We continue our series of conversations with leaders who not only manage processes, but transform customer experience from within. At the end of the year, when business pace reaches its peak, we had the opportunity to speak with Olga Rakhylchuk, Director of Customer Service and Quality Management at DVL Group.
Today, her division serves as the “heart” of DVL’s service strategy. This is where the standards are creating the foundation of customer loyalty. In this interview, Olga openly shares her unique experience: how to bring together three different service cultures into a single, well-coordinated system, the challenges leaders face during large-scale transformations, and how to build quality that can be felt in every response from a contact center agent.
Olga, you’ve come a long way from being a contact center agent to becoming the Customer Service and Quality Management Director at the DVL Group. How did your previous experience help you identify exactly what needed to be changed following the merger?
I love this question because it takes me back to the very beginning. I clearly remember my time as a contact center agent. I was setting records then — both in call volume and customer satisfaction. That experience taught me what truly brings fulfillment. It’s not just about “closing a case.” It’s about making sure the person on the other end feels heard and genuinely helped.
Starting a career “with a headset on” is invaluable. You hear customers without any filters. You quickly learn where processes work and where they break. Every day, you face the same questions, doubts, and frustrations.
This became even clearer after the companies merged into a group. From a customer’s perspective, “synergy” isn’t always simple. Clients were used to different service levels — different speeds, channels, and styles.
My experience suggested a straightforward approach. We didn’t start with formal rules or KPIs. Instead, we focused on understanding why each company built its service that way.
lifecell focused on speed and simplicity. Volia handled cases requiring deep technical support. Datagroup served clients with complex, individual needs. All these approaches were valid; they simply grew from different contexts.
That is why my first step was to listen, not to unify. We didn’t need unification for its own sake. We needed harmonization — combining the best of each culture to build a service that is clear, human, and consistent.
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Before the merger Datagroup, Volia, and lifecell had their own distinct service models. What were the most significant differences in customer care that you identified among these three companies?
Oh, it’s like comparing three different cuisines:
lifecell is a quick-service kitchen in the best sense of the word. Its service model is built around speed and scale. When you have millions of customers, long calls are simply not an option. The culture is focused on fast, accurate decisions, with a strong digital layer, self-service options, and chatbot channels. For most everyday requests, this works perfectly.
Volia is more like home cooking. Home internet and TV services often start with a customer saying, “Something isn’t working,” and the agent needs to figure out whether it’s the router, the cable, or maybe the neighbor who cut the line again. This requires deep technical expertise and patience. Longer conversations are completely normal here, because the goal is not speed, but actually fixing the problem.
Datagroup is “author’s cuisine” for B2B clients. Corporate customers pay for predictability. They need SLAs, regular reports, and a dedicated account manager who sometimes knows their infrastructure better than their own IT director. Speed is not the main priority here — reliability and proactiveness are.
In short, each company defined good service in its own way: lifecell through speed and simplicity, Volia through depth of problem resolution, and Datagroup through stability and predictability. All of these approaches were right for their customers.
Our task in the unified group is not to erase these differences, but to build a shared foundation of quality on top of them.
What were the key challenges you faced after taking responsibility for customer experience across the entire DVL Group?
The first challenge was perspective. Each company viewed customer experience through its own lens, with its own metrics and priorities. Within the unified group, we needed a shared language.
We started by creating a unified approach to measuring customer experience. We didn’t just measure the same things for the sake of it. Instead, we asked a fundamental question: What truly matters to the customer and the business?
As a result, we shifted our focus. Speed alone wasn’t enough. We began evaluating the journey holistically: was the issue resolved on the first attempt? Was the process simple? This led us to track Repeated Calls / First Call Resolution (FCR). For customers, this is an intuitive quality indicator. If they have to call back, something went wrong — no matter how fast the first response was.
This approach gave the entire group a single CX language. It kept us honest with our customers.
Access to international experience was another major advantage. The merger allowed us to benchmark against global mobile operators and adopt proven best practices. This grounded our discussions; many “unique” problems already had solutions elsewhere.
We also had to merge different management cultures. Some teams valued fast experimentation; others preferred a structured, cautious approach. We realized there is no single “right” style. Instead, we built a flexible model: fast testing for mass processes and thorough preparation for critical scenarios. We focused on outcomes, not differences.
Finally, the biggest challenge was people. In the first few months, I spent a lot of time with the teams — listening, explaining, and answering questions. We agreed on a simple principle: we don’t dismantle what works; we learn from each other.
This is what delivered results. When teams share best practices directly, without top-down pressure, transformation becomes a collective effort rather than just another process change.
Which processes or practices did you have to discontinue because they were no longer relevant in the group’s new structure?
After the merger, our focus was on eliminating unnecessary fragmentation and creating a single service logic for the customer — regardless of brand or product.
At the same time, we implemented structural changes: we unified parts of our teams by removing duplicated functions and scaled the remote work model for Datagroup and Volia. This added flexibility, simplified collaboration, and made the service more resilient.
