BIOS: Technology Means Business

The mobile data services industry strives to deliver positive customer experiences, and asks who takes responsibility when customers make contact when things go wrong. This is not enough, and a more proactive approach is needed.

Market forces and regulatory intervention put pressure on the tariffs mobile operators can set for voice calls. As a result, mobile data services are seen as the real revenue-generating opportunities.

Yankee Group, for example, forecast the mobile data services market will be worth 14.8 billion euros by 2011. However, consumer interest and adoption of these services is too low and service churn too high, while operators move in the other direction, striving to increase customer loyalty and average revenue per user (ARPU).

This potentially huge market has the numbers of companies offering mobile data services greatly increase, complicating the issue further. In the not-too-distant past, mobile customers wanting mobile data services could only go to their own mobile operator. For example, T-Mobile customers would consume mobile data services using T-Zones. If they had difficulties in using these services contacted a single supplier to resolve the issue, in this case T-Mobile.

As the number of mobile data service providers increases, so the number of consumers encountering difficulties increases. The question is who do consumers approach for assistance, the service provider, the hardware manufacturer or their mobile operator? However, are we asking the right question? A recent NOP study found more than half of respondents encountering problems in using new mobile data services were more likely to give up than seek assistance, and choose to simply not use it again. Only 2% of respondents would actually seek assistance from the service provider, while others preferred to ask friends or family, if willing to persevere at all.

A new NOP survey commissioned by my company during the 2006 World Cup continued to make for unpleasant reading as it found that while 29% of mobile data service users tried a service for the first time, 44% of them would not use it again. These findings suggest consumers are most likely to try mobile data services as impulse, as opposed to planned, purchases, and are unlikely to spend more time and money trying to resolve problems, choosing to cut their losses and discontinue use.

If one couples this with operators believing services are being successfully delivered because they are not receiving negative feedback from their customers, maybe the question to ask is not who customers should contact, but how can service providers recognise, anticipate and resolve potential problems before customers stop using their offerings. Customers investing in next generation technology and expecting mobile data services to work may find their experience disappointing. Not only could this discourage customers from using these and other high-margin services, but may also make them think twice before purchasing a similarly high-tech mobile device the next time they upgrade. Like trying to repair a hard-won reputation, attempting to win back once-bitten, twice shy consumers may be a futile exercise.

So, how do mobile network operators and data service providers prevent further customer attrition and keep those satisfied with the service coming back for more? First of all, the mobile data industry has to stop hiding behind blaming churn, poor adoption rates on service and technology gaps, or saying the market is simply not ready for what is being offered. The industry’s enthusiasm for mobile data services will only be matched by consumers when delivery is seen as fool-proof. The challenge for mobile data service providers is to understand what the customer actually gets. As we have seen, service providers are often only aware of problems when customers make contact, and many of them simply choose not to bother.

Therefore, service providers must adopt a system where they can identify the root cause of previously unknown problems, and resolve or prevent these before they have a negative effect on customer experience. Good companies can help service providers to identify problems in real-time, or before customers are aware of them using service adoption management tools, which effectively cut the costs of customer support, and increase customer satisfaction and reduce churn.

Solving problems before, or as they happened means services will be more reliable, and will also allow mobile data service providers to adopt a more proactive customer care approach. For example, if downloads are failing to reach their destination, service providers can contact customers to help them to resolve the problem and then allow them to retry the service at no extra cost. Service providers can then turn a potentially frustrating and troublesome customer experience into a positive one. Providing a higher quality customer experience, with more proactive customer care will also help service providers to differentiate themselves from their competitors, increase loyalty and attract more customers.