Analysis of vCUSTOMER

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CASE STUDY ON VCUSTOMER

Introduction to Company

Established in 1999 by Sanjeev Kumar, President And CEO, vCustomer is a leading

provider of Customer Lifecycle Management Services. They are providers of IT

enabled Services (ITES) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). They combine

their industry expertise with innovative technology and business analytics to deliver

customized, high quality, cost-saving services and solutions. They leverage the

synergies of Onshore, Offshore and Home Based Agents Delivery Models and let

their clients chose an optimal mix of their preferred service delivery mechanism to

achieve business efficiency and increase their customer lifetime value. After starting

in 1999 vcustomer achieved it’s Break Even Point in financial year 2000-2001 and

from 2001 company continuously showing profit in their financial statements.

Incorporated in 1999 and privately held, vCustomer is headquartered in Kirkland,

Washington and employs more than 4.000 professionals globally

.Vcustomer strives to enhance the value of the clients and end customers and it has a

track record of coupling aggressive growth with 100% customer retention through

operational excellence, technology innovation, and global skill set sourcing. V

customer provides greater end customer satisfaction and incremental client revenue at

reduced cost. Currently vcustomer is one of the largest private companies in world

with fastest growth rate.

They have expertise in Communications/

Telecom, Travel/Hospitality, Retail and Technology. We understand your business to

effectively help you reduce operating costs and improve quality levels by deploying

self-service and automation to optimize customer care.

AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOL, LUCKNOW CAMPUS

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Vcustomer certified services handled millions of customer’s contacts a month by

voice, email, web chat, IVR and self service web based solutions.

SERVICES DIFFERENTIATION

Technical Support

Their Technical Support Service Offerings include:

Inbound Voice Support

Outbound Voice Support

Email/Chat Support

They offer a full range of technical support services, from tier-1 handling of simple

and common issues to support applications to addressing complex issues by

employing seasoned professionals.

Here are some of the salient features of our service:

Scalable 24×7 technical support that adapts to demand fluctuations

Experience in providing support across different product lines and technologies

Multi-Channel Delivery Platform (Voice, Email, Web Self Service and SMS)

Sales and Retention

The breadth of VCustomer’s services places them in a unique position to help their

clients retain and serve customers.

VCustomer help their clients achieve higher revenues. They generate leads, create up-

sell and cross-sell opportunities at reduced costs. They track sales purchase history

and customer purchase history, give discounts wherever possible to convert

customers. Their agents are trained and have been provided with exhaustive


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knowledge of client product and service offerings to discover utilize opportunities to

cross-sell and up-sell where ever possible. VCustomer pass on the benefits of their

expertise to their clients to achieve higher ROI on their marketing expenditure.

Benefits:

Increased revenues

Reduced Sales costs and client acquisition lead time

Quick and Easy scalable team of certified and experienced tele-sales personnel

Credit Management

VCustomer provides credit management services to help businesses pursue

payments on debts owned by individuals and other businesses.

VCustomer will initiate contact with your defaulting customers, treat them with

utmost respect and help manage repayment. vCustomer’s experience in

customer services allows them to excel with handling sensitive issues.

Customer Relationship Solutions

Marketing Campaign Management

vCustomer’s campaign management hosted software solution allows clients to

conduct and measure marketing campaigns using voice, email, text, and web chat. We

offer features to provide:

Insights on customer needs and behavior

Monitoring and measurement of campaign effectiveness

Customized campaigns for market segmentation


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Order Management

This solution can increase sales by simplifying order management and improving the

customer experience through:

Multiple ordering channels (voice, web chat)

Reports and analytics on customer ordering behavior

Identifying opportunities to cross-sell and up-sell

Centrally managed customer data

Quick and Easy View of Order Details across functions

Easy Capture and Tracking of Order Status

Feedback Management

vCustomer’s survey management tools measure customer satisfaction by conducting

quick surveys to gauge quality of service. Salient feature include:

Quick design and execution of surveys

Analysis of demographic, customer and account data for campaign optimization

Centrally managed processes for sending invitation and setting rules for Multi-

Channel touch points

Real Time Analytics on customer responses

Appointment Scheduling

VCustomer also have appointment scheduling to resolve issues, close orders, obtain

customer feedback and for other reasons. The scheduler offers an automated solution

that optimizes the customer support experience. Differentiating features include:

