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

Transcription

1 An Economist Intelligence Unit white paper Sponsored by SAP

2 Preface : 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 29 1 Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 29

3 Contents Introduction Key findings Conclusion Appendix 1: Overall survey results 9 Appendix 2: Americas survey results 1 Appendix : Asia-Pacific survey results 19 Appendix : EMEA survey results 2 2 Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 29

4 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 29. 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 1% in 29, 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 29, the Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed 9 telecoms executives on the challenges of getting customer-facing departments to work together more consistently and effectively. Survey respondents spanned the globe, with 2% from the Asia-Pacific region, 2% from the Americas and the rest from EMEA. Annual revenues ranged from less than US$5m to more than US$1bn. The level of seniority of respondents was high: % were C-level or board members, and another 21% were vice-presidents or heads of business units. Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 29

5 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 months despite the recession, and 7% 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 5% 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 6% say their organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on each customer s lifetime value. Respondents also cite cross-selling or upselling customers (6%) and targeting the right customers in order to close a high percentage of prospects (6%) as activities that require improvement at their organisation. Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 29

6 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 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 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 -% -2% % 2% % 6% Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, July 29. 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 (9%) and developing and sharing a detailed picture of customers, behaviour and preferences (%) as the top benefits. Yet when asked which best described how their organisation s sales, marketing and customer service operations access customer information, 5% 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 29

7 In which of the following ways does your organisation empower its customers? Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels (eg, web, mobile devices, , 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 % 2% % 6% Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, July 29. 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? 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 % 1% 2% % % 5% Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, July Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 29

8 Core strengths of telecoms firms EMEA In EMEA, customer service rules Product innovation Customer services Operational excellence Americas In the Americas, firms focus on innovation Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific firms stress operational excellence % 1% 2% % % 5% Source: Economist Intelligence Unit survey, July 29. 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 29

9 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: 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. 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. 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. Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 29

10 Appendix 1 Overall survey results Appendix: Overall survey results In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one. Product innovation: First to market with groundbreaking new products or services Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes Customer service: Providing superior service to clients 29 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 No coordination; 2. Ad hoc coordination;. Some procedures. Procedures 5. Broad, systematic and units are completely not systematic established, but not established, regular consistent integration of separate or consistent consistently followed interaction information and strategies Generating, tracking and measuring leads Developing and launching new products Planning and executing campaigns Analysing and segmenting customers Gauging customer satisfaction 15 1 Measuring effectiveness of processes Responding to customer demands or complaints Incorporating customer feedback into products/services Economist Intelligence Unit 29

11 Appendix 1 Overall survey results Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? In chosing to do business with my organisation, price is the single most important factor most customers consider Compared to our competitors, my organisation s customers are more loyal My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of customers 56 1 My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on each customer s lifetime value We are currently developing a social media strategy 5 25 My organisation has more flexibility than its competitors in pricing its products Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past months We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with customers than we were months ago Customers view my organisation s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors In your view, which of your organisation s activities are most in need of improvement? Select up to four. Targeting the right customers in order to close a high percentage of prospects 5 Cross-selling or upselling customers 5 Efficiently acquiring customers (eg, reducing the cost of sales) Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns 2 Gathering customer intelligence in the course of providing service 2 Building long-term relationships 27 Generating qualified leads 26 Involving customers product/service development (eg, co-creation) 22 Segmenting and profiling customers 2 Providing a consistent customer experience 2 Ensuring that customer complaints are resolved quickly 2 Creating effective collateral 1 Measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty 1 Maximising the number of repeat sales Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in integrating your organisation s marketing, sales and service activities? Select up to three. 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 Agree Disagree Integrating customer tracking from lead through post-sales service 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 2 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 1 /Not applicable Economist Intelligence Unit 29

12 Appendix 1 Overall survey results Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on your business over the past months? Select up to three. Global economic downturn Changing customer requirements 9 Emergence of new competitors Significant demand shifts for our products/services 2 Disruptive technology developments 2 Finding access to credit/capital 16 Focusing on sustainability efforts 15 Emergence of new markets for our products and services 1 Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain 11 1 In which of the following ways does your organisation empower its customers? Select all that apply. Improving online or self-service product support tools 52 Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels (eg, web, mobile devices, , point of sale) 9 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 Which of the following product lines does your organisation offer? Select all that apply. Wireless data Wireless voice Voice over IP Business internet (T1, T2, etc.) 6 Landline telephony 1 Residential internet (eg, dial-up, ISDN, cable modem) 7 In-home entertainment (TV, movies, etc.) 2 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? There are multiple repositories of loosely linked customer information, depending on the business line or function Sales, marketing and customer service can access a common repository, but information on specific customers is not always available quickly and easily available 2 Sales, marketing and customer service can access a central repository and quickly and easily see customer information when dealing with a specific customer 1 There are multiple repositories of customer information, and they are not linked Economist Intelligence Unit 29

