Today, India is on the map of global digital transformation for driving phenomenal innovations in the Engineering R&D (ER&D) sector. ER&D has emerged as one of the fastest-growing sectors in India, with a projection to reach USD 63 billion by 2025. With the world’s third-largest start-up ecosystem, skilled and dynamic pool of talent, and technology expertise, India offers large-scale digitally enabled solutions that fuel innovation and future growth of global enterprises. Our country is strategically positioned to boost our digital economy as well as open new avenues to support global MNCs in their digital transformation journeys.
According to IDC’s latest forecast, in 2022 itself, the global IT and business services revenue is expected to grow by 5.6 percent. Moreover, it is also projected that by 2024, a 50 percent transition of all tech and services spending to ‘as-a-service’ and ‘outcomes-centric models’ will be made by enterprises in India, basis on their more empathetic customer experience, resilience and operational agility. This will continue to accelerate the momentum for Indian IT companies. Besides, the increase in the number of IT organizations joining this competitive space, will also help in catering the growing demands of customers and revolutionize the customer experience.
The world is rapidly changing and so are the customers’ expectations. Today, customers have varied alternatives to choose from, but good practices, an agile mindset, and strong partnerships make some companies service a customer for decades. This is even more praiseworthy when there are so many competitors trying to entice new customers and are using all the tricks of the trade such as offering heavy reductions and lucrative financial models that are hard to overlook.
What contributes to this steadfast loyalty? What is it that companies must watch out for in today’s time where a plethora of alternatives are available to customers? What should the companies do as practices to retain their customers and build customer loyalty? These are some of the questions that exists and addressing them is imperative. I would like to share some of the best practices at GlobalLogic that helped us retain our customers for decades, nurture and build everlasting partnerships with them, and are proud of continuing the business that scaled our growth journey.
- The most important need for a customer is to be heard, for their feedback/concerns to be taken seriously and actioned quickly –
While conducting NPS surveys is a good practice, for companies, the major focus is on detractors and taking measures to shift them to passives or promoters. Companies often tend to ignore passives and promoters and the comments provided for improvement.
What works for us at GlobalLogic is that we take every feedback provided by every stakeholder very seriously, whether it is provided through NPS survey, in a steering committee meeting, a sprint retrospective, or even informally – every feedback is documented, actioned, and regularly updated till it is tracked to closure.
Customers appreciate when they are heard and transparency is maintained, which not only helps us to acknowledge what we are doing well but also what we need to do better going forward. We have developed a culture where we train our teams not to be defensive and take the feedback in the right spirit – it might be a perception but still needs to be worked upon.
- Not every expectation of a customer will be explicit, understanding and delivering on the implicit expectations is a key ingredient and success mantra for winning customer loyalty –
Majority of the companies emphasize explicit expectations and exceeding them. However, at GlobalLogic, meeting them is table stakes. We train our teams to not only be always watchful to identify implicit needs and address them, but also to classify ways for driving efficiency and adding value through innovation. This is how we help our customers to be at the top of their game, be the leaders in their industry, and systematically create value for them on a continuous basis.
There are multiple ways our teams deliver this – by partnering with the customer and industry for Hackathons, internal ideation contests, or seeking out help from GlobalLogic shared services such as technology/practice offices, Business & Process Consulting Groups, Design Studio, etc. to offer ideas, suggestions, and solutions.
- Building a culture of transparency and empathy –
We are on this journey together as partners and customers forge deep and meaningful alliances to overcome challenges and emerge stronger. The bad news must be delivered and its better for the customer to hear from the teams on the ground. We train our teams to be honest and transparent with the customer, and highlight the risks along with corrective actions that will bring it back on track. This helps in winning the customer’s trust and building their confidence. Our teams are always willing to go the extra mile to keep the customers happy.
Selling is tough and acquiring a new customer is expensive, as it involves several cycles of discussions and presentations before a deal is closed. However, once acquired, winning the trust of the customer, continually exceeding their expectations, and keeping them engaged requires discipline, rigor, and a culture that propels them, something which we have managed to establish at GlobalLogic.
Authored by
Ashwani Nandini, Senior Vice President & Global Head- Delivery Assurance, GlobalLogic
