CSPs missing huge, untapped opportunity

Personalisation can spell the difference between customer loyalty and buyers choosing a different telecom and media provider.

This is according to a study conducted by Coleman Parkes on behalf of Amdocs. The study found that communications service providers (CSPs) consumers are increasingly expecting a highly personalised and seamless experience, similar to what they get from digital apps and services.

The study found that almost 60% of consumers would increase their spend to engage in such experiences, while 40% would switch providers for a customer experience that adapts to their changing needs.

In fact, the survey found that almost half of Australian consumers would be happy to share even more personal information for highly personalised experiences, however, they would be unforgiving about poorly designed personalised experiences.

If the experiences do not match consumers expectations, they can lead to frustration negatively impacting the brand and perhaps even leading to attrition, the researchers state.

In regards to personal data, the survey revealed that Australian CMOs are being too cautious in leveraging consumer data to enhance their personalised products and service design efforts.

Survey results highlighted that 75% of CMOs assume that consumers feel digital interactions are just a way to get more data about them, however, only 51% of consumers are concerned about it.

Furthermore, a highly personalised experience, leveraging consumer data, attracts consumers and will make them spend more.

The study shows that almost 50% of consumers want their CSPs to provide similar experiences like that of online shopping platforms, 60% of consumers are likely to spend more if they have a personalised experience that adapts to their changing preferences, and 40% might switch service providers for such experiences.

The survey further revealed that despite the stated benefits of personalisation, when it comes to delivering holistic personalised experiences CMOs find internal silos within their companies the greatest challenge to overcome, rather than access to emerging technologies or money to invest in marketing activities.

According to the study, nearly half (47%) of CMOs believe a lack of senior stakeholder buy-in, resistance to change, and a belief that here is no need to further invest in advanced personalisation, are hindering more comprehensive personalisation efforts and impeding overall marketing objective of delivering compelling brand experience across all touchpoints.

This results in untapped opportunities. In fact, the study finds that 79% of CMOs recognise data-driven products and services tailored to individual needs positively impact customer retention, yet only 10% of them are delivering holistic personalised experiences.

In addition, 83% of the CMOs believe CSPs are currently not offering holistic personalised experience across sales, marketing and customer care.

The researchers state the solution is for CMOs to work towards the unified goal of leveraging data more effectively and holistically for better product and service design, collaborating with multiple stakeholders and creating a cross-functional team to deploy, test, and run applications across all customer interfaces.

Amdocs chief marketing officer Gil Rosen says, "Today's digital consumers keep evolving their benchmark experiences against the best apps and service experiences. All apps are a click away, so consumers do not distinguish between industries- the last best app you used sets your expectation benchmark for the next one.

"CSPs do not compete within their category; they compete against all apps and amazing experiences being provided every day by new and existing players.

"Even dating and gaming apps serve as a benchmark as well as the obvious suspects from the online shopping, banks or any other incumbent service providers it creates the need for service providers to constantly strive to match those experiences.

Coleman Parkes director Stephen Saw says, "Communication service providers (CSPs) must take advantage of the fact that consumers are willing to share their data to get an advanced personalised experience tailored to their expectations.

"However, before this happens, they must improve their quality of service and instil trust in their customers about how their data will be used, and break down internal silos between marketing, sales, and customer care."