Beyond transactions creating value through customer partnerships in telecommunications

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications
An Economist Intelligence Unit white paper
Sponsored by SAP


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Preface

Beyond transactions: Creating value through customer partnerships in telecommunications is an Economist
Intelligence Unit report sponsored by SAP. The Economist Intelligence Unit bears sole responsibility for
this report. The Economist Intelligence Unit’s editorial team conducted the interviews and wrote the
report. The findings and views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor.
Dan Armstrong was the editor of the report and Dorian Benkoil as the author. Mike Kenny was responsible
for layout and design. Our thanks are due to all of the executives who responded to the survey.
September 2009

1

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Contents

2

Introduction

3

Key findings

4

Conclusion

8

Appendix 1: Overall survey results

9

Appendix 2: Americas survey results

14

Appendix 3: Asia-Pacific survey results

19

Appendix 4: EMEA survey results

24

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Introduction

While battling the global recession, the telecoms sector has registered some positive results. According to
Gartner, a market research firm, global shipments of smartphones will increase by 27% to 177m units in
2009. There has been a corresponding rise in the sales of data services.
Yet the industry is not recession-proof. IDC, another research firm, predicts that global handset
sales will decline by 13% in 2009, as consumers become more reluctant to replace them during difficult
economic times. Mobile-phone penetration is at an all-time high. But the pool of new customers in
developed countries is shrinking.
Commoditisation has been an ongoing problem for telecoms firms. Despite the proliferation of
products, the distinctions among brands continue to erode as customers base purchasing decisions on
price alone. Indeed, according to a survey of telecoms firms conducted by the Economist Intelligence
Unit, 67% of respondents agree with the statement, “Consumers view my organisation’s products and
services more as commodities than five years ago.”
In an effort to attract and retain customers in a shrinking customer base—and in a chaotic business
environment—survey respondents say they are strengthening customer relationships and collaboration.
There is room for improvement, however, in their integration of marketing programmes and campaigns
across multiple telecoms services, and in measuring and analysing customer behaviour.

About the survey
In July 2009, the Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed
93 telecoms executives on the challenges of getting

customer-facing departments to work together more
consistently and effectively. Survey respondents
3

spanned the globe, with 32% from the Asia-Pacific
region, 28% from the Americas and the rest from EMEA.
Annual revenues ranged from less than US$500m
to more than US$10bn. The level of seniority of
respondents was high: 30% were C-level or board
members, and another 21% were vice-presidents or
heads of business units.
© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Key findings

Confronting the challenge of commoditisation
That 67% of respondents say their products are perceived by customers more as commodities than five
years ago is perhaps the most striking finding from the survey data. Consumers see little difference
between brands and ultimately make purchasing decisions based on price. The effect of commoditisation
is a decrease in profitability and a higher premium on creating and promoting innovative design.
Declining prices require companies to increase the number of customers just to say in place. The value
of each customer increases, and customer retention becomes critical. Survey respondents recognise this
imperative: they consistently report that interactions with customers are critical to their organisations.
Sixty percent have developed stronger customer relationships in the past 12 months despite the
recession, and 47% are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with customers.

Respondents’ organisations are also improving consistency and ease of accessing information
throughout customer touch-points, with 52% improving online or self-service product support tools
and 50% investing in self-service tools across multiple channels. Forty percent are improving the search
and navigational functions on their websites as well. And most respondents are developing social media
strategies to better monitor and interact with customers.

Measuring customer behaviour
With competition growing, it is also critical for companies to focus on customer retention. To do this,
according to survey respondents, telecoms firms most need to improve data-mining capabilities. In an
industry in which long-term contractual arrangements are common, 56% of survey respondents do not
have an accurate way to measure the lifetime value of customers, and only 36% say their organisation
prioritises sales and marketing resources based on each customer’s lifetime value. Respondents also cite
cross-selling or upselling customers (36%) and targeting the right customers in order to close a high
percentage of prospects (36%) as activities that require improvement at their organisation.

