Guide to scaling up your eSIM proposition with eSIM Go

When you're ready to scale your eSIM proposition, here are some questions and ideas to help get you started.

Knowing how, where, and to whom you will sell your eSIM data solution will help avoid common pitfalls and ensure you start your growth on the right foundation.

The beauty of eSIM is that it enables you to sell to anyone anywhere in the world. But before creating your proposition, think carefully about your target audience. How will you reach them, and what are their needs and requirements, here are some things to consider.

Think carefully about what features you want to offer each audience.

Leisure travellers

For leisure travellers they may be travelling as part of a family group, they may want multiple eSIMs including for the children. You may want to consider offering incentives or offers for multiple bundles purchased.

Leisure travellers expect a simple, hassle free purchase and quality high-speed internet access for their holiday. Think about your messaging and marketing strategy. Think social media access for your customers who are by the pool or on the beach. Or providing essential contact home while exploring new cities and backpacking through remote territories

eSIM Go has an ever-increasing footprint of 5G network coverage ensuring fast reliable connections. No more dodgy hotel wifi. We also provide multi-network access in many countries ensuring those in more remote areas will have access to mobile network connectivity - as long as there is a signal!

These features can be built into your marketing and messaging and focused on your target audience.

Business Travellers

eSIM Go offers the most competitive data rates available, but business travellers have other considerations, such as security and coverage. eSIM Go offers data connectivity backhauled through only the very

best tier-one mobile network operators. We also offer multiple network coverage in many countries, so coverage is never an issue (as long as there is a mobile signal).

If you are targeting businesses and enterprises rather than the individual business traveller. Consider how the enterprise will interact with your solution.

An enterprise portal is an ideal solution to enable businesses to order new eSIMs on demand and self-service for lost/stolen eSIMs and troubleshooting. The eSIM Go Management API enables full control and flexibility to rapidly deploy your own enterprise solutions.

A full list of eSIM Go 5G coverage can be downloaded from the eSIM Go Management Portal.

Unlike other eSIM vendors, eSIM Go enables your customers to keep their eSIM in their handset, available for a top-up 12 months after last use. With no requirement to delete or remove the eSIM, you can continue to market and promote special offers to your customers long after their first trip has ended. Each subsequent top-up creates more revenue and “stickiness” of your customers to your solution so you are always at the forefront of their mind when booking travel.

When building your marketing and customer journey, think long-term. Consider how you can build that long relationship with your customer to ensure they always use your service for each trip they make. Don’t just chase that expensive first/single-use customer acquisition!

Data suggests that travellers start thinking about mobile connectivity seven to ten days before departing on a trip. If you have an existing business and customer base this would be the optimal time to reach-out to your customers.

eSIM Go bundle duration starts on first use, which means the bundle duration doesn’t kick-in until the customer has used that first 1 Kb of data. This means if you sell a customer a 7-day data bundle the seven days will not start until they successfully use the eSIM for the first time.

This means you can target and sell bundles to your customers, up to 12 months before they use the bundle.

As an eSIM Go partner, you have the flexibility and control to be innovative in how you acquire your customers, and the ability to win their business long before they even step foot in an airport terminal.

Let’s be honest, sometimes things go wrong. Maybe your customer's handset doesn’t support eSIM, or it’s locked to a network provider.

How you build your customer support depends on how you plan to use and sell your eSIM services, and ensuring customer satisfaction will keep your customers coming back. Here are some basics to help you keep things as smooth and straightforward as possible.

Device Compatibility

One of the most common challenges with support is ensuring your customers handset is network unlocked and supports eSIM.

While eSIM has been present in the iPhone XS onwards (5 years) - and many recent Android devices, some manufacturers remain behind the curve in their adoption. Catching non-compatible and network locked handsets before the customer purchases an eSIM will vastly reduce the amount of time and resources needed to support your customers.

eSIM Go publishes a list of compatible eSIM handsets, and this is regularly updated in our support section.

Ensuring your customers understand what handsets are supported before and/or during the purchase process reduce your support tickets and help you improve satisfaction levels. Options include asking the customer to select their manufacturer and device model and confirming eSIM is supported in the purchase flow is one option. Or asking the customer to tick a box confirming compatibility are two options that work well.

Refunds

What is your refund policy?

As with any digital product, expectations are high and patience is in short supply. “If it doesn’t work I want a refund, and I want it now!”

eSIM Go recognises this challenge, which is why we allow you to revoke bundles from an eSIM. As long as the bundle has not been used, we will return it to your inventory or offer a credit back to your account. Both can be re-used in future. 

This can all be done through our white-label API and the eSIM Go Management Portal. Many of our customers automate this process, refunding customers through a chat bot or self-service support flow. Without any need for human interaction.

