As mobile network operators and service providers become increasingly relied upon as a utility service, more tariff transparency may be required to improve customer relations.
We all know the feeling, as our bank balances shrink each month from utility payments. How do we know that we're getting the best deal? Should we make more effort to shop around? It's only inevitable that we begin to mistrust our suppliers, not because we're sure that they are over-charging, but because we have no evidence to the contrary.
Mobile service providers are a good case in point. The once new innovative and trendy brands are now struggling to achieve market differentiation as they become, inevitably, positioned alongside the mainstream of utility providers. Customer satisfaction levels are decreasing as price competition becomes the central battleground for market share and aggressive competition continues to drive churn figures upwards.
So, what role does honesty play in this dynamic? Well, if you or any other customer knew that your monthly payment was the lowest possible for your usage compared to the other packages available from your provider, you would naturally feel a lot happier about parting with your cash. So much so, that your annual spend would probably increase on par with the increased confidence you would have in your tariff.
So, why don't mobile service providers offer this level of transparency? Well, it's because they are afraid of ARPU reduction and they therefore don't feel obliged to inform us that we could be paying less. In fact, they don't feel that its their responsibility, and yet wonder why we don't trust them!
The irony of all this is that all the tariff packages available from any mobile service provider are calculated to deliver a profit margin commensurate with the company's operating model. Nevertheless, the company will still be pleased to re-sign your contract without informing you that an alternative package would deliver a lower monthly cost!
If mobile service operators really want to achieve market differentiation and true customer loyalty then they need to change and come clean.
If customer management begin to undertake a regular tariff review service that guarantees a business or residential customer that their tariff delivers the lowest monthly cost on offer for their usage, the increase in customer trust and satisfaction will be felt immediately. In fact, the increased usage by customers that will follow will more than prove that in the end honesty really can pay after all.
