By Tim Young

They’ve always been around. They’ve always been present.

They’ve been a part of the conversation, and maintaining their happiness has always been a goal, if only in theory.

“They” are the customers, and, if you listen to the chatter from CSPs and OSS/BSS vendors, alike, over the last few years, they’ve experienced a serious renaissance. Whereas keeping customers has always been a cornerstone of any successful telecom endeavor, we’ve never been so inundated with marketing pushes about keeping customers happy, thereby reducing churn and, if you’re lucky, maximizing ARPU.

Every aspect of the OSS/BSS picture can, theoretically, impact the customer experience. QoS. Billing. Provisioning. Etc. At every point of contact, the CSP runs the risk of souring their relationship with the customer.

However, there was a time when a discussion of the customer led directly to a discussion about CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software.

And CRM is still essential.

However, there are those who, increasingly, believe that the focus of CRM is totally internal: A quest for CSPs to find out information about the customer that helps the CSP to market to or cross-sell to that customer. Which is a completely practical goal.

However, with each passing month and year, the CEM (Customer Experience Management) value proposition becomes slightly more alluring.

every step of the existing relationship. That is key, because as service offerings become more diverse, there’s always an alternative.

Furthermore, in the face of increasing competition and an economic climate that is causing consumers to examine every penny spent and eschew waste or customer dissatisfaction, the goal to raise ARPU should definitely never cause your company to run the risk of peeving your customers in a never-ending quest for the up-sell.

To paraphrase the soul and blues artist Johnnie Taylor, “It’s cheaper to keep [them].”