Contact Center Solutions Featured Article

September 08, 2009

Why Do Mobile Subscribers Jump Ship?

By Dave Ginsburg


From “Ocean’s 11” (2001):
 
Terry: All right. Now I have complied with your every request, would you agree?
Rusty: I would.
Terry: Good, ‘cause now I have one of my own. Run and hide, a*hole. Run and hide. If you should be picked up next week buying a hundred-thousand dollar sports car in Newport Beach, I am going to be supremely disappointed. Because I want my people to find you, and when they do, rest assured we are not going to hand you over to the police. So my advice to you again is this: run and hide. That is all that I ask. 
 
It is a sorry state of affairs when mobile subscribers, if given a chance, jump ship and run as quickly as possible to a competitor. A recent posting regarding changes in T-Mobile’s (News - Alert) ETF seems to support this premise. But why do customers jump? The reasons may be financial, or in some cases another operator has the latest bling, but in most cases it is due to a poor customer experience.
 
The dreaded tech support call is the one time where a typical subscriber has a live interaction with the nameless, faceless, operator. The one time that said operator could build loyalty (as Apple (News - Alert) does with its stores), or the one time to really blow it. So, will T-Mobile face the same grim reaper as Sprint? Two recent studies could prove otherwise.
 
Net Promoter groups customers into promoters and detractors based on a satisfaction metric derived from customer experience. In a study published in 2008, they highlighted differences between operators with high scores, such as Verizon (News - Alert) Wireless, and low scores such as Sprint. The conclusion was that the differences would impact the operator’s ability to attract new customers, retain customers, and the costs associated with these actions.
 
As we’ve seen, the analysis proved correct. Although T-Mobile was not at the top (VZW with 25 percent), its score was respectable (15 percent) vs Sprint (-20 percent). The same conclusions may be reached through scores published just this year by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), where once again, Verizon was in first (74), T-Mobile in second (71), and Sprint last (63).
 
So, in difference to Andy Garcia in “Ocean’s 11,” I’m going to predict that TMO’s subscribers won’t run and hide. The operator attracts a good and growing demographic, has done a fine job with its Android (News - Alert) launch (including over-the-air updates, which some other vendors do not seem to have mastered), doesn’t seem to suffer iPhone covet, and from what I’ve heard from others in my building, delivers a great customer experience.

David Ginsburg (News - Alert) is vide president of marketing at Innopath Software.

Edited by Michael Dinan


Related Contact Center Solutions Articles

    Blending: The Key to Broadening Call Center Quality without Additional Resources

    While many a corporate call center has found, in recent years, the need to tighten its belt, other call centers with shallower pockets, such as those that support non-profit groups or government agencies and civil services, have found the budget crunch to be even more dire. [ Read More ]
    02/14/2012

    Is Improperly Used CRM Dragging Your Customer Support Down?

    While companies have been adopting ever more technology to try and support their customers to the best of their abilities - the sales figures for customer support solutions and applications bear witness to this - customers have never been more dissatisfied. Weird? A bit. And it might just be a function of improperly chosen, implemented and used customer relationship management (CRM) solutions. [ Read More ]
    02/14/2012

    VXi Launches UC ProSet for Contact Center Users

    The UC ProSet wired headset designed especially for unified communication users in contact centers and offices has been launched by VXi Corporation. VXi Corporation has improved its unified communication B2B line with this new headphone, the UC ProSet, which incorporates several features for ease and fashion of contact center users. [ Read More ]
    02/14/2012

    TMCnet Contact Center Solutions Week in Review

    It is almost difficult to know where to begin, given all of the interesting contact center activities around the world. However, a great place to begin is with the Editors Choice feature by TMCnet contributor Tracey E. Schelmetic about a terrific webinar sponsored by Interactive Intelligence, "2012: Key Contact Center Trends and Priorities for the Upcoming Year - How you can be read.," The webinar featured Forrester Research principal analyst, Art Schoeller, Interactive Intelligence senior vice … [ Read More ]
    02/11/2012

[ View all Contact Center Solutions Articles ]

Socialize with us

FREE Contact Center Solutions eNewsletter

Click here to receive your targeted Contact Center Solutions Community eNewsletter.[Subscribe Now]

Industry News

Featured Resources

Contact Center Solutions Glossary of Terms

Press Releases

About the Contact Center Solutions Community

    Welcome to the Contact Center Solutions Community The Contact Center Solutions Global Online Community, Sponsored by Interactive Intelligence, is designed to serve as the industry's premier resource for information and research on Contact Center Solutions technology and deployment strategies.