James Ryan in his book “Wait, What?" says “Questions are like keys. The right question, asked

at the right time, will open a door to something you don’t yet know, something you haven’t

yet realized, or something you haven’t even considered— about others and about yourself.”

Mr Ryan (Dean of Harvard Business School) further adds “I suffered through this

phenomenon when I became a dean. I thought at first that a big part of my job was to have

all of the answers.”

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As we age and advance in the corporate hierarchy the general expectation is

that you are the repository of all answers. As all of us with no hair or white hair know have

realised, the truth is so further from all this. The job is to navigate by asking the right

questions from your team rather being a godman having all answers.

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I remember early on in my career I was in a predicament in terms deciding the department

and my place of posting. My premise was simple that since I was new to this world my

manager should decide this for me. Unfortunately, he had other ideas and infuriatingly

enough kept asking me questions helping me make an informed decision. That was my early

introduction to the world of Intelligent questions.

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As consumers we never had it better. Choices galore which has resulted in hyper marketed

world. From coffee to cars to houses and even Mutual fund schemes we are simply spoilt

silly. From the queues for a scheme that launched in 1994 to a world of instant purchase and

redemption the financial industry has indeed come a long way in terms of product options.

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This has led to decision fatigue. I admit as a consumer I have tremendous difficulty deciding

mundane things which coffee to have? Which sweet to have, which basmati rice should I

order? Making decisions and living with your decisions are two entirely different things. As a

Gen Xer, life was simple. You bought it and lived with it for you simply had no choice. These

days post purchase dissonance can be high and in categories like BFSI this dissonance can

hit you instantly (eg you bought a MF scheme and the market falls).

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Most companies think the job is done post a sale but in fact it has just begun. Categories like

BFSI require constant reinforcing post the sale. For apart from the sales experience, one also

needs to orchestrate usage experience, service experience and even an exit experience.

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Companies that pay attention to these individual experiences rule hearts and of course market share.

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The simple point being building customer journeys is not just about making “billing “easier or

providing multitudinous product or service options but also helping them decide which

product or feature is best suited for them.