CEA Study Underlines Importance of CRM to Ensuring Wireless Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty
By Allan Pulga
“Look, we’re not just selling you a phone; we’re starting a relationship here,” says Steve Koenig, Senior Analyst for CEA Research.
He’s not talking to an actual customer; he’s role-playing to emphasize the importance of the post-sales follow-up in wireless retail.
“After the cash register rings and we’ve swiped your credit card, that’s not the end. We’re going to check back with you to make sure you’re completely satisfied with your purchase because, at the end of the day, that’s what we care about most. And we want to make sure you come back.”
Not bad for a stats guy. Koenig’s not just any stats guy, though. He’s the brains behind CEA’s recent survey, Wireless Purchasing Study: Measuring Satisfaction and Loyalty.
The study found that, in today’s saturated wireless market, good service is the major factor determining customer satisfaction and loyalty. Koenig says good service consequently depends on the right post-sales follow-up, aided by the right CRM tool.
He noticed that 43 per cent of carrier-store buyers were satisfied with the post-sales follow up they received compared to 63 per cent of independent-store buyers. “That’s a significant difference in satisfaction between these two store types,” he says.
Koenig says the 20-point difference shows a great opportunity for the independent retailers to continue to “hammer the follow-up message home.” Before long, carriers will begin to do more of this because growing sales isn’t about price, handsets or plans. “It’s all about service. You have to make an impression and be remembered.
“I think also goes toward building loyalty,” he adds.
His role-play continues, this time from the customer’s perspective: “Wow! Even though they’ve got my money, they’re still thinking about me. That’s great.”
Koenig says having the right CRM tool is crucial to help retailers get a grasp of who their customers are and what their needs or preferences may be, thus ensuring a proper follow-up.
“It’s important to go beyond the usual information fields that you capture when customers sign up for service, such as name, address and all the usual demographics,” he insists. “Have a database where you understand what phone they bought and for what reason. Did they buy it for themselves? Did they buy it for someone else?”
He says with the proper CRM application comes an opportunity for EDM (Electronic Direct Mail) follow-up. “Make sure that you capture their email address, not that you would spam them every month though,” he says. “With online shopping, it’s so easy. You can have your e-commerce automatically generate a quick, follow-up email – you don’t even have to think about it – saying, ‘Hey, we’re checking up. We want to make sure everything’s OK.’ Things like that are very easy to do.”
Koenig describes an example. More role-play: a business customer who bought a smart phone because he uses it to run his business. “The new Treo comes out. Send him an email saying, ‘Hey, by the way, there’s a new model out. Here are the features above and beyond the model you purchased. If you’d like to come in, ask for Jose. He’d be happy to give you a full demo of the device.’ Something as simple as that can make a powerful impression. It’s tailored to the customer.
“That’s going to be more impactful and a better use of their marketing dollars and time than taking an ROP ad out in a newspaper, saying, ‘We have the Motorola Razr for $99.’ Great. Those ads are a dime-a-dozen. Their dollars are better spent targeting existing customers and building that loyalty. I mean, you want to generate new business too, with advertising, but it’s more impactful to have people come back because they’re also going to generate word-of-mouth, which is huge in any business.”
Enough role-play. This guy should be a salesman.