Case Study

Account Manager Bandung

By

Muhammad Hilmi Nurkarim, S.Ab

Bandung

March 2020
  Introduction

Fact about Bandung city

Bandung is the capital of west java province in Indonesia. Based on the

2015 estimate, it is Indonesia's fourth most populous city after Jakarta,
Surabaya, and Bekasi with over 2.5 million inhabitants. Greater Bandung is the
country's third-largest metropolitan area with over 8.5 million inhabitants.

by that information, we know Bandung is the promising city as well and no

wonder there’s so many kind of business type that can growth on this city. One
of the factor that effect the growing number of tourist arrival its variety of
culinary industry, not only have a good food but they offer a good concept,
unique architecture, and different experience.

The growth of food and beverage industry in Bandung is so high from small
such as online food, ghost kitchen, and coffee shop to the large scale such as
family restaurant and following by other industry such as retail ( fashion,
commodity) and service ( barber, laundry, automotive )

Bandung People

The personality of Bandung people is an easy going and humble they are so
open to start talk with but don’t get they wrong, Bandung people has a
preferences to start as a business partner if you are friend it means they know
about your personality first and then they start want to know about what a
business thing you want to offer or talk.

No wonder everything in Bandung is based on community, start from the

upstream such as supplier or business to the downstream such as segment itself.
Well, as business partner we must use different approach, we have to gain they
trust first and then we can start as a business partner.
  What We Can Do?

Sales Based On Client Needs

Have you wonder why our offering are usually rejected? Because the seller
are always focus how the product is buy, it means the seller do a hard selling
without get the information or observation is it the product is our client needs?

Don’t ever put our self as a seller, but always put our self as business
partner so we became a friend with our client, the first thing is get to know our
client by the interview. Interview goals is to get the information about their
preferences maybe a personal things such as hobby , family and their future
plan. Is there information that seem relater with us? Hobby maybe, so begin the
conversation with that’s topic, so our client will feel we are at same position.
After that we can start the questioning about their business to get the
information about what is our client needs.

Needs are usually begin with a problem or obstacle, ask our client what’s
the obstacle they are face on their business and then do the observation and find
which are our product or features that can be the solutions of their obstacle.

Well, the goals is the product or features is buying by client from their
business partner or friends not a seller.

Turning Wants Into Needs

The idea is leading our client with content not a product and that content
must be genuinely useful to our client for it to be meaningful engagement
strategy.

For example how can the I phone user is so impulsive? They don’t need the
last version of apple phones but they really want it and they start impose to buy
it. Its because they are leading by content apple, they start turning wants into
needs.

so we have to start talk about the content that can be leading our client to
turning they wants into needs and the engagement it will be meaningful so we
don’t have to afraid of our client to unsubscribe our premium features.
  Basic Subscription

The strategy to ensure the merchant renew their basic

subscription

The idea is to make our existing merchant to fill they cared and special
because of the privilege. The privilege it means a reward from us to our
merchant because they are already loyal to us for using our basic features for 2
years.

Reward as a part of engagement too, the part of strategy to turning wants

into needs. the existing merchants will be more loyal to our brand and the less
gap between brand and customer, the more easy to up selling on the other days.

We have to make a good counter because on the other hands we have to

announce the bad news that basic subscription its not included anymore with
our premium features. The counter is reward, reward as sign of gratitude from
us to existing merchants for being loyal. this is strategy to ensure the merchant
renew their basic subscription because the reward.

The reward is a special price for our exiting merchants, the price stays for
exiting merchants IDR 299,000 / month but the price will be different for new
comers. It will give our existing merchant a trigger to renew their basic
subscription because do not want to lose the opportunity and charge more
expensive if they are not renew their basic subscription.

Terms and conditions :

1. Merchants already using basic subscription for minimal 2 years in a row.
2. Reward are only available for annual basic subscription.

