by Thad Dupper, chairman and CEO, Evolving Systems
Mobile customer loyalty around the world has fallen to an all-time low with the average customer switching provider every 27 months, more than twice as frequently as a decade ago. This is according to research from analyst organisation, Strategy Analytics. Global customer churn reached a record high of 44% last year, according to the recently published report. These figures underline just how fragile the relationship between operator and prepaid customer is. The need to reduce churn is a key challenge.
Operators can address this issue and drive customer loyalty by engaging more closely with prepaid subscribers and offering them a greater range of choice. The traditional distribution/sale model for prepaid has little or no user engagement and little choice. With no product differentiation and no personal investment in the service, a customer is easily attracted by a lower price elsewhere.
Today, a new approach to the dynamic provisioning of SIM cards allows customers to spend more time making choices at first use. As a result, they have both a personalised service and some time invested in the relationship with the operator and they are therefore less likely to churn.
The approach also helps to build the operator’s awareness of its prepaid customers. Typically operators have had little information about this group. As a result, they are forced to look at usage trends and patterns of behaviour to infer, sometimes inaccurately the type of customer they are dealing with. The new dynamic provisioning approach changes all this effectively allowing operators to create a dialogue with end-users. And this dialogue presents a perfect opportunity to build a better understanding of customers.
A menu including a series of questions is presented to the user on the handset when the SIM is first switched on. This provides a list of available numbers and typically also includes a search for vanity or golden numbers, which match up with letters on the keypad and spell specific words. Also, because the system is in the operator’s network and linked to its IT infrastructure, users have access through their handset to a broader range of numbers than the retailer has available on-site.
To add to this approach, the handset dialogue can be customised to support a tiered charging structure. Operators can now monetise specific numbers more effectively. The ability to offer potentially valuable vanity numbers to more users increases revenue potential still further.
The time of first use also presents a perfect opportunity to offer additional, value-added services to new subscribers. The same handset-based dialogue that supports number selection can be used to offer other services, from bundled voice tariffs for families to cheaper home-based calls, further boosting the incremental revenue opportunity.
Not Just a One-off
Maintaining loyalty means offering more after users sign-up too. The ‘golden moment’ at first use is a great opportunity to engage with customers but it is only part of the story. To effectively maintain the relationship, operators need to continue offering new services over a much longer timeframe. The new SIM card provisioning methodology can help operators to continue to support offering more choice to customers in-life too.
In driving up customer satisfaction levels, it is also important that operators are able to match the user experience to the device used. The sophistication of mobile devices is increasing – with smartphones and browser-enabled devices like tablets becoming much more common.
It is critical here that the chosen SIM provisioning solution allows operators to be both device and location-aware. There is a major difference between the kind of marketing message suitable for delivery to a feature phone connected to a GPRS network and that appropriate for a mobile broadband network connected iPad with a large colour screen.
A user with a high-end device expects an activation experience to match. With the latest dynamic provisioning technology, the user experience when making choices and activating services is tailored according to the device being used: if it’s a simple phone text-based menus can be used, if it has a browser, web-based interaction can be offered, if the browser is on a smartphone, the approach can be adjusted to suit a small screen browser.
The key here is in making the process as easy as possible for users and tailoring it to their needs. In this way, operators will reduce churn, drive up ARPU and build competitive edge. With the availability of dynamic provisioning solutions, operators are well placed to address these challenges, capitalise on new market opportunities and face the wireless future with confidence.