Mobile Connections - Engagement with Mobile Network Operators
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The document discusses how mobile network operators can better connect with customers. It segments customers into categories based on their emotional and rational connection to the network operator. Those most connected ("fully connected") have high satisfaction and loyalty scores and are unlikely to switch or complain. Those least connected ("disconnected") have low scores and are most likely to switch or complain. The document identifies differences in customer experiences between segments and recommends how operators can improve connections by focusing on elements like staff service, communication, and problem resolution.
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Mobile Connections - Engagement with Mobile Network Operators
- 1. How can mobile network operators connect more effectively with their customers?
- 2. Intentional Emotional Likelihood to continue using Preferred provider Gives something different Rational Value you as a customer Relationship based on trust Satisfaction Likelihood to recommend/NPS Key elements of a customer relationship 2
- 3. Intentional Emotional Rational Emotionally & Rationally Connected Emotionally Connected Indifferent Disconnected Customer relationship segmentation Rationally Connected Fully Connected 3
- 4. 4
- 8. 8 Switching behaviour in the UK 0 1 2 3+ 32% 34% 17% 17%
- 10. Fully Connected 19% Emotionally & Rationally Connected 10% Rationally Connected 16% Emotionally Connected 7% Indifferent 38% Disconnected 10% Relationship Score 4.7 Relationship Score 4.0 Average Relationship Score 3.5 10 Mobile network operators
- 13. Fully Connected 19% Emotionally & Rationally Connected 10% Rationally Connected 16% Emotionally Connected 7% Indifferent 38% Disconnected 10% NPS +87 NPS +29 NPS -23 NPS -62 NPS -98 NPS +38 Average NPS -9 13 Mobile network operators
- 14. 24 20 19 19 15 15 13 11 11 10 8 16 14 10 12 15 16 18 14 9 11 9 8 7 7 8 13 8 34 37 38 36 40 42 41 10 9 10 11 7 7 17 Service provider benchmarks Fully Connected Rationally Connected Emotionally Connected Indifferent Disconnected Emotionally & Rationally Connected 14
- 15. Fully Connected 19% Emotionally & Rationally Connected 10% Rationally Connected 16% Emotionally Connected 7% Indifferent 38% Disconnected 10% Likely to switch 8% Likely to switch 13% Likely to switch 27% Likely to switch 32% Likely to switch 66% Likely to switch 14% Average likely to switch 24% 15 Mobile network operators
- 16. 16 28% MNO 24% 18% 9% 5% 16% ISP Utility Pay TV Finance Other
- 17. Fully Connected 19% Emotionally & Rationally Connected 10% Rationally Connected 16% Emotionally Connected 7% Indifferent 38% Disconnected 10% Complained 26% Fully resolved 67% Complained 28% Fully resolved 48% Complained 30% Fully resolved 51% Complained 31% Fully resolved 32% Complained 53% Fully resolved 3% Complained 23% Fully resolved 60% Average Complained 30% Average Fully resolved 39% 17 Mobile network operators
- 18. 76 71 80 73 72 64 63 54 62 46 52 40 61 58 67 57 53 57 34 36 30 17 21 17 Social media Email / website In-store Telephone Segmentation and channel interactions Fully Connected Rationally Connected Emotionally Connected Indifferent Disconnected Emotionally & Rationally Connected 18
- 19. 19 Range of products & services Ease of understanding products & services Staff professionalism Service provided Relevance of products & services New & innovative products & services Treat you as an individual Let’s you communicate how you want Competitive charges / fees Value for money Clarity of communication with you Staff knowledge Let’s you communicate when you want Ease of communicating with them Ability to solve problems Responsiveness to problems & requests Reward your loyalty Staff empathy Relevance of communications to you Amount of communications received Staff play a critical role ... Fully Connected Rationally Connected Emotionally Connected Indifferent Disconnected Emotionally & Rationally Connected
- 20. 20 Customer experience elements that separate the more connected segments Staff professionalism; Range of products/services; Innovation; Value for money; Competitive fees/charges Staff knowledge; Staff empathy; Treating as an individual; Amount of communications; Ease of contact, Relevance of products, Competitive charges, Reward for loyalty; Communicate when want to Key differences between Fully Connected & Emotionally & Rationally Connected Key differences between Emotionally & Rationally Connected and Emotionally Connected Key differences between Emotionally Connected and Rationally Connected Staff professionalism; Responsiveness; Resolve issues; Treat as an individual; Relevance of products, Amount & clarity of communications; Value for money; Easy to understand products; Communicate as want to
