Business

Saturday November 14, 2009

Improving the customer experience

By YVONNE TAN


One of the key areas TM seeks to improve is service restoration

WHEN all is said and done, many would agree that the single most important thing that will lend credence to a company is customer experience. Cliched but true.

“It has always been a perception that Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) doesn’t care. We want to educate our customers that we have put into place many initiatives; some have been successful, some are work in progress. We are doing whatever we can to improve customer experience,” group chief executive officer Datuk Zam Isa tells StarBizWeek.

TM Point front-line staff attending to customers at an outlet in Taman Sentosa.

Since he came on board (in April 2008), TM has revamped its organisational structure, placing a higher level of emphasis on the customer.

“We used to have this chart where the customer was (placed at the bottom). One guy said to us: ‘We customers are always your doormat.’ So we told ourselves we are going to flip that and we did,” Zam says.

For starters, TM has divided its retail section into four specific segments – consumer, small and medium enterprise, enterprise and government – instead of just lumping them all under one broad category.

“This is so that we can better focus on each segment and tailor make products to suit each category. When we first started, the focus was kind of diluted,” he says.

“Of course, to start with, the product itself must be what the customer wants but we know that every part of the customer service experience is important. The network side, the pre-sales, the after-sales, we are looking at all these,” Zam says.

He says TM is now looking at a new service charter that will include all of its customers in its measure of customer service.

“For example, say we promise that we will resolve 85% of complaints within 48 hours – we may be able to meet that promise – what happens to the remaining 15%? We still meet our targets but there could be 15% of our customers who would be unhappy. But as far as mandatory requirements are concerned, we have met the requirements.

“So, we are moving towards MTTX (mean time to do something) now, which means each and every customer is accounted for. If we fail to meet MTTX, it will drag down the entire (customer satisfaction) statistics. So this will give us a better view of where we stand,” Zam says.

Based on feedback, Zam says the company has identified areas to improve on. “Due to limitations in resources, we need to prioritise,” he says.

One of the major areas the company seeks to improve is service restoration, he says.

“I think we are continuing to improve. Our message to our customers is: We are not sitting on our laurels doing nothing about this (customer service). We hear you, we understand you.”

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