4

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
(% of respondents who agree minus the % who disagree)

Customers view my organisation’s products and services more as
commodities now than five years ago
Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer

relationships over the past 12 months
Compared to our competitors, my organisation’s customers are more loyal
We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively
with customers than we were 12 months ago
My organisation has more flexibility than its competitors in pricing its products
Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors
We are currently developing a social media strategy
My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on each
customer’s lifetime value
My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of customers
In chosing to do business with my organisation, price is the single most
important factor most customers consider
-40%

-20%

0%

20%

40%

60%

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, July 2009.

Integrating customer-facing activities
In naming the biggest benefits of integrating their organisation’s sales, marketing and customer service
activities, survey respondents cite making each unit aware of how the others have interacted with a given
customer (39%) and developing and sharing a detailed picture of customers, behaviour and preferences

(38%) as the top benefits.
Yet when asked which best described how their organisation’s sales, marketing and customer service
operations access customer information, 54% of respondents say there are multiple repositories of
loosely linked or unlinked customer information. While telecoms firms may pay lip service to the goal of
creating a single view of the customer, over one-half have not yet figured out how to do it.

5

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

In which of the following ways does your organisation empower its customers?
(% respondents)
Investing in self-service tools across multiple
channels (eg, web, mobile devices, e-mail,
point of sale)
Improving online or self-service product
support tools
Improving usability, search and navigation of
customer-facing websites
Making prices and sales terms more transparent
for easy comparability
Building or supporting online customer
communities

0%

20%

40%

60%

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, July 2009.

How the three regions differ
Telecoms companies in the three regions surveyed—Asia-Pacific, the Americas and EMEA—see their core
strengths differently. In the Americas, almost one-half of those surveyed cite innovation as the business’s
core strength; in Asia-Pacific and EMEA, the key differentiators are seen as operational excellence and
customer service.

Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in integrating your organisation’s
marketing, sales and service activities?
(% respondents)
Making each unit aware of how the others
have interacted with a given customer
Developing and sharing a detailed picture of
customers, behaviour and preferences
Prioritising resources directed towards
customers by total value over life of customer
Integrating customer tracking from lead
through post-sales service
Helping each function find and act on ways to
support the others
Measuring the probability that leads will turn
into sales, and using these scores to guide sales

Establishing common definitions,
assumptions and data
Presenting customers with a consistent
picture of the organisation
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, July 2009.

6

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Core strengths of telecoms firms

Product innovation

Customer services
Operational excellence

EMEA

In EMEA, customer service rules

In the Americas, firms focus on innovation

Americas

Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific firms stress operational excellence
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, July 2009.

Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific firms say that the biggest benefit from integrating customer-facing functions
would be developing and sharing a detailed picture of customers and customer interactions. Most
Asia-Pacific firms cannot do this now. More so than in other regions, their customer knowledge is held in

myriad databases—unlinked and loosely linked—around the organisation.
EMEA EMEA telecoms companies have lower margins and less pricing flexibility than firms in the other
two regions. They are most likely to say that their products are becoming commodities. Perhaps for this
reason, they are most likely to say that customer service is a core strength, most likely to emphasise such
capabilities as measuring customer satisfaction and responding to customer complaints, and most likely
to engage in collaborative product development with customers.
Americas Telecoms providers in the Americas cite their core strength in innovative products, and are least
likely to say that their products are more commodity-like now than five years ago. But they also are likely
to say that their customers are price-sensitive and not particularly loyal. More than firms in the other two
regions, providers in the Americas focus on measuring the lifetime value of particular customers so that
they can target resources towards and hold onto high-value customers.

7

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Conclusion

As telecoms services become more commoditised, it will become increasingly difficult for companies
to keep brands distinct. Without innovative breakthroughs, only superior management of customer
relationships will enable telecoms companies to stand out. Companies in this competitive sector need to:
l Reduce the rate of customer churn. With prices declining and the economy soft, the retention
of customers becomes critical. Companies need to improve their methods of gauging customer
satisfaction; responding to customer demands or complaints; and integrating customer feedback into
products or services.

l Integrate sales, marketing and customer-service operations. In order to best serve existing
customers, the ability to access data quickly and efficiently is critical. With consistent execution both
across channels and in customer-facing initiatives, firms will be able to deliver superior customer
value, shorten sales cycles, increase margins and improve their competitive positions.
l Improve metrics. Few survey respondents express any confidence that their companies can accurately
measure the lifetime value of customers. Telecoms companies, with their reliance on long-term service
contracts, must take a methodical approach to measuring lifetime value. This will enable companies to
focus more clearly on—and devote precious resources to—the most worthy customers.

