The goal of a business is to in¬crease revenues and decrease costs. Retaining as many customers as possible remarkably fortifies this mission further. There is no bigger ambassador for a business than a loyal and happy customer. Acquiring and retaining a customer as the market overlaps with more products and services is challenging. It is therefore evident that customer engagement solutions can never be a five finger exercise anymore! It was in this context that outsourcing customer interactions emerged as a real game changer in business journey.

Carving a niche in the market, Gandalf Services, a boutique BPO focussed on customer acquisition and retention, aims to convert customer support teams to ‘Customer Lifecycle Management teams’ thereby creating both top and bottom line impact for clients. Saakar Bagga, CEO, Gandalf Services, indicates, “Services outsourcing is no longer about cheap labour but smart work. We found that while there were providers at either ends of the cost

segment, there were very few providing quality customer engagement at the mid-segment. Also, there exists a broken ecosystem for customer support that is fragmented.” He went on, “We, at Gandalf Services, approach a client’s needs from a holistic perspective. We find, acquire, support and retain customers. While our clients focus on their core product /service, we partner with them to manage their customer’s journey. And we are ridiculously good with understanding and leveraging data.”

"Gandalf Services aims to convert customer support teams to ‘Customer Lifecycle Management teams’ thereby creating both top and bottom line impact for clients"

The wizards at Gandalf Services also specialise in web-based research. Using specific tools, they are able to build verified and targeted customer/audience segments from scratch. This integral step in the sales cycle significantly increases customer acquisition and retention.

Building Scalable Off-Shore Businesses
Gandalf Services also helps clients optimise and manage their existing outsourced relationships. “As a part of our vendor management practice, we work for clients on Vendor Sourcing, Contracting, Project Transitions and ongoing vendor Governance. This gives them better R.O.I and saves them the huge expense of hiring full time resources,” explains Saakar.

Embracing best industry practices and technologies, Gandalf Services has a management team that has demonstrated cross border experience in managing complex and large scale processes. They offer customized CRM, best-in-class infrastructure, in depth reporting and a strong physical and network security shield. The company is currently working on creating a customised customer engagement platform 'Gimli' which maps a customer’s journey right from the start of engagement. “Gimli will give fantastic insights on consumer behaviour such as Where do customers drop off? Why do they ask for a refund? Where do they need handholding? and more,” adds Saakar.

Spread across US, UK, UAE and Australia, the diverse clients of Gandalf Services are mainly from industries like Media, Telecom and BFS. The firm continuously strives to ensure that every client gains tremendous value from its services, whether it is a start-up or an established player. “Our clients entrust us with developing and managing their customer base at a very competitive price. We enjoy repeat business from all our clients.”

The company which started in 2016 has just onboarded their first Indian client in the FinTech space; a lending platform focused on consumer loans. Gandalf Services expect to double their size this year!