If you are a mobile phone user in India, there is a good possibility that you would have complained about your operator more than once. Turns out you are not alone, a good majority of Indian consumers are not satisfied with their mobile phone operator and the problems run much deeper than customer service alone.
A recent study conducted by Ericsson benchmarked the customer experiences with their mobile operators in India against other service industries and had some really interesting findings for everyone.
Key Insights on Costumer Experiences With Their Mobile Operators
- One third of existing mobile users feel that operators are the most frustrating services companies to deal with
- One in four urban Indian mobile users faces issues of some sort with their operator but only half of these issues are reported
- Three out of five customer care agents find it difficult to support mobile data users with the tools and information available to them
Mobile Operators Second Only To Utility Providers In Having The Lowest Customer Experience Rating
The issue of delivering a substandard customer experience is not isolated with specific mobile operators, the whole industry is found lacking. The study revealed that among the 12 service based industries benchmarked for customer experience, mobile operators took the 11th spot only after the Utility providers while the Airline and the Online shopping industries rated high on the customer experience.
Considering that the utility sector for the most part is government owned, one does not have a lot of expectations so it is worrisome that mobile operators do not deliver on customer experience despite being in a privatized and highly competitive industry.
Mobile Operators Need To Improve Quality of Service (QOS) Across Multiple TouchPoints
One would assume that customer servicing and issue resolution is where the mobile operators fail in delivering great customer experience. However, the quality of service issues exist across multiple touchpoints including Initial Purchase Process, Billing & Payment, Account Management, Service & Support and Loyalty Building
While service & support is important, mobile operators can help differentiate themselves by simplifying the initial purchase process alone which ranks high on driving customer satisfaction.
Mobile operators in India fail to provide a consistent and simplified way in helping consumers choose the right mobile plan which could very well be the reason customers face further issues with billing, account management etc.
Poor Customer Experience Aside, Network and Data Related Issues Continue To Frustrate Customers
While poor customer experience can be attested to lack of a service centric strategy, mobile operators in India are found lacking in providing a reliable infrastructure as well.
As many as 32% of the surveyed users faced issues with their mobile network while 29% faced problems with mobile internet. Poor customer service (20%) is also a key concern for mobile customers in India.
Customer Care Agents Are Ill Equipped To Create A Positive Customer Experience
Bad customer experience can easily be attributed to lack of service standards by customer care teams of mobile operators. The lack of high service standards by customer care departments could be attributed to the fact that these departments are primarily outsourced but even the customer care agents report that they do not have the right tools to help create a positive customer experience.
The increased complexity of customer management systems and the growing number of new devices is causing great challenges for customer care agents.
Creating Good Customer Experiences Make For Great Word-Of-Mouth Marketing
For mobile operators who think that a net positive acquisition rate is what matters for the business and a few irate customers are not worth worrying about, here is an eye opener.
Delighted customers will voluntary share their experiences and create word of mouth buzz for your brand.
This is a key actionable insight for the marketing teams at major mobile operators in India. Focussing on providing excellent customer service could not only reduce the churn, it can actually help them get some free publicity both offline and online.
The report also highlights remedial measures that mobile operators should take to provide better customer experiences but the priority of the mobile operators in India should be to first tie up loose ends in their existing interaction and engagement with customers. You can access the full report here