8

© Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2009


Appendix 1
Overall survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Appendix: Overall survey results

In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.
(% respondents)

Product innovation: First to market with groundbreaking new products or services

34

Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes

33

Customer service: Providing superior service to clients

29

Other

4

Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the
processes below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.
(% respondents)
1. No coordination;
units are completely
separate

2. Ad hoc coordination;
not systematic
or consistent

3. Some procedures
established, but not
consistently followed

4. Procedures
established, regular
interaction

5. Broad, systematic and
consistent integration of
information and strategies

Don’t know

Generating, tracking and measuring leads
2

18

31

33

8

8

Developing and launching new products
2

10

31

34

17

5

Planning and executing campaigns
2

14

23

34

23

4

10

4

13

4

Analysing and segmenting customers
5

17

29

34

Gauging customer satisfaction
3

15

34

30

Measuring effectiveness of processes
4

20

38

25

5

8

Responding to customer demands or complaints
2

6

28

38

22

4

14

4

Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
2

18

31

30

Other
4

0
9

22

20

9

65

40

60

80

100

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 1
Overall survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
(% respondents)
Agree

Disagree

Don’t know

In chosing to do business with my organisation, price is the single most important factor most customers consider
35

64 1

Compared to our competitors, my organisation’s customers are more loyal
57

25

18

My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of customers
30

56

14

My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on each customer’s lifetime value
36

45

19

We are currently developing a social media strategy
40

35

25

My organisation has more flexibility than its competitors in pricing its products
49

39

11

Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past 12 months
60

27

13

We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with customers than we were 12 months ago
47

36

17

Customers view my organisation’s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago
67

22

11

Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors
42

0

20

42

40

60

In your view, which of your organisation’s activities are most
in need of improvement? Select up to four.
(% respondents)

80

16

100

Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in
integrating your organisation’s marketing, sales and service
activities? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Targeting the right customers in order to close a high percentage of prospects
35

Cross-selling or upselling customers

Making each unit aware of how the others have interacted
with a given customer
39

35

Efficiently acquiring customers (eg, reducing the cost of sales)
34

Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns
32

Gathering customer intelligence in the course of providing service
28

Building long-term relationships
27

Generating qualified leads
26

Involving customers product/service development (eg, co-creation)
22

Segmenting and profiling customers

20

Providing a consistent customer experience
20

Ensuring that customer complaints are resolved quickly
20

Creating effective collateral
18

Measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty
14

Maximising the number of repeat sales
9

Developing and sharing a detailed picture of customers,
behaviour and preferences
38

Prioritising resources directed towards customers
by total value over life of customer
38

Integrating customer tracking from lead through post-sales service
37

Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data
25

Helping each function find and act on ways to support the others
25

Presenting customers with a consistent picture of the organisation
23

Measuring the probability that leads will turn into sales,
and using these scores to guide sales
22

Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing,
sales and service activities
4

Other
1

Don’t know/Not applicable
3

Other
1

Don’t know
2

10

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009

Appendix 1
Overall survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on
your business over the past 12 months? Select up to three.

Which of the following product lines does your organisation
offer? Select all that apply.

(% respondents)

(% respondents)

Global economic downturn

Wireless data
59

Changing customer requirements

63

Wireless voice
39

57

Emergence of new competitors

Voice over IP
38

52

Significant demand shifts for our products/services

Business internet (T1, T2, etc.)

28

46

Disruptive technology developments

Landline telephony

24

41

Finding access to credit/capital

Residential internet (eg, dial-up, ISDN, cable modem)

16

37

Focusing on sustainability efforts

In-home entertainment (TV, movies, etc.)

15

23

Emergence of new markets for our products and services

Other

14

18

Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain

Don’t know

11

4

Other
4

Don’t know
1

Which statement best describes how your organisation’s
sales, marketing and customer service operations access
customer information across the product lines selected in the
previous question?

In which of the following ways does your organisation
empower its customers? Select all that apply.

