These Photos Weren’t Taken From Clever Angles Or

 

JANADESH 2004 AND 2009 – WHY BJP LOST -   A COMMON VOTERS’ PERCEPTION

“The great challenge in communicating is to understand the mind, the background and the thinking process of the audience. If you know these, you can prevent a lot of communication static.” – Wayne Pennington

“Attitude is the first quality that marks any successful organization. If it has a positive attitude and thinks positively, likes challenges and difficult situations, then half of the success is achieved.” – Lowell Peacock.

“The punch that knocks you out is not so much the hard punch as the punch you did not see coming.” – Joe Torris.

“A good political culture reinforces values that are wanted and weakens attitudes that are not wanted.”

“Most time is wasted not in hours but in minutes. A bucket with a small hole in the bottom gets just as empty as a bucket that is deliberately emptied.” – Paul J.Meyer                                                                                                                                                                      

BJP’s culture must be like water; It should flow strongly and steadily, refreshing the Indian political scenario and carry the voters forward or it can sit festering and stagnant, gradually poisoning those around it. It can either be fertile and rich, irrigating growth and stimulating new ideas or can be destructive and narrow crashing down upon any signs of change.”

“It is the attitude that determines the altitude at which one wants to operate.”

  

Retention of Voters and Voter Servicing

(Based on “Retention Marketing and Client Service.”)

          Marketing: After having sold a Van Gogh original painting for a record $40 million, the auctioneer Charles Alsop was asked, “Why the same was considered worthless during the life time of the painter, replied – Van Gogh was a strange person. “He wasn't good at marketing.”

          As we all know, Van Gogh was an artist and artists till recently did not have to know much about marketing – just as a marketing person did not have to know much about art.

          BJP: After obtaining the required majority in the 13^th Lok Sabha, BJP and NDA despite several laudable achievements, lost their way while governing because, they were perhaps not very good at “Voter Servicing.”

          Marketing, believed to be an art, has now become a science – a combination of art and science actually. New forms of competition have emerged setting the pace of the market for the years to come. While the 80’s and 90’s will be remembered in marketing history as the decades of change, success or failure in the new millennium, it will be directed by one yard stick alone; the ability to cope with and manage, changes in the market place.

          BJP perceived as a party with a difference made steady gains in 1989, 1991, 1996 and 1999. But in 2004 and 2009, it was not able to perform well. Why?

          Did BJP loose to new form of competition from so called secular parties, because they were able to convey a better message to the voters than the BJP? Partly yes and partly no. BJP mainly lost because of its inability to cope and manage the changes in the political scenario and voter anticipation of the new millennium.

          As such a need for reinvention of approach to advertise, promotion, retention and attracting new set of voters is much called for.

          This will entail a shift from “Get a vote now at any cost” to building and managing voter data bases that track the life time value of relationship with each voter.

          A shift from the accountable “creativity” in advertising to the scientific accountability of each advertising rupee spent.

          A shift from relying on established single channel of vote catching mechanism to a multi-channel mode, which breaks rules as it breaks down walls, is also called for.

          Shift, shift, shift and shift …. From the ordinary to the extraordinary. Innovate to survive. These should be the catch phrases of BJP in the coming days.

          To meet this challenge, BJP of today and tomorrow or forever has to acquire new skills and new knowledge, not necessarily from conventional sources alone. BJP has to be Creative, Flexible, Curious, Imaginative, and master the daring art of innovation. Above all, BJP has to be a combination of sorts – a Van Gogh and a Theodore Levitt, an artist and a manager, a Patton and a Bradley, a Yogi and a Commissar.

          Voter Service has to become the whole business of BJP, as seen from the point of view of its final result that is the voter. Concern and responsibility for voter service therefore must permeate all areas of BJP. Never before was this truer than the aftermath of the first and second general elections of the new millennium.

          How can BJP ensure this? BJP so long strictly oriented towards acquiring new partners, macro and micro managements has to shift gears.

