Mr. Rahul Goel, Sr Director, Market Engineering, Canon India on Canon’s service initiatives during the COVID-19

Mr Rahul Goel, Senior Director, Market Engineering, Canon India

Mr Rahul Goel is the Senior Director, Market Engineering Centre, at Canon India Pvt. Ltd. He has been an integral part of the team. Further, he has played a key role in the growth of the brand in India. Mr Rahul has been associated with Canon India since the past 23 years. He has a rich experience of working in the consumer good industry. His leadership and management skills along with his sound knowledge in the consumer space with diverse experience have made him an important part of the team at Canon India.

CIOL took an opportunity to interact with Mr Rahul to know his thoughts on the pandemic and how he is dealing with it. We also understood the plans of Canon India to open after the lockdown is lifted for business. Here is the full interaction with him.

In this interview, the Senior Director of Market Engineering at Canon explain how they have managed to keep their customers happy in these testing times.

1. How do you keep yourself engaged during the lockdown period? Did you pick up any new hobby?

During a pandemic like COVID-19, it has become necessary to maintain a work-life balance and prioritise both physical and mental wellness. I try to follow the same by starting my day with some exercise which not only helps me remain active throughout the day but also connects me with my inner strengths. Apart from that whenever I have some spare time, I try my hands at cooking. It is a real stress buster for me.

2. What were some of the things you miss while working from home? How did you maximize your productivity while working from home?

We have not witnessed or experienced such a global health crisis in modern history which has impacted all aspects of our lives to such an extent. It has changed our lives 360 degrees, on both professional as well as personal front. Remote working is becoming a new normal. Organisations are adopting new ways of engaging and delivering. However, the lack of face time, in-person huddles, brainstorming sessions is something that I miss when working from home. My work involves a lot of meetings, so sharing the energy in the room with all the bright minds is always a delight. The key to being efficient in these turbulent times is to stay connected. Fortunately, technology has evolved to bridge the physical gap and allows us to work in tandem to ensure business continuity.

3. What are some of the top priorities for Canon’s market engineering division, especially in the wake of COVID-19?

At Canon, we always strive to offer robust service infrastructure through our Market Engineering service team. Our goal is to offer customers innovative solutions and a superior level of service across the length and breadth of our country, across all product groups, at every opportunity. During these stressful times, our top priority is to give our customers in the essential services the best possible service backed by the latest innovations, thereby, enabling business continuity for our customers. At the same, as a responsible organization, the safety of our employees is also one of the key priorities for us along with maintaining customer satisfaction. Keeping this outbreak in mind, we have taken a host of preventive measures to ensure their safety. And we have been regularly engaging with them to safeguard their wellbeing.

4. With the ongoing pandemic situation in the country, how do you see the market evolving in terms of demand for products and services?

In these unprecedented times, when the entire world is trying to keep the right balance, we are seeing consumers being extremely prudent while making any buying decision. There has been an impact on sales in the present situation. But we strongly believe that going forward, consumers will invest in products and services with a compelling value proposition.

For Canon, with our wide range of product portfolio service network, be it for B2B products or B2C products, we aim to forever deliver value and delight to our customers. We are ensuring that our customers understand the value proposition of service while purchasing a Canon product. And invest wisely in the right product for their businesses. We continue to remain hopeful about the business continuity and expect the situation to normalize with lockdown lifting in a phased-wise manner.

5. Please elaborate some of the initiatives that Canon India had taken from a customer service perspective during the lockdown phase.

After-sales service plays a pivotal role in customer satisfaction and retention, with our consistent efforts at offering hassle-free value-added services. In the wake of COVID-19 and subsequent lockdown in the country, as per the Government directives, we had to keep our service depots and call centre closed. However, some of our customers falling under the category of essential service providers. Our service team had gone the extra mile to support the customers. We provided consumables and on-site services to these customers through various means and methods. It includes remote support by Canon engineers, toner delivery through customers own transport and in many cases our engineers made site visits, taking all the prescribed precautions and permissions.

We were delighted at some of the appreciation messages shared by our customers for the impeccable services provided by our team across the country.

6. What is your strategy to manage the customer service ecosystem post the Lockdown?

In the current situation, we are awaiting the directives from the Government to resume our entire service network. Our technical support team has already prepared an extensive guide on post-lockdown management of the services on Canon products. These include some of the standard measures such as engineer’s safety and product sanitization. We have also prepared the required advisory for customers for starting the machines after a long lockdown period. Additionally, we are also looking at inventory management of the spares and consumables which our machines may require to optimize working levels.

7. In the wake of Coronavirus and various health & safety precautions that people are taking, what are some of the safety measures that are deployed at your various Contact Centers, to ensure contactless service delivery?

We have provided detailed guidelines to MSC for the sanitation of the products which will be received for the repairs. Due to the nature of service, the service delivery at MSC cannot be contacted less. But we are taking all the prescribed measures as per the Government mandates, such as ensuring social distancing, compulsory use of masks by the employees and customers and deploying hand sanitizers.

8. Once the lockdown is lifted, how many regions for Canon will be made operational from a service perspective?

Currently, as per the directives of the Government, we are providing services through 250 operational service centres across the country. We are ensuring that our staff follow all the due precautions. We would be resuming our service network in the remaining regions as per the directives of the Government. Due to COVID-19, we have picked up some new ways of working. We would be implementing these learnings in our daily operations and provide the best possible services to our customers.

9. What were some of the challenges that you faced once the Govt imposed the lockdown? How did you overcome these challenges?

In the wake of COVID-19, we have seen a shift in the buying pattern of consumers. Also, service plays a critical role for consumers to make purchase decisions. The pandemic has changed the consumer outlook in many ways. Their focus has completely shifted to health and safety concerns. We were quick to adapt to this mindset as we started seeing an increase in demand for contactless services.

When the Govt imposed the lockdown in the country, we temporarily closed all the Canon service depots and customer service depots. While most of our customers’ business establishments were closed, some of these were essential service providers. Our service teams went the extra mile to support the customers and ensured on-site services wherever required. Canon engineers' "Remote support" initiative was also a delight for our customers. It helped them to operate without hiccups even in challenging times.

10. Tell us about predictive maintenance and how it is important in the current day and age?

Market Engineering at Canon India is constantly evolving. We have been using the power of predictive maintenance to enhance the quality and exceed customer expectations. Predictive maintenance includes a proactive maintenance strategy that predicts when a machine might need necessary software or hardware upgrades, to perform the maintenance tasks well in advance, thereby ensuring maximum uptime of the machine.

This plays a significant role in enhancing the quality of products. Further, it also helps manage exceeding customer expectations. Demand for such type of services is quite high in the current day and age because customers do not want any loss in productivity when it comes to after-sales. Through an extensive network of direct service teams as well as our partners, backed by world-class infrastructure, systems & processes, we offer value-added services to make after-sales hassle-free for our customers.

11. How is Canon India contributing to the fight against COVID-19

COVID-19 has impacted people, business and economy worldwide. Even the best of preparations were not enough to combat this global crisis. Hence, it is pertinent that we stand strong and show the best of humanity to fight the pandemic.

During these difficult times, Canon India has been a constant support pillar for all the customers and partners. We have helped them to smoothly run their operations and fight against adversities led by COVID-19. We strongly believe in the customer-first approach. And we have endeavoured to give our customers and partners the best possible service backed by our latest innovations.