PwC's Vision, Expertise, and Transformative Approach to CX: An Interview with Rituparno Mukhopadhyay

PwC, as is widely acknowledged, has evolved into one of the largest consulting firms globally. Their expertise spans diverse sectors, including industrial products, automotive, retail, consumer goods, technology, media, telecom, and healthcare. As far as PwC's transformative approach to customer experience (CX) is concerned, it is guided by a commitment to end-to-end transformative journeys. They prioritize leadership focus on CX, digital maturity, addressing tech disruptions, and ensuring customer success as key metrics. Recently, Rituparno Mukhopadhyay, Partner (Consulting ) and Customer Lead Transformation Leader at PwC India spoke to Dataquest about PwC's strategic outlook and customer-centric approach that positions them as trusted partners in CX transformation, bridging the gap between strategy and execution.

DQ: Not that PwC needs an introduction but for better understanding, Could you provide a brief overview of PwC and its core areas of expertise?

Rituparno Mukhopadhyay: PwC, as you mentioned, requires no introduction. It is one of the prestigious Big Four organizations, globally renowned for its professional services. Recently, we celebrated our 150th year in India, reflecting our longstanding presence and commitment to excellence in the region. Our operations span across three core domains: audit, also known as assurance, tax, and advisory services. In the advisory sector, we specialize in consulting, which encompasses a wide range of services, including mergers and acquisitions. This comprehensive suite of services defines what PwC represents, both in India and to our valued clients worldwide.

DQ: What sets PwC apart from other companies in the same industry?

Rituparno Mukhopadhyay: Currently, our team in India comprises approximately 25,000 professionals. When considering our various service and delivery centers, this number expands to nearly 40,000 individuals, making us one of the largest providers of professional services. Our primary focus is on delivering comprehensive transformation solutions across various sectors and domains.

What sets us apart is our commitment to end-to-end transformative journeys. These journeys encompass a wide range of areas, including taxation, mergers and acquisitions, and our BO Play consulting domain. A noteworthy development occurred a couple of months ago, on the first of July, when we successfully integrated our entire consulting practice. This integration brought together our expertise in management consulting and technology consulting, allowing us to offer market-leading solutions. These solutions encompass finance transformation, HR transformation, customer transformation, and services for digital enterprises. We also excel in areas such as automation and data analytics.

In summary, our go-to-market strategy is driven by a clear focus on meeting customer demands. While our roots are in audit and tax, our primary emphasis in this region now lies in consulting. We specialize in providing comprehensive solutions that address the complete spectrum of customer needs.

DQ: How has PwC evolved and grown since its inception? What is the company's vision and long-term strategic direction?

Rituparno Mukhopadhyay:  For a considerable period, people predominantly recognized us as an organization specializing in audit and tax services. While these areas remain crucial, our focus has increasingly shifted towards consulting, particularly in this region. We specialize in comprehensive consulting services, covering end-to-end transformation from strategy development to execution across various sectors. These sectors include industrial products, automotive, retail, consumer goods, technology, media, telecom, and healthcare industries. These sectors constitute our core focus areas, differentiating us from other professional services providers in this country.

I'd like to emphasize that this year, as part of our reorganized go-to-market strategy, we have placed a strong emphasis on customer centricity. We have structured our solutions to be clustered around addressing specific customer challenges. In line with this approach, PwC's current vision statement revolves around achieving sustained and measurable outcomes. This approach sets us apart in the market by offering solutions that go beyond being just point solutions, aiming to provide immediate value and benefits to our clients.

DQ: Could you tell us about your partnership with SAP?

Rituparno Mukhopadhyay: Our relationship with SAP spans over two decades. To provide some historical context, in India, we were among the largest SAP solution providers before we underwent an acquisition by IBM in 1997. However, we made a strong return to the market around 2000. Today, we have not only reclaimed our position as one of the largest system integrators for SAP but have also evolved into one of the largest consulting firms operating in India.

Our expertise covers a wide spectrum of services, ranging from core ERP solutions to procurement transformation, HR transformation, customer transformation, and finance transformation. This comprehensive array of services makes our relationship with SAP highly compelling for customers. We offer a combined entity that guides clients from strategy development to execution, serving as a trusted go-to partner throughout their journey.

