Last week saw the return of the annual CEM Global Summit, attracting over 250 delegates. The event addressed current trends and future opportunities within the telecoms industry. SysMech’s Mark Slinger and Keli Stockbridge were there to find out more.
What does the customer experience framework look like in the telecoms industry?
The event was kicked off by Ric McCormick, introducing the customer experience framework used at Vodafone. The Vodafone framework consists of six stages; explore, buy, start up, use, get support and renew or leave. Ilyas Celik later introduced a similar framework used at Saudi Telecom; find, get, set-up, use, get help, pay, modify, and advocate.
One key feature that both speakers emphasized was that this framework must be linked to the wider organization to really be of any use. For Vodafone this included the people, the processes and the network technology.
How are communication service providers introducing a customer centric culture?
Nearly all of the speakers at the event highlighted that becoming customer centric does not happen overnight. Hanny Moneim explained that for Vodafone Egypt, it took many years for the whole business culture to change. Today, every member of staff now has the top line objective to ‘delight the customer by…’ This ensures the customer is always front of mind for everyone, ranging from the call center operators right through to senior management.
Ilyas Celic explained that for Saudi Telecom, the business had to undergo a fundamental change from a network centric organization, to a service centric organization. He, along with many others admitted that they still have further steps to take before becoming truly customer centric.
What methods are CSP’s using to measure customer experience?
Customer surveys, staff interviews, social media monitoring and KPI tracking were the top techniques identified by CSP’s to measure customer experience. The Net Promoter Score (NSP) also featured in numerous presentations at the event, but not always in a positive light. Isabelle Choltte-Bachner explained that for T-Mobile Austria, the TRI*M survey is preferred, giving a clearer picture of customer satisfaction and loyalty. Hanny Moneim demonstrated that the Customer Effort Score (CES) has proved more useful than NPS in predicting future customer behaviors for Vodafone Egypt.
What is the business impact of improved customer experience management?
Sinem Yuksel Kartal was one of the few speakers who could really demonstrate how a customer centric approach has had an impact on business performance. Turkcell had seen a strong correlation between employee engagement and customer satisfaction. Their sales team highlighted the need for an integrated system, a tool to help match products to customers, and improved training to really be successful. After taking action on all these elements, the business saw a 17% increase in the NPS and a 20% decrease in customer complaints. They also saw their number of customers increase by 16%.
It is clear to see some top trends emerging in CEM in Telecoms – identifying the right framework, changing the business culture and implementing the right, fully integrated systems. The next steps for many CSP’s is to now demonstrate the business impact of becoming customer centric.
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