          Already today and definitely tomorrow, there will no longer be a voter who will be swayed by catchy slogans, alliances etc. There should be just one philosophy and one philosophy alone i.e. Voter Service. The voter will be the king nay the Emperor and the Empress. It is the voter satisfaction that should be the motto of BJP. This voter satisfaction should receive the top of the mind concern of BJP. There will never be a good and positive growth for BJP, unless it is a good buy for the voter and voter alone.

         

The purpose of politics as all voters know has always been one dimensional – to get the voter through the reel of imaginary door (India Shining and Congress ka haath aam admi ke saath) to cast his/her vote. As of today, politics has been a discipline of clearly defined elements (?) like catch the voter, catch the voter, catch the voter and then forget the voter. Nothing more and nothing less. As such the focus has always been on voter and alliance acquisition. In the present political scenario – where the voter expectations are high and multidimensional, it is impossible to depend on slogans, alliance acquisitions etc. (TMC,TDP,BJD walking out of NDA and TMC walking out of UPA are standouts.)

          Earlier and present concept of catch the voter may bring in some votes, but will not be able to keep them forever. Voters today are not interchangeable, faceless commodities they were being treated as till recently. Voters are entitled to certain service levels and voters have to be recognized as something special. If these expectations are not met, they will shift their loyalties elsewhere. (Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka Assembly Election results.

          As there are too few voters who are being wooed by too many parties, keeping the existing voters on a permanent basis has become very vital. Acquisition politics must exist, yes because one has to acquire new voters – but the other half of politics – the most important one will have to be retention of voters.

          Retention of voters requires a redefinition of politics, its role and its tools. Every point of political activity should be aimed at Voter satisfaction. It has to be therefore the voter service that should draw voters to BJP. BJP should emphasise on Voter Service in every aspect, in every manner, through all possible means that BJP can provide for. BJP should think in terms of voter service being viewed as a tool for retaining the voter.

          BJP has to create and attract new voters, yes, but the real challenge in the coming days, will be the ability to keep the existing voters for ever. The dictum therefore should be – “having got one, never let him/her go!”

          It was thought in earlier days that Bharatiya Jana Sangh (and later on BJP) knew what voter service was all about and what good it did for the party. If BJP can draw inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi’s “Ten Commandments of Good Business and adopt this into its political activities, it can indeed become the party with a real difference or the party whose policy is based on appeasement of none, Equality to all.(Sarve Jana Sukhino Bhavantu, Sarva Mangalani Bhavantu and Sarva Dharma Sama Bhavaha!) As such BJP’s new philosophy for the ensuing Assembly and Lok Sabha Elections should be based on the following principles:-

ü  The voter is the most important person.

ü  The voter is not dependent on BJP, but BJP is dependent on the voter.

ü  The voter is not an interruption in politics, but the voter is the purpose of it.

ü  A voter does BJP a favour when he/she casts a vote. But BJP is not doing any favour by extending Legendary Voter Service.

ü  A voter is the integral part of BJP – not an outsider.

ü  A voter is not a cold static; He/she is a flesh and blood human being with feelings and emotions.

ü  A voter is not someone to argue or match wits with. (example; T.I.N.A., or T.I.T.A)

ü  A voter is a person who brings to BJP his/her wants. It is the fundamental and bounden duty of BJP to fulfil those wants.

ü  A voter deserves the most courteous and attentive treatment from BJP, its Office Bearers and its Elected representatives.

ü  The voter is the life and blood of BJP.     

In the present scenario, it looks as though all political parties have forgotten or never learnt about voter service. In all the political parties, the voter “has become a bloody nuisance whose unpredictable behaviour damages carefully made strategic plans. (India Shining, and Dil Badle, Disha Badle!). In other words, are the voters to be sacrificed on the sacred altar of being “too unpredictable and difficult to understand” basis?

          It would indeed help BJP to draw inspiration from the bestselling book of Peters and Waterman “In Search of Excellence”, wherein  it is deemed as necessary to become “Close to the customer”, herein to be read as “close to the voter.” This “close to the voter” theme should take the form of an obsession and an over commitment to quality, reliability of voter service that aims at developing voter loyalty, long term voter retention and new voter acquisitions.

