Sarmisstha Hebbar
Mumbai
Summary
Talented professional with several years of experience and successful career in planning, developing, and executing events and initiatives to achieve maximum potential. Creative and highly strategic with excellent leadership and client relations abilities. Professional and outgoing with success in building relationships and attracting new clients.
Overview
26
26
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Vice President-Customer Service
Eduvanz Financing Private Limited
Mumbai
09.2022 - Current
- Managed relationships with external partners, vendors, and stakeholders to ensure successful collaborations.
- Provided strategic guidance to executive team on operational decisions and initiatives.
- Developed new policies and procedures to increase efficiency in all departments.
- Ensured compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies, and procedures.
- Recruited, trained, mentored, and evaluated staff members in order to optimize their effectiveness.
- Setting up the Quality Assurance and Call monitoring Process for the Customer Service Team.
- Streamlined the Incentives structure for the Service team to keep them motivated and enhance customer experience with every interaction.
- Developed the Chatbot Process and ensured that the CSAT and NPS for the organisation is at par with the Industry standards.
- Established key performance indicators to track progress against organizational objectives.
- Identified potential risks and developed contingency plans accordingly.
- Facilitated communication between internal teams by organizing monthly meetings.
- Conducted regular reviews of business operations, identified areas for improvement, and proposed solutions.
- Analyzed data from marketing campaigns to determine best practices for future efforts.
- Created plans to improve customer service standards throughout the organization.
- Maintained a comprehensive understanding of trends within the industry landscape.
- Monitored competitors' activities to stay ahead of changes in the marketplace.
- Collaborated with senior management on long-term planning initiatives that aligned with corporate goals.
- Evaluated current systems and processes to identify opportunities for streamlining operations.
- Contributed to strategic planning and development of operations transformation roadmap as key member of executive team.
- Implemented monthly lunches to sit down with employees, brainstorm, discuss issues and provide feedback.
- Leveraged company's mission and vision statements to craft business strategies and boost revenue opportunities.
- Built top-performing teams by training in areas of expertise and through effective coaching and mentoring.
- Provided organizational leadership and collaborated with executive partners to establish long-term goals, strategies and company policies.
- Streamlining internal processes in coordination with various departments.
- Coordinating with the business and project management team to get business systems and processes in place.
- Instrumental in setting up the R&R and performance improvement process in place.
- Did project on Average Resolution Time (ART), Quality compliance which helped to reduce ART and improve efficiency.
- Creating end to end reporting for performance management.
- Critically evaluate data to enhance performance.
- Process Improvement to create value adds for Clients.
- Daily Operations Management through robust reports, critically analysis of data for improvement and correct if there are any anomalies.
- Ensure SLA’s are met as per the agreed SOW.
- Develop and improve client relationship through exceeding performance and increasing Customer Value Added Services & Upsales.
- People management along with Succession planning.
- Ensuring People, Performance objectives and standards are exceeded.
- Develop, Deliver and analyse operational and financial data to develop and implement action plans based on the results.
Vice President - Head-Customer Service & Operation
Eduvanz Financing Pvt Ltd.
Mumbai
01.2020 - 09.2022
- Responsible for overall Customer Service deliverables and activities
- Entrusted with the accountability for overall Customer experience
- Additionally handled a part of Operations i.e Disbursals for Education Loans and was responsible for driving initiatives to grow the overall number of disbursal keeping in sync with the growth in book size
- This however had no compromises at service level and have been ensured continuous improvement in enhancing customer experience
- Ensured in playing a pivotal role by bringing a marked change in the operations through focused initiatives leading to tremendous improvement in levels of multiple parameters including turn around time for customer Query Request and Complaints, fixing in the process gaps and bringing down the number of repeat instances of the same nature
- Taken initiative to introduce a multichannel chatbot, introduction of dialers and process changes at overall customer service levels
- Management have entrusted the responsibility to improve disbursal numbers which was not my area of expertise inspite of which I had taken up the challenge and ensured the numbers are on the upward trend month on month
- Have managed to build and retain talent which has only added value to the organisation.
