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The demand for smartphones in Africa has been rising
significantly, so it’s important for African service providers to keep these
potentially valuable customers happy, if they wish to increase revenues. Because satisfied smartphone consumers in Africa, and around the
world, will spend more money – it’s really that simple. Eighty-eight percent of smartphone users around the world claim to
be willing to pay up to 30 percent more to their service providers, if they are happy with the service, according to a smartphone consumer survey
conducted by industry analyst firm Coleman Parkes in June 2013 that included
Africa.
“This type of research helps quantify the link between customer
loyalty (measured by the Net Promoter Score) and profitable growth,” said Fred
Reichheld, founder of Bain & Company’s Loyalty Practice and creator of the
Net Promoter Score system of management. “The results provide a clear message
to the industry: improve customer service if you want to grow.”
Negative Backlash
Unfortunately, today’s reality is that many service providers rank
very low in terms of customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, especially when
compared with other industries. Most telecommunications consumers are unwilling
to tell their friends that their service provider is great or that they should
also become subscribers. This level of dissatisfaction obviously hurts service
providers’ bottom line and creates a high level of churn.
And consumers worldwide aren’t keeping their negative experiences
to themselves, according to the Coleman Parkes survey. Three-quarters (73
percent) of consumers have complained about their service provider on social
media at least six times in the past year.
Consumers mostly used their own Facebook page to complain (45
percent), followed by Twitter (26 percent) and service providers’ Facebook
pages (25 percent). But all is not lost… half of all consumers (49 percent)
said that because they aren’t satisfied with their current experience, a
positive service provider recommendation by friends and family would cause them
to switch providers.
Don’t Call It a Comeback
Turning consumers’ frowns upside down will necessarily start with
correctly identifying the issues that are most important to consumers. What do
consumers consider the top issues that will make them feel more loyal to their
service providers?
The survey, which included 2,000 smartphone users, revealed a few interesting facts. The most important factor relates to technical issues, such as network quality, coverage and equipment properly functioning. These are often challenging issues in Africa, especially in the rural areas.
The big “mystery” of billing issues was a very close second place
– this includes how clear the bill is, and how big of a surprise consumers will
receive at the end of the month. Users hate surprises and many of them have
experienced errors in charging and have other reasons for disputes. This of course
negatively impacts trust in the service provider, which will be difficult to
regain.
The multi-channel factor was also highly ranked, meaning the
availability of customer service and consistency across multiple channels.
People today prefer to use online channels rather than calling the contact
center, but many consumers still resort to calling because they can’t find what
they need online, or experience inconsistent treatment online.
This leads to frustrated telecommunications consumers tying up one
of service providers’ most expensive customer service resources – call center
agents.
The
Payoff?
Obviously
turning detractors (those who publish negative comments about a brand) into
promoters is good for business, but service providers might not understand just
how good it is. According to the Coleman Parkes smartphone survey, promoters
are three times more loyal than detractors.
Promoters are “very likely” to buy additional services (wireline, cable,
broadband, etc.) from their service provider, unlike detractors. Eighty-six
percent of promoters commented positively about their service provider to
friends and family 9.5 times on average over the last 12 months.
The Solution
Amdocs Proactive Care and Mobile Self Service tools are highly effective loyalty
improvers. An earlier survey from last February showed how much customers value
proactive measures and self-service, with 84 percent of consumers saying they
would be more likely to recommend their service provider if the provider were
able to identify and preemptively resolve potential issues affecting them. And
83 percent said they would be more likely to recommend their provider if they
were offered easy-to-use and consistent self service via their mobile device.
Greater Understanding
We’ve long known that customer satisfaction is important. But
surveys such as the recent one from Coleman Parkes are helping us to understand
exactly how important it is.
Written by: Ronit Doran, Marketing Director, Amdocs Customer Management
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