The prophets of doom and gloom over the fate of Safaricom have risen again. Sadly Safaricom will turn more profit than all the others combined for many many more years. And it is not that they are stealing the money but Safaricom sio mamako, they are here for the money and all the workers wake up with that single goal on their minds. I have had the best customer service from Safaricom e.g tweeting them a mundane issue like switching on their network time functionality so that my phone updates its time automatically(They did this the same day) and any other trivial things were quickly sorted out. Theier customer care has improved tremendously especially by using other avenues other than their toll free lines. Emails to them are responded within the hour. Try emailing Airtel and you get a reply weeks later. The reason that they will remain on top is because their competition is horribly inefficient, does not bother to study its market and imagines high technology cannot be used by rural folk or those on the lower end of the economic spectrum. Just look at how long it took them to embrace 3G and start selling Android handsets. Why is Orange Kenya pussy footing with the iPhone? How many have iPhones here? How many got them from Orange Kenya? You see my point now. Inconsistency is another problem they have. I remember Airtel Kenya were the first to start a twitter campaign trying to recruit followers and solving their problems there. They had started getting a following and valuable feedback on their services only for them to shut down the acccount. Maybe some old-school marketing manager saw all the insults and complaints and decided ignoring them is the best way of moving forward. Safaricom stepped into their shoes and the rest is history.
From the little telco history I have, Kencell/Celtel/Zain/Airtel have been the first movers be it in mobile money, okoa jahazi, free sms, gprs, Blackberry service and a plethora of other services but Safaricom step in and execute it way better than them.
On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 9:33 AM, Bernard Mwagiru <bmwagiru@gmail.com> wrote:
Thats a horrendous experience! Does this mean you'll have to do the same once the one week unlimited bundle is over? How about suggesting to Orange one an interface like www.safaricom.com/bundles ? Or is there some other interface for ipad users on Orange?
As mentioned earlier, my experience on getting resolution on social media is a major plus. Safcom have the fb page and twitter handles. Works wonders!.
./bernard
On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 8:19 PM, Collins Areba <ac@arebacollins.com>wrote:
Dear bernard, The said user that needed help in purchasing the bundle for the iPad is me. Here is what I did: 1: called 100, was told I would have to wait ten minutes and then after about ten minutes gave up and disconnected the. All.
2: asked them on their Facebook wall and was redirected to safaricom.com/bundles which does (did) not work.
3: I tried making calls to skunkers that I know, one was not available, and the other told me its been a pain in the butt for him, having to get a sim holder to do this via a phone.
4: I had loaded a k to purchase 1.5gb of data and it all went in my efforts to get this right.
5: I then sent a text to a skunker ( hint: his name has a 3 ) , he then gave me the right instructions and in five minutesihadmybundles....
6: this morning when I finished that bundle I removed my sim card, walked into an orange shop, got a proper mini sim, got the one week unlimited for 990, registered my sim card and upgraded my firmware in one swoop.
How's that for feedback Bernard?
Sent from my iPad
On Dec 18, 2012, at 5:12 PM, Bernard Mwagiru <bmwagiru@gmail.com> wr
I understand the CEO uses a pre-pay line for data, some random tweet I cant dig out.We can tweet him, if he's not here already :-). In the words of Gandhi: *He (the customer) is not an outsider of our business. He is part of it.*
I also recall someone on he list who was assisted with the bundle page for ipad. Perhaps he can give us his experience. What was the need? To purchase bundle for his ipad. Was it met? Only he can tell us.
./bernard
On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 4:59 PM, John Doe Smith Kamau KipNg'etich Jones < skunkworks.ku@gmail.com> wrote:
.... then again, benard... i think it would help if they assumed their customers were dumb, and lazy... and any feedback they get towards catering for their dumb and lazy customer base would help :-)
like the web-based bundle page for ipads... if they considered users to be too lazy to take of the sim and make the purchase of the bundle from their phones, they *could* have made the page in the first place in the first place.
