Spark is the nation’s largest telecommunications and digital services company with the aim to help all of New Zealand win big in the digital world. With a market share of 40%, the telco serves 2.5 million subscribers. Revenue in FY22 increased by 5.2% to US$1.89 billion.
Spark organises itself into seven business units – Mobile, Cloud, Security & service management, Broadband, Voice, other IT services and other services. The largest of the segments is mobile, accounting for 50% of revenues in the current fiscal year.
Spark is a leader in the telco business in New Zealand, emphasising IoT and digitalisation. All while initiating its rolling out of 5G network across the country.
Drive for CX
“We have continued to improve our service experience… This improvement is largely the result of better digital self-service options. In 2020, monthly customer care volumes reduced by 28%. We also saw an 18% increase in online chat interactions, and our chatbot Ivy is now resolving more than half of these chat interactions – which further improves resolution times.” – Jolie Hodson, CEO, Spark
twimbit conducted a detailed study to identify the top 10 telcos in APAC to ace customer experience. The companies were benchmarked across four pillars, viz., digital experience, service experience, employee experience and brand experience.
Spark landed an overall average score of 7.0, placing it in the 5th position. Not only does Spark emphasise the strong drive on digital experience to provide exceptional customer experience, but it also brings in new-age technology via great vendor partnerships.
Key Initiatives
Offering new services to help business customers
Spark provides new services through specialised business group companies. These companies utilise new-age technology, encompassing digital capabilities to meet customer needs and provide the best customer experience. They also provide network capabilities, data, and expansion opportunities to the telco to bring exceptional customer experience. Driving this initiative, they have partnered with multiple companies integrating their features alongside Spark network capabilities.
Enhancing interactions using bots and staff cross-skilling
The telco initiated chatbots and online apps, integrating AI and human interactions to offer customer support. Bots and staff coexist, complementing each other in dealing with customers’ needs and providing accurate, easy, and simple support. For instance, the MySpark Application, online chat and chatbot ‘IVY’ are among the bots used by customers, which witnessed an 18% increase in usage in 2020.
Together, bots and human support resolved 53% of all incoming chat requests through the ‘IVY’ chatbot without redirecting them to the customer care team. Then, the data gained through human responses updates the chatbot, enabling it to handle more complex challenges and increasing customer accessibility in the future. All in all, it aims to provide an exceptional customer experience.
Fostering an inclusive organisation
Spark aims to tackle the social issues of this day and age. Their board comprises an equal number of men and women (50%:50%), with 39% of women in other senior roles. In addition, 57% of individuals aged between 30-50 years old make up the company. It also executed several initiatives targeted to provide employees with a sense of inclusivity and connection. These include:
Blue heart programme: Everyone’s diverse culture is shared and celebrated with other employees. Blue heart also gives funding and support to these individuals within the organisation. All in the hopes of exposing and instilling different cultures in the employees.
Champions for Change Leaders: Spark’s very own CEO, Jolie Hodson and Board Chair, Justine Smyth, are members of a group of leaders who raise awareness about the business value of Diversity & Inclusion within workplaces. D&I has proven to be an asset to a team which have the capabilities to strengthen financial performance.
Play by Spark: Gamifying screen time for kids
Generation Z’s average screen time is approximately 9 hours a day. Spark leapt on this opportunity and gamified screen-time for kids. Spark seeks to help parents and kids reach a balance in their screen time usage. Play by Spark is a Bluetooth enabled rugby ball that tracks minutes of active playtime and connects this to a screen time allowance. This level of gamification allows parents to monitor their kids’ screen time while, at the same time, providing kids with an alternative exercise that enables them to earn points for more screen time.
How you can match up with/to Spark
Spark has collaborated with multiple partners and established three business segments that integrate new-age technology to improve customer service. Focusing on digital experience, Spark aims to propel its DX by leveraging the data obtained and expanding its segments. Spark operates in these three characteristics;
- Move beyond the network to an ICT solution provider
- Leadership as the driving force for inclusivity
- Provide responsible solutions to become a trusted partner