One of the longest running grouses post paid customers have had against telecom players has been the fact that they seem to be ignored for every major marketing promotion. With a share of less than 5% in the subscriber numbers, it seemed sheer numbers were against the. However, there was no doubt that value wise, post paid customers were important, be it their higher spends, influence and more. Finally, Airtel has made a beginning by doing away with one of the oldest bugbears for customers, the inability to carry forward data balances. Even more importantly, for family groups, you can share the balance now, it seems.
All this under its ‘project Next’ initiative.
The brand will be investing up to Rs 2,000 crores over the next 3 years under this programme and it says that it will launch “several digital innovations to step change the simplicity and interactivity of Airtel customer experience.”
Under this programme, Airtel has currently announced “Postpaid Promise” initiative through which postpaid users will get a host of new services. First of all, under this programme, all postpaid customers will now be able to carry forward their unused monthly data quota to the next billing. This will be applicable from August 1, 2017. Customers can easily track their usage and data carried forward on MyAirtel application. The company has also redesigned the application, which now makes it easier to change plans, get real-time notifications and self-care services.
Further, postpaid customers can now create customised plans for the family by adding multiple postpaid connections to their account and one can also enjoy saving up to 20 percent under Family Promise programme. Users can also pool and share their data benefits across all connections. One can also add Airtel prepaid connections to their Family Postpaid by simply switching from prepaid to postpaid in a few clicks using the MyAirtel application. The brand says, the whole process does not require any paperwork and there is no need to visit Airtel store or call customer care for changing their numbers from prepaid to postpaid.
The brand has also introduced Airtel Secure, a digital smartphone protection suite, which covers the smartphones against accidental/liquid damage. The company says that if customer’s device is accidentally damaged, Airtel will arrange for a pick-up of the device, get it repaired from an authorised service centre and deliver it back to the customer. Further, the damage protection is applicable for smartphones up to two years old. It also features Norton Mobile Security Suite, which includes anti-malware protection and App advisor that flags privacy risk.
The company is also transforming in-store experience as well. Airtel has come up with next-gen Airtel Stores and the first two stores are now live in Gurgaon. The brand says that the stores are designed with Share, Create and Experience zones. Under Share zone, customers can interact with Social Wall that collates Airtel stories and customer experiences across the country on a digital screen. Then there is a Create zone, where users can design their own solution digitally on a touch screen table top. Lastly, in Experience, users will be able to see company’s digital content offerings including movies, music, Live TV, games and more. It also comes with Open Network digital wall, which gives real-time feedback.