Senior Manager - Risk / Collections & Legal
Secure Debt Management LLP
01.2019 - 12.2019
- Managing one of the prestigious portfolio i.e American Express cards, delinquent accounts and ensuring that the flow rates are within 26% by implementing process changes PAN-India
- Ensured that the money collections on the said portfolio is maximized as per the set target by the banker, through coaching team members on negotiation skills and achieve an increase in share of wallet and revenue
- Holding daily hurdles and addressing team members on the quality of calls and briefing them on improvement areas by using key words which resulted in acquiring score of 99.5% on quality scores, call monitoring per se during Audit
- Upgrading Resource Quality through interviews and recruiting quality resources by identifying the right candidate in order to achieve productivity which resulted in increase of market share for the organisation
- Worked collaboratively with the field team and implemented a functional FR model to ensure that the cost to company on field payout and incentives is minimized
- Handling of legal portfolio by working with the legal team and introducing a weekly update on all NCLT accounts under IBC
- Attending Committee of Creditors meeting in person every month
- Maintaining Introduction of Legal Deck to all stakeholders with appropriate updates every month which resulted in tracking closely with productive outcome on all NPA accounts.
Customer Service Manager
Fullerton India Credit Company Limited
07.2016 - 01.2019
- Customer Service Manager- Handling Social Media Escalations(Facebook Twitter, LinkedIn, Consumercomplaint.com, Mouthshut, Bankbazaar) and Regulator Escalations
- Ensuring end to end resolution for all customer complaints posted on social media with turn around time of 3 hours, resulting in customer loyalty and retention
- Eye for detail, productivity, quality and overall work standards
- Effectively communicated with customers using a multitude of channels to provide excellent service with every interaction
- Recognized for proactively maintaining an in-depth knowledge of all products and promotions
- Proven track record of analyzing product failure for problem identification and prioritization of necessary corrective actions
- Conduct Rootcause analysis behind customer dissatisfaction and provide ongoing solutions/recommendations to improve efficiency of processing departments
- Proactively assisted in implementing process improvements and developed/updated customer service procedures
- Maintaining and updating tracker for all customer complaints, on weekly basis
- Allotting CRM id's on all written communication to team members and keeping a track for TAT breaches ensuring the same is minimized by extending support to close the cases within stipulated time
- Improvised the standard templates for email/written communication, adding a personal touch to handle irate and dissatisfied customers
- Generating leads for cross sell business
- Have been appreciated by most of the customers, for quick resolution on social media platforms.
Administration Manager
PARLE TILAK VIDYALAYA(ICSE)
06.2015 - 06.2016
- Handling daily academic administration work
- Maintenance and Supervision of School Records(General Register, Leave records, Maintaining of Muster for all teaching and non-Teaching Faculty)
- Handling all communication between the Management and the Indian Council for Secondary Education(ICSE)
- Preparing Minutes of the meeting(PTA, Committee, Staff and AGM) and maintaining the register
- Co-ordinating and organizing of workshop conducted by the Management
- Preparation of workshops and conference material for the Principal i.e(Speech, Presentation etc)
- Responsible for the Question papers set by the teachers for formatting and Rolling out for Examinations
- Preparing of Portion and Time-Table for Examinations as well as Class Time Table
- Personal Time table for the Teachers
- Being one point contact for the new admissions in the school and ensuring the process is smooth
- Arranging for Interviews of new staff with the Principal and maintenance of Personal Data File of all Teachers on Board
- Taking Care of the Arrangements for the Guest lecturers for Workshops and Career Guidance as well as Supervising Examiners during Board Examinations
- Corresponding with different Schools for Fest, Competitions and Training sessions for Students and Teachers
- Responsible to execute all school Function Arrangements i.e invitations, Programme list, sending out letters to different vendors for the arrangements of Annual Day, Sports Day, Teachers Day, Children's Day, Christmas)
- Taking care of the distribution of books for the new academic year for all classes and communicating it to the distributor and making arrangements for the same
- Miscellaneous activities i.e uniforms for grade IV staff, cleanliness of the school, coordinating with the counselor and ensuring all paper work for children with learning difficulty are in place and reaches the Council on time, responding to mails from Parents, Council and Principals of other schools
- Co-ordination and arrangements for travel and Stay( Principal ,Teachers, HOD).
