Diversification - A focused Leap
Communication Service Providers (CSPs), having had a service diversification ride, are now riding on the wave of global diversification either with the same set or enhanced set of services. With current markets saturating, global diversification is what CSPs are aiming as the next revenue machines. Diversification taking place in this space is either by acquiring new licenses or buying out existing operations.
As CSPs embark on this journey, there are multiple facets that need consideration. Two facets that would need the highest priority in this space seem to be Brand, Standardization and Rationalization with some icing.
Brand
With highly volatile and price sensitive markets, CSPs still realize the value of loyal customers. Loyal customers are the one that might help them with the 80:20 revenue rule. One key aspect that helps customers remain loyal is the "Brand". Corporate, we know spend a quantum in establishing and maintaining the brand.
As CSPs diversify beyond horizons to cater to diverse cultures and users, journey of brand becomes more challenging and an uphill task. Not only will they have to create their own brand in the new markets but also take on the already created brands. Companies would need to devise clever and clear strategies to gain the customer mind share. Some key touch points could be
1. Differentiated Service Offerings:
This calls for either all-together a new service in the market or an existing service bundled in a highly lucrative manner. Service providers would need to look at various innovative promotional schemes time to time to not only win customers but also to reward Loyal Customers. One such service could be to keep customers informed of spend depending on the thresholds defined by the customer rather than the business.2. Differentiated Customer Experience:
To take on an existing competition and carve out a niche, Customer Experience during pre, at and post service sale would be critical. Ensuring customer service requests, queries and complaints of similar nature are addressed in a unified manner by all customer facing channels against measurable SLAs could be emerge to be winning edge. Customers today face varied experiences for similar kind of problems across different channels. This adversely impacts the image of the Business House. Customer facing channels equipped with most up-to-date information on the customer's needs, enquiries could be next winning edge. Giving customers all means to access his / her information especially more than what is being looked for. For e.g. informing customers of the missed calls they had. For e.g. Rewarding customers for not only participating in the feedback process but also in the event of feedback selection and implementation.
CSPs would need to embark on a journey of differentiated service offerings and customer experience to add to the revenue margins.
Standardization and Rationalization (S&R)
Amidst expansion, new market uncertainty and creating differentiation, CSPs would need to standardize and rationalize. S&R is needed along three important areas i.e. Processes, Technology and Infrastructure & Operations.
CSPs would need to define and put in a single set of processes across horizons to ensure similar customer, business and IT experience. In case of green field rollouts, this could be easier to put in place. The real challenge would lie in the area of re-aligning the processes against standard set for existing operations. These set of processes though similar should have some caveat for localization, only if needed for differentiation. Rolling out different processes or too much localization across different geographies can have an adverse impact.
CSPs would also have to invest wisely on the Technology stack, keeping in view the current and future business. The need of the hour is to standardize the technology and solutions stack across geographies rather than having disparate stacks. Journey, once again is smoothened when it comes to rolling out new operations but gets tougher in case of changes in existing operations. Wise selection of Technology stack has a tremendous potential in bringing down the cost and increasing the profit margin.
CSPs would also need to do due diligence on Infrastructure and Operations. Smart decisions can lead to huge revenue growths and business expansion. Some parameters enabling smart decision making could be: Should Infrastructure and Operations be manned in-housed or outsourced? Should it be centralized or de-centralized? Can the combination of centralization, decentralization governing regulatory, data security and business continuity turn to be of advantage? Should cloud computing be leveraged? Fast decision making on above lines is essential for faster rollout and reach to the market.
The key to above success could be to put in a strong Governance and Change Management Process.