13 Appendix 1 Overall survey results How well is your organisation able to integrate marketing programmes and campaigns across multiple telecom services? Seamlessly Very well Somewhat Poorly Not at all In which region are you personally based? Asia-Pacific Western Europe North America Middle East and Africa Eastern Europe 5 Latin America How well is your organisation able to measure the effectiveness of such campaigns? Precisely Very well Somewhat Poorly Not at all What is your company s primary industry? Telecommunications Education IT and technology Which of the following best describes your title? Board member CEO/President/Managing director CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller CIO/Technology director 2 C-level executive 1 SVP/VP/Director Head of Business Unit Head of Department Manager Economist Intelligence Unit 29

14 Appendix 1 Overall survey results What are your organisation s global annual revenues in US dollars? Who are your organisation s primary customers? $5m or less $5m to $1bn $1bn to $5bn 1 1 Business-to-business Consumer/retail Both 7 2 $5bn to $1bn 17 $1bn or more 17 What are your main functional roles? Please choose no more than three functions. Which perspective consumer/retail or business-to-business are you sharing in this survey? Strategy and business development General management Operations and production 19 Marketing 19 Sales 17 Finance 1 IT Information and research 9 Risk R&D Customer service Procurement 5 Legal Supply-chain management 1 Human resources Consumer/retail Business-to-business Economist Intelligence Unit 29

15 Appendix 2 Americas survey results Appendix: Americas survey results In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one. Product innovation: First to market with groundbreaking new products or services Customer service: Providing superior service to clients Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes 2 2 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 No coordination; 2. Ad hoc coordination;. Some procedures. Procedures 5. Broad, systematic and units are completely not systematic established, but not established, regular consistent integration of separate or consistent consistently followed interaction information and strategies Generating, tracking and measuring leads Developing and launching new products Planning and executing campaigns Analysing and segmenting customers Gauging customer satisfaction Measuring effectiveness of processes Responding to customer demands or complaints Incorporating customer feedback into products/services Economist Intelligence Unit 29

16 Appendix 2 Americas survey results Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? In chosing to do business with my organisation, price is the single most important factor most customers consider 6 5 Compared to our competitors, my organisation s customers are more loyal My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of customers My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on each customer s lifetime value We are currently developing a social media strategy My organisation has more flexibility than its competitors in pricing its products 2 19 Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past months We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with customers than we were months ago 2 2 Customers view my organisation s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors In your view, which of your organisation s activities are most in need of improvement? Select up to four. Efficiently acquiring customers (eg, reducing the cost of sales) 6 Targeting the right customers in order to close a high percentage of prospects 5 Cross-selling or upselling customers 5 Building long-term relationships 1 Creating effective collateral 27 Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns 27 Ensuring that customer complaints are resolved quickly 2 Involving customers product/service development (eg, co-creation) 2 Segmenting and profiling customers 19 Providing a consistent customer experience 15 Generating qualified leads Measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty Gathering customer intelligence in the course of providing service Maximising the number of repeat sales Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in integrating your organisation s marketing, sales and service activities? Select up to three. Prioritising resources directed towards customers by total value over life of customer Agree Disagree Integrating customer tracking from lead through post-sales service 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 2 Presenting customers with a consistent picture of the organisation 2 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 Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing, sales and service activities /Not applicable 6 15 Economist Intelligence Unit 29

17 Appendix 2 Americas survey results Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on your business over the past months? Select up to three. Global economic downturn Emergence of new competitors 1 Changing customer requirements 1 Focusing on sustainability efforts 1 Disruptive technology developments 27 Finding access to credit/capital 19 Emergence of new markets for our products and services 19 Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain 15 Significant demand shifts for our products/services 15 In which of the following ways does your organisation empower its customers? Select all that apply. Improving online or self-service product support tools 5 Building or supporting online customer communities 2 Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability Improving usability, search and navigation of customer-facing websites 5 Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels (eg, web, mobile devices, , point of sale) Which of the following product lines does your organisation offer? Select all that apply. Wireless data Voice over IP Wireless voice Landline telephony 5 Business internet (T1, T2, etc.) 1 Residential internet (eg, dial-up, ISDN, cable modem) 2 In-home entertainment (TV, movies, etc.) 2 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? There are multiple repositories of loosely linked customer information, depending on the business line or function Sales, marketing and customer service can access a central repository and quickly and easily see customer information when dealing with a specific customer 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 Economist Intelligence Unit 29

