We’ll just say it: the telecommunications sector isn’t exactly known for its exceptional customer service.
Its many touchpoints — from product and service onboarding and installation to tech support and contracting and billing — can often be the source of more frustration than satisfaction. And since 73% of consumers say they’ll switch to a competitor after multiple lousy customer experiences (CX), it’s time for communications providers and telco resellers to shake off this reputation and level up their CX game.
Thanks to the rise of 5G networks, coverage and speed are increasing rapidly in all markets — leading to the commoditisation of connectivity, fierce competition and eroding margins. And as demand and competition rise, customers are becoming increasingly selective of the communication providers they choose.
Are you a telco reseller who wants to retain your existing customers, attract new ones and drive business growth? We’ve compiled five ways to improve your customer experience management (CXM)…
1. Get to know your customers
To offer a stellar customer experience, it’s crucial for resellers to have a customer-centric approach — analysing and understanding the expectations of your customers for all touch points.
Measuring your net promotor score (NPS) is the first critical step in a customer-centric approach. After all, you can’t know what you’re dealing with until you measure it. Calculating your NPS involves two types of surveys: relationship and transactional.
A relationship survey assesses how your customers are feeling every quarter. If you’re up to date with how your customers feel about your business relationship, you’ll know what you’re getting right and what could be improved.
Telco resellers can also conduct transactional surveys at specific sensitive touchpoints — like when a service is ordered or upgraded — to get an insight into any hiccups along the way.
By prioritising the customer, you remove friction points during their telco journey and make it as easy as possible to receive updates, ask questions and share feedback. With this information, you’re better positioned to build customer loyalty — ensuring your customer’s voice is heard and their pain points are understood.
2. Personalise customer experiences
As you’ll have discovered through your NPS calculations, telco customers have unique pain points. A CX template likely wouldn’t suit their needs — and your customers deserve experiences catered to them.
Instead, take the chance to address their pain points with ‘solutions’ rather than products. As a telco reseller, your customer likely seeks reliable communications platforms that are easy to use. But it’s also essential to understand the background of their company, their industry and the current pain points in their communications services so you’re ready with solutions that can meet their needs.
Deep dive into your contact database and the leads you’re interacting with most and ask customers and prospects what they like about your offerings. This will help you understand the customer’s buying journey — what they need and why they choose to use particular services.
3. Automate your communications
The power of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools has become apparent across every industry. So, how can they improve your customer’s experiences?
Chatbots
No customer wants to spend hours on hold, get transferred from agent to agent or make multiple calls to resolve a single service issue. That’s where AI chatbots come in…
Communication providers use chatbots to provide 24/7 customer support — answering thousands of customer queries simultaneously, generating leads for telco resellers and replying to frequently asked questions. By reducing the volume of inquiries that need to be handled by a live agent, AI chatbots allow you to focus your attention on the more complex aspects of customer service.
Call routing
How a customer experience unfolds has much to do with how it’s initially routed. And thanks to AI call-routing algorithms, all incoming queries — via phone, email, messaging or any other channel — can be directed to you instantly, meaning interactions can be handled efficiently and positively.
AI can even help to identify when a conversation needs to be taken from a self-service chatbot to the telco reseller, passing on the collected information to make for a seamless transition.
Personalised recommendations
Who says personalised CX and AI can’t go hand in hand? Telco resellers can utilise AI to analyse customer data and offer personalised products and service recommendations.
For example, AI might suggest a new service usage plan to a customer based on their data — anticipating customer needs and improving loyalty.
4. Leverage big data and analytics
For a positive end-to-end customer experience, you’ll need to make use of your comprehensive call data using advanced analytics.
Ultimately, advanced analytics uses your customer call data to help identify customers who are more likely to report certain issues — allowing you to pre-emptively resolve them or proactively reach out to customers before they complain.
This data also gives telco resellers valuable insights into their own operations, equipping them to improve their customer assistance.
For example, advanced analytics could help you target customers who have received unusually high bills. Instead of leaving customers to call with a complaint, they could receive a message offering to upgrade their data package without extra charge — or the option of a call-back to explain the situation and discuss potential ways forward.
5. Outsource your customer support
Sometimes, the answer to improved customer experience management comes down to more hands on deck — and that’s where managed telco services come in.
When you enlist the help of a managed service provider (MSP), you can outsource every element of your telecommunications needs to an experienced telco that offers a 24/7 support service, so your customers are never left in the dark.
With round-the-clock support, you can extend your business’ opening hours and drive up customer satisfaction effortlessly. Already have in-house professionals? An experienced MSP can assist with day-to-day tasks and step into your team’s shoes when necessary to ensure every customer receives the service they deserve.
Are you a telco reseller looking to benefit from world-class telecoms services? We could be the channel partner you need to manage your customer’s experience seamlessly. Find out more about our reseller services and call 0161 4443333 to learn more about our end-to-end product management today.
