Cost Transformation Feature Editorial

Best Practices for Generating Customer Demand for New Services and Applications

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor

The demand in the mobile communications market is clear – content is king. Consumers and business users alike want rich content, anytime and anywhere access to information and multiple channel communications. The challenge on the side of the provider is to deliver the services and applications necessary to drive the customer demand for their specific offerings. 

For a number of service providers, the ability to deliver the services and applications that customers want requires a move to an all-IP environment. The challenge is that most providers cannot completely overhaul the network all at once. 

This must be a multi-stage process in order to contain costs so the provider can stay alive. While it is true that making this change can help to drive increased revenues, excessive costs that cannot be re-captured in the immediate future can put the provider quickly out of business. It is also important to remember that in order to generate customer demand, the service provider must focus on the end-user’s experience. 

The service they receive from the provider determines how happy they are with the delivery, how likely they are to keep consuming service and applications, and the chance they will remain loyal to the provider. It really is all about how rich, personalized and interactive the content is on the customer’s side. The service provider must remember that the customer does not care about networks. They haven’t a clue whether the provider has an all-IP environment, if they are in a multi-stage roll-out of new operations or if changes are coming to all processes in the near future. 

The customer only cares about the services that are being delivered and the content for which they are paying. As long as they receive what they want, and when and where they want it, customers are generally satisfied. Interestingly enough, it is the advances in connectivity that are driving the demand for such services, yet the service provider must determine how to generate – and then meet – this demand. 

It is no longer enough for service providers to deliver a high quality voice experience. They must now also turn voice into text, audio conferencing into video conferencing, embed presence and context intelligence into standard business applications. Alcatel-Lucent (News - Alert) is quick to point out that as important as it is to offer the demanded services, these providers must be able to do so in a controlled fashion. 

A strategic approach to changing business models and service delivery can ensure the provider has a focused path for delivering the service customers demand. In following this path and focusing on quality, they can generate the demand necessary for long-term success.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Erin Harrison