The Customer Experience
For
many carriers, first generation build out is complete or nearing completion.
Footprint coverage, no longer a differentiator among service
providers, is fast on its way to becoming a commodity. Putting
up new towers and claiming to have coverage doesn’t
necessarily attract today’s sophisticated and demanding
wireless users. With 2.5 and 3G, some carriers are rushing to
offer new and enhanced services to
differentiate themselves, but for now this will attract only a
fraction of current and new subscribers — the early
technology adopters — while the vast majority of customers
simply are seeking reliable phone service and excellent
customer care.
T
he
key differentiator for wireless carriers now, as it is in any
maturing industry, is creating a positive customer experience.
By ensuring proactive customer care and optimal network
reliability, carriers can enhance the customer experience and
significantly increase subscriber satisfaction.
Unfortunately, a
lack of excellent service has put the wireless industry under
fire from many fronts: consumer advocacy groups, local news
media, the Better Business Bureau, industry publications, and
subscribers demanding response to trouble complaints.
Wireless carriers
must realize that customer care cannot be viewed as just an
expense. Rather, it should be considered a mission-critical
strategic initiative that will help acquire and retain a large
and growing community of loyal
customers.
Crucial to
customer satisfaction is the ability to perform one call
resolution, streamline trouble ticket resolution,
reduce callbacks, and optimize network performance and
reliability. To achieve
this, Engineering needs help from the Customer Service
Representatives (CSRs) who are the carrier’s only source for
gathering crucial information on the quality of the service from
the perspective of customer experiences.
CSRs often are the
only contact that subscribers have with their carrier, and good
relationships must be forged at this contact point. Massive
investments in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems
have helped carriers understand their customers better, but
traditional CRM systems do little to help resolve network
trouble calls and accelerate network maturity. CSRs need sophisticated tools to help
reduce handle times and trouble ticket resolution. In essence,
CSRs need to become network authorities, part of an integrated
team of Operations, Engineering, and Customer Service that
creates a positive customer experience.
According to the
American Management Association (AMA), the number one complaint
customers have about customer service departments is the lack of
follow through. Issues are all too often left unresolved. CSRs
don’t have complete and correct information to provide right
and timely answers to customer complaints, leading to
frustration on both sides. In fact, the AMA has found that rude,
indifferent, and discourteous service is the reasons for 65% of
all customer defections.
A J.D. Powers &
Associates Wireless Customer Satisfaction Study sheds additional
light on the issue. According to this study, 50% of respondents
sited customer service and call quality as the top drivers of
customer satisfaction.
Clearly, wireless carriers who understand what
drives customer satisfaction — and take steps to ensure it —
are likely to be the marketplace winners. Superior customer
service. Superior call quality. And that's what Empower OneCall
helps bring about.