(% respondents)
There are multiple repositories of loosely linked customer information,
depending on the business line or function

(% respondents)

41

Improving online or self-service product support tools
52

Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels
(eg, web, mobile devices, e-mail, point of sale)
49

Improving usability, search and navigation of customer-facing websites
40

Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability
38

Building or supporting online customer communities
32

Other

23

Sales, marketing and customer service can access a central
repository and quickly and easily see customer information
when dealing with a specific customer
18

There are multiple repositories of customer information,
and they are not linked
13

Other

2

0

Don’t know
10

11

Sales, marketing and customer service can access a common repository,
but information on specific customers is not always available quickly and
easily available

Don’t know
4

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 1
Overall survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

How well is your organisation able to integrate marketing
programmes and campaigns across multiple telecom services?

In which region are you personally based?
(% respondents)

(% respondents)
Asia-Pacific
32

Seamlessly
Western Europe

8

27

Very well
North America

20

26

Somewhat
54

Middle East and Africa
8

Poorly
Eastern Europe

14

5

Not at all

Latin America

1

2

Don’t know
3

What is your company’s primary industry?
(% respondents)

How well is your organisation able to measure the
effectiveness of such campaigns?
(% respondents)

Telecommunications
Precisely
0

Very well

98

Education

1

IT and technology

1

16

Somewhat
55

Poorly
16

Not at all
3

Don’t know
9

Which of the following best describes your title?
(% respondents)
Board member
3

CEO/President/Managing director
12

CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller
3

CIO/Technology director
2

Other C-level executive
10

SVP/VP/Director

17

Head of Business Unit
4

Head of Department
14

Manager
28

Other
6

12

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 1
Overall survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Who are your organisation’s primary customers?

What are your organisation’s global annual revenues
in US dollars?

(% respondents)

(% respondents)
Business-to-business 37
$500m or less

34

$500m to $1bn 13
$1bn to $5bn

18

$5bn to $10bn

17

$10bn or more

17

Consumer/retail

23

Both

40

Which perspective—consumer/retail or
business-to-business—are you sharing in this survey?

What are your main functional roles?
Please choose no more than three functions.

(% respondents)

(% respondents)
Consumer/retail

Strategy and business development
41

General management

61

Business-to-business 39

31

Operations and production
19

Marketing
19

Sales
17

Finance
14

IT
12

Information and research
9

Risk
8

R&D
8

Customer service
8

Procurement
5

Legal
4

Supply-chain management
1

Human resources
1

Other
4

13

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 2
Americas survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Appendix: Americas survey results

In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.
(% respondents)

Product innovation: First to market with groundbreaking new products or services

48

Customer service: Providing superior service to clients

28

Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes

24

Other

0

Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the
processes below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.
(% respondents)
1. No coordination;
units are completely
separate

2. Ad hoc coordination;
not systematic
or consistent

3. Some procedures
established, but not
consistently followed

4. Procedures
established, regular
interaction

5. Broad, systematic and
consistent integration of
information and strategies

Don’t know

Generating, tracking and measuring leads
4

19

35

19

8

15

15

15

12

15

8

15

19

15

4

15

Developing and launching new products
4

15

15

35

Planning and executing campaigns
19

27

27

Analysing and segmenting customers
4

15

31

27

Gauging customer satisfaction
12

15

19

19

Measuring effectiveness of processes
12

23

35

12

Responding to customer demands or complaints
12

31

27

19

12

12

12

Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
27

23

27

Other
11

0
14

89

20

40

60

80

100

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009

Appendix 2
Americas survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
(% respondents)
Agree

Disagree

Don’t know

In chosing to do business with my organisation, price is the single most important factor most customers consider
46

50

4

Compared to our competitors, my organisation’s customers are more loyal
50

35

15

My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of customers
27

54

19

My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on each customer’s lifetime value
27

62

12

We are currently developing a social media strategy
50

27

23

My organisation has more flexibility than its competitors in pricing its products
42

38

19

Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past 12 months
35

42

23

We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with customers than we were 12 months ago
48

32

20

Customers view my organisation’s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago
54

23

23

Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors
46

0

20

38

40

60

In your view, which of your organisation’s activities are most
in need of improvement? Select up to four.
(% respondents)