Automatic notification of appointment scheduling and rescheduling

Metrics include utilization levels, average issue resolution time and more


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Loyalty Management Solution

VCustomer can help clients understand customer lifetime value and maximize the

potential of customer relationships. Loyalty management features include:

Define customer tiers based on buying behavior

Design loyalty programs by tracking customer transactions

Implement multi-tier loyalty programs

Measure, analyze and report effectiveness on loyalty programs

BLENDED SOLUTIONS

Delivery Models

vCustomer provides a flexible mix of outsourcing delivery mechanisms for our

clients. We also provide seamless integration between our onshore, offshore and home

agent services. Our clients may balance their outsourcing costs by adjusting their

delivery model mix at any time with no additional cost.

Onshore

We have two offices in North America: The Headquarters in Kirkland, WA and a

newly acquired center in Eau Claire, WI. These two centers have scalable

infrastructure that can be increased as the market demands onshore services. Agents

providing onshore services have 5 yrs of experience on an average and about 30%

have some college degree. The cost per agent is $20-25/hr.


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Offshore

We have two offshore locations: Philippines & India. The agents in our offshore

locations are closely recruited, trained, and monitored at our secure facilities overseas.

The cost of an agent is in this delivery model is about $10-15/ hr. The agents have

about 3-4 yrs of work experience and more than 95% of them have college degrees.

Home Agents

We also provide home agent support for our outsourced processes. We recruit agents,

provide training, allow flexible scheduling and enable remote management control.

The cost of our home agents is $15-20/ hr. The agents have about 15-20 yrs of work

experience and over 70% of them have college degrees.

Delivery Platforms

Voice Service Benefits

Reduction in hold time and better customer satisfaction

Speech to text and advanced speech recognition for quicker resolution and enhanced

agent efficiency

Enhanced customer experience with convenient call-back through web call-backs

Voice communication is one of the most effective channels for supporting customers.

Prolonged hold times and low first call resolution rates can contribute significantly to

customer churn. vCustomer offers its support services with the help of latest voice

technologies and application tools. Their services can reduce costs and increase

customer satisfaction by lowering call handling time. This best-in-class voice solution

enables organizations to automate a large number of transactions and processes with


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advanced voice to text, speech recognition, web call-backs and other intelligent call

routing features.

Email Service Benefits

Powerful business rule engine automatically routes incoming emails to appropriate

agents

Increased response accuracy standard and customizable templates

Comprehensive history tracking helps resolve recurring issues quickly and

eliminates lost or stale emails

Eliminate lost or stale emails with integrated tracking system

Hassle-free spam block filters out annoying spam emails

vCustomer’s email management solution is specifically designed to handle customer

service and technical support mails. For every customer inquiry, a ticket is assigned to

track and ensure resolution. The solution has an embedded application to track ticket

status, schedule follow-up tasks, generate pre-set auto responses and provide seamless

escalation across multiple support channels.

Text Messaging Benefits

Fully featured Web accessible application for easy, seamless integration with your

existing CRM

Cost-effective method to track, record and broadcast messages to multiple

audiences

Quickly schedule customer call-back/appointments and ensure fast responses to

inquiries

Easy access to customer data in the centralized repository


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vCustomer’s messaging service reaches customers to confirm orders, give feedback or

schedule appointments/call-back with customer service agents. Built on a robust

customer management platform, this service enables an organization to listen and

respond to customer complaints immediately. vCustomer warehouse customer

responses to enable clients to better understand and analyze their customers.

Web Chat Benefits

Improves customer satisfaction through immediate online resolution of customer

issues

Improves online sales by utilizing real-time up-sell/ cross-sell opportunities

Cost reduction through standardized response delivery

Web chat tools can enhance a customer’s experience on a website when they arrive to

close a sales transaction or to seek human support. Their chat service helps provide

consistent and accurate responses to the customer in real time, ensuring greater

satisfaction. They can guide customers through support scenarios—anything from a

specific search to a completed sales transaction. At any point in time, the interaction

can be picked up by a live agent, based on the complexity of the transaction or

information requested.

