Chapter 17 - Personal Selling and Sales Management

Personal Selling

Digicel employs Corporate Sales Executives across it markets with the responsibility  to grow recurring Sales revenues through assigned channels and to build and develop relationships with relevant leads in accordance with business strategy.

 

The Sales Executives identify and pursue opportunities for increasing Digicel’s market share. This is achieved through not only the dealer channel network, responsible for retail sales but  very importantly, direct sales to corporate clients. In a nutshell, the role of sales is to maintain and increase subscriber numbers and enhance the sales of handsets.

Corporate Sales at Digicel encompasses three areas; corporate sales, recharge sales, i.e. sales of electronic and physical vouchers and the all important dealer channel. When selecting  Sales Executives for personal selling, Digicel's  philosophy is “hire the attitude, train the skill.” "It’s instinctive, an attitude that is seen right away". In recruiting members of the team, the company looks for the passion to satisfy the customer.

 

This philosophy has served the company well as today, Digicel through the efforts of its 30-odd members, provides services to a slew of top companies in just about all the major industries tourism, mining, manufacturing, banking, agriculture, finance.

 

It seems an enormous feat for a department with just over 30 persons on the team but  the strength of the corporate sales unit is the team’s passion and commitment coupled with Digicel’s product offering and customer service delivery.   Each Sales Executive is given a preset sales target against which commission is paid.  These targets are agreed upon at the Executive level in keeping with the overall revenue targets.

Not one for encouraging complacency, the sales team works in tandem with the Personal Corporate Customer Care Unit a ’hot team’ designed to devise and implement strategies to enhance the service provided to Digicel customers.

 

As the market matures, it is critical that  the focus be on maintaining and retaining customers .  The focus is not only need to retain the current customers, but also to seek to offer new and innovative products. For example, Digicel continues to explore and implement new and innovative ways to recharge phones. Currently, Digicel have over 10 including  directflex, flexcard, webflex, Teleflex and bankflex.

 

Sales Management

Digicel Sales Management Team focuses on the following objectives to ensure that Sales revenues are met and surpassed :

·         Formulation of sales strategy through development of account management policies, sales force compensation policies, sales revenue forecasts, and sales plan.

·         Implementation of sales strategy through selecting, training, motivating, and supporting the sales force, setting sales revenue targets.

·         Sales force management through development and implementation of sales performance, monitoring, and evaluation methods, and analysis of associated behavioral patterns and costs.

Sales Cloud by Salesforce.com helps Digicel standardise business-to-business sales processes across 25 countries, 13 currencies and 4 languages .  After analysing and examining the functionality, technical and integration system capabilities of several leading CRM platforms Digicel determined that the best platform to serve their needs was Salesforce.com.

Digicel acquired the Sales Cloud Enterprise Edition because of its robust sales functionalities, mobility, scalability and state-of-the-art dashboards and reports. The company now has a single platform to manage all sales-related activities.

 

Digicel therefore is able to spend less time on administrative tasks and more time on closing deals. For sales managers, the Sales Cloud gives real-time visibility into their teams’ activities and performance results.  Best of all, it’s all in the cloud, everyone can access the Sales Cloud with just an Internet connection—there’s no need for expensive hardware or software.

  
 
 

In the future, the salesforce.com platform will allow Digicel the ability to customise and integrate CRM for the entire B2B business, automate business process, manage complex sales territories, interact with partners, access additional AppExchange applications and integrate with any system. The benefit of using Salesforce.com for forecasting, sales pipeline and business processes to standardise information across the group is invaluable to Digicel's success.

Chapter 16 - Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Promotion

Advertising

Digicel takes advantage of the traditional media and has publications of promotions, new products, community involvement, other exciting news etc., in the major News papers, radio stations, magazines as well as TV ads.

·        TV Adverts- for major promotions and sponsorships, e.g. Christmas promotion.

·       Radio- Bi weekly PR slots, discussing new products & services or promoting a specific product or service.

·         Print- Bi Weekly Press releases or adverts on exciting news, products, promotions

·         Magazines- One page advert in local magazines as and when needed.

Online Advertising

 

 

 

Digicel recognizes the benefit of online advertising in that it allows the immediate publishing of information and content that is not limited by geography or time. Online advertising allows for the customization of advertisements, including content and posted websites.  Through its company website and Social media, online advertising allows the company a cheaper option when compared to television, radio, print etc, to create awareness of its products & services and major promotions.