DQ: How have consumer expectations evolved, and what are your customers' key challenges in meeting those expectations?

Rituparno Mukhopadhyay: We aimed to create an accurate overview of the emerging trends in the customer transformation field. Through interviews with 300 customers globally, including those in India, we identified distinct patterns that have guided our solutions. These trends have become increasingly important for organizations:

• Leadership Focus on Customer Experience: Customer experience has shifted from being a "good to have" to a top priority. CEOs and CXOs are now committed to ensuring a positive customer experience right from the start of their interactions.
• Improved Digital Maturity: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital maturity of both organizations and their customers. Expectations for digital services and experiences have evolved significantly in the past two years.
• Impact of Tech Disruption: Disruption caused by new technologies and innovative business propositions, often driven by startups, has compelled organizations to reevaluate their strategies and embrace new-age solutions.
• Customer Success as a Metric: Customer success is now a critical metric for many clients. It's not just about having a good Net Promoter Score (NPS) but also translating customer satisfaction into tangible improvements in the organization's financial performance.
• Environmental, Sustainability, and Governance Focus: Customers are increasingly concerned about environmental sustainability and governance. They expect organizations to empower and sustain the environment while adhering to strong governance frameworks, often referred to as ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) standards.
• Omni-Channel Customer Experience: Customers now demand a consistent digital experience across all channels, whether it's brick-and-mortar stores, online platforms, or sales channels. The seamless integration of these channels is a key priority in customer discussions.

These trends collectively shape the way organizations approach customer transformation. Adapting to these shifts is vital for staying competitive and meeting the evolving expectations of customers in the digital age.

DQ: How does PwC approach the CX transformation needs of customers? 

Rituparno Mukhopadhyay: Combining insights from our CEO and CXO surveys, we have categorized our approach to customer experience and transformation into seven distinct areas. Firstly, there's "Traditional Sales and Service Transformation," where we focus on optimizing existing processes to drive growth. The second area is "Customer Insights," crucial for understanding how to enhance solutions and guide sales and service teams. The third element encompasses "Customer Retention and Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)," where we aim to foster long-term relationships with customers. 

"Marketing and Marketing Automation" make up the fourth dimension, ensuring effective outreach. The fifth facet is "Service Excellence," emphasizing top-notch service delivery. The sixth area involves "Omni-channel and E-commerce" strategies for seamless customer interactions. Finally, we advocate for the "Subscription Model" or "Anything-as-a-Service," anticipating a growing trend where products and services are offered as ongoing subscriptions. We're confident that this innovative approach will be a focal point for many of our customers in the years ahead, and we've structured our solutions around these seven elements to drive customer experience and transformation.

DQ: Tell us about some of the successful CX transformation projects you have spearheaded, and please name the customers if possible.

Rituparno Mukhopadhyay: We're proud to share some of our notable projects, and while we'll mention a few with references, we can provide a broader spectrum of our recent work. Initially, our focus was on managing sales and service, particularly in the consumer durables sector, where we achieved service excellence for consumers. Then came the pandemic, prompting us to reevaluate and rediscover new approaches to customer transformation in collaboration with our clients.

We embarked on a journey beyond traditional CRM, shifting our attention to inside sales and the digital transformation of our clients' external customer interactions. This led to the implementation of a B2B consumer commerce platform for Tata Hitachi, enabling them to sell spare parts and services through an omni-channel digital platform.

Building on this foundation, we ventured into selling steel on an e-commerce platform for ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel, both of which are reference clients that have received industry acclaim for their transformative efforts.

Our exploration of the subscription model took us to a large industrial tire manufacturer, where we introduced "tire-as-a-service," leveraging the power of commerce and CRM platforms.

Our portfolio extends to various sectors, including consumer durables, where we've executed B2B commerce, and retail, where we've pioneered B2C and direct-to-consumer initiatives for an organic retail company in Delhi.

As we move forward, we are actively engaged in multiple large-scale transformation programs across diverse enterprises, spanning industrial products, tire industries, automotive, consumer goods, and retail. We firmly believe that our path is yielding positive results across all seven elements of our customer-focused transformation work in collaboration with SAP.