Bonus - Customer experience

Northstream believes that operators will need to invest in customer experience in 2012, and those who do will find competitive advantage and reduce churn

A recent survey in Sweden indicates there’s a major gap between the mobile users’ expectation levels on general service and their experience of the service delivered. At the same time, most media surveys and operator announcements focus on network quality instead. But Network quality in advanced markets is nothing but a hygiene factor – customers expect nothing less than good enough network quality (i.e. no dropped calls, adequate voice quality and data transfer rates). People will expect more than network quality alone, i.e. friendly and quick customer service; premium, personalized offers and not least super-efficient self-service options.

All in all, many are waiting to see an “Apple” of the operator business: someone that makes their experience not only something you just need but something you feel proud of or impressed by. We believe that operators that make the move and put emphasis in this area will make a big leap towards gaining customer love and reduced churn, which in mature markets is the most valuable thing.