Premier Acquisition Manager
HDFC BANK
01.2012 - 09.2012
- Liasing with HNI clients for acquiring new business through cross-sell of CASA, INSURANCE AND MUTUAL FUNDS
- Highlighting potential of Customers and deepen relationships with them so that the other products i.e Home Loans, Car Loans , LAS, Working capital is marketed through right channels to them to achieve the sale target as one institution
- Ensure full awareness of all policies and procedure issued in relation to KYC norms.
Customer Service Manager-Priority Banking
Standard Chartered Bank
06.2008 - 01.2009
- Responsible for managing the biggest priority center with the team size of 4 customer service managers and client base of 1000 HNI Relationships
- Manage service delivery by reviewing staff output to ensure adherence to specified service standards
- Monitor and work towards continuous improvement of service quality
- Generate cross sell business to achieve defined sales target
- Deepen relationships with priority customer and prevent attrition to achieve increase in share of wallet and revenue
- Ensure full awareness of all policies and procedure issued in relation to money laundering prevention and KYC
- Managing Deposits, Mutual funds, Insurance, Overdraft
- Complete all operational Health Documents like KCS/KRI at required frequency
- Monitor and drive adherence to cost budgets including new initiatives on cost management.
Associate Manager-Collections- (X-DPD)
Standard Chartered Bank
01.2006 - 05.2008
- Handling a team of 28 Tele-calling Officer and 3 Team Leaders
- Projecting Month end Targets
- Quality- BRR/Internal audit/Group Audit- Ensuring that all the documents related to Audits are in place, Ensured that The agencies adhere to the rules laid by the bank and the feedback is given on audits and Documents of the reports are filed
- Risk Control
- Compliance to Code of Conduct
- Complaint Management
- Capacity Utilization and Talent Retention
- Managing Talent and Training
- Performance Management
- Daily MIS reporting to immediate manager
- Monitor and compare MIS on daily risk drop to previous months
- To maintain portfolio quality within budgeted parameters and meet the X dpd target for the centre by
- Using Balance Score to drive portfolio targets
- Effective performance management to enhance In-house Telecalling productivity through Balance Score
- Effective Risk Management through timely hot listing/ Legal/ timely CACS update
- Implementation of CACS strategies to manage the above flow rates
- Regular Account Coverage in X, Pre-X and 'O' state
- Effective handling of Customer Calls which the Officers or Team leaders are unable to handle
- Effective reporting of variance to Manager& implementation of catch-up plan
- Ensuring good history/ trail updates by team members
- Ensuring attrition is less than 15% annualized
- Development of CAOs (Regular training on CACS efficiency ratios)
- Ensuring updation of database for cardholder change of addresses, telephone nos
- Etc
- Follow all ISO related procedures/ documentation
- Report any transaction where funds appear to originate from suspected illegal sources
- Raise awareness on KYC/ML
- Provide feedback to the trainer of the training requirements for the team.
Team Leader-Collections (X-60 DPD)
Standard Chartered Bank
05.2002 - 01.2006
- Managing the X days team & 60 days team, strength of 9 CAOs.& 5 CAO's respectively
- Allocation of portfolio among the Team members and ensuring that the best is delivered by each individual in the team and maintaining team synergies
- Monitoring Team performance daily and ensuring achievement of the set goals
- Ensuring prompt action on overdue accounts ,dealing with customer queries and dealing with difficult situation faced by the officers while handling a customer
- Monitor and compare MIS on daily risk drop to previous months
- Check,conceptualize and implement new strategies to control risk effectively
- Training & monitoring the new and temporary officers and obtaining better results with each passing day.