While we are confident our service will delight your customers, on occasion customers will buy a bundle and later find they have an incompatible device. Offering a no-questions refund reduces your support costs and is a great way to maintain customer satisfaction and avoid negative feedback and reviews.

Install Guides

eSIM Go uses technology and standards defined by the GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications Association).

This means the process of installing an eSIM from eSIM Go is standardised and consistent across device manufacturers. In most instances, installing an eSIM is straightforward and the handset operating system will walk the user through the various steps. All they need to do then is enable data roaming before they start using their eSIM.

There’s no messy management of APNs etc. with our service - just Install and go.

eSIM Go provides several install guides in our support section which you can re-use and brand with your company imagery. We also have options for generic or branded video installation guides for all our customers - speak to your account manager to learn more. 

Notifications and communicating with your customers

SIM Go will notify you through the CallBack API when an eSIM

• First registers on a network for the very first time
• 1%, 50%, 80% and 100% usage

These notifications enable you to build custom messages for your customers. Such as a welcome message or notification they are running low on data and may want to consider a top-up.

There are multiple ways you can then communicate with your customers while they are travelling. Email is the most obvious, and least intrusive, option available. Push notifications are ideal if you are servicing your customers through your own mobile app. Or you can send an SMS to the eSIM through eSIM Go free-of-charge.

eSIM Go offers the ability to SMS to your customers through our white-label management API. You can send messages of up to 160 characters through the API to the customer’s eSIM, so you don’t even need their personal mobile number.

This SMS will appear by default as being sent from “eSIM” but can be personalised for a charge. This enables you to automate notifications and promote top-ups whenever a customer is running low on data.

You can also send an SMS through the eSIM Go Management Portal. This is a useful tool for your support teams, who may want to let a customer know when an issue has been resolved.

Customer portal

How do your customers manage their eSIM(s), top-up or contact you for support?

A customer web portal is an ideal way to take care of all of these. But before we look at the benefits of a web portal it's important to note it is not essential. Many eSIM Go customers manage their own no-code eSIM solution using our own Management Portal to create their own inventory and manage their estate.

If you are looking for a more personalised experience, a web or app-based portal is a great way to interact with your end-users. The eSIM Go API enables you to provide a fully customised customer portal built around your unique requirements. Just some of the features you can build on top of our flexible API set include:

• Data usage graphic – shows size of bundle and available data
• Duration graphic – duration of bundle and days remaining before expiry
• Manage multiple eSIMs for multiple devices or as an admin for a family group
• Top-up your eSIM
• Last known location (country and date-stamp)
• eSIM status – installed/uninstalled
• Delete eSIM from account
• Purchase new eSIM/bundle
• Name an eSIM – for easily identification in devices or family groups
• View QR code (for re-installation)
• Raise a ticket to support

The eSIM Go API is built for developers and innovators to build services and features on top of our technology and connectivity stacks. If you want to add a feature not yet listed, let us know.

The eSIM Go team can provide advice and help when creating your management portal. Contact your account manager to arrange a consultation call.

Mobile Apps

While a mobile app is a great way to build loyalty and adds an additional sales channel, it is in no way essential.

If you already have a mobile application, adding eSIM into your existing solution is a great way to build new revenue, and the eSIM Go team can support your integration project.

Developing and managing a completely new app is expensive and requires ongoing support and management. If you are at the start of your eSIM journey, choosing the right app developer takes time and money. A web store optimised for mobile can be just as effective as an app, if not better in some respects. Many companies fall into the trap of thinking eSIM should be sold through an app. But ask yourself this - when was the last time you downloaded an app to purchase a new product for the first time?

Our research shows most customers will initially research a new product through browsing, and complete that acquisition through a webstore before downloading an app and giving up real-estate on their handset. That’s why webstores and QR codes delivered on-screen, by email, WhatsApp, Messenger or Facebook are ideal mediums to acquire the majority of your customers' business.

After that acquisition, a mobile app can come into its own when it comes to managing eSIM top-ups and customer support.

eSIM Go can help you make an informed decision on whether you need a mobile app, and we even provide a fully integrated mobile SDK for iOS and Android free of charge. Speak to your account manager to find out more.

Before you start scaling with eSIM Go, talk to us about the full range of services we offer to support your business growth. We can help with marketing, technical resources and launching into new markets and regions, so wherever you are in your journey, we want to hear from you.

The fastest way to scale your eSIM service is to identify your use case and customer needs from the start. Knowing your customers' favourite destinations, understanding their requirements and being clear on how you want to communicate with them will help your business scale rapidly.

Some of our most successful customers started as graduates, entrepreneurs and individuals wanting to build something new. With the right focus from the start they rapidly scaled their businesses and revenues to become successful enterprises.

Good luck on your eSIM journey! Get in touch with our team today.