Hundreds of people leave their marks on the digital transformation industry, from executives to engineers. Some, however, leave a much bigger mark and truly shape what is to come by creating innovative, customized technology based solutions that will take customer service, CRM & CX to the next level.
Balaji Ramachandran (Bala) is one of the individuals leading this charge, redefining terms in the digital transformation industry and creating new benchmarks in the sector. He is the Founder & CEO of SoftClouds, a leading CX solutions provider based in San Diego, California.
Bala has everything necessary to be a big player in the digital transformation industry: a real enthusiasm for the customer experiences of the future, passion for cloud technology, and years of experience.
Bala’s Entrepreneurial Journey
Bala has had a passion for customer experience driven solutions/applications and the automotive industry ever since he was a kid.
Bala started his career in 1993 at the Electronic Data Processing (EDP) department of India’s largest automotive dealership & services company TVS and later moved to second-largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, Ashok Leyland. His focus was on sales and service automation, inventory management for parts, and on scheduling systems to solve service and customer service problems.
Later, Bala moved to the United States and worked as a technology consultant for several major management consulting companies. Bala jokes that, as a consultant, he learned less about how to and more about how NOT to do CRM implementations. He witnessed projects consistently fail due to high prices, ill-advised services and poor software and business knowledge. That was the time he decided to start a company that would do things right.
In 2005, recognizing the emerging trends in digital transformation, CRM and Cloud, Bala started SoftClouds to address and implement Quality CRM Solutions.
Bala picked the Automotive Industry as a break-thru ground for his innovation & passion for customer experience solutions. That has transformed his clientele of top automotive OEM’s with CX solutions and setting them future ready. Bala has been the man in charge of making SoftClouds respected throughout the automotive industry and figuring out which cloud and CX solutions best fit the needs of OEMs that are stuck with on premise legacy CRM systems.
Those who had the chance to work with Bala say that he always seems to have something up his sleeve, and he always knows how to fix even the most challenging CRM problems for his OEM clients.
Bala was heavily inspired by software pioneer, Thomas Siebel. At SoftClouds, Bala started with developing solutions to improve the Siebel CRM systems for major enterprises. Bala was instrumental in progressing the CRM industry to the cloud with cloud and hybrid CRM solutions.
Bala’s Sources of Inspiration
Bala thanks Steve Jobs for instilling in him the passion for creation, and Bill Gates for his enthusiasm for philanthropy.
Warren Buffet Quote: It takes decades to create a reputation and minutes to ruin it.
Bala’s Attitude – Leave No Stone Unturned
Bala wanted SoftClouds to capitalize on the need for customized CRM software but faced numerous challenges on its inception. The biggest one was finding a way to prove the brand and its capabilities against major competitors, all without an established customer base.
However, Bala showed clients that a passionate boutique company with a high quality mindset, better architects/ solution providers like SoftClouds can provide a much better tailored solution for a considerably lower cost. Sheer dedication and smart work took those promises and turned them into actual, demonstrable results.
Most memorable moment for this leading entrepreneur
Bala says that his most cherished memory is when SoftClouds won a contract with one of the biggest weight loss companies in the US. It was a very large venture, and that was the moment that he realized that SoftClouds could handle, plan and execute a multimillion dollar project if the team was focused on quality and delivery.
SoftClouds: Taking Your CX to the Next Level
SoftClouds helps its customers develop a clear understanding of global CX strategy. Operating in multiple locations across the world, the company is able to bring innovative ideas to the market and implement them with tailor-made solutions for every client.
SoftClouds offers a broad range of renowned products and world-class CX solutions that allow its customers to expand their reach and message in various sectors, including manufacturing, automotive, communications, and financial services.
The company’s experts are constantly working to improve ideation and creation of futuristic solutions around Bots, IoT, Proactive/Predictive CX and other cutting-edge technologies. This ensures that SoftClouds not only meets the needs of its customer today but also helps them plan to stay ahead and ready for future trends.
Making Success a Habit
SoftClouds has been applauded for its many innovations over the past decade. They recently developed a Natural Language Search Engine for Siebel called Qupplet. This innovative product is revolutionary in CRM search mechanisms.
SoftClouds has also won numerous awards and received appreciation from the software industry fraternity, including being listed among Inc. 5000’s list of fastest growing private companies in the United States.
Sharing that proud moment, Bala says, “I would say leadership does play a role, but trophies like these aren’t achieved until you have shoulders to move with you in the race. I am very thankful to our amazing team at SoftClouds. My goal is to make SoftClouds a company of about 1000 people within the next 5 years!”
Speaking of his view of the future of SoftClouds and the industry, Bala says that AI-enabled CRM is the future, “We want to take SoftClouds in that direction to build AI solutions for CRM systems.”