 

Online advertisements also offers the company various forms of animation; comprising all sorts of banner, e-mail, in-game, and keyword advertising, with the inclusion of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Web-related advertising allows for a variety of ways to publicize and reach a niche audience and helps the company to focus its attention to a specific group when needed.

 

The other benefits of online advertising the company has cited are reduced costs compared to traditional media and that it offers Measurability; everything can be tracked using traffic analysis tools like Google Analytics, etc.

 

 

 

Promotions

Digicel offers many promotions to both prepaid and postpaid customers geared at encouraging brand loyalty and sustainability.   Digicel has a very active promotion schedule both below the line targeted at tiered groups of customers e.g. low spenders, non data users, etc. as well as above the line for all customers.

Most prepaid promotions are geared towards encouraging top up and spend.  For example;

·         Top Up X amount and get a chance to WIN a price or get X amount bonus credit.

·         May a call or send a Text and get a chance to WIN a specific prize or get Free credit

·         Top up an incremental value and get FREE Weekends

Many of these prepaid promotions are done below the line and are for segmented customers including:

·         Customers who spend below X amount

·         Customers who have data handsets but never activated data plans

Postpaid promotions are mainly geared to get customers to pay their bills in full and on time.  For example:

·         Pay your bill in full and on time and get a chance to WIN a weekend for two

·         Pay your bill in full and by the due date and get X amount of Free minutes.

Other promotions are based around encouraging customers to use a particular product or service.  For example to increase SMS (text) revenue and usage, the company employs many “Text to WIN” interactive promotions.  One of the more popular one’s being a question and answer game format and the customer replying correctly to the most questions wins the grand prize.  Each answer is classified as a text and charged at a premium rate.

                                             

Digicel’s major promotions are scheduled around major holidays like Jazz, Carnival and the much anticipated Christmas promotions where all customers stand a chance to win grand prizes like, vehicles, land, all expense paid vacations, etc.

 

Chapter 14- Marketing Channels and Retailing

Retail Stores

Digicel recognizes its retail stores as the customer’s first point of contact and as such has designed Mega Stores to exemplify the company’s forward-looking approach to business; allowing customers to experience firsthand all the functions, fun and benefits of owning a mobile phone, in a fun and interactive way.

The Digicel Mega stores or Flagship stores are located in the prime shopping areas of the major towns of Castries, Gros-Islet, Vieux Fort and Soufriere. 

These flagship stores retail exclusively, Digicel’s product and services  represent mobile technology of the future.  Digicel prides itself in being the first to offer such an innovative customer experience to wireless users in the St. Lucia and the Caribbean.  The store is an all new retail experience for lovers of the latest games, gadgets and mobile devices – everything is live and waiting to be tried out by visitors to the store. The new design concept creates an environment that is exciting and extremely customer-friendly, allowing for an effortless and fun visit for Digicel customers.

The Digicel Mega Stores features in-store kiosks, allowing customers to experience Digicel’s world-class customer care while efficiently maintaining their Digicel accounts.

Digicel also has partnership with Dealer principals who currently manage other retail outlets. Digicel maintains the responsibility of look and feel of all retail outlets, similar to a franchise arrangement.
 

Online Marketing

Digicel seeks to take advantage of online opportunities through its website and Facebook page, to market and sell its products and adapt its marketing efforts to embrace a new breed of web-savvy customers.

The services of online top up for prepaid customers and online bill payment for postpaid customers allows a more convenient way for its customers to access services.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 6- Customer Decision Making

 

Digicel’s marketing strategy seeks to reach customers at the moments that most influence their decisions.

 

Mobile phones have become extremely ubiquitous and are deeply entrenched in the lifestyle of people around the world.  The use of mobile phones in the Caribbean market indeed plays an integral part of everyday life that customers use them as an extension of themselves; ingrained in their social identity and image formation.  

Digicel recognizes that its customers now perceive a mobile phone as a necessity, not just to stay connected to family and friends but to the world with the advent of mobile data. In fact, the need for communication and the mobile products are likely to be perceived as a utility in the same category as gas or electricity.

Customer behaviour in the market suggests that they are unlikely to give a second thought to making a call or sending a text, to the basket of goods used to calculate the cost of living. This demonstrates just how essential the use of mobile phones have become for communicating or seeking information.

