Start With The End In Mind @SamsungSA #CustomerService #DigitalCommunication

Hi Friends, 

There was a time when there simply wasn’t much choice of products to buy or services to use. You used the local doctor, shopped at the greengrocer or butcher, milk was milk, and if you look all the way back to the year 1908, the only car on offer was a Ford Model T. As the world becomes a village and purchases can be made in cyberspace from anywhere in the world, not only do products have to stand out from the crowd, but customer service must be exceptional.

Digital communication may have changed communication in many ways, but it has also taken the customer experience back to the good old days when a handshake and a smile closed a deal or smoothed ruffled feathers – but with a twist. With the advent of social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook, it’s far easier for consumers to make their voice heard, instantly and very publicly. Now all interactions are out there in full color; whether it’s a complaint or a compliment, customers can air their opinions and experiences to simply everyone. Social media has made customers more confident and has changed the balance of power between brands and customers. This, coupled with the Always-On culture of today’s world, demands that companies stay on their toes and have quick come-backs and exceptional customer service plans. As Generation Y’ers and Millennials grow up and their buying power escalates, there’s even more pressure on companies to stay ahead of the game, because these market segments are not only highly proficient with digital communication, they also believe that experience trumps material possessions.

The experiences they want don’t just come to the fore after a customer has purchased a product or used a service – the journey begins with the customer’s need or desire. It starts with a presence in the right place at the right time with a promise that can be backed-up. Customers no longer simply pick the first product they see that seems to meet their needs. Before making a decision, they check – is the promise true, what have other people’s experiences have been, is this excellent value for money?

A brief social media post saying, ‘Hey I’m thinking about buying a new phone,’ will yield numerous responses which will detail peer opinions, recommendations, and warnings. It doesn’t matter if the opinions are skewed or even wrong – they will be the potential customer’s primary decision-making foundation. U.S. Research and advisory company Gartner indicates that by 2020, customers will manage 85% of the relationship with an enterprise without interacting with a human.

Richard Chetty, Director of Services at Samsung South Africa, says, “In a space where opinions can be shared at the click of a button, it’s imperative to ensure customer service is exceptional. No company or product will ever be perfect, but if you efficiently and effectively address imperfections or customers’ pain points, you’ll be able to retain them and gain others. The true experience of a brand happens when customer service is called upon to perform.”

Studies indicate that the perceived quality of a product only accounts for 13% of the decision to engage with a company – a whopping 69% of people stop doing business with a company because of bad service. Additionally, 88% of customers prefer dealing with a company with strong customer service as opposed to a company with the latest, most innovative products.[i]

“As a leading technology company, Samsung offers the very latest in innovation – and it is vital that our customer service matches that, as well as our brand promise that strives to make customers’ lives better. We are consistently creating new and innovative ways to ensure our customers can enjoy seamless use of our products,” concludes Chetty.

The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter how brilliant your product is, if you aren’t able to engage with your customers, they’ll stop buying from you. Whether your customers are complaining or complimenting, they expect to be heard, recognized and have their opinions addressed.

 
[i] https://www.ameyo.com/blog/customer-experience-statistics

 

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The Evolving #Toolkit of the #Entrepreneur #MixedTalents @SamsungSA

Hi Guys,

Entrepreneurs can be defined as those who take capital and use it to make more, generally employing others during the process. Currently, entrepreneurialism is one of the key areas of focus in the drive to reduce high levels of unemployment locally. The urgency of this issue has been reiterated following recent reports by Statistics South Africa, which indicates this year’s first quarter unemployment rates in the country to have risen sharply to 26.7% of the work force. 

With the introduction of new technologies and initiatives, young business people are now able to access a world of innovative tools that were previously unheard of in order to create much needed opportunities. Mere decades ago, those with new ideas for business generally started small, with access to limited opportunities for funding. Aside from taking on the challenge of competing with larger, more established organisations, entrepreneurs of the recent past were required to physically engage with potential investors, partners and mentors. This was often carried out by way of knocking on doors, investing countless precious hours in securing and travelling to meetings. 

The emergence of the Internet and access to modern technology has led to a plethora of new ventures and entrepreneurs who have found easier ways to do business by making use digital communication. In today’s world, entrepreneurial undertakings and technology tend to be intrinsically connected. 

This is according to Michelle Potgieter, Director of Corporate Marketing and Communications at Samsung SA, who says, “Technology today can be used by entrepreneurs both as the focus of their talents and also as a tool that encourages and aids innovation. A creative and key example of a modern tool for South African entrepreneurs is the recently unveiled Samsung Launching People: Mixed Talents solution.”

The Samsung Mixed Talents campaign invites young local entrepreneurs to make use of a technological platform created to offer them a mouthpiece for voicing their ideas and connecting to expert partners for mentorship and guidance. This resource hub is powered by an innovative Ideas Bank, which was created by the Mixed Talents expert team and further developed in partnership with METIME, an online start-up company that facilitates job creation and operates differently to normal employment models. 

Ian Wright, co-founder of METIME, says, “Technology and the modern devices we have access to can act as the most amazing tools of progression. However, the true importance lies ultimately in how the entrepreneur uses the tool. For example, today’s technology is a critical tool for entrepreneurs in their endeavours to access funding and information, as well as communicate with potential partners and mentors. This is what the Ideas Bank is all about.”

Wright says the Ideas Bank helps people to promote their business and skills using a social media mindset within a business context. “The site allows users to categorise themselves in one of three different ways – as a sponsor (investor), an employer or a consultant (coach) – and from day to day, users can change their on-site definition of themselves depending on the need at the time. 

