Lastnight I was reading a report on Indian Cellular Phone Industry by leading research agency. One of the key findings as per the survey conducted states 28% of currently satisfied customers are prone to move to a new service provider, if the quality of service is found to be good. Incidentally, the number is down by 2% but nevertheless 28% is huge enough to tackle.

Despite of the surge in cellular phone penetration in the country, the service quality by any service provider is not yet great and consumers are aware of it. As the cost switch is not really all that high, consumers will not take too long to hop.

I have seen some fabulous marketing campaigns by the top telecom operators in India, but primarily customer acquisitioin focused. They having realized critical mass is a dynamic component, the media plan must influde campaign focusing on ‘service quality’ as well, the only agent that will glue the acquired consumers. If not, be happy with your leaking bucket.

That advertising campaign is not enough, it is important operators invest considerably on

• Network Stability
• Customer Support
• Billing
• Effective Service Request Management

On billing, I remember getting charged for three months in a row for Advanced GPRS by my operator despite of repeated phone calls to disable the service. Every subsequent month they promised to adjust the bill for excess charges levied in previous months, but the outcome was just a disaster – I refused to pay and my monthly bill figure was just plumpting.

Three months later, they acted upon it and re-calculated two subsequent month bills – This, I feel can be easily avoided by the operator.

I repeated keep saying any sort of investment in marketing or customer service automation program is void without having substantial processes backing such initiatives, the aforesaid billing issue is a classic example of having world-class customer management solution but virtually useless, as required processes are not mapped against them.

There is a common thread that connects telecommunication and insurance industry in India, both these industries are still in ‘Customer Acquisition’ mode, not that it is bad. But, ensuring the existing customers are satisfied is an important component that needs get into marketing consideration.

I am still waiting to see consistent campaigns from operators that go beyond ‘communication’ per se, it has to lead towards ‘why us’ part of the message aggressively blended with emotional quotient – This is the only aspect that will nurture customer loyalty and ensure their long stay with the network.