15

80

100

Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in
integrating your organisation’s marketing, sales and service
activities? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Efficiently acquiring customers (eg, reducing the cost of sales)
46

Targeting the right customers in order to close a high percentage of prospects

Prioritising resources directed towards customers by total
value over life of customer
46

35

Integrating customer tracking from lead through post-sales service

Cross-selling or upselling customers

38

35

Building long-term relationships
31

38

Creating effective collateral
27

Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns
27

Ensuring that customer complaints are resolved quickly
23

Involving customers product/service development (eg, co-creation)
23

Segmenting and profiling customers
19

Providing a consistent customer experience
15

Generating qualified leads

12

Measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty
12

Gathering customer intelligence in the course of providing service
12

Maximising the number of repeat sales
8

Developing and sharing a detailed picture of customers,
behaviour and preferences
Making each unit aware of how the others have interacted
with a given customer
27

Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data
23

Presenting customers with a consistent picture of the organisation
23

Measuring the probability that leads will turn into sales,
and using these scores to guide sales
19

Helping each function find and act on ways to support the others
8

Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing,
sales and service activities
4

Other
4

Don’t know/Not applicable
12

Other
4

Don’t know
8

15

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 2
Americas survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on
your business over the past 12 months? Select up to three.

Which of the following product lines does your organisation
offer? Select all that apply.

(% respondents)

(% respondents)

Global economic downturn

Wireless data
50

Emergence of new competitors

65

Voice over IP
31

58

Changing customer requirements

Wireless voice
31

58

Focusing on sustainability efforts

Landline telephony
31

35

Disruptive technology developments

Business internet (T1, T2, etc.)
27

31

Finding access to credit/capital

Residential internet (eg, dial-up, ISDN, cable modem)

19

23

Emergence of new markets for our products and services

In-home entertainment (TV, movies, etc.)

19

12

Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain

Other

15

23

Significant demand shifts for our products/services

Don’t know

15

0

Other
4

Don’t know
4

Which statement best describes how your organisation’s
sales, marketing and customer service operations access
customer information across the product lines selected in the
previous question?

In which of the following ways does your organisation
empower its customers? Select all that apply.

(% respondents)

(% respondents)

There are multiple repositories of loosely linked customer information,
depending on the business line or function

Improving online or self-service product support tools

40
54

Building or supporting online customer communities
42

Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability
38

Improving usability, search and navigation of customer-facing websites
35

Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels
(eg, web, mobile devices, e-mail, point of sale)
35

Other

16

Sales, marketing and customer service can access a common repository,
but information on specific customers is not always available quickly

and easily available
16

There are multiple repositories of customer information,
and they are not linked
12

Other

0

0

Don’t know
19

16

Sales, marketing and customer service can access a central repository
and quickly and easily see customer information when dealing with
a specific customer

Don’t know
16

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 2
Americas survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

How well is your organisation able to integrate marketing
programmes and campaigns across multiple telecom services?

In which region are you personally based?
(% respondents)

(% respondents)
North America
92

Seamlessly
Latin America

12

8

Very well

Asia-Pacific

8

0

Somewhat
50

Eastern Europe
0

Poorly

Western Europe

19

Not at all

0

0

Middle East and Africa
0

Don’t know
12

What is your company’s primary industry?
(% respondents)

How well is your organisation able to measure the
effectiveness of such campaigns?
(% respondents)

Telecommunications 100
Precisely
0

Very well
15

Somewhat
42

Poorly
27

Not at all
4

Don’t know
12

Which of the following best describes your title?
(% respondents)
Board member
4

CEO/President/Managing director
15

CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller
4

CIO/Technology director
0

Other C-level executive
12

SVP/VP/Director
19

Head of Business Unit
0

Head of Department
8

Manager
31

Other
8

17

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 2
Americas survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Who are your organisation’s primary customers?

What are your organisation’s global annual revenues
in US dollars?

(% respondents)

(% respondents)
Business-to-business 42
$500m or less

38

$500m to $1bn 12
$1bn to $5bn

15

$5bn to $10bn

12

$10bn or more

23

Consumer/retail

15

Both

42

Which perspective—consumer/retail or
business-to-business—are you sharing in this survey?

