Amid the pandemic, how can local Chinese small and medium-sized businesses transform adversity into success?

Since COVID spread worldwide at the end of 2019, many industries have urgently needed to change to meet new market demands. Digital transformation has long since become more than a buzzword. Many businesses have moved their traditional operations online, replacing conventional models with online marketing, sales and even auctions to meet consumer demand during the pandemic. For many businesses, however, making this change is a very difficult decision. Gartner market research found that, before 2019, only around 25% of business executives surveyed were willing to disrupt their own businesses and adopt digital operating models to improve their competitiveness. Telecommunications providers will play an important role in this transition, as every industry needs their digital support, making them intelligent gateways to other smart digital ecosystems. Within these ecosystems, telecommunications providers help businesses optimise their operations and offer them entirely new services…

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Traditional industries move to online auctions

Telecommunications providers help small and medium-sized businesses adopt digital operations

 

As the industry closest to digital technology, telecommunications is also seeing digitalisation quietly change its core business models. Just three months before Auckland went into a pandemic lockdown, Spark Business Hub Tamaki moved to Greenlane in central Auckland and was upgraded to ‘Spark Auckland CBD Business Hub’. The changes went beyond its location and name: it also introduced ‘tailored, one-stop services’ to meet different industries’ needs following the pandemic and help local businesses regain their former vitality. Of course, one constant remains its polished and ever-charismatic leader, Dave Yu. For this article, YIJU had the opportunity to interview Dave, who has 19 years’ experience in telecommunications and became head of Spark’s Tamaki Business Hub back in 2012, when the company was known as Telecom, along with key team member Jianan Wang. Let’s find out how he and his team are helping thousands of local New Zealand businesses transform for the digital age amid the pandemic.

Dave Yu

Spark Head of Auckland CBD Business Hub

 

Q1: What exactly has changed in the upgrade from Spark Business Tamaki to Spark Auckland CBD Business Hub?

 

Dave Yu：Our office is now closer to Spark’s headquarters, giving us easier access to more resources and support. Previously, most of our clients in East Tamaki were workshop and warehouse businesses, which gave us extensive experience serving industrial clients. We now cover a wider area and serve a more diverse range of clients, from typical New Zealand small and medium-sized businesses to large multinational groups. We can also offer a broader range of products and services. We have restructured our team too. Our team members provide multilingual customer service, and those responsible for individual projects are among Spark’s top specialists. They can provide more targeted technical support, allowing us to resolve difficult issues quickly and directly when serving clients, saving them time spent waiting for a resolution. It is fair to say that now is an excellent time to become one of our clients.

The new office in Greenlane

Spark Auckland CBD Business Hub team

Q2: COVID has had a major impact on New Zealand, particularly on small and medium-sized businesses. How can your team help local businesses regain their former vitality?

 

Jianan Wang：I’ll explain how our Spark Auckland CBD Business Hub team helps clients weather difficult times, reduce the pandemic’s impact and achieve lasting business growth in three areas.

 

Competitive pricing

Our volume allows us to secure the best prices. We have long-standing partnerships with Microsoft, Google and others, and our marketplace portal makes it easier for clients to manage these subscriptions, with the charges appearing on a single Spark bill. We also currently have some excellent bundle offers available: selected mobile plans include a free year of Microsoft 365 or a Google Workspace licence!

Products and services

The pandemic has accelerated digitalisation across industries, and our team offers ‘tailored, one-stop services’ to meet different business needs. Hacking has been rampant since the pandemic began. We provide comprehensive IT and telecommunications solutions, including mobile and cloud phone services, access control and CCTV monitoring, vehicle tracking, cybersecurity, website and flexible payment system development, IoT smart offices, project management and Wi-Fi solutions. Most importantly, alongside our competitive pricing, many of our services offer 24 months of interest-free payments, providing the greatest possible financial support for businesses facing difficulties.

Dependable quality

As we know, Spark, formerly Telecom New Zealand, is a major New Zealand telecommunications provider with a 34-year history. Compared with other providers, we have always put the security and stability of our products and services first. Clients will not face product and software incompatibility or a lack of warranty cover, and no external factors will cause us to lower our service quality.

 

 

Q3: How can local Chinese businesses get help from the Spark Auckland CBD Business Hub team?

 

Dave Yu：Our team is ready and very keen to serve more local Chinese businesses. Since the pandemic began, we have understood the unprecedented disruption and challenges facing Chinese small and medium-sized businesses, and we are willing to stand alongside them. I believe our own team is a good example: over the past two years, both our business volume and turnover have grown against the trend rather than declined.

We are very pleased to be among the few regional business hubs within Spark Group whose business has continued to grow during the pandemic, ranking first nationwide in the first half of last year and second in the second half, and second nationwide for the 2021 financial year despite the pandemic’s impact on Auckland. We hope that working with our team will help more Chinese businesses achieve sustainable growth and success in the post-pandemic era. If you need us to help resolve issues facing your business, please contact our team member Jianan Wang using the details below.

 

 

Contact details 

Jianan Wang

Phone: 027 569 3205
Email: Jianan.wang@spark.co.nz Address: Level 1,  584 Great South Road, Ellerslie, Auckland 1051