MAGTI IS QUALITY

MagtiCom’s commercial director, a major contributor to the company’s development and success, argues that quality service speaks for itself and needs no advertising, it just works, and works well. NeoStudio offers you an interview with Nikoloz Davitashvili, who will answer our questions and share his years-long experience working for the company.  

Given the specifics of your sphere, what role and functions do you serve as MagtiCom’s commercial director? 

A: Since 2016, I’ve been in charge of the company’s retail and corporate sales, subscriber services, marketing, and PR. In essence, my role is to develop policies focusing on the company’s commercial development and to seek and make use of new opportunities for successful advancement in the market.

You’ve been involved in telecommunications for 15 years, and your educational background encompasses management and telecommunications. Is there something one can learn only in practice, something that shapes you as a professional? 

I landed a job with Magti in 2007, in outside sales at first and then in commercial sales and services, climbing the corporate ladder from sales representative to manager, from unit leader to department director. One may say I have covered every stepping stone down this road, and it has been an invaluable experience. I hold bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in energy and telecommunications, a background that comes in handy at work, of course. I agree that in-depth study, analysis,and research are necessary. But, as time goes by, I find myself increasingly inclined to share the opinion that instincts and intuition are the driving forces behind the most important decisions in life, both being products of professional experience, something that no book or person can teach you. What works in theory 
may cause damage in a real setting, so one’s own years-long experience is what matters most.

What are the key principles defining your management style? 

I’m all about teamwork, and experience shows that the principles stemming from it are healthier, more result-oriented than othersTeamwork, above all, improves interaction and communication between employees, helping bring out the best in team members, their finest skills and capacities, also bolstering a sense of unity, the drive to reach common goals. Coworkers start thinking in terms of “we,” not “I,” and that, ultimately, preconditions the 
organization’s success and effectiveness. 

How are new products developed? What path do they go through before being pitched to customers? 

Developing new products is a complex effort. Ideas are generated mostly in the commercial department. Bringing them to perfection, however, takes involvement from the IT, technical, financial, and legal departments as well.I would single out working on new ideas as the most exciting part of our work. We gather as a team for brainstorming, to share all kinds of gripping, innovative, and creative concepts. Naturally, we keep in mind such important factors as the needs of target audiences, particular environments, market trends, and others.Each new product is based on consumer market study and analysis. As a rule, we pick out for further testing and processing several concepts matching the tasks relevant at the given moment. Testing involves focus groups and simulations. Working with focus groups enables us to see selected concepts through the eyes of consumers. Market simulations allow for projecting expected outcomes. The best idea is shaped into a project, and then we set out to bring it to life by developing a detailed product description, with technical preparations to follow, also a market entry campaign, along with a communications 
strategy, intensive sales team trainings, etc.Notably, apart from so-called mass products,lately we have been leaning heavily toward individual offers. Through micro-campaigns, we are trying to offer our customers unique products tailored to suit their particular behavior patterns and needs. Alternately, they can put together products based on their interests.

What key platforms do you use to keep your subscribers updated? And how proactive is the company’s communications strategy? 

Aside from traditional forms of service, the modern way of life has boosted the importance of digital channels.Along with our offices, services at home, 
24-hour hotline, website, and webchat, the MyMagti mobile application has grown especially relevant. If, at the initial stage, it was limited just to a few functions, now you can rest assured that an entire Magti office is embedded in your smartphone. MyMagti enables us to bring into one space and manage our own accounts and those of our family members or friends. Users can activate, deactivate, and upgrade almost every service without leaving home.
In recent years, Magti has overhauled its service model. This process involves the gradual upgrading of our service offices based on an innovative concept, also bettering our digital channels to make sure they’re more interactive and flexible, building on close interaction with users. We are constantly working on improving them, doing our best to upload and feature every new service on our digital platform. 

Throughout the pandemic, the internet and mobile technologies have grown critically important. How are you dealing with this challenge? And what new opportunities has it all offered for the company’s development? 

This period has been especially demanding and challenging for our field in general and MagtiCom in particular. As a large portion of the population and organizations switched to working and learning remotely, internet usage jumped by 100%, consequently increasing our network’s load dramatically. Nonetheless, MagtiCom has continued working round the clock, on the alert, without any interruptions in providing services to customers, not even for a single day.Since day one, MagtiCom has been actively engaged in dealing with the complications and challenges caused by the COVID pandemic throughout Georgia.MagtiCom was one of the first companies to donate 3,000,000 GEL to the StopCoV Fund, facilitating free communication with the hotlines of the Health Ministry, the Center for Disease Control, and Red Cross. By sending out free text messages, we have contributed to raising public awareness on preventive antivirus measures, also providing computer equipment toadditional state-run callcenters created in the country to deal with COVID-19, and offering all public and privateschoolchildren and teachers discounts on internet packages.
In the meantime, the company has switched to a hybrid work model, with most of our employees working from home. We have developed remote services to stand by our customers and make it easier for them to access Magti’s services from any place. 

What are your team’s key achievements? 

We have many achievements, but let me underline a few: Our main achievement, I believe, is that over 3,000,000 customers we have had since inception equate Magti with quality. Associating the brand with quality underpins trust in our services — Magti stands for the hope and guarantee of constant connection across the country, in populated areas and Georgia-controlled territories alike. At bottom, quality service speaks for itself and needs no advertising, it just works, and works well. 
MagtiCom was the first in Georgia to offer full communication services to customers. And, after expanding beyond just mobile communications, MagtiCom provides them with fixed internet and television services as well. Among the latest achievements, especially noteworthy is MagtiCom’s role in the efforts toward the country’s full internet coverage. At the moment of entering the internet market, Georgia’s network covered random neighborhoods in only a few cities. In just a couple of years, however, we provided more than 500 towns and villages across the country with access to quality optic internet, a difficult feat to achieve requiring MagtiCom to install 40 kilometers of cable in various regions, on a daily basis. Presently, social progress, education among young people, business development in the regions, and ultimately the country’s advancement is largely defined by internet access.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Magti’s operations. Where do you see Magti five years from now? What advantages will your customers enjoy over the subscribers of other companies? 

