As telcos found out in an unpleasant surprise, customers may not be as loyal to their telecommunication providers as it might seem. Even during COVID-19, several customers chose to switch providers in order to get better service and better CX. Over 70% felt confident that they would be able to switch easily if they wanted. It is vital that telcos double down on customer experience, empowering their users through self-service and increasing self-service adoption so that engagement and loyalty remain steady.
Why Does the Telecom Sector Need Self-Service Intervention? tee
In a digital world, telcos form the backbone for several aspects of our day-on-day experiences from remote work to online shopping, from telehealth to entertainment. This has been further compounded by the pandemic, which increased our reliance on digital connectivity. In fact, according to EY’s research, UK consumers rank broadband as the third most essential utility service after only electricity and water, and ahead of even gas for heating.
Contrast this with the state of customer service in telecom, and the problem becomes clearer. For 1 in 3 broadband customers, a telecom provider’s ability to fix connectivity issues is among the most important qualities they could have. But service performance remains sub-par, with less than 30% of customers saying that telcos use all the available channels to resolve issues.
In this context, a strong self-service capability would help telcos ramp up their service levels and deliver a quick TAT without massive investments. It would also prevent disengagement, which so frequently leads to a customer switching telecom providers.
Key Use Cases for Self-Service in Telecom
- Subscription/plan management – Customers can check on their active subscriptions, recharge their plans, pay overdue bills, upgrade their subscription, etc. through online self-service
- Routine monitoring – Customers can check on their daily usage allowance, currently active internet speeds, recent announcements of any upcoming disruptions, etc.
- Convenient mobile support – As consumer telecom services are mostly consumed via smartphones, it makes sense to deliver mobile self-service, helping customers resolve doubts without having to switch devices
- Value-added offerings – Telcos can drive revenues from value-added offerings like caller tunes, bundled OTT, etc. by advertising these on the self-service portal
- Corporate self-service – Enterprise users can conduct basic troubleshooting and level 1 query resolution through self-service, preventing costly downtimes
- Automated chatbots – The portal can include automated chatbots to deliver preconfigured answers to common questions. This will dramatically reduce call queues in contact centres
- Upselling and cross-selling – Self-service activity can be monitored so that telcos can automatically send new product recommendations based on previous interactions
The State of Self-Service in Telecom Today
Interestingly, telecommunication is among the leading sectors in self-service adoption, with 69% of customers attempting to resolve their own technical issues before they finally settle for an in-home service visit.
The challenge is to increase awareness among customers, rioting queries to existing self-service channels instead of having their attempts frustrated. A report found that one telco had to install a chatbot along with self-service, without which 70% of customers weren’t aware of self-service options, compared to 39% afterwards. Therefore, an adoption strategy must go hand-in-hand with self-service implementation in telecom.
