Customer Service program of Smart wins big at the 11th Philippine Quill Awards

A Smart Communications (Smart) program encouraging subscribers to use convenient self-care channels to complete customer service transactions was presented with the Overall Division Award for Communication Management at the recently concluded 11th Philippine Quill Awards ceremony. More details after the jump.

The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Philippines, organizer of the annual Quill Awards, also presented Smart with the first Company of the Year award for reaping the most number of awards for its communication programs – one overall division award, 14 excellence awards, four merit awards, and three finalist citations.

This is the second year that Smart dominated the Quill in terms of award count.

Project Visa
Smart’s customer service program called “Project Visa” bested 56 other excellence awardees under the Communication Management category to bag the overall division award.

Project Visa encourages Smart’s 52 million subscribers to “Live More” by using self-care channels that enable them to conveniently manage their accounts anytime and anywhere they want. These channels include the free text inquiry service “Sagot Agad,” a SIM-based customer service menu, the online portal my.Smart (http://smart.com.ph/account), and cash handling machines found in Smart Stores.

Smart came up with print and radio advertisements and raffled off Jollibee gift certificates and Boracay trips to entice subscribers to use these self-care channels.

“Because of the emergence of Internet accessibility and mobile browsing, customers now want everything instantly, preferably at the click of a button. We responded to this new customer behavior by launching time- and location-agnostic service channels that empower them to easily fulfill their needs anytime, anywhere,” said Bhrein Salazar, Smart’s senior manager for self-care management.

Self-care transactions on the rise
Project Visa proved to be successful, as the share of self-care transactions in Smart’s overall customer service transactions increased from a mere six percent in 2007 to 74 percent in 2011. The remaining transactions were coursed through hotlines (18 percent) and Smart Stores (eight percent).

Smart’s self-care channels were also found to be effective in satisfying the needs of subscribers, with nine out of 10 customers saying these are reliable and efficient.

Smart subscribers who want to learn about Smart’s latest products, services, and promos can text Sagotagad <brand> to 888. (For example: Sagotagad Prepaid. They can also use the brand keywords TNT, Postpaid, Bro, Smartload, and Smartmoney.)

For balance inquiries and information about text and call offers, among others, prepaid subscribers only need to click on the Smart menu on their mobile phone.

Those who want to manage their Smart prepaid, postpaid, and broadband accounts in one go can visit the my.Smart site. There they can view and pay their postpaid bill securely using a credit card; activate their phone’s MMS, GPRS, and 3G capabilities; and activate or deactivate international roaming services.

Smart subscribers who do not have a credit card can pay their bills using kiosks in Smart Stores. They can even top up their airtime credits using these machines, which are the first self-service cash-handling solution in Asia.

“Smart’s expanded customer service channels, combined with our superior text, voice, and data services, help us achieve our goal of giving our 52 million subscribers the best customer experience,” Salazar said.

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