I think you, my dear service provider, are finally getting it.
It appears that you now really understand that I want to have the digital services that meet my particular usage requirements. You are giving me the plans that suit my busy family and that can flex up and down like the balance in my bank account. You are offering me an easy-to-use account management tool that allows me to view my family’s real-time usage and update my account settings. This is much more convenient for me than calling your (offshore) call centre, says Jennifer Fellows is SVP of Product Management and Marketing of MDS. I want to spend money because we are hopelessly addicted to our smartphones and tablets. It is almost as though you know that my kids are draining my data instantly and I can boost up a new service or move data from my line to my teenagers’ line. It is not a dream – it is finally here!
It’s exciting to see how digital services providers (DSPs) are starting to understand what the market is demanding and what users like me really need. The customer has moved front and centre, and it’s about time. Maybe it’s the threat of the OTT service providers or that internal silos are coming down. But in 2015, the launch of new entrants like UK-based iD Mobile disrupted mature markets with a take on the customer relationship that was way overdue. With their customer-centric real-time model, they and others like them have proved that when providers pay more attention to what customers want, they will win over the masses.
Self-care tools are a good example of this renewed focus. DSPs have got the message and are concentrating on the methods and technologies that make it easier and simpler to engage with them. Significant funding to overhaul tools, investment in web heuristics and honest customer feedback is turning this once forgotten application into a game-changer. When is the last time you called a call centre? For me, that is the last resort. I want to access my account, look at my services and update or buy add-ons on the spot. Let me do it myself, when I want to. Give me a clear and intuitive web tool to use, and I will never call your expensive call centre again. But I will tell all my friends about how easy to use and great your customer service is. That validation is worth more than gold.
And while you are at it, can you send me real-time offers based on how we use our devices? You can see that we are watching the big game while driving to Grandma’s house and draining our data plan. Can you please send me a reminder to get more data or update my plan? That will keep the gang happy and help me stay more in control of our account. This may be too much to ask, but since you know me so well, can you reach out to me (and before I realise it myself) to let me know that I need a change in data plan? That will really make my life easier, and remind me how much I love my service.
2016 really is the dawn of a new day in digital services and in our relationship with the DSP. Thank goodness we all have been heard!
The author of this blog is Jennifer Fellows is SVP of Product Management and Marketing of MDS.
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