Suria KLCC

Text: Pamela Lim Photographs: Zainal Abidin & Yusman

Redefining Customer Loyalty

Under the leadership of a man of extraordinary vitality and great ability, the fearless determination and widespread recognition in his profession as the Chief Executive Officer of Suria KLCC, Andrew Brien, took the Virtual Malaysia team into his confidence and no audience is proof against his expansive charisma.

Suria KLCC is located at the base of one of the world's tallest buildings, renowned for designer brands, exquisite jewellery, in vogue fashion, electronic gadgets, all-round entertainment, artful and appetising cuisine. Overlooking the magnificent 50-acre park project, which is ranked among the largest real estate developments in the world, Suria KLCC is the landmark-shopping destination promising hours of leisurely pleasure in the mega development.

Admiring his penetrating insight into the complexities of running a conglomeration of retailers, Andrew now understands more Bahasa than he speaks in the five years that he's been here. He brings to the channel of how the development and rise of KLCC changed the landscape of Kuala Lumpur in the areas of art, shopping, lifestyle, business, transportation and MICE. "What we have here is an integrated lifestyle and there is no other place in town that has the Philharmonic Orchestra when you feel like something classical, a selection of palatable treats in every kind of restaurant that you can ever crave for, a playground to entertain your kids for hours with a rubber track that lets you use your spikes to run on. And a park with lots of trees, native trees and greenery was a dream and the vision of the former Prime Minister and the late Chairman of Petronas who did things right from the planning stage. Anywhere else you would have to tear out Central Park and transport it to a city to get what we are so lucky to have" he asserted. He continued to maintain the advantage of having a convention centre, hotels and shopping experience and the soon to be completed condominiums in an integrated development that international investors fly in from the world over to admire and learn from.

Suria KLCC provides a unique combination of nature, arts and culture and education set against state of the art amenities. Galeri Petronas and Petrosains (an interactive petroleum discovery centre) and the world-class Dewan Philarmonik which seats over 850 concert goers.

Being aware of the magnitude of this establishment, we were mystified at how Suria KLCC's tagline is 'Always Something New.' With a total of 150 new brands in the last three years, he went on to amplify that Cartier, Chanel and Jimmy Choo are amongst the chic and classy though not the biggest, they secured the best. Understanding the customers and the latest in fashion, staying within the posh apartments decorated by outstanding designers are just some of the things that has been established right from the start. Understanding the process not only challenged them to make changes but continuously challenge retailers with tough decisions. To ensure that their valued tenants and businesses get the attention that they deserve, Suria does its part by continually providing better service and effective communication channels. Suria KLCC is looking at the World's Best Practices. In recognising high spenders, they target quality market segment to benefit resellers by tracking their spending habits.

We went to dig on to discover what Andrew feels about knowing what customers want in a shopping hub. To Andrew, Suria has everything a shopper could possibly want - right from having a meal, catching a movie, indulging in some retail therapy, soaking in a spa and getting their hair done all at one place. Andrew reiterated that shoppers could either walk up and down Orchard Road (in Singapore) to get a total pampering or come to Suria KLCC and do it in true comfort and style. Customers can aim for a 100 Day Passport where they get it stamped for every RM100 spent. Every five stamps earn the shopper a gift and tourists from Arab, UK and those who average three nights here would cash in on them. It's a unique Suria KLCC experience. With 330 outlets, the range is so wide that all budgets are satisfied. With the first food court in Malaysia certified to the international food standard HACCP, it breaks ground and leads the way for many others. Being the best has got to live up to the changing trends and needs of customers.

Customer service in today's competitive market is more than just a provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. A lifestyle concept that is complete through activities that identify, attract and keep target customers to increase customer satisfaction ultimately leads to customer loyalty. Then what keeps Andrew loyal here in Malaysia besides his ultra-challenging job to keep the magnates happy? His eyes sparkled and the twinkled he turned to his iPod Touch showing a picture of a whale shark he had encountered in the waters of Pulau Tenggol in Terengganu. His obvious passion for scuba diving brings on a whole new dimension to customer loyalty, something that we probed deeper to bring you the other side of Andrew for the next issue of Virtual Malaysia.