I’m confident that MagtiCom, in keeping up with the world’s leading countries and operators, will continue introducing new technologies, being the first to offer customers the latest global technologies, in line with the established tradition.

What are the key principles defining your management style? 

I’m all about teamwork, and experience shows that the principles stemming from it are healthier, more result-oriented than othersTeamwork, above all, improves interaction and communication between employees, helping bring out the best in team members, their finest skills and capacities, also bolstering a sense of unity, the drive to reach common goals. Coworkers start thinking in terms of “we,” not “I,” and that, ultimately, preconditions the 
organization’s success and effectiveness. 

How are new products developed? What path do they go through before being pitched to customers? 

Developing new products is a complex effort. Ideas are generated mostly in the commercial department. Bringing them to perfection, however, takes involvement from the IT, technical, financial, and legal departments as well.I would single out working on new ideas as the most exciting part of our work. We gather as a team for brainstorming, to share all kinds of gripping, innovative, and creative concepts. Naturally, we keep in mind such important factors as the needs of target audiences, particular environments, market trends, and others.Each new product is based on consumer market study and analysis. As a rule, we pick out for further testing and processing several concepts matching the tasks relevant at the given moment. Testing involves focus groups and simulations. Working with focus groups enables us to see selected concepts through the eyes of consumers. Market simulations allow for projecting expected outcomes. The best idea is shaped into a project, and then we set out to bring it to life by developing a detailed product description, with technical preparations to follow, also a market entry campaign, along with a communications 
strategy, intensive sales team trainings, etc.Notably, apart from so-called mass products,lately we have been leaning heavily toward individual offers. Through micro-campaigns, we are trying to offer our customers unique products tailored to suit their particular behavior patterns and needs. Alternately, they can put together products based on their interests.

What key platforms do you use to keep your subscribers updated? And how proactive is the company’s communications strategy? 

Aside from traditional forms of service, the modern way of life has boosted the importance of digital channels.Along with our offices, services at home, 
24-hour hotline, website, and webchat, the MyMagti mobile application has grown especially relevant. If, at the initial stage, it was limited just to a few functions, now you can rest assured that an entire Magti office is embedded in your smartphone. MyMagti enables us to bring into one space and manage our own accounts and those of our family members or friends. Users can activate, deactivate, and upgrade almost every service without leaving home.
In recent years, Magti has overhauled its service model. This process involves the gradual upgrading of our service offices based on an innovative concept, also bettering our digital channels to make sure they’re more interactive and flexible, building on close interaction with users. We are constantly working on improving them, doing our best to upload and feature every new service on our digital platform. 

Throughout the pandemic, the internet and mobile technologies have grown critically important. How are you dealing with this challenge? And what new opportunities has it all offered for the company’s development? 

This period has been especially demanding and challenging for our field in general and MagtiCom in particular. As a large portion of the population and organizations switched to working and learning remotely, internet usage jumped by 100%, consequently increasing our network’s load dramatically. Nonetheless, MagtiCom has continued working round the clock, on the alert, without any interruptions in providing services to customers, not even for a single day.Since day one, MagtiCom has been actively engaged in dealing with the complications and challenges caused by the COVID pandemic throughout Georgia.MagtiCom was one of the first companies to donate 3,000,000 GEL to the StopCoV Fund, facilitating free communication with the hotlines of the Health Ministry, the Center for Disease Control, and Red Cross. By sending out free text messages, we have contributed to raising public awareness on preventive antivirus measures, also providing computer equipment toadditional state-run callcenters created in the country to deal with COVID-19, and offering all public and privateschoolchildren and teachers discounts on internet packages.
In the meantime, the company has switched to a hybrid work model, with most of our employees working from home. We have developed remote services to stand by our customers and make it easier for them to access Magti’s services from any place. 

What are your team’s key achievements? 

We have many achievements, but let me underline a few: Our main achievement, I believe, is that over 3,000,000 customers we have had since inception equate Magti with quality. Associating the brand with quality underpins trust in our services — Magti stands for the hope and guarantee of constant connection across the country, in populated areas and Georgia-controlled territories alike. At bottom, quality service speaks for itself and needs no advertising, it just works, and works well. 
MagtiCom was the first in Georgia to offer full communication services to customers. And, after expanding beyond just mobile communications, MagtiCom provides them with fixed internet and television services as well. Among the latest achievements, especially noteworthy is MagtiCom’s role in the efforts toward the country’s full internet coverage. At the moment of entering the internet market, Georgia’s network covered random neighborhoods in only a few cities. In just a couple of years, however, we provided more than 500 towns and villages across the country with access to quality optic internet, a difficult feat to achieve requiring MagtiCom to install 40 kilometers of cable in various regions, on a daily basis. Presently, social progress, education among young people, business development in the regions, and ultimately the country’s advancement is largely defined by internet access.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Magti’s operations. Where do you see Magti five years from now? What advantages will your customers enjoy over the subscribers of other companies? 

I’m confident that MagtiCom, in keeping up with the world’s leading countries and operators, will continue introducing new technologies, being the first to offer customers the latest global technologies, in line with the established tradition.