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required previously, but that shortened time frame is still one month. For smaller, more nimble operators like Kajeet and CSL, that can mean a new plan launched overnight, proving that small equals nimble, at least for now.
Show Me the Money!
How to get and keep customers and how to get customers to spend more money was another area of focus at the conference. An interesting new twist is being taken by new Sprint subsidiary Boost, a pre-paid only, "youth lifestyle" MVNO.
Gautam Shah of Boost, Sprint's wholly owned subsidiary, suggested that the US mobile market is evolving rapidly with a trend towards prepaid schemes. Analysis by the Boost team suggests that the traditional price/value equation is not enough to maintain loyalty and that data services are not a compelling differentiator.
Enter Boost Mobile's "Advanced Loyalty Management" approach provides users with relevant rewards based on service usage, in order to stimulate target usage. Rewards are provided as the customer is actually using the service or in a "contextually correct time" thereafter.
Rewards are aimed at customers before they reach the "danger zone" when churn is highly likely. By providing rewards earlier in the customer life-cycle, customers are encouraged to keep using the service and never enter the "danger zone."
A challenge faced by pre-paid service providers is their lack of detailed knowledge of their customers. The Boost Advanced approach circumvents this shortcoming by using pure calling and usage information linked to the customer's number, with no reliance on assumptions about age/culture/ethnic preferences. The success of each reward initiative is measured and used to optimize the program for re-launch.
Advanced loyalty management is accompanied by new approach to market segmentation. Traditional segmentation is replaced by "Super Segmentation" based on social communities, and business growth is fueled by members of these communities who act as "net promoters" and "viral hubs" spreading word of the Boost service through web presence and social networks.
The end result is a continuing perception by each customer of a "for me" customer experience reinforced by timely and relevant