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Telco
Mirza Mujanović
Product Manager
As digital interactions redefine customer expectations, CSPs must prioritize seamless omnichannel experiences to distinguish themselves in the telecommunications industry, meeting the evolving demands of both partners and customers.
The way customers think of products and services has changed fundamentally in recent years. New purchases are now just a click away and can be with the buyers as soon as in 24 hours or less. According to Forbes, 91% of people now make purchases using their smartphones – something that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.
With relentless change and the continued shift to digital comes the inevitable challenge of evolving customer expectations, which is complicated by the availability of online and offline channels. Many telecommunications players have risen to the challenge of balancing different channels, for example by making it possible for customers and partners to order using their preferred methods. But these efforts have not always taken into account the infrastructure change required to create a true omnichannel experience.
Let’s look at what steps CSPs need to take to accommodate a reliable, seamless omnichannel experience, and why doing so can help them stand out from the crowd.
What is an omnichannel experience in telecommunications?
By definition, an omnichannel strategy means making your business available to your customers in whatever way they prefer. In contrast to multichannel experiences, omnichannel takes into account the entire ecosystem of interactions between customer and business and provides a seamless experience to every customer regardless of the channel they use.
| Multichannel | Omnichannel | |
|---|---|---|
| Channels used | Two of three (for example, a website, a phone ordering system, or emails) | All channels, both online and offiline |
| The customer experience | May differ channel by channel | Is seamless and consistent across every channel |
In telecommunications, the significance of the omnichannel experience plays into the overarching trend of digital transformation and the transition from Communications Service Provider to Digital Service Provider. The dissolution between traditional telecommunications services and digital services has made the ordering process far more complex for partners and end-customers alike, with CSPs having to deliver a wide range of products and services quickly and efficiently, all the while coping with constant changes and upgrades in the network.
Siloed multichannel approaches, which many CSPs must rely on, cannot adequately support the complex B2B or wholesale digital ordering lifecycle. CSPs need to make themselves easily available for their partners and customers; establishing an omnichannel experience is the first step in that journey.
Benefits of implementing an omnichannel experience
The omnichannel approach has many benefits from the obvious to the more unexpected. These include:
- Improved customer satisfaction. Ensuring alignment between different channels means partners and customers can place orders easily, and the technical complexity behind each order is removed from the order experience.
- Increased customer loyalty. It follows that the better experience your partners and customers have, the more likely they are to continue working with you. And, with customer loyalty in telecoms seeing a 22% decrease in the post-pandemic world, CSPs must consider every opportunity to reduce customer churn as a priority.
- Time and cost savings. When a siloed approach fails to admit the complexity of B2B, B2C, wholesale, and B2B2X segments, manual workarounds are needed to tailor processes to CSPs’ needs. Building a comprehensive omnichannel experience eliminates workarounds and corresponding inaccuracies, enabling time and cost savings for the CSP.
- Strengthened reputation. At a time of increased competition, reputation can be a crucial differentiator. Guaranteeing that every partner and customer receives a consistently positive experience can greatly enhance a CSP’s reputation and ensure survival amid the intense rivalry between providers.
The advantages are clear enough; but how can CSPs go about the implementation?
Creating a successful omnichannel strategy in telecommunications
For many CSPs looking to adopt an omnichannel strategy, the challenge comes with the quote and order process, especially from the IT back-end perspective. With traditional BSS systems in place, CSPs are not always able to provide a consistent experience across every channel while maintaining transparency across their sales and provisioning organization. The lack of visibility often causes a high rate of order fallout and even significant revenue leakages.
Instead of constantly taking corrective action, CSPs should address the issue at the heart of the problem and implement a modern, modular BSS solution that can easily manage the complexity of the communications ecosystem and allow CSPs to transform their operations gradually, without having to remove legacy infrastructure immediately. The right Unified Order Management and CPQ (Configure Price Quote) system brings all the aspects required for the successful implementation of an omnichannel strategy:
- Integration: With seamless alignment between all communication and sales channels, CSPs can make sure that every order is treated with the same level of care regardless of what channel it comes from.
- Visibility: A real-time reporting engine and integrated CPQ processes provide constant visibility of incoming orders as well as relevant statistics that enable teams to create more attractive offers for customers and proactively identify their needs.
- Efficiency: The Unified Order Management solution is driven by the CSP’s product catalog, making the process more user-friendly for customers – and more efficient for the service teams.
- Simplicity: Order Management takes the operator complexity out of the order process, allowing customers to order with one-click interactions and get a simplified view of complex services as just one product, so that they can be easily presented on any channel.
Conclusion
In a hyper-digital world, CSPs will continue to play a crucial role in providing products and services to their partners and customers. But they must take care to adapt their order and fulfilment processes to evolving customer needs. With a robust omnichannel strategy, enabled by a flexible, modern BSS solution like ZIRA’s Unified Order Management and CPQ, CSPs can create a consistent customer experience across every channel, while maintaining the visibility and transparency required to fulfil orders quickly and efficiently. This way, an omnichannel experience can become the backbone of a CSP’s continued success, even in the most challenging circumstances.
