Smart People. Smart Solutions.

It’s a highly competitive world out there. There is a need to differentiate yourself. A need to create brand equity for your organization. To win markets, old and new. If ever Charles Darwin’s theory of Survival of the Fittest was true, it’s now. But then how must one survive? How do you make yourself or your business ‘unique’? The answer to all these questions lies in the age-old saying, ‘Customer is the king’. It has been and still continues to be the fundamental base on which the empires of successful enterprises are built.

But it isn’t that easy, mind you. The markets have become complex and so have we, the customers. Today we are smarter, technologically more equipped, with our ever-evolving needs. From the way we live and work to our preferences and choices, everything has transformed significantly over the years.

Smart People. Smart Solutions. – Our motto at HeroBPO didn’t just come from thin air. It’s a motto we live by. This weekend I glanced upon this quote and it some how got stuck with me. It goes like this:

"Surround yourself with smart, dedicated people - to build something isn't a one-man show. It's more important to have smart people who really believe in what you're doing than really experienced people who may not share your dream." - Niklas Zennstrom

True isn’t it? In my 20+ years, I have seen changes that might astonish you, developments that would make you sit in awe. I have learnt a lot, tried a lot of things but one thing that I have not underestimated is the power of the customers. One can’t do this alone. You need a team – a team of like-minded individuals. It will not be wrong to say that the key to winning partnerships lie in the ability to understand, customize and then service according to the consumers’ needs.

But how is this possible? To be able to create a winning product it is crucial to catch the pulse of what the consumer needs and what could make his or her life better, simpler. Though, we have many tools at our disposal to generate consumer insights, it would add a lot of value if we step out into the market, personally spend time with customers and get insights. Once the need is understood, the next step is customization. Categorizing customers as one homogenous lot can be useful as it helps streamline operations, however, one can not ignore the fact that each customer and his/her requirement is different from the other.

The question that arises is ‘How far are you willing to customize your offering?’ This flexibility has to be built in into organizational culture. Only when you are able to customize, you can truly deliver a superlative experience to the customer. People have become smarter, it’s time we offer them smart solutions as well.

Someone's Pain & Someone's Gain

As the third day closes on, the stand off between the democrats & republicans continues over what is termed as the biggest US healthcare reform aka Obamacare.

Whilst the controversy continues, India will benefit from this extensive overhaul in the US health insurance sector which intends to include an additional 30mn Americans to sign up for mandatory health insurance.

This single largest reform in the history of US would ultimately boost our Indian economy especially the pharma industry which produces nearly 40% of the generic drugs used in the US.

Apart from the pharma industry the IT & BPM service industry will benefit greatly from the impending reform. Some key facts- the healthcare payer market is estimated to reach ~$18bn with the strongest growth reflecting in the business process outsourcing market which will reach ~2bn.

The US dept. of health & human services estimates that call centers will receive anywhere between 40-45 mn calls this year alone, related to the federal marketplaces. An additional of 3500 letters, emails, and web chat requests is forecasted on a daily basis.

Clearly when such a massive demand for information & services for better health insurance providers arises, India needs to perk up and anticipate that a majority of those calls will be diverted to our BPM industry.

The Indian economy definitely stands to gain from this enormous revamp. Since it implies that more dollars will be spent by the US govt. on healthcare, thereby more dollars will flow into our market- albeit not withstanding the current deadlock.