In the pink - Shopping Centre

In the pink

During a phase of store roll-outs T-Mobile has been placing the spotlight on customer service

Published: 11 October, 2006

Page 6

After redesigning each of its stores with styish new refits and ensuring a core focus on customer service, T-Mobile is in the process of ambitious expansion plans.

The mobile phone retailer is aiming to increase its current 200 stores to 302 by the end of 2007. And with 50 stores expected to open between now and December, and 90 possibilities either on site or in negotiation stages, those expectations should be met.

Last year the retailer stood at just 128 stores and the speed of store openings has ensured it's on target. Next year, head of retail Russell Taylor aims to open 20 to 25 stores each quarter.

The company is focused on opening across all areas of the UK, but with a clear preference for the key urban centres, such as London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds and Bristol.

Taylor says: "In order to live up to our mission to be higly regarded, it's important to customers for us to have a retail presence. At this stage in the programme we're very focused on the high street and shopping centres. Clearly they have the highest footfall."

T-Mobile is searching for stores of between 850 and 1,000 sq ft at front of house and then a further 300 to 500 sq ft at back of house. The original footprint it inherited was smaller at an average of 450 to 700 sq ft and this year the company will be relocating 18 stores to a better pitch of a better size, both front and back of house.

As for the stores' new design, Taylor says the Deutsche Telekom-owned company wanted to achieve a look that would fit its customer type. Between September 2005 and March last year all the existing stores were transformed into the new concept.

"The reason we've chosen that design is we're part of a European retail operation which will have 1,000 stores across Europe, and it's important to have a similar look so that the shop experience in Germany and the Netherlands will be similar to that in the UK," says Taylor.

"We completed the refurbishment programme in March. We also took the opportunity to relocate some of the stores."

Taylor insists his team has not only been looking at the roll-out and refurbishment programme but also at how the whole retail environment is managed and transformed successfully. The focus of this has been on people.

Taylor adds: "They're the most important part so we've been looking at recruitment, training, development and career planning, then at all the retail systems and how we could transform our current systems to be the best in our class.

"We looked at productivity and at the whole customer service experience within the store. We're very focused on a strategy that has our customer at heart. We've been promoting our brand and bringing it to life - understanding what the customers need and what their frustrations are in terms of mobile phone service and position."

A large part of this has involved spending a lot of time with focus groups consisting of existing and prospective customers, asking their views on what works now and what they would like to see in the future. One discovery was that people switched between networks to take advantage of the most flexible SMS and voice contracts. As a result, T-Mobile has brought the two together, bringing flexibility into the overall proposition. "We're focusing on what the customer wants," says Taylor, "and doing that in an innovative and straightforward way."

So why do people keep signing up to T-Mobile? Taylor explains: "Our brand behaviour, and that's what we're trying to bring to life, is about being simple, straightforward and easy to talk to.

"There's an inherent mistrust, all our forums have suggested, and it's a very complex market. You can go in-store and be faced with 50 or 60 tariff options. We want to be upfront and honest with our customers about our billing costs and so on, and all those aspects will enhance our customers' experience."