Customer Assistance Officer-Collections
Standard Chartered Bank
08.1999 - 05.2002
- Resolving delinquent account providing customer assistance and handling other collection related issues
- Handling credit card delinquency and establishing contacts with the customers defaulting on the card empathizing with their problems and persuading them to expedite their payments
- Managing own portfolio and managing a team of 5 officers of in-house 60 dpd team and ensuring that the committed targets are met month on month
- Initiate and adopt preventive measures for potentially risky and fraudulent cardholders
- Facilitate the completion of back office payment processes
- Preparing and maintaining the in-house 60dpd MIS
- Handled Low balances in NUNP &RNUNP portfolio and was successful in retaining the customer with the bank and our card services.
Marketing Officer
Standard Chartered Bank
01.1999 - 08.1999
- The job profile included promoting the corporate Sales of Standard Chartered Credit Cards and enhancing the corporate Image of the bank
- Co-ordinating with the HR managers and resolving all queries and complains with regards to Standard Chartered products.
Education
Bachelor of Arts -
Sathaye College of Science Commerce and Arts
Higher Secondary Certificate -
Sathaye College of Science Commerce and Arts
Senior Secondary Certificate -
Canossa Convent Girls High School
Skills
- Customer Services/Customer Engagement
- Complaint Resolution
- Strong multitasking skills
- Fast learning ability
- Excellent Communication & Interpersonal skills
- Excellent Leadership qualities/Result oriented Approach & Decisive Vision
- Innovative approach/Excellent troubleshooting abilities
Personal Information
Nationality: Indian
Projects
Chatbot-Asha- Fullerton India Credit Company Ltd., AI Chatbot namely 'Asha' was introduced by Fullerton India Credit Company Ltd to cater to all Applicants who were inclined to apply for a Personal Loan from them. Was truly fortunate to be a part of this team and provide my inputs on the flow of the chat. Opportunity to witness this phase was really an exhilarating and learning experience which allowed to understand the nuances of the 'CHATBOT' and the work that goes in creating one.
Affiliations
- My job in Eduvanz Financing Private Limited is to ensure that the overall customer experience across all customer touch points is seamless & there is speedy delivery of services for all with the help of technology as well as the importance of robust & sophisticated risk management framework which is not compromised to achieve the same.
A combination of work experience with Blue chip companies like Standard Chartered, HDFC Bank and Fullerton India Credit Company Limited as well as with Eduvanz which is a Start-up, have made me a multi-disciplined person who has worked across departments from Collection, Digital Sales, Operations, Compliance to even Technology & Automation.
It’s very fortunate as well as exciting for me to have gained experience in the Fin-Tech space which is today emerging internationally as well as in India, and use this opportunity to transform my experience & ideas into technological solutions for the Financial Services Industry.
Languages
English
First Language
Bengali
Proficient (C2)
C2
Hindi
Intermediate (B1)
B1
Marathi
Intermediate (B1)
B1
Accomplishments
- Acheived Best Manager's Award by being nominated by the team as a Team Player and Best Manager, for balancing the professional and emotional quotient within the Customer Service Department and for driving valuable and positive transformations within the team
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Senior Vice President-Customer Service
Eduvanz Financing Private Limited
09.2022 - Current
Vice President - Head-Customer Service & Operation
Eduvanz Financing Pvt Ltd.
01.2020 - 09.2022
Senior Manager - Risk / Collections & Legal
Secure Debt Management LLP
01.2019 - 12.2019
Customer Service Manager
Fullerton India Credit Company Limited
07.2016 - 01.2019
Administration Manager
PARLE TILAK VIDYALAYA(ICSE)
06.2015 - 06.2016
Premier Acquisition Manager
HDFC BANK
01.2012 - 09.2012
Customer Service Manager-Priority Banking
Standard Chartered Bank
06.2008 - 01.2009
Associate Manager-Collections- (X-DPD)
Standard Chartered Bank
01.2006 - 05.2008
Team Leader-Collections (X-60 DPD)
Standard Chartered Bank
05.2002 - 01.2006
Customer Assistance Officer-Collections
Standard Chartered Bank
08.1999 - 05.2002
Marketing Officer
Standard Chartered Bank
01.1999 - 08.1999
Bachelor of Arts -
Sathaye College of Science Commerce and Arts
Higher Secondary Certificate -
Sathaye College of Science Commerce and Arts
Senior Secondary Certificate -
Canossa Convent Girls High School