Satish Pillai
Managing Director
Tell us a little about yourself and when did you decide to become an entrepreneur.
Well, that’s quite an interesting question and probably one that brings nostalgia too as it pushes me back to the early days when I was probably still studying and working. I was born and brought up right here in Mumbai. I completed my graduation from the University of Mumbai with majors in both Psychology and History around the year 2008. The idea of choosing History as a major still puzzles me but I think I decided to do it because of my immense love for the history of India. After a few years of my graduation, while I was still working is when a friend noticed my interest in new ventures and recommended that I look up the entrepreneurial course offering from the reputed SP Jain Institute of Management Research, Mumbai.
I was very influenced by the distinguished faculty that this program had along with the chair of the program too. It was indeed a great immersive experience. Unfortunately, owing to issues with myschedule, I was unable to complete the entire program, but I owe it to this great institution for helping sow those initial seeds of wanting to become an entrepreneur! I guess after I discovered that I could do it too, I never saw being employed as it was again. Past this, I then completed my Human Resources & Marketing management studies from Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay and most recently completed my Innovation Leadership Bootcamp from MIT, United States.
That’s interesting! So why iMetrix Solutions? What is its purpose?
This probably has to do a little with some of the values and thought processes instilled at home, especially given that I was always told that one should never get into an area of business that they have never worked in themselves. This meant that even though I had my eyes set on some new business options, I would probably have a better chance of success if I started something that I already had some knowledge and experience of. Contact Center Delivery Services, especially in the area of Telesales is a space that I have always been interested in.
Mind you, I am not referring to those most annoying marketing calls that you always receive, but instead Telesales that is inbound, very highly compliant and yet personal for each customer that calls into the Contact Center. With everything that is happening around the world and with all the possible automation processes emerging, the one area that I firmly believe still holds very
high relevance and may never go out of fashionis the personal desire of prospects or customers to be able to want to talk to an actual ‘human’ with whom they can communicate, exchange thoughts, and seek advice.
After all, no matter, how Techie we get, we are still humans. Having worked for years in various professional capacities in Contact Centers, I was driven by this thought process and wanted to set up a Contact Center Services firm that delivered high-quality customer acquisition and support services for its Clients. I know it sounds too common, but as one Harvard Business Review article put it while quoting the high customer service levels at Zappos, “Our belief is that as unsexy and low-tech as it may sound, the telephone is one of the best branding devices out there.
You have the customer’s undivided attention for five or 10 minutes, and if you get the interaction right, the customer remembers the experience for a very long time and tells his or her friends about it." Our purpose, therefore, continues to be able to create interesting memorable conversations for our Clients using our Contact Center, thereby achieving our goal of being able to deliver very high-quality customer acquisition and support services for our very reputed Clients.
You seem to be very passionate about what you do. There was a post published in Forbes Business Development Council about your views on increasing direct marketing success. Do you still believe those steps help? Where do you see iMetrix Solutions about 5 years from now?
That’s interesting to know that you already have some research on me. Yes, I still firmly believe that those steps to increase Direct Marketing Success are very critical to the profitability and sustainability of any responsible direct marketing organization. It is very crucial to know who your ‘actual’ customers are and to serve them ‘very well’, leading to ‘customer delight’ at all times. iMetrix Solutions, although established in the year 2015, still probably has a very long way to go. I think we’re at a stage now where we’re doing very well for our current Clients who share the same good values and the same belief systems as we do and we’re very fortunate in that regard.
Our objective for the next five years is to be able to become the ‘Service Provider of Choice’ in the direct marketing space for our Clients. We are currently working on various strategies to be able to execute this and hope to have everything in place over the next few years. We strongly believe that brands in the direct marketing industry can have a real impact, increased Lifetime value and highly positive ROI if they simply focus on where their customers are calling and who their current Contact Center Service provider is.
Has Covid-19 and the resulting lockdown affected your business? Are you planning something new?
Well, I think I would be lying if I said No. So yes, because we’re a human-
After all, no matter, how Techie we get, we are still humans. Having worked for years in various professional capacities in Contact Centers, I was driven by this thought process and wanted to set up a Contact Center Services firm that delivered high-quality customer acquisition and support services for its Clients. I know it sounds too common, but as one Harvard Business Review article put it while quoting the high customer service levels at Zappos, “Our belief is that as unsexy and low-tech as it may sound, the telephone is one of the best branding devices out there.
You have the customer’s undivided attention for five or 10 minutes, and if you get the interaction right, the customer remembers the experience for a very long time and tells his or her friends about it." Our purpose, therefore, continues to be able to create interesting memorable conversations for our Clients using our Contact Center, thereby achieving our goal of being able to deliver very high-quality customer acquisition and support services for our very reputed Clients.
Our constant effort at iMetrix Solutions is simply to be able to deliver unparalleled levels of service to our Clients by creating memorable phone conversations for their customers
You seem to be very passionate about what you do. There was a post published in Forbes Business Development Council about your views on increasing direct marketing success. Do you still believe those steps help? Where do you see iMetrix Solutions about 5 years from now?
