Allphones: No longer just after making a sale

Frontliners of the gadget shops are often more concerned about making a sale than responding to queries or taking the time to know what the potential buyers really need their phones for.

MANILA, Philippines—Telecommunications companies are not exactly known for superior customer service. One need not look further than the long queues at the service centers and the irate messages on social media networks for incontrovertible evidence.

Handset providers are deemed not that much better at serving customers, as front liners of the gadget shops are often more concerned about making a sale than responding to queries or taking the time to know what the potential buyers really need their phones for.

This service gap provided the impetus for Australia-based Allphones and TaoDharma Inc., a unit of the Tao Group of Companies, to come together and invest in a chain of retail stores that seek to provide gadget-crazy Filipinos with the service and products that they need with the appropriate level of service that they deserve.

Geoff Hester, Allphones Philippines Chief Executive Adviser, says the Australian company was driven to invest in the Philippines because it is considered the fastest-growing market in Asia for postpaid services. At the same time, it saw a great opportunity to build a business here around better customer service in partnership with the Tao Group, one of the leading local companies in logistics and distribution.

Hester says it took the company, considered Australia’s largest independent mobile phone retailer with 120 stores across the continent, about a year of studying the local market before it decided to invest.

In that time, the service company, which was established in Australia in 1989, studied the local culture, attitude toward telecommunications services, structure of subscriber contracts and the level of competition.

Realizing that there was a yawning gap between what the customers really wanted and what the handset sellers and telecommunications companies provided, it went ahead with plans to have a major presence in the Philippines.

The first branch in SM Marikina was opened in April 2013 and since then the group has been able to expand the network to 45. Plans are in place to increase the number of branches to at least 200 over the next few years as part of its vision to become the biggest telecommunications retailer in the Philippines.

Hester says the key customer proposition is its promise of superior service, which means putting up welcoming branches that encourage potential customers to come in and check the merchandise.

Then there are the sales personnel who are trained to ask the customers what telecommunications services they need and are willing to pay for.

It also has a relationship with 11 handset manufacturers including Apple, Samsung and Lenovo to provide customers with options at different price points.

From that initial discussion, the sales personnel and the customers would then be able to talk about what kind of postpaid plan, or handset unit would best suit their needs and budget.

All Phones Australia also brought to the Philippines its patented systems and processes that allow the sales personnel to conduct all of the transactions through a tablet, which means no paperwork for the customers and faster processing of their applications.

All Phones also decided to partner exclusively with Globe Telecom, the telecommunications unit of the Ayala group, as it considers it the leader in the postpaid market. It was also attracted by the company’s continuous investment in technology. The initial contract will run for six years with an option to be renewed.

Under the contract with Globe, All Phones is treated like a dealer, which means it will get paid a fee for every contract that it brings in. At the same time, it also has a relationship with 11 handset manufacturers including Apple, Samsung and Lenovo to provide customers with options at different price points.

“Because of our relationship with different manufacturers, we are able to provide different options. We offer our customers much more variety. We also have our own plans, like bundles of handset and tablet under subscription plans,” says Hester, “We are a one-stop shop so it’s more convenient for customers. We try to make it very simple for them.”

The warm response to the first 40 branches tells All Phones that it is on the right track, Hester says, especially since the Philippines is far from being a mature market as seen in the significant growth in the sales of smartphones, or phones that can be used to access the Internet.

“Smartphones account for more than half of the new phone purchases and that is driving the growth of data. Data connections are also getting cheaper, handsets are getting cheaper so there is growth opportunity there,” says Hester.

Knowing exactly what smartphone to get, however, is more complicated than just getting a phone off the shelf since the choices are aplenty. Customization is the name of the game and AllPhones wants to be the best at it.

“Retail has to be about giving an added advantage, not just about being a seller. It means adding value and providing better services,” he says.

“As the Philippines continues to aggressively grow in the telecommunications space, the Filipinos’ communication needs and preferences change with a pace that we have not seen before. We at Allphones are truly excited to be a part of this evolution, and it is our desire that we serve their needs the best way possible,” says Blue Avelino, the Chief Operating Officer and General Manager, in a statement.

The goal, Hester adds, is to replicate what the company does in Australia, which is for the customers to walk out of the store with a working phone. It takes a few days now because of credit checks, but AllPhones is determined to soon fulfill its promised level of customer service.