This idea have an impact to our acquisition division, they have to prepare
promotion to the new comers so the higher charge fees than the exiting
merchant it will be nothing for new comers.
  Up selling and engagement

The approaching strategy to make existing merchants using

premium features

In this case, let’s make an approach by using based on client needs.

Because not all of those features premium its exactly what our merchants needs
maybe just one or two features it depends a business type of our merchant.

Let me explain step by step :

1. Listing and grouping

We have a listing of our merchants but those information has to be

grouping by some of criteria, so the information it will be more useful for
account manager to classified what type of premium features that maybe
fit in with merchant business type.

Example :

Grouping by traffic sales and business type.

Sushi tei have a good traffic in every outlet they had, have you ever
seen sushi tei its not waiting list? Well, we can assume that restaurant
have greats number sales but what if they don’t have a good management
table? The customer will not happy and maybe don’t want to come back
because that bad experience in service.

Business type, sushi it will be tastes good when it served fresh.

Maintain the freshness of product it has to be a good management in
inventory. First in first out is the key of this management inventory.

2. Chose the best features

Make an observation based on grouping our merchants, find the best

premium feature that may be urgently needs by our merchants so we can
help our merchants growth their business effectively because we are a
business partner.
 Example:

By that example on number one, we can make an observation that

our premium features that may be our merchants really needs for now is
table management and ingredient inventory.

3. Set up appointment

I don’t recommend to make direct sales phone just because we

already predicted what’s the features that our merchants needed.
Just make a phone call to our merchants, the goal is how to make we
can meet the business owner in a person. So we can up selling more
effective and explain why the merchant needs these feature by see their
gesture and we respond by read the situation.

4. Interview

When we are meet the business owner don’t make a hard selling. let
the conversation flow and find other information like personal
information hobby, family and their future plan cause maybe we there’s a
chance we can cross sales other features and of course while we are on
the conversation make sure the prediction that we already made is the
merchants needed.

In this step, I want to treat our merchant as friend maybe we have a

same hobby or preferences so the gap between us is less and the more
easy to me to make up selling or cross selling.

5. Offering

Before we start up selling, make sure the merchants see the same
picture with us such as the risk of that obstacle.

Example :

Traffic sales obstacle

To make sure the services management table is done correctly our

merchants hire five people on the floor area. The job desk is to ensure
which table are ready to sales, which table that the ordered in on process,
which table that the ordered is done, and which table its done and need to
be clean up.
 To running this system our merchants have to hire four people, let see
how the cost the merchants :

o Fee : IDR 2.500.000 / person

o Monthly cost : IDR 2.500.000 x 5 person
= IDR 12.500.000 / month
o Yearly cost : IDR 12.500.000 x 12 month
= IDR 150.000.000

And now let’s make the comparation if the merchant use our
premium feature table management:

o Charge fee app : IDR 207.000/ month

o Yearly cost app : IDR 207.000 x 12 month
= IDR 2.484.000
 Fee employee : IDR 2.500.000/ person
 Monthly cost : IDR 2.500.000 x 3 person
= IDR 7.500.000
 Yearly cost : IDR 7.500.000 x 12
= IDR 90.000.000
 Total cost yearly : IDR 2.483.000 + IDR 90.000.000
= IDR 92.483.000

For that assumption the merchants will save IDR 57.517.000, that a
huge different and efficiency cost. Explain this to our merchant to make
they see the same picture with us. And then we can start to up selling
our features, because we’re not just sales a features but we try to help
them growth their business effectively.

In this case we know the merchant needs our feature but in the
beginning the merchants are only just wants because they are consider
about cost or charge fees, but after we explain the big picture how this
features help them to save more money, their wants turning into
needs.
The Engagement Strategy to Ensure Merchants Using and
Understand The Value of this Features and less Unsubscribe.

The idea it will be completed if the internal of our company can cooperated
and work together. This idea may involve other division such as marketing
offline and online and finance because this idea need to spend money but the
impact to our company it will be much bigger than the cost.

