Telstra pulls out all the stops for Customer Insight Centre

Telstra has cut the ribbon on a multi-million dollar showcase of its products in the Sydney CBD built expressly for the purpose of winning customers.

The 3600 square-metre Customer Insight Centre, located on the second level of Telstra’s 400 George Street office, includes a 300-person auditorium with a 4K screen and surround-sound system, a telecom-themed restaurant, a 4K-capable broadcast studio, hands-on tech demonstrations of wearable devices and 3D printers, and even a robot called Ged that can guess a person’s age.

The new customer centre represents a major upgrade and expansion of Telstra’s previous customer centre, which Telstra officials said had been due for a refresh.

Telstra would not disclose an exact figure for how much the new facility costs, but a spokesperson characterised the investment as “multi-million”. In addition, Telstra general manager of technology experience centres, David Woodbridge, said the telco doubled its existing customer centre staff to fill the larger centre.

Telstra expects to welcome a large number of business customers to the centre, from small businesses to large enterprises, said Telstra director of segment marketing, Andy Bateman. Telstra held 9700 customer meetings last year and expects to increase that number this year at the new centre.

Telstra also plans to use the facility’s auditorium for Telstra Thanks customer events and rent out the 4K broadcasting studio to bring revenue into the centre.

Bateman said Telstra’s sales effort begins well before the customer comes in for a tour of the centre. Telstra staff perform a two-week “discovery” ahead of the meeting about the prospective customer’s needs and then personalise the tour with information relevant to the customer.

Telstra has launched a raft of initiatives and changes across the organisation to become more customer focused.

And in an interview on the AANA’s Marketing Dividends program this week, the telco’s head of corporate marketing, Inese Kingsmill, highlighted the importance of Net Promoter Score and customer advocacy to sustainable and long-term business growth.

With the new centre, Telstra hopes to respond to customers seeking greater understanding on how to enhance their businesses, said Bateman.

“What they told us they needed is not just a show and tell … but an understanding of insights in their industry, insights from outside of their industry, insights about their customers, and insights about what their business challenges and opportunities might be through the lens of telecommunications and technology.”

Check out our full slideshow of the Telstra Customer Insight Centre.

Adam Bender covers digital marketing and emerging technology for CMO and is the author of dystopian sci-fi novels We, The Watched and Divided We Fall. Follow him on Twitter: @WatchAdam

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