Wataniya Telecom: Reasons Behind the Success of Wataniya Kuwait
Interview with Amer Hayat, Senior Director of Direct Sales at Wataniya Telecom. Amer Hayat shares his view on Wataniya Telecom Kuwait with which he has been in love since the very first day of his work. Mr. Hayat believes that the motivated employers of Wataniya are the reason for its success.
Share with us your background. As a Wataniya employee, what do you personally enjoy about your job? What motivates you to strive towards excellence?
I began my career in Wataniya in 2001 and since then I have loved every minute of working here. I joined the Process Department then worked with Marketing and Product Development and today I am the Senior Director of Direct Sales, VIP, Retail and Corporate segments.
What I love most about working in Wataniya is the dynamic environment and the day-to-day challenges that I face. Each day brings a new lesson, new people and a new way of looking at things. I work with different segments from VIP’s to Corporate customers. Each segment has their own requirements and needs to be treated in their own special way. For example VIP customers are the high-spenders and expect more services from us while our corporate customers are more price conscious and we have to help them understand value and at the same time provide them better customer experience.
The people around me, from my colleagues to my superiors and subordinates motivate me and help me strive for excellence. It gives me great pleasure to share my experience with my people and learn from them as well. When you work as a team, your morale and motivation is always high.
How did you succeed in making Wataniya one of the most respectable brands in Kuwait? What do you feel is your personal contribution to Wataniya’s growth and progress?
I believe that motivated people who work here are the main ingredients to the success of Wataniya. If we respect and love our brand, that will be projected to our customers. And there is no shortage of Wataniya fans in this company.
My biggest contribution has been and will continue to be is serving the customer with all my heart. I believe Wataniya stands apart from other telecoms in Kuwait because we believe in listening to our customers and serving their needs.
We launched NPS recently and I have been personally calling customers to find out if they feel satisfied with Wataniya and how we can make their experiences even more fulfilling.
How can a brand be exciting and respectable at the same time? Where is the right balance between the two?
We have approximately 1.9 million customers and we need to speak to them and connect with all of them. Therefore we have one message but the tone of voice, the value-adds and the benefits communicated to each segment is different.
I believe that motivated people who work here are the main ingredients to the success of Wataniya.
We can achieve this balance of excitement and respectability by giving people what they want and communicating with them in the way they understand and appreciate. We look for ways to become their communication partners not just a service provider, that is how we gain their respect and excitement comes from the innovation and unique events that we introduce in the market.
What makes Wataniya Telecom outshine other telecom brands?
We are a young brand and our team constitutes of young go-getters. The culture at Wataniya promotes passion, and a fun spirit. This is constantly reflected in our brand, campaigns and initiatives.
People are drawn to our brand because of this attitude and that is why we have been consistently winning awards such as Superbrand of the year, CommsMEA award, Arabian Business award for “Best Telecom Operator” in the last two years.
What does Wataniya brand mean for Kuwaitis? Why is Wataniya appealing to Kuwaitis? Which are, according to you, the values attached to the brand?
The Kuwaitis understand that Wataniya is different, that Wataniya cares for their development. GiveKuwait is an example of how much we are willing to do for the progress of this country and its people.
We want to cultivate relationships with individuals; we don’t treat our customers as masses but pay individual attention to our customers’ needs. People in Kuwait understand this especially the youth.Today, we have the highest share of the youth segment because we offer them experiences such as music concerts, sports sponsorships and career development programs that encourages them and develops their future.
Our brand values are Understand, Challenge and Surprise. Everything we do from the NPS system that we launched to simple and efficient service at our retail stores stems from these values.
Wataniya is known for its fun and relaxed work environment. How do you approach the work environment and training of employees?
I want my team to enjoy their work environment. I’m not a strict boss. We have a very open door policy and relationships between managers and executives are relaxed and friendly. I believe in empowering people and like to give them room to make decisions. I trust my team’s judgment and stand by it.
By giving my team room to maneuver and letting them make decisions, they get the training and experience needed to move up the corporate ladder. I’m not going to be around forever, I want to leave behind capable individuals who will serve the company and customers with the same passion as I have. 
How would you define your strategy in terms of business clientele?
The mobile penetration in Kuwait ranges at around a 120-140%, depending on the reports you look at. The pie has already been divided amongst the three players.
The only way we are different from the others is by the customer experience we offer. We give customers services that go beyond the usual. We have separate call centers for our Corporate customers and special agents for our VIP clients.
Customer Experience is not just about waiting hand and foot before our customers, it is also about understanding what customer want. No two customers are the same, that is why we have different products and services designed for the different segments.