.... and... if they do read this mailing list, they should "east their own dog food"i.e use their own services. I've heard that most of their employees are on a safcom paid post-pay plan. i have the feeling the web-based bundle page was made coz many safcom execs own ipads... by using services used by the masses, i'm sure they'd understand some of their demands. like... for the charging of airtime on data issue.... so people on safcom should use pre-pay data plans. once they forget to re-buy a bundle and suffer the loss of 1 few thousand bob in hours, they'll understand the beed around that....
On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 4:51 PM, John Doe Smith Kamau KipNg'etich Jones <skunkworks.ku@gmail.com> wrote:
benard... :-) i agree with you.
[a kodak moment on the skunkworks mailing list]
On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 4:46 PM, Bernard Mwagiru <bmwagiru@gmail.com>wrote:
True. Most sentiments are warranted though, and as someone aptly said elsewhere on the list( Zuku Internet & Gandhi), respect is a two-way street. I doubt Safcom would be where it is if they considered customers as dumb. Most of the "small" things like web-page listing data balance, bundle purchase for ipads, bundle near-depletion notifications, etc actually came from customer suggestions/recommendations via platforms such twitter/fb. Safcom was one of the first opcos to have a fully-fledged depts on social media, whose 99% mandate is to crawl through the internet(including skunkworks :-)) addressing the very same issues you've highlighted.For an elephant to to react this fast to issues raised,in my view is highly commended and can only be encouraged. I too wonder, with such comments on their official fb page, how they can find sleep, if any. I doubt they do :-)
I have met someone who confided in me that safcom inboxed him and addressed his issue after a thorough lashing on the fb wall. I find that a smart way of facing a mob and settling issues amicably. Lesson 101 on mob psychology :-)
Having said that, safcom indeed has a lot of work cut out for it...
./bernard
On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 4:24 PM, John Doe Smith Kamau KipNg'etich Jones <skunkworks.ku@gmail.com> wrote:
@kioko ... you sure :-) : https://www.google.co.ke/search?q=safaricom+loosing+market+share
its a great idea to handle customer issue on fb/twitter. offers a better customer experience... but if i were at safcom, i'd be very concerned over spitful comments safcom gets even on uplifiting "merry xmas/good day" types of status updates.
safcom should really listen to what their customers are asking for in those comments. instead of snobbing an insult of a comment like "to hell with that 200sms for 20bob offer" because its insult, they should read it as "we dont like that offer. we prefered the older unlimited sms for 20bob offer"... they should learn to read between the lines instead of shrugging of such insults as SPAM.
.. and since benard suggest all telcos suffer this issue... i guess they should all realise their average user is dumb, and have high expectations. like the android background-data issue, or the multiple data bundle issue, they should design their services for dumb users... make it simpler. bill data on bundles only, not airtime. show a web-page or ussd screen listing all data/sms services ur account will be charged for. by keeping the user informed, they won't have claims of robbery n stuff like that.
On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 3:51 PM, Bernard Mwagiru <bmwagiru@gmail.com>wrote:
> With regards to losing market share, the first half results speak > for itself. While safcom has a lot on their hands, i applaud them in being > the first in providing a customer care platform that many feared venturing > to. Indeed, many corporates have followed suit, some with a few goof-ups > (barclayskenya anyone?) but commendable nevertheless. > > > > > On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 3:48 PM, Dennis Kioko <dmbuvi@gmail.com>wrote: > >> Losing Market Share? 80% of voice calls have been made From >> Safaricom for quite a number of quarters. Sometimes, people just need to >> vent. But they can use the feedback to improve their products, or simplify >> the same. >> _______________________________________________ >> skunkworks mailing list >> skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >> ------------ >> List info, subscribe/unsubscribe >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >> > > > _______________________________________________ > skunkworks mailing list > skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke > ------------ > List info, subscribe/unsubscribe > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke >
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-- Regards, Mark Mwangi markmwangi.me.ke