For decades, Telcos have survived with their traditional business model, where the major challenge was building a vast network. As long as the network worked, this business model worked really well. With technology that has changed over the years, so have the challenges CSPs face where a simple “Can you hear me now?” can result in customer churn. Good customer service always leads customers to spend more time on the network.
Here’s our list of 5 biggest challenges faced by Telcos and CSPs.
Telecom operators, who initially spent resources on managing networks are now spending their resources on technologies to understand customer behaviour. With CX becoming a major driving factor, they are faced with new challenges every day, some of the major ones are listed below.
1. AI and Machine Learning
Almost all Telcos are using Artificial Intelligence(AI), Machine Learning (ML), and the Internet of Things(IoT). AI and ML are considered as the core technologies of digital transformation and stakeholders are using them to widen their revenue stream. With terabytes of customer data, it no longer is easy to process them manually. AI and ML enhance the customer resolution system with advanced technologies such as virtual assistants and chatbots.
However, introducing these new technologies into the existing system is not a cakewalk for most of the companies, given that about 67% of telcos and CSPs are having a difficult time finding qualified staff to lead the integration of these technologies.
2. Big Data
Data Analytics has become a very strong approach to enhance CX and reduce churn. The telecom industry has long ago turned to customer-centric from product-centric, and understanding the requirement of each subscriber has become quintessential. Although Big Data provides various types of analytics and help the telecom operators to enhance CX, adapting it is still considered a big challenge by many operators.
Check out how Big Data Analytics improves customer Experience.
3. Choosing Right Technologies
“You’ve got to start with the Customer Experience and work back to the technology – not the other way around”, Steve Jobs said.
Undoubtedly, telecom companies are working towards providing the next-level customer experience to their customers, but not all are willing to take a big leap in technology. To add to this factor, customers are not easily satisfied, and that’s probably because they expect the service providers to do more, faster, mirroring the growth of the technology. Even when there is value in their service provider, their familiarity with the industry and their above-average expectations overshadow positive feelings.
4. Focus on Omnichannel Experience
A subscriber’s journey in using the service of a telecom operator may have to go through a wide range of channels- reading product description on an e-commerce website, reading a comment about the product on a Social media channel, reviews on Google, receive an email/chat with an agent to understand the product, etc.
Source: https://infy.com/2FXCX6m
Most of the telecom companies, however, still manage their channels separately, which can result in a series of confusions for the subscriber, where they receive various offers and suggestions and even encounter a different kind of brand experience from each channel. Bottom line, customer loyalty demands orchestration of the omnichannel customer experience.
5. CX Infrastructure
Digital transformation is one of the biggest challenges for every industry, however, if it is customer-specific this will be the first challenge that needs to be addressed. New technology can be expensive, but at the same time, imperative. Introducing customer experience solutions can be a laborious task, especially for Telcos. Implementing new CX platforms without disrupting the service requires advanced tools so that the customers are not annoyed.
CSPs are expected to actively participate in the game of understanding their users well. With customer satisfaction and loyalty being the key drivers of their business, it is vital that they spot issues even before the customer has a chance to complain. Telcos, to meet the needs of their digital customers and to launch any type of offer any minute should consider contextual commerce and empower the user relationship by addressing the immediate needs by providing proactive, personalized and frictionless services.
Telecom operators are expected to meet the needs of their customer from a 360-degree point of view and keep them satisfied throughout their journey.