- 21. Treat you as an individual 21 Range of products & services Ease of understanding products & services Staff professionalism Service provided Relevance of products & services New & innovative products & services Let’s you communicate how you want Competitive charges / fees Value for money Clarity of communication with you Staff knowledge Let’s you communicate when you want Ease of communicating with them Ability to solve problems Responsiveness to problems & requests Reward your loyalty Staff empathy Relevance of communications to you Amount of communications received Outbound communications can disconnect Fully Connected Rationally Connected Emotionally Connected Indifferent Disconnected Emotionally & Rationally Connected
- 22. 69 49 48 41 43 41 46 39 16 25 36 22 44 42 35 49 12 24 14 36 10 16 14 10 Post Social media In-store Telephone Email / website Preferred communication channels Make a payment Contract renewal General enquiry Change handset Query a bill Report a fault Make a complaint Report lost phone 22
- 23. Mobile service provider segmentation 19 25 23 20 19 17 17 14 14 10 10 12 12 6 10 10 10 8 16 25 17 20 20 12 14 16 10 7 5 8 6 5 7 4 7 6 38 29 33 31 39 38 46 42 47 10 5 6 12 12 15 10 11 15 Fully Connected Rationally Connected Emotionally Connected Indifferent Disconnected Emotionally & Rationally Connected Average NPS -9 +11 -1 +1 -13 -21 -17 -18 -30 23
- 24. 24 Brand momentum Ahead of the game 1 Puts customers first Treats customers fairly Reliable/dependable Easy to interact with 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank
- 25. 25 How can mobile network operators connect more effectively with their customers? 1
- 26. 26 How can mobile network operators connect more effectively with their customers? 1 2
- 27. 27 How can mobile network operators connect more effectively with their customers? 31 2
- 28. Thanks for your time today! Lee Langford llangford@harrisinteractive.com @langford_lee 020 8263 5263 07966 339 606 Debbie Senior dsenior@harrisinteractive.com @debbie_senior 020 8263 5281 07989 388 825 28
Editor's Notes
- LEEHello and thanks for joining us.My name is Lee Langford. I’m a Research Director at Harris Interactive and I will be one of your hosts today as we consider how mobile network operators can connect more effectively with their customers.I’m here with Debbie Senior, our Senior Stakeholder Relationship Consultant. Whereas my focus is on the mobile sector, Debbie will provide a broader expert opinion based on her work across sectors within our business.The webcast today will last about 20 minutes. Our contact details will appear on screen at the end of the webcast – do get in touch with us if you have any questions or would like to debate any of the points we raise.GO TO SLIDE 2
- LEEOverall, we see a very mixed picture and we have segmented UK mobile phone users into 6 categories, according to how connected they feel, working clockwise here from Fully connected in purple at 1 o‘clock through to Disconnected in black at 11 o‘clock.Our data is based on an online survey that we conducted with 2,700 mobile phone users and bill payers in the 2nd half of 2013.GO TO SLIDE 10
- LEEOnly 3 in 10 have a very strong relationship with their provider – what we would describe as a Fully Connected or and Emotionally & Rationally Connected relationship – this means that they score their provider 4 or 5 out of 5 on all 7 of our key relationship criteria.GO TO SLIDE 11
- LEEAround a quarter are either Rationally Connected or Emotionally Connected – scoring the relationship above 3 but lower than 4 out of 5.GO TO SLIDE 12
- LEEAnd a whopping 48% are either Indifferent to their provider or Disconnected – scoring the relationship 3 out of 5 or lower.In fact, the average Relationship Score that we see for mobile network operators in the UK is 3.5 out of 5. This is far from impressive and suggests that operators are already having to work hard to retain a high number of ambivalent or disaffected customers. GO TO SLIDE 13
- DEBBIEEarlier we mentioned Net Promoter Score.As you see here, the NPS of the different segments varies considerably from the overall industry average of -9. But there is a clear correlation between how connected a customer is and their advocacy level. Those fully connected customers really are your ambassadors, and those disconnected are your detractors. But another danger group are the indifferents. When you’re deciding whether its worthwhile making the effort to improve your relationship with them, you may want to look at the potential negative word of mouth they are sharing with others. GO TO SLIDE 14
- LEEAs well as looking at mobile network operators in our research, we also considered a number of other categories of service provider including financial services, utilities, insurance and pay TV.Mobile network operators sit alongside financial services and pay TV companies in the top tier. And within this top tier it is retail banks that have the highest level of ‘full’ connection at 24% - the other sectors are closer to 20%.Car and home insurance providers make up the second tier with lower levels of full connection.And Gas and Electricity providers sit apart from the rest with significantly higher levels of ‘disconnection’.We will not drill down further into these other industries today because we are focusing on mobile network operators, but other webcasts are available on-demand on our website.GO TO SLIDE 15
