By Pankaz Jaiin
Customer is the purpose of all businesses. Without customers there is no profit and there is no industry. As we come out unitedly from the onslaughts of the pandemic, the ‘customer-centric’ approach of all the stakeholders is something unavoidable.
Today, the Customer Sentiment Index is the highest in its history in the country. Both residential and commercial spaces’ demand is rocketing as the purchasers are bestowing their faith in the ‘new environment’ that has emerged in the real estate sector.
The renewed faith of the consumer is not without reasons. Even as there are properties which are lying unoccupied, the needy are rallying for spaces for themselves because the sector has been purged by concerted efforts of the government, courts and the industry itself. The state has a special focus on cleaning the ills of the system so that the industry travels from ‘speculative’ business to the arena of those who are ‘real buyers.’ We must heed to the long tradition of the country which holds – ‘the customer is God.’
A house is not an inventory for a family that purchases it, it’s a ‘home’ that is meant to shelter the body, psychology and emotions of those who are to live in there. As the new India of 21st century and in the 21st year of the century is dashing on the paths of economic recovery, it’s also marked by economic purge. Corruption is unacceptable for the millennial; no matter from where it comes in and let there be no doubt about it. The young workforce is the real force that will drive this industry to glory. They want to come out of the rented accommodations and get into their own houses. Pandemic has taught us that family is the most precious gift that one has and a family needs a home – at times, a spacious one.
The real estate and allied industries have already begun to make a headway as numbers tell us for the past two quarters. In the quarter that ended in September, the Indian housing sector witnessed a strong comeback with sales and new launches accounting for 65 per cent and 79 per cent jump, respectively.
It’s now a responsibility before us that we, real estate players, get consumer-centric because that is our real performance. Performance is reputation. Reputation is business. Cumulative business growth makes an industry. In terms of the founding fathers of India, industry builds nation. And nation is nothing but the manifestation of 1.35 billion of ‘us.’
One may agree or disagree with the reformative changes happening in the real estate industry, but – no one can stop an idea whose time has come.
The article was published on 19th December Print Edition, 2021