Colleague Spotlight: Exclusive Interview with Shushant Godambe, Head of Loyalty – Viya at Dubai Golf
Tuesday 12 November 2024; Dubai; United Arab Emirates: In this exclusive interview, we sit down with Shushant Godambe, the Head of Loyalty for Viya at Dubai Golf, to delve into his professional journey and the innovative strategies he employs to enhance customer engagement. Shushant shares his insights on the evolving landscape of loyalty programmes within the golf and leisure industry, offering a glimpse into the future of customer experience at Dubai Golf.
Tell us about the Viya App and Dubai Golf; its origins, its backstory, and what your offering consists of as a solution provider?
Originally, the Viya app that Dubai Golf created was envisaged as a digital platform for members to book their tee times. The traditional way to book was to call or visit the membership desk – which offers a personal element, but also has its pros and cons and requires staffing and time-consuming procedures.
So back in September 2020, the Viya app was born with a limited functionality – helping members to organise their tee times as they wished. We have now passed the fourth year of operation, and Viya has evolved from its original form as a golf bookings app for members of Dubai Golf clubs, to an app offering various services and products across numerous lifestyle aspects such as golf, dining, fitness, and leisure, further enhancing the use and create a broader offering for customers. The Viya partner facility ecosystem has over 400 partners across the country.
One of the key value propositions is its rewards programme, enabling the customer to earn and redeem financial rewards across all its partners.
Viya has already acquired more than 200,000 users in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and visitors from around the world can now utilise the platform.
Could you go into more detail on your offering and solutions?
The rewards mechanism is by far one of the richest value propositions we have seen in the industry, as you are able to earn 10% back from your spending in the form of reward points. The rewards mechanism is the common thread that joins all aspects of customers lifestyle spends across 400+ partners in UAE. This encourages repeat purchase across leisure, wellness, golfing, and dining – creating loyalty to the platform and its partners.
Let’s use Emirates Golf Club as an example, everything I do in the club I can collect and spend points on, from the pro shop to the restaurant, at Top Golf, Padel, Spa, and all other touchpoints on my journey through the club.
We had to ensure the technology was capable of using customer data efficiently and integrating with various other internal and externals systems. Embracing a digitally focused approach where data is at the forefront is crucial for us to succeed in scaling the app.
What recent projects have you worked on – what did they entail?
In the past year, we’ve enhanced the padel tennis product on the Viya app by giving our customers the ability to create a match, join a match, or enter tournaments. Additionally, we have further improved our product with the ability to issue vouchers and coupons. We have not only improved the front-end product experience but also enhanced overall platform capabilities, improving the marketing efficiencies with deep linking, enhanced segmentation and bonus rewards rules engine etc.
You wake up in the morning – what’s the driving passion?
I’ve been in the region since 2014, working across retail, fintech and tech driven service providers. I realised the power of apps and the impact that it can unlock for businesses. I had a passion for the loyalty programmes and have worked in all aspects from strategy and design, launching and managing programmes and strategic partnerships. Viya is a perfect amalgamation of those previous experiences.
Improving customer experience and driving business growth are two things that I am very passionate about. These two aspects drive me to explore new ideas and also take inspiration from other industries as well.
What specific role does customer feedback play in your efforts?
Feedback is incredibly important to us, and we gather it from various sources. A lot of valuable insights come from our own colleagues on the frontline, and of course, we also get feedback from our customers. We use different methods like surveys, focus groups, and forums such as the Members Consultative Committee (MCC). I personally hold regular sessions with business stakeholders to understand what’s working well and what needs improvement. We focus on both refining existing features and adding new ones based on the feedback we receive, ensuring the app remains straightforward for users.
Tell us more about the Viya App’s plans on growth for the future in this space?
We plan on developing a product which can be delivered at scale, not just a product that serves the needs to Dubai Golf but expanding all over the world. Today, we have five important sections in the app: golfing, dining, leisure, fitness and the shop. It is available to everyone, and spanning across food, beverage, and leisure means we can appeal to all visitors, not just golfers. We are continuously enhancing value proposition in the golfing space but also going broader in our offering to incorporate all areas of lifestyle and wellness using the Viya App.
Organisations routinely tout the importance of customer service. Define the term and the approach followed at Viya App and Dubai Golf?
From an app perspective, we focus on two key dimensions of customer service. First, the Viya app needs to be 100% reliable, especially during key moments like when tee time booking windows open. We don’t want the app crashing, so it has to handle a high volume of use with minimal problems. Every new release is thoroughly tested and verified through proper quality assurance before being
rolled out to customers. If something breaks, we aim to fix it quickly to maintain reliability.
The second aspect is simplifying customer interactions. For example, we want tasks like checking member statements or renewing memberships to be easy and seamless. Customers don’t want to come to the club just to deal with admin tasks; they should be able to enjoy their experience. By removing friction through our digital services, we’re moving closer to delivering even better customer service.
What are the biggest challenges facing Viya App – short and long term – and how do you plan on dealing with each?
Getting ‘personalisation’ right is in my opinion a great challenge but also an opportunity at the same time. I see a lot of exciting work being done in generative AI, and it’s about figuring out how to leverage these technologies to unlock more value for the business. One key area is hyper-personalisation, where each person has a tailored journey on the app. For instance, based on the data we have from your previous interactions with the app, I should be able to predict your itinerary when you check in at the club, from parking to playing golf to special offers—making it a highly assisted and personalised experience. This level of personalisation relies heavily on data, and while many organisations have a lot of data, they often don’t know how to maximise it. We want to change that by embracing new-age technologies to enhance the customer experience. There are endless possibilities, like creating bite-sized tutorials for each golf hole to assist players in real-time.
Where do you see the overall industry heading in the next 5 to 10 years?
Five to ten years is a long time in the tech industry, but in the golf industry we have seen such a boom in participation in recent years, the two now go hand in hand, as the customers are younger.
That’s why we’re investing in future-ready tech that can adapt to emerging technologies. While we can’t predict everything, we’re positioning ourselves to quickly embrace new developments. Generative AI, for example, can improve various experiences, such as making payments across different touchpoints more seamless. There’s a lot of opportunity for us to enhance the app and elevate every aspect of the user experience, whether it’s golf bookings or restaurant interactions.