Real service?

Today 56% of UK households have broadband Internet access compared to only 12% in 2004. That’s more than 14 million households. With wider accessibility to broadband, the convergence of different telecommunications services has become a lucrative business opportunity. But in a highly competitive market, how can telecoms brands drive differentiation and build long-term success?

In 2006 Virgin Media was the first company to hit the competition with its bundles of competitively priced and cleverly packaged telecoms products. Triple and quadruple play media, integrating broadband with digital TV, mobile and land telephone technology, have now become common practice. And with a virtually identical product offer, service becomes the obvious competitive advantage.

The likes of Tiscali and BT pride themselves with putting customers at the heart of their brands. They claim to ‘help customers thrive in a changing world’. They consider themselves trustworthy (‘we do what we say we will’) and helpful (‘we work as one team’).

However, in the last year Otelo, the UK independent telecoms ombudsman, had 104,000 inquiries about disputes and was forced to step in to resolve 4,139. Two out of three inquiries were about customer service. And this doesn’t include all the complaints to the individual service providers.

I heard many cringing stories about bad service experience with telecoms firms. Often the cause is not necessarily the issue itself, like a fault or wrong billing. It’s how the issue is dealt with.

According to a recent survey by Money Mail, telecoms firms are perceived to ignore complaints about bills and service. They force customers to use automated call centres, they ignore letters and fail to return calls when promised.

Other saturated mass markets like financial services face similar challenges and very few brands managed to build their success around what customers truly need.

First Direct is a great example of impeccable customer service. It doesn’t claim to have the best rates nor does it deny the possibility it may fail to deliver at times. Yet customers trust them because they’ll always be honest and transparent. They’ll always try to help. And most importantly they really will do what they say. First Direct’s customer loyalty is such that it is recommended by its customers every five seconds.

In the integrated telecoms market a brand that puts service at the driving seat will be the one to leapfrog the competition. Service brands need to start from what really is at their core: people.

Rather than focusing investments on product innovation like everyone else, engaging employees with a strong, powerful brand built around the customer experience can prove a cost-effective, powerful approach. Brand can empower people to deliver outstanding service through a strong idea that can be easily translated into practical actions. And once trust and loyalty are earned, more value from the customer will follow.

29 June 2009, posted by Giorgio Rondelli