HDFC Limited is making home financing journeys smoother and faster through a unified customer service and engagement platform.
For over 45 years, HDFC Limited has helped more than 9.8 million customers fulfil their dreams of owning a home. The housing finance provider’s enduring appeal can be attributed to three factors – a rich heritage, an innovative spirit, and a strong customer focus.
“In our industry, the biggest differentiator is service – how quickly we respond to customers, and how well we understand their needs,” says Renu Sud Karnad, Managing Director, HDFC Limited. “We have tonnes of customer data from the past 45 years. Now, with AI/ML and other emerging technologies, we’re able to use that data to elevate the customer experience – be it through 1:1 personalisation or self-service.”
The company’s vision is to stay connected with customers across the home lending cycle, keeping them updated every step of the way.
“Home financing isn’t an over-the-counter product – it’s a journey we take with our customers,” says Abhijit Singh, Chief Technology and Digital Officer, HDFC Limited. “Technologies like Salesforce help us make that journey frictionless.”
Previously, HDFC Limited used home-grown applications to manage the customer lifecycle. These legacy tools didn’t fully integrate with third-party systems, and hence they weren’t efficient.
“We wanted to build a nimbler, cloud-enabled, and API-first system of engagement to serve customers better,” recalls Singh. So, he and his team set out to digitally transform HDFC Limited’s customer lifecycle, beginning with service.
Delighting customers with exceptional service experiences
Built on Salesforce Service Cloud, Customer Connect 2.0 is HDFC Limited’s customer service and engagement platform that empowers 4,000+ service agents to achieve service excellence through prompt communication.
The platform acts as the backbone for all customer interactions and will also be used for omnichannel servicing across touchpoints – including the web portal, mobile app, customer servicing emails, call center, and modules used during service centre visits.
Customer queries and requests are captured on the platform for optimal visibility. At the click of a button, agents can visualise all customer and loan data on a single screen.
“With Customer 360 and Loan 360, we have complete visibility into customer interactions and loan details, which helps us resolve queries faster and smarter,” says Singh. “Customers leave each interaction satisfied.”
HDFC Limited now closes an average of 6,000 applications per day. Follow-up emails from the customer are seamlessly threaded to the original case. This has helped lower the number of monthly cases by 40%. The resolution turnaround time (TAT) has also reduced significantly.
Service productivity has improved as well. Tools like Salesforce Einstein help agents read and categorise emails faster. In fact, within a few weeks of automatic email classification, service efficiency increased by 30%.
“Earlier, agents spent all their time managing service requests,” recalls Karnad. “But now, with workflow automation, the team is freed up to innovate around key challenges. They look at aspects like how to pre-empt and prevent common customer issues, how to design a customer service portal, and what to include on our service mobile app. Essentially, the team is shaping the future of service.”
Through data analytics, service branch owners can manage workloads and make decisions more efficiently. Powerful dashboards help them identify which cases can be resolved through customer self-service or closed in the first attempt through automation. Executives, in turn, have a centralised command centre view to visualise and monitor service performance.
“We want to make loan management so seamless that eventually, there won’t even be a need for customer service,” says Singh.
Reimagining sales and lending journeys with powerful customer engagement tools
HDFC Limited is also using Salesforce Sales Cloud to streamline and automate lead creation, qualification, and nurturing.
Sales reps can use the ‘HDFC & You Partners App’ built on Salesforce to manage hot leads and opportunities from anywhere. All the data they need is available at their fingertips to engage prospects better, and close more deals.
“The 360-degree customer view helps us have better conversations with our customers, and they, in turn, expand their footprint with us,” explains Singh.
Soon, HDFC Limited will use the platform capabilities of Salesforce to manage the entire loan origination cycle – from customer onboarding, to credit decisioning and disbursement. MuleSoft, with its API-led and low-code integration capabilities, will connect front-end and back-end systems to make the customer’s lending experience even more frictionless.
“Getting a loan approved from us should be as easy as ordering a meal on your food delivery app,” says Singh. “Automated workflows will minimise data errors, rework, and inconsistencies, so that we can disburse loans faster.”
The company is attempting to reduce credit appraisal TAT by a third, thereby increasing the number of loans disbursed per month by 3x.
Meanwhile, dynamic reports offer sales teams real-time visibility into sales productivity, performance, and attrition KPIs.
“With instant sales insights, decision-making is a lot easier,” says Singh.
These and other benefits were realised with the help of the Salesforce Customer Success team who collaborated closely with HDFC Limited to accelerate Salesforce adoption, engagement, and growth.
Investing in the future
HDFC Limited is now looking to simplify customer service even further with a plethora of DIY servicing options for customers across channels, including the customer portal, mobile app, WhatsApp, and chatbots.
Ultimately, the company wants to assist customers in their home buying decision itself.
“Imagine using AR/VR or the metaverse to choose your home,” says Singh. “The possibilities with technology are endless.”
Adds Karnad, “Blockchain, quantum computing, and the metaverse have opened up tremendous opportunities to transform the way we do business. But our goal isn’t just to improve operational productivity or efficiency – it’s also to understand and connect with customers better. Technologies like Salesforce help us achieve both objectives at once.”
