Home » Media » Business Eye September 2011 - Looking Forward to getting you Connected!
Wednesday 7th September 2011
Despite, or perhaps because of, the economic climate, Connect Telecom has continued to grow its customer base throughout 2011, and is now looking forward to continuing its success in a record 2011 and continuing to grow in 2012
Founded five years ago and based in a modern new office on the Lisburn Road, Connect offers complete telecoms solutions across mobiles, systems, data services and landlines. Its all-island package offers unlimited calls from a company’s office to company mobile phones and from mobiles back to the office, with bundled minutes including calls within the Republic and to and from ROI and the UK.
“Our success has been built on delivering quality customer care, face to face account management, partnerships with world class brands and of course by championing an all-Ireland Tariff” explains Managing Director Harry Girvan.
‘The cost savings with the all-Ireland Tariff are dramatic, and have proven a real winner with the hundreds of businesses we have brought across to it this year’ says Sales Director Robin Brown. ‘With businesses here having to look further afield for work following the recession we realised the need for an all-island tariff that meant it didn’t matter what network a mobile roamed on to, costs would be capped’
But the initial savings have to be backed up with face to face account management to ensure customers are genuinely experience value for money. Connect has adopted a back-to-basics approach to customer service that the two executives believe makes it stand out from the other players in the industry.
“In Northern Ireland people are sick and tired of a mobile phone company coming in and promising the earth, and then not seeing them for two years. They send the bills but if the client has any problems they have to phone the network,” says Harry.
“If you look at what our competitors are doing, the person who signs the business generally isn’t the person who manages the account. Any account management after signing up, if there is any, is usually over the phone,” he adds.
“What we do is try to add a bit of integrity to it. The person who signs the business is also the person who manages the account. One month after signing, when the customer gets their first bill, we are out there in front of them to do a face-to-face review. If that person has promised the earth they are the person that has to sit there a month later and face them if they haven’t delivered.”
“We tailor the service to the customer,” says Robin. “A customer with three phones might not necessarily want to see us every three months, but somebody who has 400 phones, we’ll probably need to see them every couple of months.”
Part of the success of Connect Telecom has come from its ability to sign partnership agreements that enable it to provide innovative products.
It is partnering with BT for mobile and fixed line telephony business – enabling it to offer the all-island tariff – and has the exclusive rights to provide the services of another global brand, vehicle tracking experts TomTom Business, on the island of Ireland.
“There’s nobody who has the complete solution we have – mobiles, TomTom, telephone systems and landlines,” says Robin.
“But to get those partnerships there were hoops to jump through and it wasn’t a one off, it is reviewed on a regular basis. Our customer satisfaction has to be up to scratch and I think our retention of customers shows we have achieved that.”
Customer retention is an impressive 98% and many of the team have been there from the start. That stability, and the trust the company has earned, means that many customers are now happy to sign up for long term contracts of up to five years to make sure they continue on good tariffs.
“We are building a loyal and committed customer base, so it’s in our interests to deliver on our commitments to your business,” says Robin. “Your business can change a lot in a couple of years so we tailor the tariff as business changes.”
Connect continues to grow, and the executives have ambitious plans for the remainder of 2011 and beyond.
