Mobile customer care is now just as important as network quality to consumers as a deciding factor in choosing and staying with a mobile operator, a new report by Nokia has found.
Nokia's tenth ‘Acquisition and Retention Study’, which highlights current consumer trends for mobile operators, reveals that mobile customer retention increasingly relies on customer service and value.
Cost and billing still had the greatest impact on customer retention, with 34% of the 1 000-odd South African respondents to the survey deeming this imperative when choosing to stay with an operator, explained Vodafone Middle East and Africa group customer solutions architect Pieter Lombard.
Speaking during a presentation at Nokia’s local Mobile World Congress Revisited Roadshow, in Johannesburg, on Tuesday, he said that while 26% of the local respondents say network quality still matters, some 27% insist customer care is a critical, deciding factor.
The survey, undertaken by marketing consultancy KAE on behalf of Nokia between December 2015 and January 2016, shows that, overall, cost and billing, network quality, customer care and service – which has 60% more impact on consumer loyalty than it did in 2014 – and device portfolio are the main reasons why mobile customers globally select and leave operators.
Further, the report found that customers often chose transparent packages with easy-to-understand terms and conditions rather than being won over by price alone.