Neotel has opened the first of its retail stores at Cedar Square, north of Johannesburg.
“This is another step in the right direction,” says Ajay Pandey, CEO and MD of Neotel. “It has always been one of our objectives to bring Neotel’s products and services closer to our customers and the retail store does just that.”
The store will host the range of Neotel products currently available to market. “It provides the opportunity for consumers to walk in and be part of the Neotel experience,” he says. “They will be able to gather information about which product is best suited to their needs, by capitalising on the in-store services and excellent customer service from Neotel’s sales staff.”
“We have always been proud of the agility we have as a telecoms operator – an agility which means that we are market-lead, responsive and customer driven,” says Pandey. “In today’s consumer market one has to cater for different needs – one type of consumer is happy to shop online, making their purchase decisions based on research while the other wants to engage with a representative of the company and physically see the products.” The opening of the retail store means that customers can now purchase Neotel products online, through their customer call centre, at a variety of channel partners or at Neotel’s own retail store.
Neotel plans to open a number of these retail stores in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.
With Seacom going live, Neotel has direct access to its international capacity through its relationship with global telecommunications operator Tata Communications. “We are a local company, providing South Africans with the global connectivity they have long asked for,” says Pandey. In addition to that Neotel recently launched the first public Cisco TelePresence facility in Africa.
“It’s all about access – as the innovative communications challenger, we are making sure our customers have access to our products and services in a manner in which they choose to shop,” he says.
