Zain is the fourth largest mobile telecommunications company by geographic footprint covering a population of more than 490mn people across the Middle East and Africa.p>Zain is the fourth largest mobile telecommunications company by geographic footprint covering a population of more than 490mn people across the Middle East and Africa.
With Zain’s recent move into the Saudi Arabian market they have opened 200 retail shops throughout the country. In Zain shops, customers can browse mobile phones, sign-up for coverage, manage current accounts and arrange for customer service.
With limited staff in each shop, Zain needed a solution that would allow them to create a self-service customer support area. Zain also wanted a solution that would differentiate them from competitors and had multimedia capability to show advertising when the device was not in use
by customers.
A flexible solution
Using VeriFone’s MX870, Zain created a marketing and customer service platform with application and consumer-facing software development by VeriFone International Partner, ITS.
VeriFone’s touchscreen solution, the MX870 proved ideal for Zain’s needs. The MX870 is flexible, easy-to-use and boasts many benefits that make it perfect for use as a customer service station. At Zain, anyone who enters a shop looking for customer support will use an MX870 to enter his or her mobile number. Following identification, the customer can manage accounts, arrange bill payment, order downloads and other value-added applications such as ringtones and request further help to be processed by a Zain representative. This allows Zain to track all requests centrally and keeps the customer service process paperless.
The bespoke customer-facing software for Zain was developed by VeriFone International Partner, ITS. ITS is well-known in the region for their in-depth knowledge of local culture, language and business practices. Combined with their technical expertise and know-how, ITS developed a customised solution to suit Zain’s unique requirements.
When not in use by a customer, the MX870’s full motion video, 65,000 colour display and high quality digital sound allows streaming of promotional messages directly to shop visitors. This is important, as Zain is new to the region and wants to use every opportunity to get their marketing message out to the public.
Service points
The MX870 customer service solution at Zain has been very successful. With the customer service process automated, shop employees are free to manage other tasks and don’t waste time manually logging help requests. By allowing customers to enter their own personal information, administrative errors are reduced significantly. The MX870 customer service points also help keep operating costs low as fewer employees are needed to man each store.
Zain marketing is also pleased with the MX870 solution because they can arrange in-store messages that coordinate with their existing advertising campaigns in other media.
Saad Al Barak, CEO of Zain, comments, “When Zain moved into the Saudi Arabian market, they used VeriFone’s MX870 to improve operating efficiency and differentiate themselves from competitors.”