The idea is also make us to collaborate with external local artisan and the
merchants itself. The impact of this idea can be the answer of 3 question on this
case study and it can be a win – win solution between our company, the artisan,
and of course the merchants. The main idea is leading our merchants or
market with content not a product.

The idea is make an activation called “ Table Manner”. The core of this
event is to make our merchants understand how to operate and using our
premium table management but in the attractive and fun way.
We will collaborate with the local artisan chef to make special menu for
dinner included appetizer , main course, and dessert. The chef will cook on our
merchants business place.

Meanwhile the merchant will try our premium features that is table
management on this event. The chef will presentation their menu to the guest
such as the ingredients, the cook process, and their inspiration.

And who the guest itself is? As we know table manner has a segment
market B to A consumer. Among them must be a business owner or maybe just
an ordinary rich people but still afraid to start their own business, we had a
change to presented our features as a solution of their business.

So it will give a unique experience to our participant, merchant, and chef.

The question is how this activation can bring a benefit as a business? Let’s
see from some perspective :
 Moka

We are concern to make our merchants to renew their basic subscription,

using premium feature, and make sure they will not unsubscribe us. Well, this is
the benefit for us :

o We help the merchants to subscribe our premium features, for 1

years with only 1 event.

Let’s say the COGS is 40% and margin is 60% from this event, from this
margin 20% for chef, 20% for us (equal with 1 year subscription for table
management ), 10% for our merchant to cover the operational.

o build a community and strong relationship with merchants

The one thing about moka is, as a product we’re the best app from our
class but the exposure of brand it’s really poor. That’s why we’re easy to
shaken by price from our competitor.

o Get a free exposure on social media

The participant of this event will make a documentation and it will be

posted on their social media either the guest ,a media partner or chef
itself. The more exposure we can get the more easy to acquisition and up
selling.

o Get a recommendation

The merchant it will be more understand how to operate the features and
we can show to merchant how it’s really helpful for their business. The
event was fun, the features so helpful and the merchant and chef will give
recommendation to their friends to using our features.

o Brand and features awareness

After dinner we can make a presentation about our premium features.

Merchants
 Some of our merchants are choosing to running their business with the old
fashion because it’s proof it’s really works, some of our merchants consider
about the fees that we’re charged to them because the sales today it so poor, and
some of our merchants have lack of information about the value of using our
premium features.

Here’s the benefit for our merchants from this event :

o Help them increase their sales

Some of business have a bad sales because the exposure of their brand is
poor, with this event we help our merchants to increase their brand
awareness.

o Help them to subscribe our premium features

With the margin from this event, the merchants will be able to using and
subscribing us.

o Help them for using our features

This event such as play game, to practice our premium features by

mentoring with us, the merchants will not confuse anymore.

o New menu

This part its not our business, but the merchants get the chance to get the
special menu for their restaurant but of course must be negotiated with
the chef.

Chef

Chef are always happy to explore more variety food but sometimes their
stuck with the condition of their client so they have to adjust their creativity
with the preferences of their client. The Chef needs the media for an
actualization their self to public, and a profession such a chef needs a portfolio
so that their credibility it can be measured for client.
 Here’s the benefit of this event for a chef :

o A free space to exploration

This event give a chef a free space to explore the way they cook and
choose the ingredients.

o Media for actualization

This event give a chef a media for an actualization chef itself.

o Portfolio

Collaboration with local restaurant and a big company such a promising

portfolio for chef itself.

o Sharing fees

We make a collaboration which are a win win solution, so we’re not hire
them but we make this together and we share the revenue together.

May be there is a condition for a chef :

o The chef must be a good influencer

o Active on community
o Can bring a mass or populace

However the core is to leading market by content not product, but the
content must be useful for a merchant for it meaningful engagement strategy
and can help us to up selling our features.