Rahul’s team delivers
business-critical
services to DLL
colleagues around
the world

When you call a customer service number from anywhere in the world, chances are you will connect to an agent in India. With its highly skilled workforce, India is world leader in service centers. “Thanks to an innovative and entrepreneurial approach, our India team now provides business-critical contract activation services to DLL teams in other countries,” says Rahul Aggarwal, Vice President Operations. “We are so proud of this.”

DLL Blue in India

People who work at DLL often talk about “DLL Blue”. That’s how they describe their positive feeling about being part of the company. When you talk to Rahul, you know you have discovered True Blue. “This is such a great place,” says Rahul. “Wonderful colleagues. Forward thinking. Clear vision. And DLL always takes care of its people.”

Rahul started in the New Delhi offices in 2014 as Senior Manager Operations working on the Philips account. In 2016, he became the first DLL member in India dedicated to agricultural finance. Under his leadership, the business grew and he soon moved to DLL corporate offices in Mumbai where he led a growing team of agriculture finance specialists.

Contract activation pilot with DLL Australia-New Zealand (DLL ANZ)

Contract activation is a backbone of the DLL leasing business. It’s the main process to onboard customers. In 2021, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, DLL saw an opportunity to align two needs in the company through a contract activation pilot project.

“On the one hand, we were winding down the India organization,” says Rahul. “So we had many talented people looking for future opportunities. On the other hand, our colleagues in DLL ANZ were looking to increase their contract activation capacity in the short to mid-term to manage their growth in a controlled manner.”

Voila! DLL management recognized the opportunity: a shared internal contract activation service provided remotely by the team in India!

Connecting cultures and crossing time zones

In April 2021, DLL formed a six-month pilot project with nine contract activation specialists in DLL India and Rahul as the team lead. They kicked off the operation to support their colleagues in DLL ANZ.

“It was an exciting and high-pressure project,” says Rahul. “We had six months to prove we could deliver this specialized knowledge as a remote service. We had to connect cultures and cross time zones. Australia is five hours and 30 minutes ahead of India.”

Entrepreneurial spirit, determination and chats

Thanks to entrepreneurial spirit and determination to achieve a common goal, the pilot was a success. Today, three years later, the Indian team works with their DLL ANZ colleagues to deliver a seamless service to customers.

“We are in daily contact,” says Rahul. “The key words are reliability, teamwork and communication. We have weekly virtual meetings. It’s important to know who you are working with. And of course there is a little bridge to build between Indian and Australian English. We do a lot of emailing and do a lot of quick communication via chats. That works very well.”

Two teams. One DLL

In 2021, the world was wrestling with COVID-19. Started as a pilot in the middle of the pandemic, the shared contract activation service is a case study in how to mobilize an effective remote team.

“We have been operational for three years now, and it’s a success,” says Rahul. “We have daily challenges. We constantly learn new things. But it’s working and it's very gratifying. We are two teams collaborating on different sides of an ocean, and we perform as One DLL.”

Keeping a business-critical global process in-house

For DLL, contract activation is a highly confidential core-business process. It’s crucial to the service level DLL provides to customers and to DLL’s competitive advantage.

“It’s a huge benefit to keep this knowledge inside the company,” says Rahul. “This team has proven we can deliver as a remote service. The proof is in the growth. We are now expanding the service to colleagues in the UK and Canada. So we have team members here who start work at all times of the day! We are becoming a global internal provider of a business-critical service, 24 hours a day.”