Pricing

Below is an estimated breakdown of costs for agents in vCustomer’s delivery models.

Delivery Model Onshore Offshore Home AgentAvg. Hourly Rate

$20-32 $12-15 $15-20


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vCustomer’s rates have been designed keeping in mind the agent to supervisor ratios.

Please refer to the table below for more specific information about our certified

agents:

Delivery Model Onshore Offshore Home AgentAgents per Supervisor 15 – 18 20 – 24 24 – 30

Avg. Agent Work

Experience

5 years 3-4 years 15-20 years

Agent Education

20-30% have some college

>95% have some college

>70% have some college


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CORPORATE PROFILE

Management Team

Sanjay KumarFounder & Chief Executive Officer

In 1999, Sanjay founded vCustomer Corporation, headquartered in Kirkland,

Washington, providing Customer Support and Business Process Outsourcing with

operations in the US, UK, Philippines and India. The vCustomer team has focused on

improving customer satisfaction through a combination of technology driven, cost

effective solutions.

Before founding vCustomer, Sanjay was the network architect at Teledesic

Corporation, a visionary LEO Satellite venture backed by Bill Gates and Craig

McCaw. Prior to that, he worked at Microsoft Corporation, where he created and

managed the Broadband and Internet Telephony Group. Over the years, he has

participated in a number of technical groups in the area of Broadband and Internet

standards at the ITU, the ATM Forum and IETF. Along with other talented

individuals, he has co-authored diverse standards including Voice over ATM and

Quality of Service for TCP/IP networks.

Sanjay has spoken extensively in the areas of Outsourcing, Offshoring and Business

Transformation. Plus, he has authored numerous articles/chapters in books, magazines

and other print and online publications regarding the opportunities and challenges that

today’s corporations face when delivering great customer service. He currently


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teaches Business Transformation at the University of Washington’s Foster School of

Business.

Sanjay holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania, and a

BS in Computer Engineering and Mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University. He

has served on the board of directors of the Washington Software Alliance, the Retail

Management Program and other non-profit organizations.

Thomas O’RourkeChief Technology Officer

Plays the role- Chief Security Officer, Technology Guru and a world class skeptic!

Past Experiences- CEO at Eneris Solutions (specialized in developing products and

Web based solutions for Media and Communications companies).

Prior to joining Eneris, Tom founded Softbit Oy in Finland in 1997, which

specialized in designing software solutions for Telecommunications and Contact

Center industries and grew the team to 40 world class developers. Prior to that he

worked on designing and developing numerous products at Microsoft Corporation in

the area of Multimedia. Tom is proud of his work on KSProxy, which is still a part of

all Windows releases. He holds 5 patents in the areas of Multimedia systems design.

Tom has a Masters in Computer Sciences from Oulun Yliopisto University in Finland

and Bachelors in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota.


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Luis MataVice President, Finance

Luis joined vCustomer in February 2001 and is responsible for managing global

financial statements, auditing and other financial functions. Prior to joining

vCustomer, Luis held the position of financial and securities advisor with Diversified

Concepts, formerly a subsidiary of Fortis. He has over 10 years of experience in

corporate finance, accounting and internal auditing, working in the capacity of

corporate controller for various technology and manufacturing organizations. Luis

graduated from the College of Business and Economics at Western Washington

University, where he earned a BA in Business Administration with a concentration in

Finance.

Lori InuzukaVice President, International Business Unit

Lori possesses 14 years of overall Call Center management experience. Her

responsibilities have included P&L ownership for captive centers, selecting and

managing outsourcers, managing relationships of Fortune 50 clients, and driving

multi-million dollar capital projects.

At vCustomer, Lori oversees the International Business Unit, which is responsible for

end-to-end Service Delivery for the client base. This encompasses everything from

agent recruiting and development to training, quality, and analytics. She is also


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responsible for all client relationships. In this capacity, she consistently aids clients’

success and growth by reducing their operating costs, increasing their revenues and

improving their customer satisfaction levels.

Lori holds a Business degree from the University of Southern California and prior to

joining vCustomer she managed multi-site operations for Eddie Bauer and Blue Cross.


