Riko Ringgoanto: On How Customer Centricity Is at the Core of by.U

As a corporate startup, by.U is an all-digital telco provider from Telkomsel that puts customer centricity as its mantra since its inception. As a result of this, by.U has a unique relationship with its own customers. Conversation between by.U and its customers is open and engaging, in order to make sure there is a feedback loop that can generate insights for future improvements.

To talk about what customer-centricity is all about, we sat down (virtually, of course) with Riko Ringgoanto, Principal Growth Lead at by.U who is part of a team that built by.U brands since day one.

Can you tell us how by.U started its journey?

It all started in 2018 from a small squad, which consists of 11 people from different functions at Telkomsel. At that time, we were exploring different possibilities in the market to offer a new product that truly answers customer needs. We did extensive research in 10 cities, on the experience of customers (of all mobile operators in Indonesia) coming from different demography. In the end, we came up with an idea to build ‘a happiness factory’ for Gen Z in Indonesia by becoming an all-digital telco provider that acts beyond ordinary telco service.

What is the problem that you are trying to solve for that specific market?

From the market research that we did (surveys, focus group discussion, and ethnography research) we found the answer. The pain points for young people, specifically Gen Z when buying an Internet package, is on the unclarity of some of the information. They want it to be more clear, straightforward and give them some sense of control.

“Why do you have to use the midnight quota?”

“There too many terms & conditions when we want to access the internet?”

Hence, young people feel that the price they spend is not worth it.

Gen Z also has different types of preferences in terms of how they want to spend their Internet quota. Providing them with limited package options won’t satisfy their needs. So, we want to address this personalization problem.

In addition, the younger generation wants to be able to access all information via smartphones. It’s a no-brainer, to be frank, because it is definitely more comfortable when you can do everything from your smartphone. It is simpler, and it is easier to top up your quota.

After knowing their pain points, how does by.U solve it?

Knowing the pain points is fundamental, but the steps after that are equally crucial. We took the insights to design a solution and bring it back to customers to validate whether it is the right solution or not.

We want to be as customer-centric as we can. From our point of view, it was clear that Gen Z wants more freedom to personalize the service they use and less hassle. So, we want to give them the ability to design their own service. Through our, by.U app, our customers (we call them ‘Anak by.U’) can access all services and features. They can create their own data package by choosing the main data quota and topping the quota.

Topping quota is an interesting one because it was non-existent in other mobile operators before. Anak by.U can freely choose what kind of toppings (voice, Internet, or applications) that they want to add. For example, you want to add YouTube and Instagram quota as toppings because you use them the most. Well, it’s kind of like an ice cream…you choose the toppings for your vanilla ice cream. Some like strawberries, while others might prefer chocolate syrup.

Another example of less hassle definition is allowing your customers to order by.U number and SIM card through the apps, and the SIM card will be delivered to their home. They also can pick up the SIM card at the nearest by.U pick-up point.

How can you make sure that the customer-centricity really plays its role?

The short answer is…Nindy (Anak by.U will be very familiar with this). So, we made a brand personification called Nindy, which is a virtual assistant from by.U. We hope that we can do more than just serving customers, but also become friends with customers.

Nindy helps us tremendously to increase the interaction in social media, between by.U and Anak by.U. Through this, we got so many valuable insights straight from our customers, which help us to design services that is more specific and relevant for customers need. Nindy also helps us to create an honest conversation with customers, resulting in an increase in trust.

For example, when maintenance is being carried out, there will be some limitations for Anak by.U in accessing the application. This is where the combination of brand personification and customer service functions comes into play. Representing by.U, as a loyal friend of customers, Nindy acknowledged an error and apologized for the inconvenience felt by customers. By being honest and open, we indirectly get sympathy from customers. This is proof that customer-centricity has been successfully implemented.

How do you build engagement with your customers?

As I mentioned before, we positioned ourselves as a good friend for our customers. A good friend helps and a good friend is a good listener. That is why apart from making sure that we deliver excellent products and services, engagement with customers is something that we look at very closely. There was one-time last year where we invited Anak by.U to play mobile games that were trending (Among Us, PUBG, etc) with Nindy. The response was overwhelming! So, the engagement does not stop in activities like that but can go further up, where Anak by.U can involve in the product development process, or helping us in approaching ongoing campaign or promo activities. We believe that support and feedback from customers can help by.U to grow even better.

Seeing the current trend where all activities are carried out via digital, what aspirations do you want by.U to build in the future?

Our dream is that by.U can become what we call ‘a daily hero’ for young people. by.U is more than just providing quota, SMS, and telephone services only. Now, in the by.U application, customers can listen to music for free, because we are collaborating with LangitMusik. They can also listen to podcasts with Nindy, read the most updated articles, and many more. We keep on adding other features as we speak.

When talking about Gen Z as the target market for by.U, what are the challenges that have been felt so far?

Now that by.U is in a growth phase, the challenge is in terms of the acquisition. Apart from constantly improving our product features in our application, our strategy will continue to focus on digital initiatives. Mainly because we are dealing with digital natives.

We are still doing the more ‘traditional’ approach of using Key Opinion Leaders and tech reviewers on YouTube and Instagram to tell people what they think of our product, but we really value highly a more organic approach of testimonials from fellow users. Therefore, we have something called #RichGIGA, which is simply a referral program where you can enjoy an extra 2 GB of quota for a duration of one week.

The last question, how much influence does the work climate and culture at by.U have in generating creative ideas?

The effect, of course, is immense. by.U team really holds high the right to speak up and exchange ideas with each other. Every morning, we hold a standup meeting to discuss progress made personally and in teams. The ritual creates a culture where each member can openly chat with each other about success stories, failures, or blockers that they need to overcome.

We also believe that everyone at by.U is an expert. That gives a sense of trust that everyone is responsible and accountable for their respective job descriptions.

But at the very core, we all have the courage to explore and experiment continuously. This has become an essential part of our work culture that creates a fun work vibe and has a major impact on the principle of customer-centricity that we promote.