PHILIPPINE RETAILING
Feature
2ND QUARTER 2019
Kick-startin’ the most
promising innovations
Interview with Kickstart Ventures President
Minette Navarrete
While many people identify startup
businesses mainly with technology,
Minette Navarrete and the Kickstart
Ventures team believe that the core
of startups is to address a particular
universal problem. committed? Do they have a special insight, a
unique and competitive approach, execution
skill, and the grit to persist and win?
A wholly-owned corporate venture capital
subsidiary of Globe Telecom currently investing
in Seed to Series C digital tech startups, Kickstart
Ventures
started
in 2012 to
support the
Philippine
startup
ecosystem
with a $2 million investment fund, which is
small by global standards. From there, Kickstart
Ventures has so far invested in 39 digital
companies and is supporting 83 founders across
the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia,
United States, Canada, and Israel. We start by clarifying that not every pitch gets
approved. Last year, just about 1% of pitches
for new funding got approved and funded. In
many ways,
funding is a
bit like Willy
Wonka’s
golden
ticket!
Kickstart Ventures President Minette Navarrete
shares their mission in supporting the most
promising startups, not only in the country, but
across the globe.
What is Kickstart’s vision and mission?
The vision then was to support the creation of a
Philippines where founders and entrepreneurs’
biggest dreams can come true, where startups
can achieve massive success, and where
the community is justifiably proud of its
achievements, and optimistic about its prospects
for the future. We would bring this vision to life
through our mission: creating disproportionate
value for startups anywhere in the world to have
a better shot at success.
What are the most important things you
consider in choosing a particular startup
to fund?
We have an extremely intense due diligence
process! But it boils down to four fundamental
points: Total Addressable Market (TAM) – are
they solving a big, meaningful problem? Product
and Technology – do they offer a compelling and
credible solution? Is it scalable? Business Model
– do they have a viable plan, one that resonates
with a large enough sector of their target market?
Founders – are the founders competent and
16
What is your process in approving
pitches from startups?
The first reward of that golden ticket is, of
course, funding. We write first cheques that are
typically from $200K to $2M, to give startups
capital to operate. And we don’t stop at access
to financial resources -- we also provide
facilities, and a community of coaches, advisors,
and startup leaders who are going through the
same experience. We commit time to do regular
business checkpoints to help founders grow
the business and develop the team, we have
dedicated business development to facilitate
access-to-market, and we offer mentoring to
help get systems and processes in place and
primed to scale.
Where are we now in the Philippines, in
terms of startup growth?
The tech startup industry in the Philippines is at
its nascent stage but it is promising for those who
dare. What can really help the tech startup scene
transform rapidly like those from our neighboring
countries are supportive public sector policies,
infrastructure, and collaborators in the private
sectors to widen and deepen the adoption of the
technology.
Can you share with us some of the
success stories with startups you have
funded and how are they helping their
particular market?
ZAP is helping Chatime (Teabros) keep in touch
with their most loyal customers, helping the
brand engage with their consumers and increase
sales. (www.zap.com.ph)
Snapcart helps some of the biggest FMCG
companies to stay up-to-date and competitive,
The Emotional Framework Part 4
BUILDING
LOYALTY
InnoVantage is working on workforce automation
solutions for Globe, providing ease of work,
faster response times, and better quality of
service to more than 7,000 Globe employees
across the Philippines. (www.aiah.ai)
Last month, Ayala Corporation announced that
they would entrust Kickstart Ventures with a
US$150M venture capital fund, known as the
ACTIVE Fund (AC Technology Innovation Venture
Fund). The Fund’s unique approach is to focus
its investment themes not on pure technology,
but on the future we envision for ourselves,
articulated via four key investment themes – (1)
‘A Frictionless Future;’ (2) ‘From Automation to
Augmentation;’ (3) ‘Innovations in Real Estate;’
and (4) ‘A World of Plenty’. We help make
these futures come to life by making a range of
investments globally, focusing on technology
startups in the early- to mid-growth stage, ie
Series A to C. The ACTIVE Fund is the biggest
such fund ever announced in the Philippines, and
we’re thrilled to have this ability to help create a
future we believe in!
Net Promoter Score (NPS) which was pioneered by
Frederick F. Reichheld in 2003. NPS is the total of %
Promoters minus % Detractors. The NPS model groups
respondents into three categories: 1
• 0 to 6 are “detractors” – Those who are negative
about the brand and likely to harm its reputation.
NET EASY SCORE (NES), measures the quality of the
support. The NET EASY SCORE would be calculated as
: NES = % Easy - % Difficult
When it comes to Contact Center Measurements, some
of the common metrics would be:
[email protected] • 7 to 8 are “passives” –
Those who are unlikely
to
spread
negative
comments
about
a
brand, but might switch
loyalties if they have an
alternate option. First Response & Average Handling Time. First
response time is the average amount of time it takes
for a customer to get an initial response to their
support issue. 4 For some companies, answering within
3 rings would be the standard for phone calls, for
emails, answering within the day or within 24 hours
would be acceptable, for social media, urgency would
dictate how fast one should respond to the query.
