To run a business successfully, it is very important to cater best services to customers. Big brands always invest heavily in delivering best service experience to their customers especially for smartphone market. There are numbers of players who are keen to tap much more market share in India as growth potential is very huge. DT spoke to Mr. Alok Shrivastava, Head Business Intelligence and Planning, Gionee India about their customer service support and about their business operations in India. Below are some excerpts that can signify their business intentions:
DT: How do you see the Indian market for Gionee? Please brief some growing trends in this market.
Mr. Shrivastava: With a plethora of smartphones flooding the market each month, “the next big thing” always seems to be here. Stunning features, cutting-edge designs and amazing specs, consumers have a lot to choose from – too much to choose from. Yes, all of this choice can make it hard to choose the phone that is right for you. Some of the salient features that people are looking forward to are good battery life, good selfie camera, strong build and amazing graphics.
DT: How do you assure best service support to your customers? Share some details about your current service support facility in India.
Mr. Shrivastava: We have recently clocked 1.25 crore customers in India and we will look at expanding our retail presence in the country with establishing 500 brand stores by March 2018 from 100 now. We are also looking at opening 650 exclusive service centers out of which 35 will be Premium Exclusive Service Centers by the end of 2017 from 460 currently. Our brand’s focus will be to ensure that every customer gets a 360-degree experience with our product, retail and customer service.
DT: What prompted you to extend time frame for DOA policy?
Mr. Shrivastava: Gionee has always been a leader known for bringing in innovation in products and services for its customers always. Our commitment is consumer satisfaction and to ensure that we reach out to all our consumers across the country through exclusive service centers. The extension of the period in DOA policy from 7 days to 30 days will empower the customers to report to us if they are facing any technical issue with a smartphone and we will get it rectified. The new policy is elevating our commitment to consumers by prioritizing their needs.
DT: What are your upcoming/ future investment plans in India to offer excellent support across India?
Mr. Shrivastava: Gionee is planning to set up an end-to-end manufacturing unit in Faridabad, Northern India, The company will be investing 500 crores on this plant which will have a capacity of 30 million units spread across 50 acres and should be operational in about 2 years which will tap into the demand in India as well as act as an export hub to serve markets like Africa and South East Asia.
DT: What is the response of A1 Device in India?
Mr. Shrivastava: The pre-booking opened for Gionee A1 on March 31 till April 9 and we have seen overwhelming response for the product with 74,682 pre-orders worth Rs 150 crore in just 10 days. The pre-booking figures, the highest for any phone in the Rs 8,000-25,000 range, are testimony to our proposition of offering advanced selfie capabilities with longer battery life in our phones.
