In 2004 a Leading DTH Operator had set up operations to offer Indian viewers a world-class television viewing experience through its satellite television service. The DTH Operator commenced operations in 2006 and made a strategic choice to bring in expertise on customer care and customer services right from the beginning to become one of the most promising, innovative and customer centric companies in India. The DTH Operator decided to partner with Tata Business Support Services (TBSS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons for its Contact & Customer Service operations in 2006. TBSS provides customer care and allied services to group companies and external clients in multiple segments/ domains across the globe, with a deeper focus in the Indian market.

The Client commenced operations with a mere 100 pilots to support initial limited subscriber base. This has now grown to 3300+ Pilots and 430+ support staff, with service as the differentiator. TBSS is one of the first few Service Partners in India to cater to all 28 states across India with a vernacular support of 18 languages from 13 centres spread across India.

TBSS with its strong technology interface and rich domain knowledge along with the innovation at every step has helped the DTH Operator be called “Premium DTH Provider” with highest market share in the various groups of customers with high ARPU (average revenue per user).

A. Unique Segmentation for Effective Operations

The way TBSS segmented the DTH Customer Carer operations itself was quite unique: 3 major Lines of businesses (LOB) to provide best in class service; each LOB has its own gamut of requirements with a common objective to provide Superior customer service.

The details of the segmentation in each of the LOBs are shared below.

• Inbound LOB
  Catering to 1.7 lac calls pan India on daily basis. TBSS is equipped to handle 110% of the projected calls on daily basis. The Inbound LOB is further divided in SSDs (Specialized Service Desks). The desks are classified by customer segments – Mass, Repeat Buddy, Partner, Field Support Services, Premium, Prospect etc.
• Outbound LOB
  Catering to 1.07 lac calls pan India on daily basis. The desks are classified by the type of calls/ services – Helpline, Welcome, Long Duration Packs, ARPU, Reinstate and Package Retentions.
• Back Office LOB
  Back Office Operations were initially handled in house by the DTH Operator. After July 2012 they have handed over the operations to TBSS which caters to around 12K transactions on a daily basis with approximately 300 people, from Hyderabad & Pune centers. The desks are classified according to the type of response and customer service required – L1L2, Email/Web, Transfers, Chat etc.

Some of the operational growth initiatives implemented were as under:

B. Two Major Drivers to Value

1. Consistent Service Delivery:
   Our partnership with our Client has evolved through the years; today our services for the Client on DTH Operations cover a whole gamut of services across the entire value chain. Our relationship with the DTH Operator has grown multiple times over the past few years; outbound calls have risen by 17x while inbound calls have risen by 5x.

   “Overall, this has been a very satisfying journey demonstrating the
   power of Customer Lifecycle Management and reinforce benefits
   across three key dimensions of business – customer experience,
   employee engagement and revenue generation.”

2. Value Additions:
   Some of the major Value-Added Services provided by TBSS are:

   

Some of the Value-Add outcomes through Revenue Enhancements to the Client DTH Operator are:

1. Revenue Enhancement through Upselling

   

   Note: The graphs are directionally indicative, respecting client’s confidentiality.

2. Revenue Enhancement through Retention of Customers

   

Our two major drivers to value are: A. Consistent service delivery;
B. Major Value Services Provided

“The journey is however not over by any stretch of imagination. It is
very appropriate to say, when you focus on customer experience,
sky is the limit to value creation!”

C. Challenges to Opportunities

In order to deliver through the above value drivers, TBSS faced several challenges, which were also converted into opportunities:

1. Client Side:
   1. Technology Migration impact was experienced but leveraged the experience for new technology training
   2. Outdated processes were redesigned
   3. Cultural management between Client & TBSS, handled with a supportive governance mechanism
2. People:
   1. The all-pervasive attrition impacted the good people first. This was overcome by converting Performance Management at each centre to extend across 13 centres and 3000+ people
   2. Management local and Performance Management national, cutting across languages and states
3. Business:
   1. Traditional conflict between interests of Client and TBSS – higher the call more the revenue for TBSS, while lower the calls better the customer experience – to shift focus on revenue side of the business for both.
   2. Objection calls converted into revenue calls by routing the calls to high performers and sharing the revenue through an incentive plan. Higher conversion rates of 40 to 44% of calls

D. BCP on Wheels- Converting Contingency to convenience

TBSS team was highly appreciated by MD &CEO of the Client for ensuring Business as Usual even during unusual situations. For Instance in April 2014, TBSS initiated BCP on wheels to provide uninterrupted service to the customer. A battalion of 79 brave Pilots along with 3 excited Team Leaders, 4 WFM champs, 1 Team Manager and 1 Facility expert (put together a team of 88 folks army) moved from Hyderabad for Mission Kalyani Nagar, Pune – about 560 KM away from base station. With this commitment, TBSS ensured less than overall 10% call abandon on that day, the team has proven their ability by delivering remarkable performance with a true spirit.

The Client appreciated the entire team for walking the extra mile during the contingent situation and ensuring smooth functioning of process. The TBSS team has received an award for ensuring BCP on wheels. It is an honour to note verbatim of the MD &CEO who says, “I am very impressed with the commitment and flexibility shown by TBSS and always will be looking forward to be a part of every quarterly review”.

Overall, this has been a very satisfying journey demonstrating the power of Customer Lifecycle Management and reinforce benefits across three key dimensions of business – customer experience, employee engagement and revenue generation.

The journey is however not over by any stretch of imagination. It is very appropriate to say, when you focus on customer experience, sky is the limit to value creation!

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