SHKP Quarterly

SmarTone attracted many new customers by offering a superior network and thoughtful services. The telecommunications business ac tually involves a great deal of fixed investments, so operating costs don’t vary much regardless of the number of customers. While we will continue to invest moderately, p r i c e w a r s h a v e g i v e n Sma rTo n e a n opportunity to acquire more new customers, which has had a positive impact on our business.” While attracting new customers is crucial, retaining current cus tomers is jus t as important. SmarTone’s customer churn rate is the lowest among local telecommunications ser vice providers. Anna points out that besides providing fast, stable and seamless network quality to customers, their enviable customer loyalty can also be attributed in large part to the efforts of their staff. “Our team has put a great deal of effort into bolstering customer loyalty, including offering suitable and competitive monthly plans to customers whose contracts are approaching to end soon. We also constantly provide thoughtful services and privileges like birthday cakes and free workshops for customers. Moreover, we reward selected customers with prestigious benefits, including a 24-hour service hotline, prestigious bespoke offers and diverse lifestyle experiences, to show them how important they are to us at SmarTone,” she adds. The 5G era early bird The coming 5G network revolution will greatly increase data flow and reduce latency, providing a better online experience for consumers as well as providing a host of different business opportunities. SmarTone began developing its Information and Communications Technology Solutions (ICT Solutions) a few years ago. Now with the 5G era approaching, SmarTone has sped up the development of its ICT business. SmarTone Innovation Hub, established in November of last year, develops new technology applications by building a cross-industry platform to assist and encourage corporate customers to move towards business digitalization. SmarTone’s ICT business has achieved satisfying results in the early stage. Anna adds, “our ICT business is growing annually at 50%, generating positive word-of-mouth publicity by helping corporate clients increase overall productivity. We have discovered countless opportunities in labour- intensive industries such as manufacturing sector and service sector.” Standing at the cusp of the 5G era, SmarTone is certainly working hard to continually enhance its network quality. The territory’s first 5G technology demonstration was successfully conducted early last year. Also, SmarTone became the first network operator to trial the FDD Massive MIMO technology and run a successful technical test of its License Assisted Access (LAA) technology, which will significantly boost current network speed and stability. Seeing is believing “Seeing is believing” is the core of Anna’s management philosophy. She says that no one really knows whether a plan is good or bad until the results are seen. Therefore, she tries to avoid implementing plans that may take a very long time to see the results. The earlier results are seen, the sooner we can conclude if a project is effective or not. Monitoring interim results is what motivates the SmarTone team to continue working hard too. “Actually, I encourage my team to make mistakes, as long as the costs aren’t too high. If I don’t tolerate some mistakes, my team will be exceedingly careful, which will just block their creativity. However, I do ask them to detect mistakes as early as possible. If we discover dead ends too late, it will be difficult for us to remedy the situation and get back on the right track,” Anna notes. Anna also believes strongly in the power of teamwork. She thinks senior staff bring experience and stability, while younger staff introduce innovation. Together they motivate a business to constantly strive for excellence. She adds that being decisive and determined is still an essential management trait today. However, unlike in the past, managers have to find out how to sustain a company’s creativity more than just issuing orders. She also touched on how important it is to promote business creativity and development from the bottom up. “Even if we think a product is excellent and attractive, continued persistence will be futile if the market does not accept it. We must keep on improving and developing our products and services until customers truly like them. Under today’s new economic model, more than ever we need our frontline staff to lead the company’s creative thinking from the bottom up through their experiences meeting with and observing customers.” Balancing work and life Focusing on one thing too much can hinder flexible thinking, so even though Anna is deeply engaged in her work, she insists on living a balanced life. Apart from her work responsibilities, this mother of one enjoys doing yoga, going to the gym, hiking and reading. She jokingly says she is also quite busy during her time off, adding - “I like getting in touch with the world and learning things outside of work. I’m always too busy to sit down and read a book, so I watch sharing clips on the net instead to help broaden my horizons.” She admits that obstacles in work and family are inevitable, but the most important thing is to find a step-by-step way to deal with issues when they arise. She explains her approach to problem-solving - “First, you need to understand the situation you are facing, then you examine the causes and effects so you can approach the issue honestly. Finally, it is important to fully let go of any unhappy memories.” Only when we face adversity calmly can we be fearless against the challenges that confront us. Anna encourages creativity among her team members 葉安娜鼓勵同事創新 15