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Certifications

August 2007

ISO 27001 (Information Security Management System)

A powerful demonstration of vCustomer’s commitment to managing information

security.

May 2005

BS7799 Part -2 (Information Security Risk Management)

May 2005

OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health & Safety Management System) Certified

Operations.

May 2005

ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) Certified Operations.

April 2004

ISO 9001:2000 Certified Operations.

vCustomer is India’s largest contact center to be certified across all its processes,

products and people.


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ANALYSIS

General Environment

The country's strengths in the form of low staff costs, a large pool of skilled, English

speaking workforce, conducive policy environment and Government support has

made India a popular choice for customers seeking outsourced services.

Indian Government is making assiduous effort for promoting ITES. The country is

well positioned to derive benefits from the ITES market and become a key hub for

ITES services. According to industry estimates, the domestic BPO market in India is

pegged at $ 1.8 Billion, and is witnessing a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR)

of 35-40 percent. It is expected to become a $6 Billion industry in 2012.In contrast,

the international BPO market is worth $ 11.6 Billion, but is witnessing a far slower

CAGR of 14-22 percent.

Demographics

The population of India is a little over 1 billion people. Approximately 33.12% are

under the age of 14, 62.2% are between the ages of 15 and 64, and 4.68 are over age

65. Life expectancy is 62.2 years. The population growth rate is 1.55% per year and

this includes a net migration figure of -.08%.

Sociocultural

Indian lifestyles range from traditional village farming to modern agricultural to

modern industrial. Poverty is a problem as more than a third of the population is too

poor to be able to afford an adequate diet (35 percent of the population lives below the

poverty line). Developments over the past one year, and several others over the past

few years, have underlined the growing importance of India’s business process

outsourcing (BPO) market, which had, till now been dubbed as the ‘forgotten child’.


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The domestic BPO market picked up pace in 2000, when its small, unorganized, low-

revenue sector image started changing. The entry of MNC’s like American Express

and GE served as a catalyst. Further fillip was provided by large contracts like the

Bharti-IBM deal, in which the former outsourced its IT service requirements to the

latter, in an agreement amounting to close to a billion dollars.

The rise in incomes, the creation of a huge middle class, and a burgeoning population

all led to an increase in domestic consumption, which in turn, served as yet another

driver for the domestic BPO industry. Sensing an opportunity-in-waiting, vCustomer,

a 3,800-seat BPO, joined the bandwagon. “Rapid growth in the Indian consumer

electronics sector, coupled with an increase in telephony penetration, provided the

desired thrust needed for the domestic BPO industry” says Sanjay Kumar, CEO,

vCustomer.” “Instead of going to the shops to lodge their complaints, customers

started preferring to call. Although companies had call centers, they were not

connected. Gradually, they started to centralize and standardize their call centres.It

was impossible to overlook this opportunity,” avers Kumar, as vCustomer forayed

into the domestic space in 2007.Today,it has 22 customers, including the likes of

McDonald’s and the ministry of health.

Economy

India’s international payment position is strong with adequate foreign exchange

reserves, moderately depreciating nominal exchange rates, and booming exports in

software services. Growth in manufacturing output has slowed and electricity

shortages exist in many regions of the country. Real GDP growth rate is estimated to

be around 6 percent. GDP composition by sector is agriculture 25 percent, industry 24

percent, services 51 percent with the labor force divided into these sectors at 67


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percent, 15 percent, and 18 percent, respectively. Industrial production growth is

around 7.5 percent. Inflation is around 5 percent.

Technology

Call centers require a complex and reliable IT infrastructure to maintain the levels of

service required by demanding customers. They require voice infrastructure to handle

calls and network infrastructure for client tools. Call centers may offer voice, e-mail

or online support to customers, so a reliable voice and data infrastructure is essential.

