big part of the business. So I would just like to touch upon that, that how important the Query Foundation, the online reputation management part of things is actually in this case for Bajaj, if you can help. Okay, ORM, it's the favorite pastime for a lot of customers, not just insurance but for a lot of other brands, but I'll particularly talk about insurance. Specifically on claims, like I said, no matter how much you attempt and try, you will have customers, you will have platforms that are talking about it. Happy to tell you we're probably the only insurance company that are first that, the first time that we respond to a customer for an online escalation is less than four minutes, which is very fast, it might sound a lot, but for insurance companies, this is by far the best at the moment. That's really good. And there's a reason why we did that because we realize a lot of people who would write specifically as a complaint would be on claims, right? Mostly, and we would want them to know that they've been heard and we have a response team that immediately actions it, connects with the customer, talks to them, understands their problem and resolves it then and there. But the fact is if you don't reply to them ASAP, they would feel that they've written, nobody's read it and they don't know what's happening. So a lot of companies start reading it but they respond late, which is sad because if you've read it, you might as well tell them that we've read it. It's not like WhatsApp that you get blue ticks so I know that you've read it, right? So it's important to acknowledge any customer input and see the beauty of social media is that it doesn't care who you are. If you're in the social realm, you could be the biggest celebrity, the biggest politician, the biggest M.D. They will strip you down if they feel that they have the right to and if you've done something wrong. So if you are in the social space, you have to accept the fact that they will run you down if they want to. So one thing is either you run away from it or shy away from it, but if you are on social, you can't do that. Might as well take it with the right attitude, accept that they've written something, could be right, wrong, that's secondary. Address it immediately and if it is wrong, you also tell them that their claims are incorrect so that tomorrow if another customer reads that thread, they know that this company, if they know that they're wrong, they'll do anything to make you feel better. But if you're trying to make a false accusation, they'll also tell you that this is unfair. So I think it's important for brands to take that stance where if they're wrong, accept it and correct it. But if they know they're right and the customer's being unreasonable, also tell them there. A lot of brands don't do that by virtue of my brand image will go down. But I think you're letting the world know that if you're wrong, you accept it. But if you're not, you'll also hold that stand. So I think Vikram, another point for that. I think I would just like to probably ask you something related to the ORM part itself. That a lot of times when we see that there have been a query that needs to be responded and the customer 95% of times is really furious. And as reached to that point where if he or she is complaining, it had the boiling point has been reached. Once you basically do that, is it sometimes through say a very thorough ORM, is it okay to change their intent? Has it been possible for you, maybe for Bajaj in particular we can talk about, where we have kind of converted the sentiment when it was not positive, but due to being empathetic, again tying it back to the previous questions and discussions that we have had, being empathetic, being respectful. We've been able to change the intent of the customer who came in as a very furious customer on an online platform, but is probably leaving with say, okay, fine, I'm satisfied with the answers that you've given me. I think I believe what you're trying to say or communicate to me. And it's for that matter of fact, since I am tied to you, there is a connection because you are my brand at the end of the day. I'm your consumer, I trust you. So I will go back to all of this, what you've said and probably wait on it. So has a conversion also really happened for you, I think? Of course. So before I get there in our organization, we've got a culture of feedbacks. So we have town halls where people who ask the toughest questions get rewarded by the way. So I think it's ingrained very beautifully in us to accept positive, negative feedback. I'm glad he asked me that question and it's surprising to a lot of people I'm sure, but we've got so many customers who of course went at their heart out on social media. One thing we very clearly do is because we come from a culture where feedback is critical and we have to work on that feedback. Depending on how irate the customer is, we will of course have our first response team ready. We will immediately call the customer and we've got couple of cases where after a lot of to and fro, the customer was convinced with what we said, continued with the policy, but it didn't stop there. We had another customer accusing us of a similar issue where this customer jumped in and I kid you not and said that Bajik is a great company. This is what I had faced and this is how the rectified it and the other customers also satisfied. So it's not just keeping that customer, we've also had him or her talk on our behalf. So O-R-M, a lot of people may not believe but has a lot of power. It's not just resolving a customer's query. The O-R-M team should really take it upon themselves to A, of course, resolve, which is very important. Also to keep the customer with you, which is second very important thing, but the third important thing is to make them your advocates. If you can do that as a brand, you don't need to spend a lot of money and time in getting new customers because these people will do that for you. But they will only do that if A, of course, what they ask for it and if it is legit for you to do it, you do it in a manner that is respectable for them because a lot of times you know you have to give in but you also take your own sweet time. But at Bajik, we're very clear. If it's a claim that has to be paid, we don't wait a second and we do it instantly. Do it with a lot of courage, a