Digicel understands that knowing the factors that influence customer decision-making will assist in determining what steps to take to facilitate better outcomes for customers and increased revenues for the company.

   

Helping Customers make the Right Decision/Choice

These days it is common for a customer to enter into a mobile contract with a large financial commitment locked in over a period of up to two years. It’s a quick decision made by customers to ensure they are connected to the world around us, as indeed, communication is an essential utility.  In a market that is characterized by confusion instead of clarity, it is usually a very challenging decision.

 Unhappy customers are bad for business and it is in no one’s interest for customers to sign up for a service or product that don’t suit their needs. Digicel believes that facilitating customers to make good decisions about its products and services is the key to efficient and competitive marketing.

Digicel uses qualitative and quantitative approach to assist its efforts in affecting customer decision making. Digicel explores a number of variables, including bounded rationality, customer experience and biases, and mental processing capabilities. In addition, the company also pays attention to decision factors, including confusion, information overload, choice overload, bundling and complex pricing.

 

Qualitative & Quantitative Approach

Focus Groups-   Digicel make use focus groups to gauge the need for new services or products.  The questions or activities are designed to capture detailed information about their emotions, motives and underlying value systems that may not otherwise be accessible, as people don’t always do what they say. Asking those individuals to reflect on their own experiences, in their own words, provides richness to the “stories” of customers and paints a spectrum of customer experiences.

Customer Satisfaction Surveys- Customer satisfaction surveys gives Digicel and anonymous and unambiguous insight into its customers’ thoughts and perceptions of its products, services, programs, and the brand as a whole, and more importantly information leading to what needs to be changed in order to retain lasting customer relationships. The information analyzed from Customer satisfaction surveys enables Digicel to better be able to provide to the needs of the customers and encourage loyalty.

 

Advertising

Testimonials- One of the most valuable marketing tools for a business is the use of testimonials received from satisfied customers. Digicel engages its satisfied loyal customers to provide testimonials about the benefits they have enjoyed because they have bought Digicel’s product or service or the overall customer experience.  Testimonials are valuable proof to prospective customers that Digicel’s product or service actually delivers the benefit the company claim it will. Testimonials act like referrals and seek to influence or prompts customer to take a decision to buy a Digicel product or service. The benefit of testimonials is that it adds credibility to Digicel brand.

Digicel understands that customer decision-making in the mobile industry is a very complex process that does not always lead to the optimal outcome for individual customers. Customers are impacted by a variety of personal preferences, biases and ways of processing information, and are also affected by industry-related factors including product and pricing strategies, market segmentation, and of course, information and advertising.
 

Market Segmentation

Digicel uses Market segmentation, to define groups of individuals with similar product needs and wants.  Segmentation is a diagnostic tool used to predict customer behaviour, and is necessary as customer needs are not being met by mass market approach.  This has led to product and service offerings based on customer type, prepaid vs. postpaid, customer spend, demographics, situational factors etc.  For example for prepaid customers, local retail/reseller outlets will have top up values as low as $2.00ECD, however that low top up value is not available for online top up as it is perceived that persons using a credit card for online top up is capable of topping up with larger value and will not waste time and effort to top up such a low value.  Market segmentation allows for better value to the customer and gives Digicel a competitive edge. 

Promotions-  Digicel incorporates a number of tiered promotions to segmented groups in an effort to affect the behaviour of the customer.  For example, it would get the data of all customers who top up with an average high of $10.00ECD and proposes them to top up of a value o $25.00 or over and get $5.00EC worth of Free text messages or a chance to win a grand prize.

Pricing Strategies- Digicel recognizes that its customers are from different socio-economic spheres and for this reason has developed its pricing to suit all pockets, both  for its prepaid and postpaid customers.

Information

   

The environment in which customers encounter information has a considerable influence on the way this information is processed, evaluated and integrated by customers.  Digicel seeks to provide information in simple terms for ease of reference for its customers via advertising, toll free 24 x 7 customer care contact centre, text messages, online (website), social media, etc.   Providing customers with additional or superfluous information can impede their ability to make good decisions.  