Traditionally, voice and data networks have been separate entities, as used in a call

center. Reliability being paramount, call centers build in redundancy for both these

networks to allow for any eventuality. It's easy to see that this means additional

investments in two totally separate networks. It also means that two separate networks

need to be maintained, utilizing different skill sets. Future capacity needs to be

planned for as well. In general, all operational problems are multiplied by two.

vCustomer chose to buck the trend by choosing a 100% IP infrastructure for

its call center. By doing this, they have been able to effectively eliminate the

complexities of maintaining two separate networks by combining voice and data

traffic onto a single unified network. Packetized voice, or Voice over IP, as it is more

commonly known, has allowed vCustomer to maximize return on technology

investments, while simultaneously reducing maintenance costs for infrastructure. In

the traditional call center model, the voice platform is based on TDM (Time Division

Multiplexing), which is circuit-based, as opposed to packet-based. Traditional TDM

voice solutions require a large amount of equipment to be installed at the location the

agents will be working from. In a distributed environment with multiple locations, this

can be a problem, with high capital expense added to high administrative and support

expenses. Using a packetized voice infrastructure, vCustomer has been able to

centralize the voice infrastructure. This means support and scalability issues need to

be addressed at a single location, greatly speeding the growth process.


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Apart from efficiency benefits, VoIP (Voice over IP) also provides an

advantage that is imperative to any business - cost. Worldwide, data networks are

growing at a frenetic pace, fuelled by the popularity of the all-pervasive Internet.

Worldwide, data traffic has already surpassed voice traffic. This has, as expected,

brought costs down. In some cases, IP traffic tariffs are lower than equivalent TDM

traffic tariffs. TDM networks do, however, have much going for them. They've been

around for a considerably long time, provide high reliability (99.999%) and provide

reasonable audio quality for voice applications. TDM networks are circuit-based, that

is, a single circuit is occupied for the entire duration of a voice call. In an ideal case

scenario, when only one side of the call is speaking at a time, and assuming minimal

overheads, packetized voice can double the bandwidth efficiency of TDM. Taking

into account the real-world problems of peak traffic and overheads, savings of 30%

are attainable, which is very respectable. On a line capable of accommodating100

simultaneous calls, using VoIP, you may be able to squeeze in 130 calls. Figure that

into the huge number of calls a typical call center will handle in a single day, and you

begin to see the impact.

Industry Definition

Vcustomer is in IT Enabled Services (ITES). ITES, Information Technology

Enabled Service, is defined as outsourcing of processes that can be enabled with

information technology and covers diverse areas like finance, HR, administration,

health care, telecommunication, manufacturing etc. Armed with technology and

manpower, these services are provided from e-enabled locations. This radically

reduces costs and improves service standards. In short, this Internet service provider

aims in providing B2B e-commerce solutions.

Objectives of ITESITES was formerly known as IndoNet.The main objectives of ITES are:


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Enabling business strategy Achieving an organization's business goals

ITES ServicesITES offers different services integrated in a single delivery mechanism to end users.Some of the services offered include:

Medical Transcription Document Processing Data Entry and Processing Data Warehousing IT Help Desk Services Application Development Enterprise Resource Planning Telecommunication Services

Dominant Characteristics

Market Size – Rapid transformation is taking place in the global BPO market. It is

accompanied by increased spending in BPO services. Most of the leading business

companies of the world are adopting BPO as a strategic business solution. The BPO

industry is very diverse, with several sub-segments, each displaying its own unique

characteristics.

According to Gartner, a market research firm, the size of the global BPO market by

2007 would be $173bn, of which $24.23bn would be outsourced to offshore

contractors. Of this, India has the potential to generate $13.8bn in revenue. "The

projection includes revenues of pure play Indian BPO service providers, captives

operations of MNCs operating in India, third party service providers and BPO

subsidiaries of IT services firms.


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BPO Market Estimates

1. Domestic BPO revenue

Revenue \ Year 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08

Domestic BPO 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.1 1.6

Overall BPO Revenue 3.4 5.2 7.2 9.5 12.5

Figures in $ billion Source: Nasscom

2. Some old numbers Indian Market size estimates of BPO

o Nasscom has estimated that the Indian ITES industry will gross over

$5.7 billion by 2005 (based on a conservative year-on-year growth of 65

percent by Nasscom).

o Nasscom-McKinsey: In 1999 they estimated by 2008 it will be $17

billion but it has been revised to $21-24 billion by 2008. Indian can

capture 25% of global BPO offshore market and 12% of the market for

other services such as animation, content development and design

services.

o Gartner: $1 billion (2002), $1.2 billion (2003). $13.8 billion by 2007.

