CxOs Should Be Firmly Focused On The Customer Experience Heading Into the 2014 Mobile World Congress
Mobile World Congress started this week — and again it will bring over 40,000 telecommunications CxO’s to Spain from all over the world.
Every year there seems to be a dominant theme for the industry as this iconic event dawns over the beautiful city of Barcelona. 2013 was the year of ‘Big Data;’ it was everywhere and on everyone’s lips. For 2014, based upon my experiences in the industry and perusing the exhibition booths here I believe the focus this year will be solidly on ‘Customer Experience.’
The continual increasing pressure of over-the-top (OTT) services providers, saturated markets and increasing costs to acquire new subscribers and the increased expectations of the connected consumer have forced communications service providers (CSP) to follow the retail world into the realm of extreme customer experiences creating what we at IBM call the Customer Activated Telecom Provider.
In the fall of 2013, IBM surveyed over 200 telecommunications CxOs from around the world and 9 out of 10 responded they need the ability to quickly deliver new offerings while 71% said they are more concerned with competition from OTT providers than other telecoms. As a result of this pressure, 65% are now focused on customers as individuals instead of segments and 82% are focused on digital and social interactions with customers while only 12% are focused on face-to-face interactions in 2014.
Close collaboration with customers is indeed a dominant focus for telecom executives at the start of 2014. Why? Because as an industry, we have finally realized the impact a customer can have on our organization. Over 60% of respondents said that customers already influence their organizations to a ‘large extent’ and as a result 4 out of 5 industry leaders are looking to ‘digitize’ their front office operations— the systems that touch the customer experience.
This year at Mobile World Congress telecommunications providers should be focus on delivering extreme customer experiences to differentiate themselves from their traditional and non-traditional competitors.
