In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, customer experience is the key differentiator that sets leading telcos apart. For ASEAN telecom companies, excelling in the prepaid purchase and recharge journey is not just about offering competitive plans; it’s about seamless, intuitive, and engaging user experiences from start to end.

To help you achieve this, we’ve developed a comprehensive checklist based on our recent report titled “CX Mark: ASEAN Telco Prepaid Purchase & Recharge Journey 2024.” This checklist encapsulates key learnings and best practices from top-performing telcos, providing actionable insights to enhance every touchpoint in your customer’s journey, from the initial purchase to ongoing account management and customer support.

The prepaid checklist

Purchasing Process

• Differentiate the user journey for new vs. existing customers.
• Provide easy access to relevant information and plans.
• Customise plan and execute comparisons side-by-side for more informed decision-making.
• Enable service and add-on customisation during checkout.
• Offer options to modify plans before making payment.
• Design a purchase process that takes fewer than 5 steps.

Delivery Convenience

• Provide convenient e-SIM options.
• Allow users to choose a preferred delivery date and time (physical SIM).
• Enable tracking of delivery status (physical SIM).

Activation Process

• Simplify activation steps with easy-to-understand visuals or video tutorials.
• Provide instant payment confirmation and consolidated order details with clear activation instructions for eSIMs.
• Enable swift self-service verification (under 1 minute) using ID and email or secure OTP.
• Allow instant activation via QR code (e-SIM) or app launch upon SIM insertion (physical SIM).

Recharge/Top-Up Process

• Allow users to key in their preferred top-up amounts.
• Offer alternative top-up methods: pay-later/request from others

App Innovation

• Offer a navigation guide for first-time users during initial app sign-in.
• Create a comprehensive dashboard displaying account info (bill, data usage, plan details), payment methods, and in-app shopping options.
• Enable in-app purchases without redirecting to a browser in fewer than 3 steps.
• Personalise recommendations based on past purchases.
• Integrate a product filter feature for easy discovery within the app.

Customer Care

• Ensure customer service is accessible across various channels: email, hotline, social media, live chat, and conversational AI with NLP capabilities.
• Prioritise quick response times across all channels.
• Offer visual aids (FAQs with visual cues) for self-service support.
• Adopt personalised IVR functions with speech recognition and AI capabilities for more intuitive experiences.

Enhancing Engagement and Loyalty

• Offer non-connectivity services like entertainment, education, personal finance, delivery, and e-commerce.
• Provide rewards and vouchers across more than 3 categories (e.g., food & beverage travel, entertainment) to cater to diverse preferences.
• Design a loyalty program with mini-games and interactive elements to increase engagement and earn loyalty points

Spotlight: App Innovation

Having outlined the essential elements for an excellent prepaid customer journey, let’s delve deeper into a specific area that can significantly impact customer satisfaction and engagement: App Innovation.

In our report, we examined several key areas and identified some of the best practices:

1. Account Creation:

• Flexible sign-up options: Offer multiple channels for sign-up, including email, social media, and phone numbers to provide users with flexibility.

• Navigation Guide: Include a step-by-step guide to assist first-time users through the sign-up process.

Best practice: im3 (Indonesia)

2. Account Information Access:

• User-Friendly Interface: Design an intuitive app layout that makes information easily accessible.

Best practice: AIS

• Comprehensive Dashboard: Offer a detailed dashboard that displays key information such as data usage, billing details, and plan specifics in a clean and organized manner.

Best practice: MyRepublic

3. Payment/reload Convenience:

• Variety of Payment Methods: Includes support for credit cards, mobile wallets, and bank transfers, while allowing pay-later top up options for emergencies and users to share credit with others.

Best Practice: Hotlink

• Dedicated billing or payment page: Provide a dedicated page for payment history and easy access to bills.

Best Practice: Globe

4. In-App Shopping:

• Diverse Product Offering: Include a variety of non-connectivity products and rewards to keep users engaged and encourage them to explore more options within the app.

Best practice: Telkomsel

5. Gamification

• Fun In-App Games: Include interactive and entertaining games to engage users.
• Interactive Loyalty Programs: Develop loyalty programs that encourage user interaction and provide rewards.

Best practice: Smartfren

Uncover more success stories and strategies on gamification here.