          Opening up to voters: Change has finally arrived in the political scenario of our country. BJP must accept that competition from other political parties is here to stay. The days of T.I.N.A or T.I.T.A are over. The political scenario has become unpredictable and high expectations of voters have forced all political parties to look for new strategies to attract new voters, at the same time try to retain their existing voters’ base.

          BJP was launched with much fanfare in 1980 with attractive slogans and voter catching mechanics. But then, BJP grew big and took helm of the affairs. Instead of harnessing BJP for voter service/satisfaction, BJP perhaps made the voter subservient to it. Also perhaps too much attention was paid on committee meetings (Meetingitis), reviews, planning, and policy making etc. Somewhere, down the line, the voter was lost sight of. May be the voter was considered as only a source of attaining majority rather than the source of attaining the majority. Political acquisitions must have assumed importance over the voter satisfaction.

          BJP must be pragmatic enough to ask itself as to:

Ø  Whether the number of its “in” file dealings with internal affairs, meetings (Meetingitis), personnel, administration etc are lesser  or more  than the voter-centred-survey results, feedback and complaints.

Ø  Have all the so called closely watched “M.I.S” (Marketing Information System) are really voter centred?

Ø  How well the BJP is informed about its voters, who have not only contemplated but also switched over to other parties? (Urban Voters deserting BJP in 2004 and 2009 Elections).

Ø  How does the voter react to BJP’s Policies, Vision and Mission? Has BJP dwelt with the reactions and how many corrective actions have been taken in the recent past for improving the voters’ expectations/satisfactions?

Ø  Has BJP ever tried to measure VOTER SATISFACTION?

Ø  How many days in a month BJP and its elected representatives meet the voters and know about their difficulties?

Ø  How many long standing voters/sympathisers/supporters have been lost in the recent past and why? Typical example of allies deserting BJP in 2004 and 2009 and what is happening in Karnataka and Bihar.

Ø  What corrective measures have been taken to minimize or avoid such instances being repeated in the future?

  

       If BJP were to treat all this as bookish and impractical in Indian Politics, then the chances of it becoming a Political dinosaur is very high indeed.

BJP may ask as to what it gains by this voter service obsession. Plenty is the answer. BJP can still be unbeatable because of its innovative policies and commitments to voter satisfaction/service. Above all BJP will become responsive to voter needs, leading to a lot of “Value Addition” to its voters base.

           BJP must understand that it is far easier and economical to maintain its existing voter base than acquiring new ones. This in turn will lead to “Relationship Management” which will take care of voters, their wants and needs.

          Given below are a few down to earth points, which can and will enable BJP to cope with the cataclysmic socio-economic aspirations of Indian Voters.

ü  BJP must and should treat the voters seriously. BJP’s office bearers must and should get out of office and devote at least 60% of their time to attending to voters’ needs and wants.

ü  BJP must and should listen to voters. This may hurt BJP when the feedback is not flattering. Here it is worthwhile to quote Benjamin Franklin’s immortal saying one that hurts also instructs, and then act accordingly.

ü  BJP must ensure that the field reports from those closest to the voters get a thorough hearing from the concerned personnel – without distortion and act immediately.

ü  BJP must and should conduct regular “Voter Audits” and to see it that bugs do not have any say or role in this matter.

ü  BJP must and should scout energetically for feedback and suggestions from voters on its service, possible improvements and implement those valid suggestions at the earliest.

ü  BJP must try to link up at least some part of Key Executives Time to voter satisfaction programmes. In order to do this, BJP has to develop a few basic indicators on what voter satisfaction is all about and this bench marking has to be an ongoing process.

While dealing with Allies and Political Opponents, it would be worthwhile for BJP, to base its strategies on the principles of Sama – gentle persuasion and praise, daama – monetary incentives: danda – punishment or war.,- and bheda – intelligence, propaganda and disinformation.

Conclusion: All this can be backbreaking work, but it has to be done. Besides BJP’s options are limited. The choice is between Political Dynamism and Political Dinosaur Status.