Communications service providers of all types are still pretty much just winging it when it comes to service operations, even those who are investing in new or upgraded business and operations support systems (BSS/OSS).
Nearly half of all wireless, wireline cable and satellite companies do not have a clear definition of what the customer experience should be, according to a new study conducted by the Yankee Group and commissioned by Amdocs.
That could be a serious problem, the Yankee Group contends, because one of the major obstacles for delivering a more personalized customer experience are the lack of an integrated view of the customer; business process inconsistency, and disconnects across multiple business lines, and internal information silos.
The study also revealed that while 70 percent of service providers believe that business processes have a direct impact on the customer experience, nearly one third (28 percent) do not have dedicated resources to manage their internal business processes or customer-focused key performance indicators to measure the customer experience.
“The customer experience is arguably the last remaining differentiator between service providers,” said Sheryl Kingstone, director at Yankee Group. “Service providers today see the value in investments to better their customer experience, but many lack the holistic vision necessary to determine what this experience needs to be and an effective strategy to address both systems and business processes to assure a successful, low-risk transformation.”
Other findings include:
Digital content management is a top priority for new revenue engines: Management of “on-portal” digital content, or content sold on the service provider’s branded-portal, is the top investment area for service providers looking to capitalize on new revenue streams.
Service providers are investing to create an integrated view of the customer: Master data management (for example, the ability to consolidate customer, product and network data), unifying BSS/OSS systems and the adoption of service oriented architectures are among the top transformation investment priorities for service providers in the next three to five years.
Measurement expected to shift to the customer perspective: Although key performance indicators (KPIs) used for measuring the customer experience are operations-oriented today (for example, the average time it takes to service a customer on the phone), 47 percent of respondents expect their companies to adopt more customer-focused KPIs in the future (such as, the call center agent is aware of a customer’s past complaints during an interaction).
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