What are your main functional roles?
Please choose no more than three functions.

(% respondents)

(% respondents)
Business-to-business 55

Strategy and business development
42

General management

Consumer/retail

45

31

Operations and production
27

Sales
23

IT
19

Finance
15

Marketing
12

Information and research
12

Risk
8

R&D
8

Customer service
8

Procurement
0

Legal
0

Supply-chain management
0

Human resources
0

Other
8

18

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 3
Asia-Pacific
survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Appendix: Asia-Pacific survey results

In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.
(% respondents)

Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes

37

Product innovation: First to market with groundbreaking new products or services

33

Customer service: Providing superior service to clients

27

Other

3

Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the
processes below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.
(% respondents)
1. No coordination;
units are completely
separate

2. Ad hoc coordination;
not systematic
or consistent

3. Some procedures
established, but not
consistently followed

4. Procedures
established, regular
interaction

5. Broad, systematic and
consistent integration of
information and strategies

Don’t know

Generating, tracking and measuring leads
3

23

27

33

10

3

13

3

Developing and launching new products
3

13

33

33

Planning and executing campaigns
7

7

21

45

21

0

7

0

14

0

Analysing and segmenting customers
10

10

30

43

Gauging customer satisfaction
14

45

28

Measuring effectiveness of processes
3

13

37

33

7

7

Responding to customer demands or complaints
3

7

23

37

27

3

17

3

Incorporating customer feedback into products/services
7

17

30

27

Other
14

0
19

43

20

40

14

60

29

80

100

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 3
Asia-Pacific
survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
(% respondents)
Agree

Disagree

Don’t know

In chosing to do business with my organisation, price is the single most important factor most customers consider
37

63

0

Compared to our competitors, my organisation’s customers are more loyal
60

20

20

My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of customers
34

52

14

My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on each customer’s lifetime value
39

32

29

We are currently developing a social media strategy
29

39

32

My organisation has more flexibility than its competitors in pricing its products
64

29

7

18

7

Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past 12 months
75

We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with customers than we were 12 months ago
34

41

24

Customers view my organisation’s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago
62

28

10

Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors
45

0

20

41

40

60

In your view, which of your organisation’s activities are most
in need of improvement? Select up to four.
(% respondents)

14

80

100

Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in
integrating your organisation’s marketing, sales and service
activities? Select up to three.
(% respondents)

Generating qualified leads
40

Targeting the right customers in order to close a high percentage of prospects

Making each unit aware of how the others have
interacted with a given customer
53

40

Cross-selling or upselling customers
37

Efficiently acquiring customers (eg, reducing the cost of sales)
30

Gathering customer intelligence in the course of providing service
30

Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns
27

Measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty
27

Providing a consistent customer experience
23

Building long-term relationships
20

Segmenting and profiling customers
17

Creating effective collateral
13

Maximising the number of repeat sales
13

Involving customers product/service development (eg, co-creation)
10

Ensuring that customer complaints are resolved quickly
7

Developing and sharing a detailed picture of customers,
behaviour and preferences
47

Integrating customer tracking from lead through post-sales service
33

Presenting customers with a consistent picture of the organisation

30

Prioritising resources directed towards customers by
total value over life of customer
30

Helping each function find and act on ways to support the others
23

Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data
13

Measuring the probability that leads will turn into sales,
and using these scores to guide sales
13

Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing,
sales and service activities
7

Other
0

Don’t know/Not applicable
0

Other
0

Don’t know

0

20

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 3
Asia-Pacific
survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on
your business over the past 12 months? Select up to three.

Which of the following product lines does your organisation
offer? Select all that apply.

(% respondents)

(% respondents)

Global economic downturn

Wireless voice
60

Emergence of new competitors

60

Wireless data
37

60

Changing customer requirements

Business internet (T1, T2, etc.)
33

53

Disruptive technology developments

Landline telephony

30

47

Significant demand shifts for our products/services

Residential internet (eg, dial-up, ISDN, cable modem)

27

40

Finding access to credit/capital

Voice over IP

10

40

Emergence of new markets for our products and services

In-home entertainment (TV, movies, etc.)