lot of love so that the end person, when they get it, they don't feel it's a good company. They're giving the person what they duly deserve and respect and that's when they will become your advocates because if you make them feel like they're nagging and that's why you're giving it to them, which is wrong, they will never become advocates. Usamah, they'll be happy because they've got their claim but they won't advocate you. So it's important for the ORM team to convert people who are negative distractors to advocates. Very important. So Vikram, do you think creating advocacy through ORM is something which is really, really underrated in today's time, I think? Very underrated. Like I told you, a lot of people when they complain, the ORM team will respond a couple of things and then they'll disappear. They don't stitch it till the very end and I somehow feel that's one thing that people should start doing because ORM team can get new customers. A lot of people feel that ORM team's work is just to distract them, send them to the right place and then they can chill. But so it's also the discussion we were having outside. There's a beautiful relationship between skills and intent. You could be highly skilled in what you're doing but if your intent is not to generate more customers, if your intent is not to bring in more customers, you'll do what is right. So you're not doing a bad job. You're doing what is right and you've done your bit. But if your intent to use your skills is very, very high in terms of getting more customers, you will walk the extra mile. So it's very important in such positions which are handling irate customers, you should ideally have people with higher intent to use the limited set of skills versus us looking for people with extreme skills but the intent to use them is there or not there. So I think for ORM that's critical. Yeah, so I think imagine there is an ORM executive that has received a query on social media through an XYZ customer, right? It happens on a date, say 20th of any month. It has been resolved. Okay, the solution has been provided and that has happened. Imagine that ORM executive going back on the first of the next month asking that you've had, recently you've had not so good experience with the brand. I hope everything is on track post that experience. Just a little text or a little response from the brand, right? We'll take this intent part that Vikram was talking about. This is probably it is. People who are at any level in the organization probably taking that extra mile and trying to fix things in order to just showcase that this is the intent that they have from wearing a brand's cap or hat says a lot about the brand itself. So it's highly important for us also to probably focus not only about, okay, this is a person, say, in an XYZ department. It's not really that, that is not the case. If you're a consumer facing person, you should really showcase that how important is your intent when you're wearing a brand's hat. I think that says a lot. That reminds me, and I think it takes us to the last part of this session itself, is if all of these things combine, whether you're talking about respect towards a consumer, whether you talk about being empathetic towards the consumer, whether you talk about being, say, responsive towards the customer, the last part is that when you're doing all of this together, you become a really, really reliable brand, right? Once you become a reliable brand, what does it say? How do you take that legacy forward? How do you maintain? It's not about reaching the top. It's about staying there, right? And that's what really matters. So if you can stay on top, I think being reliable and being consistent, again, like I would say, I would ask him also if he can contribute to this. Being reliable and being consistent is one of the most key factors, I think, in your industry and across industries whenever it's consumer facing. So I think what are your thoughts on that part? Again, I think it's very critical that I can again speak on behalf of insurance. Insurance, like I said, is a conversational sale and God forbid something happens. You need that one person to bank upon saying that, oh, if something bad happens, this person is there. At Bajik, which is Bajajalian's general, the average aging of an employee is eight to nine years, which in an insurance sector is rare. And all our heads have been probably the founding members have been with the company 18, 19, 20 years. Now, what does that speak of a brand? And they're all active on social media, by the way. So the beauty is we let our heads, our teams, to be active on social media. And in my last answer, I told you that whoever's on social, the social audience doesn't really care who you are. But if as a brand you can be at the face of it, everyone knows that the brand is transparent, it's reliable. They know that God forbid something happens to me. I've got these 15, 20 folks who I can immediately write to. And if you write something in the social forum, you have to act on it, right? You're not an organization where your heads are sitting behind the brand, which is also all right. There's nothing wrong in it. As a strategy, as a product, I think it really varies. But for insurance, we were very, very clear that we have to be reliable. We have to be trustworthy. Because if you don't have faith in what we do as an insurance company, you will never buy insurance, let alone from our company. And we're very clear. We're trying to build a thought leadership platform here where we're trying to tell the world to be insured. There was a study that came that said the country with the highest penetration of health insurance is a happier country. In India, we have a long way to go. And that's why if you have, I don't know, even endless more companies come in, there'll be no cannibalism. Like I told him, I can go back with doing, I don't know, how many crows of business in this hall and go back home. That's the beauty of insurance that nobody really wants it. It's out there to take it, for them to believe that it's a power center. But if I'm not reliable and trustworthy, you will anyway not buy it. So specifically for a product like insurance, I think it goes a long way because if I can't do that, I can't help you. Okay, so I think it's also not just about knowing the inside out of the insurance