Milestones
- 1997: Graduated with a BSc in computer engineering.
- 1998: Joined Saudi Aramco, as a Building Management Systems (BMS) projects manager, where he was introduced to the concept of Customer relationship Management and computerized customer care.
- 2000: To satisfy his passion towards customer oriented technologies and services, he joined Al Alamiah; a Riyadh-based Internet Service Provider (ISP) as Head of Customer Support Department.
- 2002: Joined AWAL.NET; another ISP and a subsidiary of Al-Faisaliah Group, where he closely managed different stages of design, implementation and operations of Customer Care Call Center.
- 2003-2004: Provided technical consulting to the Bain Corporate Consortium, which later won the license of Saudi Data Connectivity operations and established the Integrated Telecommunications ITC.
- 2005: After his outstanding performance caught the attention of Al Khaleej Training & Education, Khatib Joined the group to establish their contact center business unit; SmartLlink.
His reason is very straightforward: “We want to ensure complete fulfillment of all standard SLAs and KPIs, in a manner that guarantees successful execution of SmartLink projects”. And it seems to be rewarding. The Best Medium Call Center award was won amid tough competition from many regional companies. Knowing the strict standards the MECC Awards Jury applies, Khatib refers to this award as an industrial recognition of his business model.
But, will that help him overcome his major challenge in the local market? He says that manpower turnover in the Saudi call center market is becoming a headache for the sector.” Customer service jobs are not yet taken as a primary career path,” he adds. One way Khatib used to help his agents stay longer with SmartLink was through the building of a unified ethical and professional conduct code and working environment that help agents decide on customer service as a career path.
This is why Khatib is embracing a new ideology in the way he trains his personnel. “Our agents do not answer calls. They welcome a friend, listen to his needs and provide him with solutions. When they respond to a customer call, they help and care, they challenge themselves and they assure and proved relief”, he outlines.
Such a human touch in Smart Link’s customer service is in fact Khatib’s personal definition of performance quality. The equation is once again very simple: “You can’t ask customers for more, unless you provide them with more”!
Under Khatib’s leadership since 2005, SmartLink’s portfolio grew to combine the elite of private sector companies and government administrations across the kingdom. His client list currently include the two largest national utility services, the country’s three largest airlines, a major telecom provider along with five of the biggest six banking corporations in the wealthy nation.
The company currently offers an extensive rang of IT, information security, technical business infrastructure and end-to-end call center solutions and services inclusive of business technical hardware supply and set up, operation and management, in addition to performance analysis and assessment. This also includes IP telephony, data networking, security and telepresence solutions.
SmartLink’s vertical offerings comprise call center consultancy, outsourcing and in-house operation, setup and technology, training, and qualified manpower provision. More information can be found at www.smartlink.com.sa.
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