Helping customers make good decisions requires more than providing the information needed. Providing additional information and choice in some cases may create more confusion problems than solutions.  Due to limited information processing capacity, not all customers are willing, able or motivated to process all available information and choice options. Although people are attracted to choice, even simply offering choice can lead to cognitive overload, delayed choice, poor choice and choice regret.  However Digicel research indicates that customers seem to like more choice, despite knowing that more choice will not necessarily provide a better outcome.  Digicel always seek to offer a Choice.   Digicel’s Customer care is always available to answer any queries on its products and services.

Sales- Be Clear & Genuine on Product Offerings

 

To increase comprehension and information processing effectiveness, Digicel ensures its advertising states explicitly the details of the product or promotional offer.  Digicel uses perceptual techniques in its advertisement and online ads, such as the use of contrasting colour, to increase the likelihood of customers attending to this information.

Digicel proactively provides information to customers about network coverage, contract termination fees, outages, etc. in an effort to enhance customer satisfaction with the information provided, and encourage them to view the information provided as being more believable and trustworthy overall.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 5- Developing a Global Vision

Digicel currently operates in 31 markets across the Caribbean, Central America, and The Pacific regions. The company invests in networks to provide close to 100% population coverage, bringing mobile service to local and rural residents that never before had the option of mobile communications.  Digicel seeks to connect its users in these 31 markets to the world by providing the best in voice and data. 

 

Roaming

Digicel’s “DigiWorld” product offers customers the opportunity to stay connected and use their Digicel mobile handsets in over 100 countries in the world. 

 

From October 1st 2013, all Digicel customers now have the freedom to roam on any Digicel network across the Caribbean and Central America and use their mobile device as if they were at home by being charged the same best value home rates while abroad.  Digicel’s commitment is to ensure that its customers receive the best value possible, no matter where they are in the world .  

 

Digicel currently has more than 200 international roaming partners in more than 100 countries, twice as many as its nearest competitor. In February 2007, Digicel signed a three-year partnership agreement with Vodafone. Though both remained separate and independent companies, the agreement, which included Digicel's sister operation in Samoa, resulted in the offering of new roaming capabilities. The two groups also became preferred roaming partners of each other.  Digicel adds on roaming countries to its footprints on a regular basis, to ensure that its customers are able to connect to the world.

 With DigiFlex prepaid service , all a customer would need to do when in any of its roaming countries, is top up and make and receive calls in these countries where Digicel has roaming.

 

International Top Up

 

Recharging any Digicel prepaid phone is easy, safe, fast.   Digicel partners with Ezetop to provide an online portal for customers to top up anywhere in the world, or for friends and family around the world to top up Digicel customers in the 31 markets it operates.

 

Digicel is committed to keeping family and friends abroad connected to those at home in the Caribbean via online top up where they can log on to www.Digicelgroup.com  to send top up or minutes.  Top up online and check instantly how much credit is sent to the number you want to recharge.

Customers can also go into any of Digicel’s thousands of authorized retail locations across the US, Canada and the UK and purchase Digicel top up or send Digicel minutes to friends and relatives in their home country.

Digicel recognizes the importance of empowering the Diaspora in the US, UK and Canada to top up family and friends to stay connected.  These top up senders are hailed as migrant heroes, who went overseas and work very hard to help the families they left behind in the islands. Digicel Diaspora offices located in  Miami, Florida is tasked with managing the efforts to increase revenue through online top ups, and provides a platform and encourages sending of credit to over customers 25 countries with enticing promotions and giveaways. In  December 2013, in addition to the current Everyday Double and Triple Bubble online promotions, Digicel further connected and treated its customers across Diaspora territories by conducting in-store promotions in over 70 stores in New York, Miami, Montreal, Toronto and London

The Way Forward

 Global and regional telecom players face an increasing number of critical challenges, from traffic monetization to capital and labor productivity in mature markets to intensified competition in developing and emerging markets.   Digicel’s strategy is simple; remain relevant, be innovators and give its customers, a complete telecoms experience comparable on the global market. 

 

Currently most of Digicel markets are now rolling out or already migrated to 4G or LTE network, in an effort to remain on par with international markets as well as to give its customers a seamless experience no matter where they are in the world.  The vision is for all markets to be on LTE, as most US markets were moving to LTE.  LTE allows for faster data speeds, IPTV and other technology advances.

Digicel is no longer just a mobile phone company.  Digicel has evolved into a full telecoms solution enterprise, now offering internet, landlines, business solutions, cabling; all of these services offered under the umbrella of the Digicel brand.  Digicel is well poised to remain a leading global telecommunications provider.