Customer Retention: 3 Point Solution

Posted On: March 25, 2017

Upsurge in connected consumers is intensifying competition for the telecom industry. Thereby, acquiring new customers is difficult and retaining existing ones is a mightier challenge. Customer retention can be improved by delivering a better service, which require telecom companies to upgrade their support solutions & approach.

While the communication service is the only product of telecoms, subscribers follow the MNP (Mobile Number Portability) route to find the best customer experience provider. As per Database Marketing Institute, 75% of users subscribing to a service provider are churners from another provider. Thus, telecom companies can prevent such a huge loss with an improved customer experience using the following strategies:

1. Cater to Subscriber Needs
   Since every subscriber has their own communication needs, they expect operators to offer plans accordingly. Failing to meet these expectations leads to customer churn, and annual churn rate varies from 10%-67% in the telecom industry as stated by Database Marketing Institute.Accordingly, operators need to deliver plans and services proactively as per subscribers’ needs, to avoid losing the user. A self-care app on a user device can help gather data about usage patterns, feedback from customers, and more to deliver customer-oriented services.
2. Engage Employees & Customers
   Front-line customer facing employees should be well-resourced with up-to-date information about users, their pain points, & resolutions. The engagement should be extended to other departments like marketing, admin, and others that are indirectly linked to customer service. Moreover, telecoms should deploy solutions to engage customers as well leading to improvement in retention, up-sell, and cross-sell potential.Integrated knowledge management platform and self care solutions help engage support staff as well as customers with ready-to-follow resolutions. Features like easy navigation, feedback, and others improve engagement metrics and hence, brand value.
3. Seamless Experience Across Touch points
   Contact center is not the only department responsible for customer service. Today, subscribers can reach their operator across several touch points, including retail outlets, on-device apps, distributors, and more. Customers expect all these touch points to be capable of resolving their queries right at the first time.Telecoms should equip their staff at various touch points with up-to-date information using a centralized cloud-based knowledge platform. Web- or app-based self-care is another option to cover touch points like website, mobile devices along with physical outlets.

Thus, it is essential for telecoms to take into account a growing customer-centric culture. However, implementing the right solutions with a strategic approach can help them cut down on subscriber churn, boosting revenue as well as brand value. Get started here with the right solution to address your customer service challenges.