- LEEDoes itreallymatter if a customer is ‘indifferent to’ or ‘disconnected’ from a mobile provider? Ok the NPS scores indicate that they are probably not singing your praises if someone asks them for a recommendation. But are they actually likely to switch to another provider?The response here suggests that our segmentation is very powerful with Indifferent customers four times more likely to switch than Fully Connected customers. And the vast majority of Disconnected customers likely to switch as soon as they are able to do so. The new Ofcom ruling may help to expedite this of course.GO TO SLIDE 16
- LEELet’s see if we can identify any factors that have a significant impact on how connected ... consumers feel to their provider.One obvious area to explore is complaints.It is said that we are increasingly a nation that is willing to complain and our SocialLife monitor which tracks social media use certainly backs this up. In the most recent survey, 28% told us they use social media to complain about service providers – and interestingly, MNOs are most likely to feel the wrath of their keyboard.GO TO SLIDE 17
- DEBBIEBut with the exception of disconnected customers, it is not the act of complaining that drives connection levels. There is very little difference in the number of complaints from fully connected to indifferent customers, with the average being 30%.Where we do see complaints making a difference is when they are not fully resolved. 67% of complaints are fully resolved for those who are Fully connected compared with just 32% for those who are Indifferent and only 3% for those who are Disconnected.Worryingly, complaint resolution in the mobile sector seems to be significantly worse than in retail banking, an industry that has experienced quite a bit of negative coverage over the past few years. And we also know that the financial cost of handling complaints is high, so clearly, this is an area to prioritise and invest in.GO TO SLIDE 18
- LEEWhat about the level of interaction that consumers have with their mobile network operators – does this have an impact on their connectedness?The simple answer is ‘yes it does’.Here we are looking at any type of contact that consumers have, either inbound or outbound.And what we can see is that the greater the level of interaction the consumer has with a provider, the more connected they feel.In-store interactions stand out as being significantly higher for the three most connected segments and social media interaction is also very influential – approximately twice as high among the three most connected segments as among the three least connected. Effective handling of social media engagement – whether positive or negative – is likely to be increasingly important in future as more consumers choose to engage in this manner.GO TO SLIDE 19
- LEEBut let’s not run away with the idea that all mobile network operators need to do to increase the level of connection their consumers feel is increase the amount of contact ... it is also very much about the quality of that contact – as we have already seen with the very strong complaint resolution correlation.In this chart we are looking at the POSITIVE responses made about various aspects of the product and service offer operators provide.Clearly there is a correlation between satisfaction levels and connectedness with those who are Fully connected generally much more satisfied than those who are Disconnected – as we would expect of course.But what else can we learn from this data?Well, we’ve highlighted the four elements where we see the biggest differences in scores between those who are Fully connected and those who are Disconnected or Indifferent.And what comes through clearly is that it is the human touch that really matters when it comes to consumer connectedness ... with 3 of the 4 asterisked areas relating to the performance of customer-facing employees: their professionalism, their know-how and their ability to create the impression of treating the consumer as an individual.GO TO SLIDE 20
- DEBBIEWe can take this analysis a bit further by looking at where the largest satisfaction gaps with delivery of the experience are according to the different connected levels. So starting at the bottom there are quite a few things that move a purely rationally connected customer to being emotionally connected including better communication, staff interactions, and feeling treated as an individual. Then to move from being purely emotionally connected to both emotionally and rationally connected, we see a few new key elements around staff knowledge and empathy, ease of contact, competitive charges, and feeling rewarded for loyalty. And ultimately, those who are fully connected are also experiencing stronger engagement on staff professionalism, range of products, value for money, and innovation. Although this is a simplified example, providers need to be aware of these triggers so they can more easily meet customer needs and improve their loyalty. GO TO SLIDE 21
