Introduction
The taxi and car hire industry in Kenya is essential, providing mobility solutions to a diverse range of customers, from traditional taxis to ride-sharing platforms. It caters to growing demand in urban centers like Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Eldoret. Smartphone-based ride-hailing services like Uber and Bolt have made transportation more accessible. Traditional car rental companies offer a wide range of vehicles for various needs, both short-term and long-term. Despite challenges, this industry continues to evolve to meet the ever-growing demand, contributing significantly to the economy and enhancing travel convenience in Kenya.
Introducing Jimcab
Jimcab was established in 2000, accumulating 23 years of experience in the taxi and car hire industry. Our primary focus is on providing taxi services, catering primarily to corporations, institutions, government agencies, NGOs, and private clients. To achieve this, we own our own vehicles and employ skilled drivers whom we equip with everything necessary to ensure excellent service to our clients. Our commitment is to deliver high-quality transfers that provide our clients with great value for their money.
To support our drivers on the ground, we operate an active call center exclusively dedicated to Jimcab. Most of our clients contact us through phone calls or emails to discuss their requirements, whether it's making bookings, ensuring smooth execution, or following up on airport transfers.
As Jimcab has expanded over time, we now also offer vehicle repair and maintenance services, as well as the supply of spare parts and various other offerings. This growth has been facilitated by Mteja, which has significantly improved our customer experience. Nowadays, when customers reach out to us, they can readily connect with our services, enhancing our overall efficiency.
We decided to reach out to see how their experience has been using Mteja’s platform. Here is what Bryan, the Business Automation and Simplification Manager, and Keith, the Business Development Manager, had to say:
How did you first come across Mteja, what challenges or goals led you to consider using the platform, and how have your initial expectations and goals evolved as Mteja helped you achieve them?
We encountered challenges in dealing with busy handsets, particularly when agents were already on other calls. This led to connection issues and frustrated customers on hold. Consequently, we experienced lost sales. Moreover, managing a high volume of missed calls became problematic, affecting our ability to return them promptly. This situation caused client frustration due to the lack of reachability and callbacks.
To address these challenges and enhance our client accessibility, we explored a sustainable solution, with Mteja playing a pivotal role. While it improved our reachability, there's room for further enhancement.
Our transition from traditional handsets to a cloud-based solution aimed to consolidate calls onto a single device, overcoming our call management issues and supporting remote work during the COVID pandemic. With staff working from home, they could easily access our call center systems as long as they had a laptop and internet connectivity.
Additionally, integrating our various office locations, such as Mombasa, Upper Hill, and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, into Mteja ensured clients could always reach someone when they called, as all locations shared the same platform.
During our search for a suitable solution, we conducted extensive research and explored multiple service providers offering similar services to Mteja. However, most of them were either too expensive or based in different countries, making support challenging due to time zone differences. Africa's Talking referred us to Mteja, resulting in significant improvements in our operations. We've observed a decrease in missed calls, and our ability to follow up on them has become more efficient, delivering a seamless experience for our clients.
Can you share any metrics you measure that have improved since adopting Mteja?
We primarily analyse call logs that provide information such as the number of calls we've received within a specific timeframe. They also help us identify the phone numbers of the callers. This information allows us to associate a number with a specific client from a particular agency. It helps us track any changes or increases in their activities, which is essential for our planning.
While the call logs have proven to be valuable, there's room for improvement. Currently, our options for checking statistics are somewhat limited, as they are mostly available on a daily and monthly basis. It would be beneficial to expand these options, allowing us to access data for specific hours. For instance, if we want to review data between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM, having that capability would greatly enhance our analysis. Your consideration of this enhancement would be greatly appreciated.
Were there any unexpected benefits or positive outcomes that you've experienced as a result of using Mteja?
One of the benefits we have is the ease of collecting statistics. It's straightforward for us to track the number of incoming calls and their timing. This helps us predict trends in how our clients reach out to us. Such predictions are valuable as they enable us to plan accordingly. For example, if we anticipate a surge in calls on a Friday within a specific timeframe, we can ensure we have the appropriate number of staff on duty to handle as many calls as possible.
This capability is advantageous for us. Additionally, these statistics help us internally manage our team's presence on the platform. We can easily determine who is available and who isn't, which streamlines our administrative processes.
How would you describe the level of support and assistance you've received from Mteja's customer success team during your journey with the platform?
One noteworthy aspect that I appreciate about your service is the convenience of topping up our airtime. We can easily add funds through the Mpesa option, and the balance is updated automatically without the need for us to make a call. This has been a significant improvement, as we used to have to contact you in the past to have it manually updated. Nowadays, the process is automatic, which is highly beneficial for us. This is definitely a plus.
Stephany has been a great source of support for us. During instances of system downtime, we receive notifications at the bottom of the app, or, when necessary, I contact Stephanie for assistance. She's been able to provide guidance on the issue, and once it's resolved, we receive a prompt response. The support we've received from Mteja has been commendable.
On a scale of 1 - 10, are you likely to recommend Mteja to someone who might be interested in the service? Why?
I'd rate it around 9 or maybe even 10, but let's stick with 9 to be conservative. I recommend Mteja to other clients because I believe we're just scratching the surface of its potential. With the recent developments and other solutions you've introduced in the last couple of years, I see us quickly evolving into a comprehensive customer relations solution. Perhaps, in the future, you could consider developing a CRM that seamlessly integrates with your existing solutions, creating a one-stop solution. I think this would be a game-changer. In summary, I highly recommend Mteja due to its excellent support and the continuous improvements in your solutions.
Is there anything else we should know?
I believe Bryan's input is valuable, especially given his background in IT, and giving you a 10 rating is a significant endorsement. I want to express my agreement with him. You've also been very supportive, which is highly appreciated.
On my end, I have a suggestion. Currently, when a call comes in on Mteja and I'm working on a different tab on my computer, it's possible that I may not notice it if the ringing isn't loud in my headphones. I'd like to propose an improvement. Could the incoming call be set up as a popup notification? This way, I'll be alerted regardless of the tab I'm on, and I can answer the call promptly. This would eliminate the need for me to actively monitor the Mteja tab or rely solely on hearing the sound through my headphones to know that a call is incoming. I hope you can consider implementing this change.
Bottom Line
As Jimcab is on a mission to provide high-end taxi and car hire services to their customers, and Mteja is proud and excited to be a part of their journey to making it happen.
Curious to learn how Mteja can enable you to meet your customer engagement needs? Reach out to us today at info@mteja.io.