10

23

Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain

Other

10

17

Focusing on sustainability efforts

Don’t know

10

7

Other
10

Don’t know
0

Which statement best describes how your organisation’s
sales, marketing and customer service operations access
customer information across the product lines selected in the
previous question?
(% respondents)

In which of the following ways does your organisation
empower its customers? Select all that apply.

There are multiple repositories of loosely linked customer information,
depending on the business line or function

(% respondents)

43

Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels
(eg, web, mobile devices, e-mail, point of sale)
50

Improving usability, search and navigation of customer-facing websites
47

Improving online or self-service product support tools
43

Sales, marketing and customer service can access a central repository
and quickly and easily see customer information when dealing with a
specific customer
20

Sales, marketing and customer service can access a common repository,
but information on specific customers is not always available quickly
and easily available

Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability
43

Building or supporting online customer communities

20

There are multiple repositories of customer information,
and they are not linked
17

23

Other
3

21

Other
0

Don’t know

Don’t know

0

0

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 3
Asia-Pacific
survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

How well is your organisation able to integrate marketing
programmes and campaigns across multiple telecom services?

In which region are you personally based?
(% respondents)

(% respondents)
Asia-Pacific
100

Seamlessly
Latin America

7

0

Very well

North America

21

0

Somewhat
62

Eastern Europe
0

Poorly

Western Europe

7

0

Not at all

Middle East and Africa

3

0

Don’t know
0

What is your company’s primary industry?
(% respondents)

How well is your organisation able to measure the
effectiveness of such campaigns?
(% respondents)

Telecommunications
Education

Precisely

97
3

0

Very well
17

Somewhat
55

Poorly
21

Not at all
3

Don’t know
3

Which of the following best describes your title?
(% respondents)
Board member
7

CEO/President/Managing director
7

CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller
0

CIO/Technology director
0

Other C-level executive
3

SVP/VP/Director
20

Head of Business Unit
7

Head of Department
17

Manager
33

Other
7

22

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 3
Asia-Pacific
survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer

partnerships in telecommunications

Who are your organisation’s primary customers?

What are your organisation’s global annual revenues
in US dollars?

(% respondents)

(% respondents)
Business-to-business 31
$500m or less

27

$500m to $1bn 13
$1bn to $5bn

20

$5bn to $10bn

30

$10bn or more

10

Consumer/retail

28

Both

41

Which perspective—consumer/retail or
business-to-business—are you sharing in this survey?

What are your main functional roles?
Please choose no more than three functions.

(% respondents)

(% respondents)
Consumer/retail

General management
43

Strategy and business development

83

Business-to-business 17

33

Marketing
23

Sales
17

IT
13

Customer service
10

Risk
7

Operations and production
7

Procurement
7

Finance
3

Information and research
3

R&D
3

Legal
3

Supply-chain management
3

Human resources
0

Other
3

23

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009


Appendix 4
EMEA survey results

Beyond transactions
Creating value through customer
partnerships in telecommunications

Appendix: Europe Middle East and Africa
survey results
In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one.
(% respondents)

35

Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes

Customer service: Providing superior service to clients
32

Product innovation: First to market with groundbreaking new products or services
Other

24
8

Each of the organisation’s customer-facing departments influences the customer via different channels. For each of the
processes below, how closely do your marketing, sales and customer service units work together? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5.
(% respondents)
1. No coordination;
units are completely
separate

2. Ad hoc coordination;
not systematic
or consistent

3. Some procedures
established, but not
consistently followed

4. Procedures
established, regular
interaction

5. Broad, systematic and
consistent integration of

information and strategies

Don’t know

Generating, tracking and measuring leads
14

32

43

5

5

Developing and launching new products
3

41

35

22

0

32

0

14

0

8

0

Planning and executing campaigns
16

22

30

Analysing and segmenting customers
3

24

27

32

Gauging customer satisfaction
16

35

41

Measuring effectiveness of processes
24

41

27

5

3

Responding to customer demands or complaints
3

3

30

46

19

0

14

0

Incorporating customer feedback into products/services

14

38

35

Other
29

0
24

20

71

40

60

80

100

Economist Intelligence Unit 2009