Beating the Red Queen – How Customer-focused Integration Can Help You Get Ahead of the Game

In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, the Red Queen says: “It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place”. This might said of the race to maintain customer experience in the telecom industry, but it doesn’t have to be this way.

For CSPs attempting to puzzle out how to meet customer expectations in telecoms, the first thing to understand is that these very customers need to be the focus of integrated operations

Every time a customer interacts with a CSP, through every stage of the customer journey, the telecoms operator has the opportunity to create a positive customer experience. We are, after all, reliant on connectivity in almost everything we do – so a good experience translates to satisfaction of rational and emotional needs, and from there to loyalty.

In order to reach this point, CSPs need to switch focus from the network to the customer. The key to doing so is to overcome the silo effect arising from the multiple, legacy BSS/OSS approach, which can customers the impression that they are dealing with several different entities (for example for internet, TV and voice calls) instead of a single provider.

There has been progress away from this network-focused stage, towards developing operations with services rather than resources at heart. But this approach limits customer care to those who are already encountering a problem.

For true evolution, customer-focused integration is required, taking into account the following:

• Big data analytics – implementing predictive models with the application of advanced BSS/OSS data, in order to identify and fix network problems before they are noticed by customers.
• A 360-degree view of customer segments and behavior – allowing CSPs to differentiate service quality levels for VIP customers. After all, a regular premium package subscriber can expect more than a pre-paid user from their provider.
• Tender loving care – ensuring that all services a customer experiences are of the same quality. High satisfaction with a mobile service means nothing if home internet or TV is patchy.

In conclusion, high dependence on connectivity has led to increased customer expectations about the quality and availability of services. Knowing how to meet customer expectations in telecoms can be the difference between winning and losing on this competitive market – and ultimately beating the Red Queen.