Telecom industry and customer service

My summer training is still on. Luckily, I got a chance to work for a telecom company. Service industry has its own challenges; the client expectations are different from other industries where products are tangible. Moreover, since telecom is an experiential product. Only after experiencing the product can client comment on it. This makes word of mouth publicity very critical in this industry.

The sales team is always concerned about the targets. The primary aim of the corporate sales team in any telecom company is to get a lead, convert it to sales order and insure timely installation of the setup. Maintaining relationship with the client helps the salesman because it helps in getting recurring orders from the same client. National tie up with between the two companies also becomes a possibility. In retail, the sales team’s effort ends when the product /service is sold.

One other very important aspect of this industry is the customer service. The term customer service is a very broad term. It includes service right from the installation of the setup to the issues which crops out of nowhere. Since telecom is a hygiene factor in most of the businesses, businesses do not want to waste time settling telecom issues. In case of retail, individual customers face issues and report them to companies, and every minute of delay in service adds to their agony. Therefore, the responsibility of the telecom company increases.

I had opportunity to speak many corporate clients and non clients during the training. I think that they consider customer service very important. Good products and cheap price can get a trial in a corporate to corporate scenario, but repeat purchase is not insured.

One bad experience can churn the client forever. I talked to one lady, whose company unfortunately churned out from my company to a competitor. When I was talking to her, I realized her company was earlier very loyal to my company’s brand. However, bad service led to broken alliance. She was so passionate about the incident that it was hard to say that she was talking about telecom vendor, and not a man.

I think of time after 10 years from now, when the telecom market will mature. All the telecom brands will have access to the latest technology; therefore there won’t be any point of difference in the product offerings. The network of all the vendors would be pan India. The price would be all time low and any further reduction will not be possible. Who will win the race then?

Obviously, the company with best customer service will win. The company who will position itself as best customer service right from today will have an edge, since with time the position will get stronger and it will become more difficult for competitors to dislodge the company from that position.

However, communication is not enough. The company has to take pain to be the best customer service provider. Because in corporate scenario, where marketing is minimal and in retail where there is more involvement of individual customer, long lasting distinct position along with good customer experience will ensure long term success.