Gartner does not incorporate animation, medical or other (legal)

transcription services, GIS, market research, data search, research and

development, network consultancy and other non-business processes in

its estimates on the ITES market size and potential.

Revenue \ Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 CAGR


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Offshore BPO

Revenue1,322 1,825 3,017 6,439 12,563 24,230 78.91

Indian BPO Revenue 912 1,205 1,961 3,928 7,412 13,811 69.35

Total BPO Market 110,167 121,687 131,171 143,090 157,033 173,070 9.45

CAGR in % 2002-07 Figures in $ million Source: Gartner Dataquest (May 2003)

BPO revenues add upto in India

According to Nasscom, total IT-BPO clocked (or will clock),

2007-08: $52 billion (growth of 28%). $40.4 b from exports, $11.6 domestic.

Of the exports, IT grew by 28% to 23.1 b and BPO exports went up by 30% to

$10.9 b

2008-09*: $62-64 billion

2010*: 110 billion

The global BPO revenue estimates

Global Market size estimates of BPO

$712 billion in 2001

Gartner/Dataquest: $ 544 billion in 2004

Gartner: $173 billion in 2007, of which $24.23 billion would be outsourced to

offshore contractors

IDC: $300 billion in 2004

IDC: $1.2 trillion in 2006


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BPO revenue numbers by category/verticals

India's BPO Market Estimates

Key Service

Line1999 2001

2002-

2003

2003-

2004

2005-

2006

HR 5.43.5-

4.00.45 0.75 1.65

Customer Care 4.18.0-

8.58.3 12 15

Payment

Services2.9

3.0-

3.52.3 4.3 6.2

Content

Development2.6

2.5-

3.05.1 5.5 6.7

Administration 1.31.5-

2.03.25 5.4 8.4

Finance 0.72.5-

3.03.25 5.4 8.4

All estimates in billions


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Rival Concentration The call center industry is booming and the competition within it is immense. This

means that it's getting harder for a new entrant to differentiate itself from the more

established players in a market moving at a frenetic pace. There's no dearth of

investments in the area, as huge call centers are springing up across the country. The

only way for a new entrant to create a niche is to maximize efficiency and provide

maximum bang for the buck for its customers. The goal, for vCustomer, was to

provide best-in-class customer care for top brand name US companies and to do it at a

reduced cost of maintenance and serviceability. vCustomer focused on becoming a

major player in offshore voice-based tech support and, through the use of cutting-edge

technology, have been able to maintain their own edge in the market. With $12

million pumped into their India operations alone, vCustomer handles over 2 million

calls every month from the USA, UK and Canada.

Pace of Industry Change

India's software and services exports have been rising rapidly. The annual growth rate

ranges between 20 -22% in IT services and nearly 55 % in IT-enabled services

(ITES), such as call centers, Business Process Outsourcing ( BPO) and other

administrative support operations. Together they are predicted to grow at 25% pa till

2010.The IT industry is highly export oriented and the exporters are predominantly

Indian. The Indian BPOs (ITES) are moving up the value chain, handling high end

data for airline information, insurance, banking sector and mortgage companies,

enterprise resource planning, among others. Software exports make up 20 % of India's

total export revenue in 2003-04, up from 4.9 % in 1997.This figure is expected to go

up to 44% of annual exports by 2010. Though India accounts for just about 3 % of the

world market for information technology services, this sector has been growing at a

scorching pace, helped by a large pool of English-speaking workers, nearly 4 million

engineers and the increasing tribe of tech-savvy entrepreneurs in the country. The


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Information Technology industry currently accounts for almost 4.8 % of India's GDP.

It will account for 7 % of India's GDP by 2010. Software and IT enabled services

have emerged as a niche sector for India. This was one of the fastest growing sectors

in the last decade with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 50 per cent.