That’s interesting to know that you already have some research on me. Yes, I still firmly believe that those steps to increase Direct Marketing Success are very critical to the profitability and sustainability of any responsible direct marketing organization. It is very crucial to know who your ‘actual’ customers are and to serve them ‘very well’, leading to ‘customer delight’ at all times. iMetrix Solutions, although established in the year 2015, still probably has a very long way to go. I think we’re at a stage now where we’re doing very well for our current Clients who share the same good values and the same belief systems as we do and we’re very fortunate in that regard.
Our objective for the next five years is to be able to become the ‘Service Provider of Choice’ in the direct marketing space for our Clients. We are currently working on various strategies to be able to execute this and hope to have everything in place over the next few years. We strongly believe that brands in the direct marketing industry can have a real impact, increased Lifetime value and highly positive ROI if they simply focus on where their customers are calling and who their current Contact Center Service provider is.
Has Covid-19 and the resulting lockdown affected your business? Are you planning something new?
Well, I think I would be lying if I said No. So yes, because we’re a human-
centered Contact Center Services delivery firm, we were very affected by the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. As much as I would like to mention that we were high-tech and ready to go remote, we weren’t. I don’t think anybody anticipated such a massive lockdown process to ever occur in history. We were as affected as any other small business was. Thankfully, our Human Resources, Technology and Administrative staff made it easy and smooth for our Business Operations team to work remotely.
Our Staff and Clients were very understanding and patient during the whole process and we will be eternally grateful to them for their continued faith in us the whole time. The initial few days with the challenges in place to work remotely were very stressful but we were all eventually able to make it work seamlessly for our Clients. I was very glad and also overwhelmed at the same time to see such a high level of understanding between each of our staff members and our Clients and vendors too.
With the challenges brought about by Covid-19 lockdown and the increasing adoption of Telehealth in the US, we knew that the time is ripe for the launch of a pharmacy-based opportunity directly connected with Telehealth since this would not only mean convenience but also increased access to doctors for patients and any additional benefits. We’re currently working on a strategic business opportunity with a national-level Telehealth and Pharmacy business operations partner to be able to launch an online service within the US. We are hopeful that this would add great value to our clients and their brands in the healthcare and insurance space.
“We are currently working on various strategies to be able to execute this and hope to have everything in place over the next few years”
Finally, for the level of success achieved thus far, who would you say had the most influence on you?
That’s a tough question. I’m not sure if one can attribute all of their little success to just one person. I have always believed that every person you come in contact with, whether professionally or otherwise regardless of the duration of their contact, always helps you learn something and influences you in some or the other way. I consider myself very blessed to have had the great opportunity to be able to work with some of the most talented and intelligent supervisors, professionals, colleagues and business partners. I am also grateful to have such a high level of understanding and personal support from family members and friends. I would therefore say, that for the little success I may have achieved so far in my professional capacity, must be sincerely attributed to all of the above who continue to encourage and be such great support systems.
Satish Pillai, Managing Director
An experienced Direct Marketing and Contact Center Services leader, Satish is a business professional with more than 15 years of work experience spanning various positions at several leading Contact Centers. His passion revolves around creating an ownership culture by investing significant time in building a business-oriented team which is proficient in delivering stunning results that redefine performance metrics. During his overall career, he has won several organizational awards for outstanding performance contributing towards business excellence.
Our Staff and Clients were very understanding and patient during the whole process and we will be eternally grateful to them for their continued faith in us the whole time. The initial few days with the challenges in place to work remotely were very stressful but we were all eventually able to make it work seamlessly for our Clients. I was very glad and also overwhelmed at the same time to see such a high level of understanding between each of our staff members and our Clients and vendors too.
With the challenges brought about by Covid-19 lockdown and the increasing adoption of Telehealth in the US, we knew that the time is ripe for the launch of a pharmacy-based opportunity directly connected with Telehealth since this would not only mean convenience but also increased access to doctors for patients and any additional benefits. We’re currently working on a strategic business opportunity with a national-level Telehealth and Pharmacy business operations partner to be able to launch an online service within the US. We are hopeful that this would add great value to our clients and their brands in the healthcare and insurance space.
“We are currently working on various strategies to be able to execute this and hope to have everything in place over the next few years”
Finally, for the level of success achieved thus far, who would you say had the most influence on you?
That’s a tough question. I’m not sure if one can attribute all of their little success to just one person. I have always believed that every person you come in contact with, whether professionally or otherwise regardless of the duration of their contact, always helps you learn something and influences you in some or the other way. I consider myself very blessed to have had the great opportunity to be able to work with some of the most talented and intelligent supervisors, professionals, colleagues and business partners. I am also grateful to have such a high level of understanding and personal support from family members and friends. I would therefore say, that for the little success I may have achieved so far in my professional capacity, must be sincerely attributed to all of the above who continue to encourage and be such great support systems.
Satish Pillai, Managing Director
An experienced Direct Marketing and Contact Center Services leader, Satish is a business professional with more than 15 years of work experience spanning various positions at several leading Contact Centers. His passion revolves around creating an ownership culture by investing significant time in building a business-oriented team which is proficient in delivering stunning results that redefine performance metrics. During his overall career, he has won several organizational awards for outstanding performance contributing towards business excellence.