Telecoms firms leading race into social media

London, 23^rd November 2010 – Cerillion Technologies, an innovative provider of next generation customer management systems, today announced the results of research investigating how small, medium-sized and rising telcos (SMARTs) feel about the customer experience they provide, as well as their goals, expectations and current strategies.

Cerillion reveals results of new research that shows social media is fastest growing customer service channel; CSPs aim to reduce churn and complaints by “going social”

The research, which was conducted by the analyst firm Telesperience on behalf of Cerillion, identified the challenges facing SMARTs in managing and improving the customer experience, and uncovered key trends. Particularly notable is the rapidly rising use of social media as a new channel, with 40% of SMARTs already using social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter, and a further 30% actively seeking to roll out support for these.

Other findings from the study include:

• SMARTs see a positive customer experience as being essential for their business
Currently rating its importance as 8.0 on a 1-10 scale (with 10 being critical), they expect its future significance to rise to 9.0 out of 10. But although the customer experience is seen as a vital differentiator, both from other SMARTs and from larger rivals, 9 out of 10 SMARTs admit they could improve their performance in this area.

• The number 1 customer experience goal is improving loyalty
88% of SMARTs said their main motivation for customer experience improvements is to reduce churn and improve loyalty; 76% are hoping to reduce the number of customer complaints and queries; 73% aim to improve the speed of resolving customer problems.

• Online customer service is now the most popular channel
91% of SMARTs are either currently supporting the online channel or are rolling out support for it.

• Current systems are not meeting requirements
Many of the customer experience systems currently being used by SMARTs are custom-built to the company’s specific requirements. However, despite this only 34% of SMARTs are happy that their current systems support their customer experience goals.

“The surprising result for me from this research programme was how many SMARTs are planning to invest in social channels. This fundamentally challenges the impression that SMARTs are ‘behind the curve’ when it comes to the customer experience and demonstrates that many are actually customer experience leaders,” commented Teresa Cottam, research director of Telesperience. She cautioned though: “While social media holds the potential to revolutionise the customer experience, CSPs should avoid creating yet another silo, and instead ensure that social initiatives are integrated into a true multi-channel customer experience and aligned with CSPs’ overarching goals. Ultimately, they should seek to deliver a consistent, seamless and appropriate customer experience wherever the interaction or transaction is initiated.”

“In high-growth markets where prepaid is now the payment method of choice, a focus on rapid customer acquisition often comes at the detriment of the overall customer experience” added Louis Hall, CEO, Cerillion Technologies. “With the right support systems infrastructure, SMARTs have a huge opportunity to differentiate their offerings by providing a superior customer experience and making this experience consistent across all their service channels.”

To download a full copy of the survey findings, please visit: http://www.cerillion.com/en/news-events/white-papers

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Notes to Editors

Research Method

The research was conducted in October 2010 by Telesperience, using a specially-selected “expert panel” of thirty-three senior managers from small, medium-sized and rising telcos (SMARTs) across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the Americas and Asia Pacific (APAC) regions. Participants were qualified by means of their experience, expertise and knowledge of their local market, as well as by their knowledge of the customer experience currently provided by their company (including systems, goals and key drivers).

About Telesperience

Telesperience is a UK-based telecoms analyst firm focused on how software and data helps communications service providers improve their operational efficiency, commercial agility and the customer experience they deliver. We consider where the problems lie with legacy technology, and how companies can transition to provide a more positive telesperience for their customers and a more profitable business for themselves. For more information about Telesperience see www.telesperience.com, check out our blog at www.microsperience.com or visit our B2B wiki at www.wikisperience.com.