Software service exports increased from US $ 0.50 million in 1990 to $5.9 billion in

2000-01 to 23.6 billion dollars in 2005-06 recording a 34% growth. A compound

annual growth of over 25% per annum is expected over the next 5 years even on the

expanding base. The impact on the economy of projected software and IT enabled

service exports of $ 60 billion by 2010 is likely to be profound

SWOT ANALYSIS OF BPO IN INDIA

STRENGTH

Large no. of talented graduates

Affordable and quality education as compared to developed countries

English language benefit

Well-developed IT industry

Strong customer base of well known companies

Powerful venture capital interest in investing in growth opportunity

WEAKNESS

Scarce foreign language skills other than English.

Lack of customer service culture


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Expensive and poor quality telecom infrastructure

Poor electricity supply

Cultural differences

High attrition rates, therefore less no. of people with extensive call centre experience

OPPORTUNITIES

Horizontal and vertical expansion of existing customer base into new markets

Time zone difference between India and target markets

Increasing awareness of outsourcing services

THREAT

High Billing rates

Political instability

India's competitors in Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Asia Pacific regions

offering cheap BPO services

Increasing technology automation.

SUCCESS STORY FROM REAL WORLD


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PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Situation

A global leader in manufacturing wireless and Ethernet networking products was

worried about its abysmally low customer satisfaction levels of 66%.

Challenge: Increase Customer Satisfaction

vCustomer analyzed and benchmarked the performance of the client’s processes to

develop and introduce process improvements thereby reducing costs and improving

quality.

vCustomer Solution

vCustomer utilized its Business Intelligence tools to analyze established processes.

Analysis provided additional insight on the wait time of the calls and its impact on

CSAT.

Data revealed a precise wait time threshold. If the wait time exceeded this

threshold, CSAT scores dropped significantly.

Leveraging this information, vCustomer implemented automated wait time alerts:

During high call volumes, an IVR message offered customers a scheduled call back

and a redirect to capture the customer’s contact information. A return call would occur

during the time specified.

If a customer decided to wait, a call threshold alert commenced. Once the threshold

was reached, the call was immediately answered by a representative and a return call

would be scheduled.


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vCustomer also instituted an additional customer touch point. When an issue could

not be resolved due to non product reasons (eg; ISP or computer malfunctioning), the

interaction would be red flagged in the CRM. Managers would then personally

follow-up with the customer to ensure all issues or concerns were met as per the

customer’s satisfaction.

Results

The thorough analytics of the client’s process led to the development of a mechanism

which automated the entire wait threshold, thus significantly increasing the CSAT

scores from 66% to 84% in just 6 months.

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Situation

A US catalog and e-retailer with more than 2 million customers needed to increase

their average order size, but did not want their CSAT score negatively affected.

Challenge: Improve Up-Selling

vCustomer conducted a thorough review of the client’s business analytics to better

specify the key pain areas. By employing the Six Sigma approach, vCustomer

developed a comprehensive plan to successfully help the client improve the up-selling

process, thus increasing the average order size.

vCustomer Solution

Agent knowledge, access to product information and the ability to effectively

communicate this information to a customer were identified as critical for the up-

selling program.


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vCustomer instituted an e-Learning program for all new hires and current

agents. The program emphasized on linguistics to maximize customer

communication, up-selling techniques, and interactive sales simulations. These

simulations focused on sales skills, product and catalog searches, rapport building and

responding to multiple customer inquiries. Additional scripts were introduced and

agents were coached during recorded customer role playing sessions to further polish

their sales skills.

The next action involved a thorough analysis of the conversion rates of these

products during the sales process to enable complimentary pairing of high conversion

products with specific items within the customer’s order. This intelligent product

pairing automatically prompted the agent at the point of sale.

Moreover, vCustomer introduced new features in the customer relationship

management(CRM) application to fully leverage an agent’s product as well as sales

knowledge with the client’s knowledge repository. These new features, along with

screen navigation and keyboard shortcuts, helped provide quick and targeted searches

for additional products during the order process.

Finally, vCustomer implemented a Rewards & Recognition program with

incentives for agents meeting or exceeding up-selling goals.

Results

Evaluation of the vCustomer process improvement program showed an increase in

both up-selling and the average size of the order. Our solution exceeded the client’s

up-selling target by 50% to touch $15 million in the first year.


Analysis of vCUSTOMER

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