Yayu Javier is the President and COO of Avanza, Inc., who has
acquired more than 20 years experience in loyalty and cus-
tomer relationship marketing and has extensive exposure in
various industries such as retail, consumer goods, banking, and
institutional products. • 9 to 10 are “promoters”-
Those who appreciate
a brand and are likely
to
share
positive
sentiments with others. 1 In addition to Response and Handling Time, First
Call Resolution is also very important in terms of
the customer’s overall experience. The following
initiatives can be implemented in enhancing that
handling 5 :
Zappo’s
CEO
Tony
Hsieh focuses on the
importance of Customer
Engagement.
Zappos
scores one of the
highest in terms of NPS
alongside Apple and
Amazon. 2 • Empower your frontliner/agent.
• Listen carefully and fix it.
• Total contact ownership.
• Give more options to your customers – social Media,
Chat Bot, Web-Chat, Email, IVR, etc.
• Query-Centric Organization 5
YAYU JAVIER
CRM Measures and KPIs
In business and marketing there are so many measures
that we have to consider. The best measures are those
that make a difference in business.
In my last article on The Emotional Framework Part 2,
I have shared by Framework which I am showing again
below as reference to those who were not able to read
my last article.
Just as an example they let their customers order 2
sizes instead of one size of a pair of shoes to have
less returns. They also have a free scheduling tools
so customers can schedule delivery of their
shoes. 3
In Tony Hsieh’s own words, “Zappos is really
a customer service that just happens to sell
shoes”. 2
What are the things that you look
forward to with your recent collaboration
with the PRA?
The Philippine Retailers’ Association is a well-
established and much respected industry
association. We believe in the cause of PRA
and its members; and are aware of how the
association as a whole can influence the lives
of so many at different touchpoints. Through
the millions employed in the retail industry and
the millions of lives touched through services
rendered, the PRA members are part of our daily
lives today; and we believe they will continue
to be part of our daily lives in the future.
By partnering with the PRA and its member
companies, we can co-create a future where
families and firms can thrive and grow, and
see their dreams come true. It is an honor and
an exciting time to work with PRA to see how
technology can be truly be transformative in the
lives of so many.
PHILIPPINE RETAILING
Which Measures Equal Performance?
with real-time data analytics, for customer
insight that is hyperlocal, deeply granular, and
rooted in trade and market developments. (www.
snapcart.global)
What are the recent developments in
Kickstart?
Column
2ND QUARTER 2019
CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION
SCORE (CSAT) is
another
important metrics used for CX
that may use single or multiple
questions to measure customer
satisfaction. As an example, the
Number of satisfied customers
is a score of 4 or 5 / the Total
Number of Survey Respondents X
100 = CSAT Score.
Note: Loyalty Emotional Framework can only be used or re-published with
the permission of the author, Maria Luz Javier.
I’ve discussed the importance of Touch Points and
the strategies on how to make it more effective and
relevant.
Customer Experience has now become a new
buzzword in marketing but many still need to look
at the metrics to determine if it actually works. CX
Metrics has become a new measurement in marketing
to justify why we need to invest in CX initatives. Some
of these measurements are:
These questions may be used
to gain more intelligence
about customer perceptions,
measurements on per interaction
with the brand, a way to get insights on
the performance of the frontliners, and
later used for training to address specific
concerns. AirBNB and GRAB are common
examples of very easy and friendly CSAT
surveys.
Customers are more loyal when we make it easy for
them to do business with us. CUSTOMER EFFORT
SCORE (CES) is another CX metrics that assesses how
much effort a customers has to put for each business
transaction. It measures the quality of support from
“Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree”. Example of
a question would be, “ What is the extent that the
company has made it easy for me to handle my issue?”
These measures are most relevant when assessing
customer satisfaction and experience in terms of their
interactions with the brand, service or frontliners. For
retailers, customer service is a key element in choosing
your store versus other stores in the market. Make your
surveys simple and easy by using also mobile platforms
for easy participation, tracking and reporting.
Nordstrom, for example, empowers its frontliners so
they can easily make decisions or provide information
for its customers. Some of their
frontliners are equipped with a
tablet so that they can immediately
track stocks in hand.
In my next article, I will be talking
about measures related to loyalty
programs which is an important
exercise in determining the success
of your crm and loyalty programs and
creating the emotional attachment
for them to buy and continue to buy.
You can also email me anytime if you
wish to talk more at yayu.javier@
avanza.ph or visit our website at
www.avanza.ph. I also welcome any
feedback on topics you may wish to
discuss on crm, customer experience/
journey or loyalty.
Keep the love burning with your
customers!
https://www.etouchpoint.com/your-guide-to-3-trusted-cx-metrics-
approaches/
1
https://betssonflash.com/2015/08/06/zappos-success-story-as-powered-
by-excellent-customer-service/
2
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225140
3
https://www.usertesting.com/blog/2016/05/19/customer-experience-
metrics/
4
https://www.ameyo.com/blog/5-ways-to-enhance-first-call-resolution
5
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