Mobile Customer Service Performance

These discrepancies help to explain why only 27% of mobile users are currently classified as a “Promoter” of their mobile operator on the Net Promoter Score (NPS), while 30% are “Passive” and, alarmingly, 43% are termed as “Detractors". Only 36% of mobile consumers cite the experience of dealing with their MNO as improving their loyalty levels. It’s clearly more important than ever then for MNOs to make an impression when given the chance to deal with customer problems. Mobile users are only one bad experience away from potentially becoming “Detractors”, and in general, a business will only hear from 4% of its dissatisfied customers. It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative experience which means that MNOs, on the whole, have one chance per year to make it count. 

While mobile markets were still in a rapid state of growth and customers were there for the taking, customer service levels were not a top priority for network operators. However, with markets now saturated, new types of competitors entering the scene and customer expectations on the rise, new customers are scarce on the ground and existing ones need to be kept happy. 

Developing a customer centric approach that is built on real-time subscriber and network intelligence is going to be key for operators moving forward, allowing them to both leverage the data at their disposal and also allow the various different parts of the organisation to communicate and work better together. However, it's not just the right tools that are required. Companies also need to achieve a shift in mind-set – from call centre agents through to middle management, all the way up to C-suite personnel – and potentially conduct internal restructuring across the organisation. If this can be done to create a real-time, holistic view of what is happening with the customer, then problems and enquiries can be responded to in a quicker and more effective manner, as well as preventing problems before they even occur.

MNOs that have moved to a customer-centric model are already reporting a 17% increase in customer satisfaction and a 21% decrease in the number of complaints over a 12-month period. For the concept to break the traditional silo-based organisation, including customer service, marketing, commercial and network operations, everybody needs to be on board. 

But this transition doesn’t happen overnight.  MNOs that have undertaken this customer-centric model evolution claim that it takes between 18-24 months, and often happens in conjunction with the development of the Service Operations Centre (SOC).  Essentially a SOC is a centralised structure that allows divisions such as marketing, commercial and network operation to work closely together.  The SOC is a relatively recent development overcoming the traditional silos created throughout MNOs and providing different teams with a common solution and metrics. As well as improving the experience of particular customers, customer data provided by the SOC is now being used to enhance the customer experience and increase first call resolution; thus enabling MNOs to develop a holistic total customer experience view based on their mobile behaviour and usage, location and the impact this has on mobile network performance.

Research of MNOs from Astellia in 2013 revealed that almost 59% of MNOs had already implemented a SOC and, as a result, two-thirds of MNOs should now have the internal structure to develop a more compelling and efficient customer experience. With 43% of mobile operators wanting to achieve an improved customer experience through increased first call resolution rates, and 36% wanting to better their NPS scores, there is finally recognition that they need to at least catch up with, if not improve on, customer service norms.