POCO has launched its second exclusive service centre in Mumbai, India
Customers can also buy the latest POCO products from the service centre itself
POCO's Himanshu Tandon gives us insight into the company's sales + service centres
First introduced as an independent smartphone company during the pandemic in India, POCO is a tremendously popular smartphone brand that focuses on pocket-friendly offerings with a good balance of features and hardware power. The company's portfolio includes the C, M, X, and F series, ranging from entry-level to POCO’s top-end models. All phones from the house of POCO typically retail for under ₹30,000, thereby appealing to the price-conscious masses in India. However, POCO has largely been an online-focussed brand, selling its smartphones via Flipkart.
Now, a few years since its inception in India, the company is looking to strengthen its offline presence as well. The company recently launched its second service centre in India, in Mumbai, and we had the pleasure of visiting this spot. Users can not only get their after-sales support in this centre but can also browse POCO’s portfolio of smartphones to get hands-on experience before buying a product. The brand is also providing home delivery services for all of its products. We got to speak with Himanshu Tandon, Country Head, POCO India about POCO’s new vigour to push their brand and products in exclusive offline centres. Here’s what we gleaned from the conversation.
In conversation with Himanshu Tandon, Country Head, POCO India
Digit: This is the second exclusive POCO service centre in India, after the one in Kolkata. What kind of after-sales services can customers expect from POCO service centres?
Himanshu: This is the second service centre we’ve opened. This is not only a service centre but a sales plus service centre, so we will be selling all the newly-launched POCO models through this centre at very attractive, discounted prices. Since we were an online-only brand, we thought of venturing into offline with a unique model. So, that’s why we came up with this unique concept of sales + service centre. The first was launched in Kolkata where the entire operation was run by women only and this is the second one which we’ve opened in Mumbai. So, all the after-sales services for POCO products will be done here. Also, from a sales perspective, you can come here, explore POCO products in our Experience Zone, and then buy the products right here from this sales + service centre.
Digit: What are some of the highlights of the POCO sales + service centre?
Himanshu: If you see, this entire place is an exclusive service centre for POCO. The one we opened in Kolkata is an entirely female-run show. We gave it a special name – the “Pink Service Centre”. The one in Mumbai is not a Pink Service Centre but the experience and the service is the same. We strategically opened the centre in a location where we think our output or throughput would be higher. We will have our trained staff here who will educate the customers that walk for the service about POCO products and the offers we are running in these service centres. We are trying to create a differentiated model of offline operation by opening these service centres.
Digit: What’s the query resolution time customers can expect at POCO service centres?
Himanshu: If you see our oral call load, 95 per cent of it gets answered in 1-4 hours and 97 per cent of the call loads are resolved in a single day. Apart from that, we are also running other initiatives. For example, we are running an extended warranty offer on our X4 Pro and X3 Pro – which was basically 6 months of extended warranty. The recently-launched POCO F4 5G had one year of extended warranty. Moving forward, we are planning on some special initiatives for the customers and the customer service support team in form of discounts that we give on repairs. A lot of initiatives are still in the pipeline as well considering the sales service centre we’ve opened here.
POCO's sales + service centre in Mumbai, India
Digit: How many service centres does POCO plan to open and what is the plan for offline expansion?
Himanshu: We have already tied up with our sister brand – Xiaomi – and we have 1000+ service centres across India. But what we trying to do now is create a differentiated and sole experience for POCO customers. We opened the first service centre in Kolkata, the second one is now in Mumbai. Moving forward, we will be opening more dedicated services centres first in 4-5 key markets. On basis of the response and customer demands, we will be exploring Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities as well. But now, the priority is to open service centres in Tier-1 cities.
Digit: How important is customer service at POCO and what are the measures taken to satisfy customer needs?
Himanshu: POCO is a very youth-oriented and customer-oriented brand. Opening offline channels through customer service centres shows our thought process and the importance we give customer service. So, if you see many online brands venture into offline operations. But we ventured into offline operations through this unique model of service + sales centre. So, it is very critical for our brand. Not just opening up the centre but creating a differentiated experience where other brands are running the same models and have the same experience. So, we are trying to differentiate ourselves from the rest of the players in the market.
Digit: Service centres aside, can you give us insight into the future plans of POCO in the smartphone industry?
Himanshu: We had an amazing 2022, we had great Diwali sales, and we were among the top players on Flipkart as a platform. We recorded some breakout numbers in phones such as the POCO M4 Pro, X4 Pro 5G and M4 5G. Next year, firstly, we will try to play on this 5G theme. Right now, we exploring the transition from 4G to 5G and getting ready for that transition. Next year we will focus on 5G products. We are not going to vacate 4G products though. However, most of the portfolio will transition into 5G. Secondly, next year we will attempt to enter into non-mobile categories as well. We have a lot of non-mobile categories globally but in India, we couldn’t do it over the last two years, so will be testing and exploring non-mobile categories. And if we hit our benchmark of price to performance, we will certainly delve into that. The third thing is channel diversification. We are an online-only brand now, so with such service centres, we are exploring entering the offline platform with a differentiated model. So these are the three pillars we’re working towards for our 2023 strategy.
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Dhriti Datta
Perpetually sporting a death stare, this one can be seen tinkering around with her smartphone which she holds more dear than life itself and stuffing her face with copious amounts of bacon. View Full Profile
