A very brief overview of the basic problems and opportunity in telco self service

1. Page 1
Telco Self Service
Opportunity

2. Page 2
Executive Summary : Improving the basics of self service
2
Steps we can take to improve things
• There are 2 sets of activities we can undertake
immediately which will help and which will not require
development.
– Report key metrics :
– There is no business visibility of the key self
service activities – we should track and report
publically on uptime ( we do this already ) and
trends of self service task transactions
conducted online
– Improve Online Content :
– Audit existing content in Lithium for accuracy
(JK said this was a good idea)
– Write new content to address gaps highlighted
by Optus audit of site
– Optimise search to retrieve it
– Improve marketing of Self Service :
– Develop a CVP explaining to customers how
Self Serve helps them
– Personalise for Self Service :
– Recognise self service visitors and show them
self service facilities which are relevant to
them

3. Page 3
Service : Stop trying to delight customers1
Get the basics right.
3
Improving Self Service involves simply focussing on
the basics
• In <customer service > settings, research shows,
loyalty has a lot more to do with how well
companies deliver on their basic, even plain-vanilla
promises than on how dazzling the service
experience might be
• Two critical findings emerged that should affect
every company’s customer service strategy.
– Stop trying to delight customers.
– Reduce the effort they need to put in to
solving their issue.
But : Most customers encounter loyalty-eroding
problems when they engage with customer service.
1. HTTP://HBR.ORG/2010/07/STOP-TRYING-TO-DELIGHT-YOUR-CUSTOMERS/AR/1
56%
Have had to re-
explain an issue
57%
Have had to
move from web
to phone
59%
Moderate to
high effort to fix
issue
Likely to speak
negatively about
cust. Service
23%
Positive & told
10 + people
48%
Negative and
told 10+ people
65%
“40% of consumers prefer self
service to human contact for
their future contact with
companies”
The real self service economy

4. Page 4
Self Service : People Will Use Online Self Service If It’s Easy, Fast and
Reliable
4
• There is acceptance of the Internet ( as a means to
Self Service ) and little if any technophobia
• Twice as many people Shop on line as use telcos Self
Service facilities on line1.
– For those who use the web to self serve,
customer satisfaction levels are high.
• An increasing number of customers
( typically aged < 30 ) are starting to contact telcos for
Self Service transactions through the web
• And generally, the rate at which customers call centres
is rising
• However, for visitors to the site, the benefits of
signing up to self service are not always clear.
• The Internet experience is driving telco customers to
alternative solutions
• But, Consumers prefer Self Service for low complexity
issues
Customer
Awareness +
Experience.
Customer
Need +
Urgency.
Their
circumstance:
E.g. at work /
out & about.
Determines Contact Type
Customers do not think in terms of online ‘self
service’ they just think about the best and
easiest solution for them.
•The web will be used for Self Service when :
• It’s Easy / convenient
• It’s faster than alternatives
• It’s Reliable
Summary of Customers’ Needs for Online
Self Service
Above from Vodafone Australia Primary ResearchJanuary 2007 ( Project Self Serve )Above from Vodafone Australia Primary Research January 2007 ( Project Self Serve )
4. Optimal Usability : Study for VF AU Jan 2008 5. Optimising Online Self Service to Build
Effective Customer Relationships
Self service requirements remain
unchanged ( Online )

5. Page 5
Start by developing a CVP ( Customer Value Proposition )
Why should people come in to Self Service ?
• In order for users to adopt mobile self service, operators
need to promote that channel:
• those operators than have achieved high adoption rates
have used sophisticated campaigns to promote the self
service channel.
• A typical awareness campaign involves SMS and IVR to
promote the self service channel
• Some operators use incentives to try the channel
Below – we would probably want to test a series of
CVPs with this sort of messaging
1. VALUE PROPOSITION MAP FROM FORBES ‘HOW TO DEVELOP A CVP’
• 92% - My problem is taken seriously
• 90% - Speed
• 89% - Transparent view of next steps
• 89% - Friendliness of contacts
• 88% - Problem solved first time
What’s important to you when
you have an issue1 ?
SAVE TIME : Fast resolution for critical needs
GET IT DONE : Pay bills, recharge and more
MOVE ON : Fix it quick, get back to real life
Telcos Rarely have a CVP for
Self Service

6. Page 6
Improve UX further with personalisation of the self service experience
is a key factor which will influence success
1. SDF
Everyone sees
Evaluate & Buy
Now Could
Above : Current state is that all
prospects and customers coming to
the site see the same content,
irrespective of whether they are self
servicing, evaluating or buying.
Potential 1 : Establishing a
reliable segment for Self Service
should not be hard ( number of
visits, cookie on login ) and would
allow a significant UX
improvement for self servicing
customers
Potential 2 : Sub segmenting to
allow a different self service
homepage experience and
correlating with exposing services
before login would further assist
conversion.
Could
Self service customers
see a site personalised for
them.
Further segment self
service by product line and
tie in with services exposed
before login
Postpaid mobile home
Prepaid mobile home
Postpaid mobile broadband home
Prepaid mobile broadband home
The critical question here is : How would a telco websitebe designed if
it was being built just for self service customers. My guess is it would
be very different from the UX which is currently in place. With simple
segmentation, personalisaiton would significantly improve the
experience.

7. Page 7
Self Service will become a major source of incremental revenue2
1. ADAPTED FROM THE REAL SELF SERVICE ECONOMY
2. SOFTWARE REVIEW – A STRATEGY FOR SELF SERVICE IN A TELCO ENVIRONMENT
3. ERICSSON MULTISCREEN SELF CARE
The current self service economy –
driven by customer need1.
Customers
like self
service
Efficiencies
Happier clients
Increased sales
There is more to self service than transactions –
managed correctly, it can be a revenue & NPS
opportunity,
• <Previously> the primary focus was on
reducing cost to serve as call centre costs were
growing at a rate faster than revenue
• Over time, other issues became important, including
the importance of customer care to customer
satisfaction
• Not only do customers want to interact with
companies using self service, the facility is efficient
for both parties, improves NPS and can lead to
improved sales
• Even small telcos have 20m page views per month
• Self service will become a major source of
incremental revenue’ 2
• In the near future, consumer experience
optimisation in areas of efficiency, transparency and
consumer control of usage are indicated to become
the main drivers of satisfaction.3
• An intuitive and easy to use top up mechanism
is at the heart of reducing churn and increasing
spending in the prepaid market. 3
48%
Would love to receive personalized and highly
relevant commercial information
43%
Would love to receive relevant and
personalised sales promotions
33%
Are interested in personalised advertising