Survey Identifies Need to Improve Smartphone Customer Care

­A survey, commissioned by an Over-The-Air (OTA) customer care supplier, has found that the rising popularity of smartphones and data services has led to longer, more complex support calls, which are much more expensive for mobile operators to resolve. The company claims that these longer calls resulted in global costs of US$3 billion directly tied to customer care.

Additionally, operators able to deliver higher First Call Resolution (FCR) of consumer issues with shorter, more efficient call times enjoyed significant advantages in customer satisfaction, brand equity, reduced churn, and ultimately, better financial outcomes.

"This study, the first focused on mobile customer care, clearly outlines the global impact that increasingly complex smartphones are now having and will continue to have on the wireless industry," stated Dave Ginsburg, InnoPath's vice president, marketing. "Our analysis clearly showcased the massive costs - ranging into the billions of dollars - that supporting these new mobile devices has on an operator's bottom line. InnoPath's customers have embraced this message and are in the process of implementing our ActiveCare solution, the first OTA frontline care solution for mobile operators, with an expected public rollout at the beginning of 2010."

InnoPath's study incorporated data from Tier-1 operators, handset makers and mobile platform providers in North America and Western Europe.

The study spanned 58 million smartphone subscribers out of a footprint of 130 million, targeting more than 7,500 frontline care personnel, and focused only on device-related issues. Four primary call drivers analyzed result in expenses of $466 million in the first year, with OTA-enabled care delivering savings of $223 million, or 46 percent overall. This number grows in future years based on additional call types addressed and continued strong smartphone growth.

Extending the analysis globally, OTA support for smartphones can save a targeted group of Tier-1 operators close to $1.2 billion in the first year of deployment while enabling better support, reduced churn, and a more satisfying end-user experience. These savings grow to over $4.4 billion by the fifth year of deployment. The widespread adoption of industry standards has enabled the practical delivery of OTA support, which until now has been problematic with first-generation solutions.

Call times also have an impact on customer loyalty as well as on the productivity of the 20K+ frontline Customer Service Representatives at a typical Tier-1 operator. In contrast to the 1.25 percent churn enjoyed by operators with top-tier customer service, an operator with sub-optimal care may have a churn upwards of 2.5 percent. Assuming 58 million subscribers, this results in a difference of 725,000 subscribers per year, or a net loss of just over $739 million. But this revenue impact is only part of the story. Taking a broader view of referral economics, both additional and lost revenue from promoters and detractors, the impact of churn becomes that much greater. Beyond direct churn, a satisfied customer who recommends a wireless operator will help drive new business, while an unhappy subscriber may drive away other potential customers before cancelling his or her own service.

Posted to the site on 15th September 2009