business when you're doing such conversations is what Vikram also is saying. But I think reliability also comes from the factor that you need to understand your consumer to the T, right? The understanding of the market, the understanding of the customer is, the know-how of it is really, really important. And I think if you do not have that, I think it's really one of the factors that is key in this, making the sales happen at the end of the day. But also I think if you're not coming with an intent that you want to do some goodness, we also spoke about that, that you need to have that inherent goodness in you in order to do certain kind of goodness and be empathetic and be reliable and be all of those things towards the consumer. So as a brand, not only as an individual, I think if we try to make our brands more consumer-facing in today's time, if we try to humanize them more in today's time, I think that really helps. And I think all of these pointers are correlated. Anything you want to add? Also it's very important to, when you're hiring the person, you should know what work that you're hiring them for. So for instance, an insurance, if I, in sales, like you said, we have to make sure the skill set is great, you know, should know how to sell. But you have to be a great human being and it might sound very filmy, but it's a fact because I'm in a business of giving claims. If my intent to not go back to the customer and give them a claim check and say that, you know what, had a bad time, but here's your claim of the policy that you bought. If I don't do that with a lot of love, passion and care, then I'm not doing justice to my job. Because then I would just do it as a matter of fact. There's no newspaper, all the newspaper, it'll be just like that, which doesn't make sense. We're very clear to get people who are very, very emotionally driven. The EQ has to be very high. Gone other days when IQ had a lot of value, it still does, but EQ has to be extremely high. And if you are an insurance employee, I can bet you your EQ quotient is probably the highest because otherwise you can't sustain in that business for very, very long. And you're meeting people in times of distress, they've got a claim, they're hospitalized, their car is down, that's when they need you the most. It could be 2 a.m., it could be 4 a.m. And if you can't get up and be there when they need you, you can't do justice to that job. So I think it's very important to hire the right kind of people with that intent to do good, only then can you get the right folks. I think like what Vikram also said, the skills can take you six months into the job, but I think if you have the intent, it can take you like six years for that matter of fact. I think that is a very important factor. I think this was a good session that we had here. I think we would like to conclude this. It was fun chatting with you, Vikram. Thank you so much for your time. And I would like to take the, basically I would like to Bhavana to take this over from you. Thank you for being a wonderful audience. Thank you for bearing with us. This was a session that Vikram and I could have done in a cafe, but I'm glad that you were a part of. Thanks so much. Thank you guys. Thank you so much. And I think this almost became like a fireside chat at the end. You could see a lot of questions coming in, your inputs were very valuable. If any questions are there, we would encourage right now. If not, we're going to be going ahead to our next session. I think it was very well covered. One hand, yes, right there. All right, could we get the mic, please pass the gentleman out here. Of course, we'd encourage you to ask your question with your name and designation. Of course, one of our speakers, so yeah. Yeah. No, not at all. My question to Vikram, how did you know the company? I'm very curious to understand what has been the role of, I think, in terms of what has been the role of digital marketing campaigns in terms of creating the sales funnel. And if you could tell us what is the average ROI that you expect from a paid performance campaign. Numbers, I'll keep for outside. Yeah, but I'll tell you the role. So beauty of insurance is that up until sometime back, it was heavily driven by advisors. Till date is, you can't take that away from insurance because like I said, it's a conversational sale. And at Bajik, we're very clear with that that our advisors are the key providers, right? That actually rhymed, not bad. But to your point, because off late, the clientele has really gone digital. We do a lot of digital campaigns. And the beauty of digital campaigns is if it helps no people what we are trying to talk about, it helps people understand the kind of products we're probably the only insurance company that comes up with unique products. We recently launched Pet Insurance, which covers both your dogs and cats, which is not provided by any other insurance company. For that, we need features like the digital marketing because, see, everyone knows that in insurance, motor health is available. This is the bread and butter. But because we come up with products like Pet Insurance, Cyber Insurance, My Home, we cover all your televisions, mobiles, everything inside your home. So it's very important to have these targeted campaigns that help educate people. We draw a good amount of leads from that and we've got a separate team that really nurtures those leads. But numbers, I think I'll discuss with you of the... No problem. Thank you so much, Vikram. My name is Pramod Maloo, and I'm founder of Creative Machines. We based out of Kolkata. Durga Puja is coming around the corner. We can help you with the new product that you come up with. For sure, for sure. I'll come for the Misti Dhoi for sure. This is also a one-on session on how to dodge a difficult question. It's a good job on that. No, and also, Pramod comes from... You said your company was Creative Machines, right? So we can get creative with something which rhymes. Vikram, you were saying something which ended up in rhyming and creating a jingle out of that. But with so much of creativity flowing in the room, I think it's time for us to part ways with our panelists from the stage, but of course, they'll be open to conversations with all our people and our audience in the room. So with that, let's give them a warm, warm round Thank you, guys. Thank you.