Another important element of the transformation was developing multi-skilling. We gradually moved toward models where teams can work with different products across the group. A natural extension of this was the creation of an FMC team capable of handling the full range of customer requests — mobile services, fixed-line services, and television — within a single interaction. For customers, this means a simpler, more seamless experience without unnecessary transfers.
Perhaps the most challenging, yet most valuable, change was cultural. At the beginning, each team naturally relied on its own approaches and experience. Our task was not to diminish this, but to create space for mutual learning. Through cross-team collaboration, joint projects, and regular sharing of practices, the tone of conversation gradually shifted — from “this is how we did it” to “let’s see how it works for you.”
This shift — from “us and them” to “we together” — is what I consider the most valuable outcome of the entire transformation.
Before the merger, lifecell had a close partnership with the outsourced contact center Global Bilgi. How did the processes change once Global Bilgi became part of DVL, and what impact did this have on customer experience quality across the group?
This is one of the best things that happened in terms of transforming customer service. Before the merger, Global Bilgi was a partner — a great and highly professional one, but still a partner. That naturally created some distance. lifecell set the tasks, Global Bilgi executed them, we evaluated KPIs and paid invoices. A classic outsourcing model.
The main limitation of this model is speed and flexibility. If you want to launch a new service scenario, you need to formalize requirements, align them with the partner, update contracts, train teams, and test the solution. That takes weeks — sometimes months. In today’s world, this is simply too slow.
When Global Bilgi became part of DVL, it felt like moving from a rented apartment to your own home. You can renovate when you need to, without waiting for a landlord’s approval.
What changed in practice?
First, the speed of implementation. We now work in a single environment — looking at data together, discussing scenarios, and testing hypotheses immediately. Ideas no longer travel between teams for months; they are discussed, tested, and adjusted almost in real time.
As a result, initiatives that once took months are now implemented much faster. But even more important is the shared sense of ownership: we no longer “hand over tasks” — we work together, step by step, to make the service better.
Second, cross-functional teams. In the past, Global Bilgi acted purely as an executor. Today, it is a strategic partner. When we plan a new service or a pricing change, the Global Bilgi team is at the table from day one. They can say, “Stop, customers won’t understand this terminology,” or “This process will generate 10,000 calls a month — let’s simplify it.” As a result, we increasingly solve issues before customers even experience them — which is probably the best indicator of mature CX work.
Third, a shared service culture — and this is the most important part. When you are a partner, you are loyal to the contract. When you are part of the family, you are loyal to the customer. Global Bilgi agents are no longer “outsourcers”; they are part of DVL. You can hear it in customer conversations — more ownership, more empathy, more initiative.
Ultimately, for DVL this means one thing: Global Bilgi has evolved from a “service provider” into a center of customer service expertise for the entire group.
Has the merger affected the customer journey of subscribers within DVL, and if so, how?
Yes, it has — but it’s important to be honest: this is not a one-off change, it’s an ongoing process we are currently going through.
At the same time, system integration is complex and time-consuming, and we don’t hide that. Building a unified customer experience takes time, aligned decisions, and a high level of internal discipline. That is why we are moving step by step, validating each stage in practice.
My role in this process is to maintain direction and meaning. I constantly bring teams back to the question: what should the customer journey in the unified group look like in one, two, or three years? At the same time, I work to create an environment where teams are not afraid of change and see it as an opportunity rather than a threat.
The most challenging part of this transformation is still ahead. So that is also what motivates me the most. Because when a merger happens not only at the structural level, but also at the level of customer experience, it creates real long-term value — for both customers and the business.
In your view, what long-term benefits will DVL gain from a unified CX management strategy, and what will this mean for customers over the next one to three years?
For DVL Group, a unified customer experience strategy is first and foremost about long-term resilience. When customers use not just one product, but several services across the group — and those services are logically connected — the relationship changes fundamentally. It’s no longer about isolated transactions, but about a partnership built on convenience, trust, and a consistent experience.
The second key benefit is data — but not data for its own sake. A single view of the customer makes it possible to better understand the context of their needs and make more thoughtful decisions. Not “more offers,” but more relevant ones. Not a mass approach, but a personalized one — with respect for the customer and their choices. This is the foundation of a service that feels helpful rather than intrusive.
The third benefit is operational efficiency and scale. A unified CX strategy makes it easier to implement new solutions, spread best practices across teams more quickly, and use resources more rationally. This, in turn, creates more room to invest in service development, technology, and people.
And innovation finally. A unified group opens up opportunities for new services that simply aren’t possible within individual products. We see DVL not just as a telecom company, but as an ecosystem of digital services for home, family, and business.
What does this mean for customers over the next one to three years?
More simplicity. Less fragmentation. So a stronger sense that the company truly understands their needs and thinks several steps ahead.
We are fully aware that the most challenging part of this work is still ahead. That is exactly what makes it so valuable. Because real customer service transformation is not a quick project — it is a long-term responsibility.
My goal is for DVL customers to already feel today: with us, everything is simple. Because in that simplicity, I see the true success of our work.
