Joining us today Behind the Mic: We have the honor of featuring Pushpendra Kumar, Senior Vice President at PT. Indosat Tbk

Pushpendra Kumar is a distinguished digital leader and former management consultant with 14 years of expertise in the technology, telecom, and media industries. His primary areas of expertise include digital technologies across strategy and growth business functions, advertising, monetization, operations, marketing & sales, and networks.

In addition to his core expertise, Pushpendra has significant experience in e-commerce, channel transformation, and digital business development. His extensive knowledge and insights will undoubtedly provide immense value to our summit attendees.

We had the privilege of asking Pushpendra some questions to gain valuable insights into his career journey and perspectives on the industry. Here are his thoughtful responses:

Q1. What motivated you to pursue a career in customer experience, and what key steps did you take to enter this field?

I am not specifically in the field of customer experience. I manage the overall digital platform, which is a B2B marketplace. With my background in consumer technology and on-demand services, I gained a strong understanding of the merchant ecosystem and SMB businesses. That knowledge, coupled with the growth of the digital ecosystem in Indonesia, was enough reason to enter this domain.

Q2. How have you leveraged emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning, and blockchain to enhance customer experience in your organization?

In my previous role, we used machine learning extensively to enhance customer experience. We applied machine learning to build a recommendation engine, which personalized customer interactions and ultimately led to increased customer satisfaction and delight.

Q3. What are some of the most significant challenges you've faced in improving customer experience from a product management perspective, and how did you overcome them?

One of the key challenges one faces is exact understanding of the customer expectations and their behavior, which are dynamic. For example, a customer who prefers pizza on a food delivery app this month might not order pizza for another two months. Another challenge is the effort vs. reward balance — sometimes, quantifying the top-line impact of an initiative that improves customer experience is difficult, leading to the allocation of resources to other initiatives or projects.

Q4. What role does customer feedback play in your product development process, and how do you gather and incorporate it effectively?

Customer feedback drives innovation and experimentation. Many great features in digital apps have resulted from customers providing regular feedback. The challenge lies in gathering feedback effectively and using it to create meaningful, actionable items. Another challenge is quantifying the impact through multiple user tests and experiments. For example, adding a widget on the payment page led to a reduction in cart drop-offs.

Q5. What strategies have you found most effective in delivering exceptional customer experiences through your products and services?

Hyper-targeted personalized experiences truly lead to customer delight. We have moved beyond the yesteryear definitions of customer satisfaction and have now entered the age of customer delight.

Seamless user experiences coupled with strong loyalty programs are the key levers for driving customer delight

Q6. Can you describe a specific instance where data analytics helped you identify customer pain points and drive product enhancements?

One of the earliest examples was using data analytics to run the right kinds of promotions or discounts for customers. After analyzing large amounts of customer data, we realized that customers wanted specific promotions at specific times or dates, and for specific SKUs only. This insight led us to build a personalization engine for managing discounts and promotions.

Q7. Could you share a success story where your efforts in product management led to a significant improvement in customer satisfaction?

Yes, it goes back to the previous example I mentioned. By developing a recommendation engine that could personalize promotions, we significantly increased customer satisfaction.

Q8. Which methodologies or frameworks do you use to prioritize feature development and ensure alignment with customer needs and business goals?

There isn’t a specific framework that my team follows for feature development on an aggregate level. However, we have used multiple frameworks from time to time, ranging from a basic effort vs. reward/value matrix to the RICE framework and MoSCoW. The key is not to use any particular framework (as they are all trying to solve the same problem) but to leverage any framework to drive cross-functional collaboration and impact.

Q9. How do you collaborate with cross-functional teams, such as engineering, design, and marketing, to ensure seamless customer experiences?

There is one key factor to consider: we must listen to the team closest to the customer, whether that’s the sales team or the business team.

Product engineers and designers serve as the enablers to solve problems for the business teams that eventually solve customer problems. Therefore, it’s crucial to establish clear goals and a North Star for any initiative and to involve stakeholders from the outset to secure their buy-in.

The roles and responsibilities have to be clearly defined and implemented.

Communication and feedback has to be set up properly.

Most importantly all the involved teams should feel a sense of ownership and engagement in the initiative.

Q10. How do you balance the need for innovation with the necessity of maintaining user-friendliness in your products?

Innovation and user-friendliness are not necessarily against each other as has been observed by many. In fact, a lot of innovations end up creating more user-friendly journeys and products. However, in many cases, vying for innovation can happen, albeit temporarily, at the cost of user experience. That’s why it is critical to maintain a balance. This is mostly achieved through basic principles of user-centric design, an understanding of customer pain points, and, most importantly, having a strong core functionality that is not significantly impacted by experiments or innovations.

Q11. What best practices have you implemented to ensure consistency and transparency across all customer touchpoints?

I think there are three key angles to consider that ensure consistency and transparency: Tools and technology in backend utilizing integrated inputs Branding and marketing to maintain consistent brand guideline Standardized SOPs across the organization

Q12. How do you stay updated with the latest trends and developments in customer experience and product management?

As an avid digital user, I draw much of my knowledge from my personal experiences with digital products. Furthermore, my interactions with peers and participation in industry events provide invaluable insights into the latest product innovations and trends.

Conclusion

In this insightful conversation with Pushpendra Kumar, Senior Vice President at PT. Indosat Tbk, we’ve explored the complexities of managing a digital platform and enhancing customer experiences in a dynamic marketplace. Pushpendra brings a wealth of knowledge from his background in consumer technology and on-demand services, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer behavior, leveraging emerging technologies like AI and machine learning, and fostering cross-functional collaboration.

“Thank you for joining us today on Behind the Mic, where industry leaders like Pushpendra Kumar share invaluable insights that inspire innovation and drive customer-centric success in today’s digital landscape.”