“A sponsor is somebody who offers themselves as an enabler for another person’s work idea. An employer could be anyone who has a particular need for a particular service, while a consultant offers their time and talents to others. This multi-dimensional characterisation means that users are able to present themselves in different ways at different times and transforms the job-seeking from knocking on doors, both literally and metaphorically, highlighting just one aspect at a time.”

Wright says that the database’s information is not prescriptive. “Those on our system will tell the community what they need. From the customisation of their specific requirements we are seeing and noting new trends to start working with. For example, we have already seen a trend of building up the informal trader and are looking at potential matches in this arena from differing needs across the database.” 

“Given enough real help and guidance, successful entrepreneurs can ultimately impact the economy of a country in significant ways,” says Wright. “In today’s tech-driven world, the Samsung Mixed Talents platform is of tremendous help to young South African entrepreneurs. But, in our opinion, this is just the beginning.”

Potgieter concludes by explaining that the true benefit to entrepreneurs does not lie in any one piece of technology that Samsung develops. “Samsung’s greatest value lies in its approach to building a solution that can be used by those who have been looking for it and truly need it. We believe this ideology – of sharing ideas and resources - lies at the heart of how the world will work in the future and how we will combat unemployment going forward, thus ultimately facilitating the growth of our country’s economy as well as its population’s wealth and social security.”

For more information on the campaign or to register, visit: www.launchingpeople.co.za and follow #MixedTalents

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@SamsungSA Launching People #MixedTalents Campaign #Entrepreneurs

Hi Guys, 

Technology has the power to push people forward and spark innovation. More than that, technology has the power to unite people, fostering an environment to create solutions that are not only innovative in functionality, but also serve important social purposes. It is through such mediums that start-ups can find differentiation, become impactful and are grown sustain-ably. 

These are the thoughts of Michelle Potgieter, Director of Corporate Marketing and Communications at Samsung SA, who said “platforms which spark conversation are critical for the mixing of ideas and talents which ultimately lead to innovation.” Adding further she said, “Once you have innovation and technology contributing to business growth, especially in emerging markets such as our own, entrepreneurs have a greater chance of operating in these tough environments.”

South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates globally, which is continuing to rise, according to the recently released Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS)**. From the survey results, the national unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2015 was 25.5%. The figure is especially high amongst the youth, currently standing at 36%. 

Based on these insights, Samsung identified an opportunity to create a technological platform that would serve to tackle and alleviate unemployment. This innovative offering was created in the form of a web-based tool that could look to change the makeup of how our economic structure, by offering entrepreneurs a mouthpiece to voice their ideas. 

Samsung approached Carol Koffman, a senior manager at Deloitte, and Jonathan Liebmann, the entrepreneur behind the rejuvenation of the Maboneng precinct, with the offer of being campaign experts that would engage with and mentor millennial business owners. 

In order to structure their approach, Carol and Jonathan conducted workshops, where groups of educated, unemployed young South Africans were asked about their opinions on the topic of unemployment. These workshop discussions allowed the millennials to share frustrations around starting their own business and the lack of opportunities and resources available to them.

Over a series of 8 workshops, Carol and Jonathan collaborated to find possible ways to address the issue of unemployment among South African youth. These workshops were published on Samsung’s various digital media platforms to increase awareness of the project. 

“We had to start somewhere as the problem is so big. It became clear that the youth we need to target are the ones that are leaving school at a tertiary level and are entering urban areas,” said Koffman. 

The final solution developed and revealed by Carol and Jonathan is a resource hub for entrepreneurs, essentially functioning as a “one-stop shop” for any and all requirements entrepreneurs would have. These include advice and direction on areas such as proposal writing, CV development, ideas-pitching to business, collaborations on new ideas, mentoring and coaching, on-the-job experience and access to funding, among many other areas of need. 

The hub is powered by an innovative Ideas Bank, which filters and vets entrepreneurial ideas according to type, industry, nature of impact and others, and then channels and matches these to the right business partner, coach, funder or business collaborations. 

It is therefore a truly collaborative, dynamic and open source, owned by the contributors and entrepreneurs themselves. Moreover, because it is on an integrated platform, the data that will be extracted will assist in influencing policy makers and leaders in entrepreneurial development.

In order to implement the “Ideas Bank” and eventually expand on the concept, Carol and Jonathan, with the support of Samsung, partnered with METIME, an online start-up company that specialises in creating employment opportunities. Their values and vision were perfectly aligned with Launching People’s key focus of alleviating the unemployment crisis in South Africa.

Although the full METIME solution will only roll out in June 2016, the BETA phase was successfully launched in February 2016. A group of millennials were chosen to submit their ideas that were vetted by a panel of experts, including our expert pair. Three applicants were selected, each receiving R50 000 in start-up capital and mentorship support to help kick-start their business dreams. 

“The team at Samsung is very proud of this initiative, as we see the development of our youth as a critical component to the future success of this country. We encourage all millennials with bright ideas to come forward and use the platform. South Africans are naturally innovative and are leaders in entrepreneurial initiatives – we as corporates need to develop and nurture these talents,” concluded Potgieter.

For more information on the campaign visit: www.launchingpeople.co.za and follow #MixedTalents on Twitter. 

*Samsung commissioned Masutane Consulting Services to conduct online research into over 300 young South Africans from ages 18 – 35 to gauge their perceptions on a range of issues. The research was entitled “Project Youth Debrief”.

**The QLFS was released by Statistics South Africa for the second quarter of 2015.

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