- LEELet’s look at things from the opposite perspective – by which I mean the NEGATIVE responses made.As we might anticipate, the negative scores are much higher among those who are Disconnected or Indifferent.But which particular aspects of the offer see the greatest contrast in responses?Well again, we see that customer-facing employees are key with staff empathy, problem solving capability and treating the consumer as an individual making up 3 of the 5 most differentiating elements.But communications are also very important - with the amount of outbound communications received and allowing customers to communicate how they want to also highly differentiating. So what else did we learn about communications preferences in our survey? ...GO TO SLIDE 22
- LEEWe set out a number of scenarios for consumers and asked which method (or ‘channel’ to use industry speak) consumers would ideally choose for each type of contact.The results point clearly to the need for providing different options for customers as no single channel dominates.Customers tend to want the option of talking to a customer services operative on the phone if they are looking for a quick response. For example, if they want to report a lost phone, query a bill or report a fault.Online interactions are more likely to be favoured for less time-sensitive interactions like making a payment or contract renewal.And consumers like the option of a store visit when they are changing their handset.GO TO SLIDE 23
- LEEWe’ve looked at the mobile network operator market overall so far. But is the market homogenous when it comes to customer connectedness or are some operators more connected than others?Actually, there are significant differences between operators with Tesco Mobile standing out with 65% of customers connected to some degree compared with the overall market average of 52%. This strong finding aligns with lots of other published research including Tesco Mobile being awarded Best Telecom Services Provider of the year by Which in 2013.O2 also fares reasonably well in our data and, according to Ofcom figures for monthly contracts, had the fewest consumer complaints in Quarter 4, 2013. However, even these best-in-class operators don’t match levels of connectedness that we see for retail banks where award winning banks like First Direct, Nationwide and Cooperative achieve 40% or higher Fully connected results and have advocacy scores of +30 and above. So there is still much more to do in this industry.The weakest level of connectedness that we see is to the newest market entrant EE. This suggests that the introduction of 4G – ongoing in the case of EE and ramping up in the case of Vodafone, O2 and Three – is likely to have a significant impact on connectedness across the market overall.GO TO SLIDE 24
- DEBBIELevels of connectedness correlate with brand perceptions and momentum, with O2, Virgin, Tesco and Three having strong perceptions on treating customers fairly, reliability,ease of interaction, and putting customers first. EE is the most inconsistent brand. Although it has strong perceptions for being ahead of the game which is great for attracting new customers looking for innovation, this doesn’t appear to be supported by a strong enough customer experience or retention strategy – perhaps it is not surprising that EE has the most disconnected and indifferent customers.The particular concern for EE is that the promise has not lived up to expectations, especially in the context of 4G being significantly more expensive than 3G services.And overall, we sense that operators are currently more focused on the roll-out of 4G and increasing customer acquisition and high ARPU than they are on improving customer relationships and loyalty. Our research shows that this is a risky approach that potentially leaves significant numbers of customers underwhelmed and open to switching.In other words, a bit like when 3G was initially rolled out. Have the lessons been learned? Only time will tell.GO TO SLIDE 25
- LEESo summing up ... there are three key points that we want to briefly recap for you.Firstly – mobile is a market that historically has seen high levels of switching behaviour and, right now, many consumers are either Indifferent to or even Disconnected from their provider. Some operators are better positioned than others but ...GO TO SLIDE 26
- LEE... market developments like the new Ofcom ruling and increased competition for profitable 4G business may lead many of these ‘at risk’ customers to look more closely at switching, making an already competitive market even tougher for operators.GO TO SLIDE 27
- LEEAlthough the big MNOs will no doubt be very focused on the roll-out of 4G and increased up-selling and acquisition, they must not forget to focus on connecting effectively with their existing customer bases, including those who are happy with 3G for the time being – and other research we have conducted suggests this is still the majority of mobile phone users. Our key recommendation is to continue investing in customer-facing staff and services whilst the transition to 4G takes place.GO TO SLIDE 28
- DEBBIEThanks for joining us today and we hope that we have provided some food for thought.If you have any comments or questions, please do get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.Goodbye from both of us.SMILE!END.