Jan 5, 2016
Having worked in customer facing roles across brands, for over seven year now, here’s one thing I know for sure – A happy customer fuels a great business. Ever since I took up responsibility as iKeva Hyderabad’s first Center Manager; every day at work, proves to me, the very point. The journey has been more of learning than pure-play delivery – and one year down – when I was asked to write this blog about what my most exciting moments at iKeva were – it was not very difficult to pin-point to it.
I distinctly remember that evening I was back home, retired for the day, when I got this call from a frantic member. (Obviously, I wouldn’t share details; we take utmost care for our clients’ privacy, especially while writing blogs). While primarily a Hyderabad member, the team needed their US head-office to access information on the server here, round-the-clock. It was usually not such a big deal, but that day was an exception.
Within an hour of getting the phone call I was back in office, along with the technical support person. We immediately connected with the US office, and got details on the issue. Technical issues always take time for resolution, especially when they’re being fixed remotely. And, this was clearly no exception. As we struggled to keep awake and alert, we downed several cups of black coffee, and within the first hour we had realized that this was going to take the whole night. And, we were right.
Tired and exhausted by the lack of sleep, we got out of iKeva at about 5AM, having successfully resolved the issue. While staying up all night was not a planned thing, the end result of having solved the problem gave us a lot of satisfaction. It is always nice to have a happy customer, isn’t it?
At iKeva we face such challenges time and again. These challenges also become opportunities for us to showcase how much we love our work, and the lengths we go to, to keep up the iKeva brand promise. It is these challenges that also help us improve our methods, think innovatively and get better at what we do. Here’s another such story from my Life@iKeva.
While working with a newly launched company, miscalculations are common. Despite all the efforts that go into making sure everything is seamless and perfect, errors creep in. And there is no way to counter these, except through learning by experience. At iKeva, we make sure any such gaps are identified quickly and filled in with an ‘ASAP’ tag. This reminds me of one particular case, with the allotment of parking spaces.
This was a point in time, when we had several customers who would use the office space flexibly, on-and-off. We had a certain number of additional parking spaces marked away for instances where some of these members turn up, and require parking space. However, we had not accounted for an instance of a majority of these members turning up, at the same time. And as luck would have it, it happened, one fine day.
We had to think quickly – on our feet. And in such times, having a good team is a blessing. My team figured we needed to approach the issue from two angles – one, for short-term solution and two, for a long-term sustainable solution. For the short-term adjustment, we had our team vacate the parking lot immediately, and park temporarily at a nearby location just for a couple of days. Secondly, we made a few calls to book some additional parking spaces close by that we could rent out. However, this couldn’t be a long-term strategy.
So, later that week we made arrangements for reserving a larger number of spaces to be booked in our own complex. Today, we make sure that there is not just enough space for all the members but also for their visitors, iKeva’s visitors and potential clients who come in to check out the workspace. We carried this lesson forward to more than just the parking spaces problem. While we learnt it the hard way, it is something that helped us understand the importance of thinking ahead and planning for larger scale.
These were some instances that came straight to my mind when I look back at the one year I have been associated with iKeva. In fact, every day here we run into situations that need quick thinking and smart-action; all in minutes – after all for a client, it could be a matter of winning or losing a business, when we don’t do our job perfectly. My team understands this, and ensures that we keep our brand promise, and deliver the best of workspace experience to each one of our members.
If you are an iKeva member, I am sure, you’ll agree. If you’re with the team, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
If you’re looking for an office space in Hyderabad that promises high-quality infrastructure, a setup in sixty minutes, dedicated ground-staff and above all a range of community and membership benefits – write to me at [email protected], and I should be happy to assist you.
– Sagar Buddiga, Center Manager, iKeva Hyderabad