Riding the growth wave

As a leading distributor in Spain, Disashop is spearheading the march into prepaid digital services to meet customer demand. The company now employs 300+ people, serves millions of customers, across six countries and is eyeing further expansion.

This quarter we talk to Disashop’s Director of international business Jose Garrido, about business evolution, the importance of 24/7 customer support and what is transforming telcos.

Ding: Tell us a little about Disashop, and what is the goal for the company?

Jose: Disashop is an electronic distribution platform for any kind of prepaid products and services – serving millions of customers, across a retail network of more than 30,000+ point of sales around the world. We are headquartered in Spain, and also present in the Dominican Republic, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Portugal.

” Our main inspiration and goal has always been to provide top quality, innovative service…” 

We distribute to our retail partners national and international mobile top-ups, SIM cards, international calling cards, means of payment, lottery and insurance. Our customers get 24/7 support, and the broadest prepaid service portfolio available in Spain.

From the very beginning, our main inspiration and goal has been to provide top quality, innovative service to our customers around the world.

Talking shop 

Ding: Tell us about your role at Disashop?

Jose: I’m the director of international business which means I lead cross border projects with our subsidiaries in five countries, as well as Spain. I am also the lead on key accounts for various product groups such as international mobile top-up, payment methods, and digital content.

“Continuously work to make your products appeal to a wider audience….in order to drive the next wave of growth”

Ding: Business is all about evolution – what’s new in your business?

Jose: Absolutely, businesses have to evolve constantly – listen to their customers, and work to meet those needs. As well as continuously work to make your products/business appeal to a wider audience all the time in order to drive the next wave of growth.

In terms of what’s new for Disashop – we are experiencing great demand for automatic identification processes, like SIM registration for example. This trend is evident not only in Europe but also in LatAm countries where we have a presence.

In Peru, for example SIMs have to be activated through a finger print identification process on the device. In Ecuador, our self-service terminals activate and dispense SIM cards after the customer has gone through a preliminary activation questionnaire at the same self-service terminal. In Spain, on the other hand the dispense of physical cards and automated identification processes efforts has been utilised more in the transportation ticketing services that we offer in multiple Spanish cities.

Building loyalty

Ding: Building loyalty among your customers is a long process with many facets – how does Disashop approach the issue of building customer loyalty and retention?

Jose: Customer loyalty and retention is a key consideration for us. We are always keen for customers to experience the full value of our products as soon as possible. If I had to pinpoint how we build loyalty in three ways it would be pricing, customer service, and employee training.

Pricing has always been a key factor in our relationship with the retail chains where we operate. Everyone wants to feel like they are getting good value in a service. But I believe more than anything else, our success over the last few years would not have been possible if we hadn’t differentiated Disashop from our competitors by focusing on providing first-class customer service. For example, we are the only top-up distributor in Spain which offers a 24/7 support service to our customers.

Last, but not least the experience and motivation of our staff/employees is also key. That’s why we pay attention to our employees’ training and development. We have also prioritised building long-term business partnerships with retail partners, which we think has paid-off for us.

Ding: It is widely viewed that customer centricity is a hallmark of a great company – in three words what do you think your customers want?

Jose: Good customer service, innovative sales solutions, and fair commercial conditions.

“Great products are driven by good design, ease of use, and that they meet quality requirements”

Ding: Everyone is talking about product-led growth – what’s next for Disashop in terms of product innovation?

Jose: Product innovation is important to us. In my view great products are driven by good design, ease of use, and that they meet requirements. Our company is made up of 50% technology specialists so we also focus on having great technology behind our products.

For example we are continuously developing the sales terminals that we offer to our customers and points of sale. In order to provide a top class service we always focus on providing a solution which is complete, easy to handle and meets all necessary quality standards in the markets in which we operate. This is what our customers want.

Ding: Speaking of innovation what are you seeing that you believe has the potential to transform the world of telecoms and the way people live today?

Jose: There’s lots going on in the telcos space at the moment, but I believe IoT and artificial intelligence will be two key drivers of transformation. The second one is maybe less related to telecoms but will definitely change peoples’ lives in a significant way.

Ding: What does the future look like for Disashop, where are the opportunities you are chasing?

Jose: We are seeing opportunities across the board – which is great. We have grown from being a pure distribution player for mobile top-up to evolving as a technological outsourcing partner for electronic transactions. This allows us to embrace new opportunities in many different areas, such as kiosk terminal development, biometric identification processes, and transport ticketing.

And finally….

To Bitcoin, or not to Bitcoin?
More than ‘To Bitcoin, or not to Bitcoin’ I would say ‘to Blockchain’. Even if the use of this technology is very recent, I’m definitely convinced that blockchain will continue to progress further. We are still at the beginning and will have to cope with more regulation and transformation periods but the technology will probably continue to influence more and more our applications in the near future.

What’s the last book you have read?
I’m still reading it: Life Nomadic

What’s the last concert you have been to?
O Son do Camiño. It was a three day festival last summer with the Killers, Lenny Kravitz, Martin Garrix, Franz Ferdinand, Jamiroquai and more. But also more recently, a smaller regular jazz concert at one of my favourite pubs in La Coruña.

What would you say is the best part of your day?
Early in the morning: 30 minutes jogging and a nice breakfast are my ritual, almost every day.

What’s the most interesting thing about you that we wouldn’t learn from your resume alone?
Maybe that I love travel – and have taken many backpacking trips over the years.

And finally – what would you like to be when you grow-up?
I’ll probably wish to be a child again =)