18 Appendix 2 Americas survey results How well is your organisation able to integrate marketing programmes and campaigns across multiple telecom services? Seamlessly Very well Somewhat Poorly Not at all 19 5 In which region are you personally based? North America Latin America Asia-Pacific Eastern Europe Western Europe Middle East and Africa 92 How well is your organisation able to measure the effectiveness of such campaigns? Precisely Very well Somewhat Poorly Not at all What is your company s primary industry? Telecommunications 1 Which of the following best describes your title? Board member CEO/President/Managing director 15 CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller CIO/Technology director C-level executive SVP/VP/Director Head of Business Unit Head of Department Manager Economist Intelligence Unit 29

19 Appendix 2 Americas survey results What are your organisation s global annual revenues in US dollars? Who are your organisation s primary customers? $5m or less $5m to $1bn $1bn to $5bn 15 Business-to-business Consumer/retail Both $5bn to $1bn $1bn or more 2 What are your main functional roles? Please choose no more than three functions. Which perspective consumer/retail or business-to-business are you sharing in this survey? Strategy and business development General management Operations and production Sales IT 19 Finance 15 Marketing Information and research Risk R&D Customer service Procurement Legal Supply-chain management Human resources Business-to-business Consumer/retail Economist Intelligence Unit 29

20 Appendix Asia-Pacific survey results Appendix: Asia-Pacific survey results In your view, which of the following best represents the core strength of your overall business? Select only one. Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes Product innovation: First to market with groundbreaking new products or services Customer service: Providing superior service to clients 7 27 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 No coordination; 2. Ad hoc coordination;. Some procedures. Procedures 5. Broad, systematic and units are completely not systematic established, but not established, regular consistent integration of separate or consistent consistently followed interaction information and strategies Generating, tracking and measuring leads Developing and launching new products 1 1 Planning and executing campaigns Analysing and segmenting customers Gauging customer satisfaction Measuring effectiveness of processes Responding to customer demands or complaints Incorporating customer feedback into products/services Economist Intelligence Unit 29

21 Appendix Asia-Pacific survey results Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? In chosing to do business with my organisation, price is the single most important factor most customers consider 7 6 Compared to our competitors, my organisation s customers are more loyal My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of customers 52 1 My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on each customer s lifetime value We are currently developing a social media strategy My organisation has more flexibility than its competitors in pricing its products Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past months We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with customers than we were months ago 1 2 Customers view my organisation s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors In your view, which of your organisation s activities are most in need of improvement? Select up to four. Generating qualified leads Targeting the right customers in order to close a high percentage of prospects Cross-selling or upselling customers 7 Efficiently acquiring customers (eg, reducing the cost of sales) Gathering customer intelligence in the course of providing service Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns 27 Measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty 27 Providing a consistent customer experience 2 Building long-term relationships 2 Segmenting and profiling customers 17 Creating effective collateral 1 Maximising the number of repeat sales 1 Involving customers product/service development (eg, co-creation) 1 Ensuring that customer complaints are resolved quickly 7 Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in integrating your organisation s marketing, sales and service activities? Select up to three. Making each unit aware of how the others have interacted with a given customer Agree Disagree Developing and sharing a detailed picture of customers, behaviour and preferences 7 Integrating customer tracking from lead through post-sales service Presenting customers with a consistent picture of the organisation Prioritising resources directed towards customers by total value over life of customer Helping each function find and act on ways to support the others 2 Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data 1 Measuring the probability that leads will turn into sales, and using these scores to guide sales 1 Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing, sales and service activities 7 /Not applicable 5 2 Economist Intelligence Unit 29

22 Appendix Asia-Pacific survey results Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on your business over the past months? Select up to three. Global economic downturn Emergence of new competitors 7 Changing customer requirements Disruptive technology developments Significant demand shifts for our products/services 27 Finding access to credit/capital 1 Emergence of new markets for our products and services 1 Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain 1 Focusing on sustainability efforts 1 1 In which of the following ways does your organisation empower its customers? Select all that apply. Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels (eg, web, mobile devices, , point of sale) 5 Improving usability, search and navigation of customer-facing websites 7 Improving online or self-service product support tools Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability Building or supporting online customer communities 2 6 Which of the following product lines does your organisation offer? Select all that apply. Wireless voice Wireless data Business internet (T1, T2, etc.) Landline telephony Residential internet (eg, dial-up, ISDN, cable modem) Voice over IP In-home entertainment (TV, movies, etc.) 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? There are multiple repositories of loosely linked customer information, depending on the business line or function Sales, marketing and customer service can access a central repository and quickly and easily see customer information when dealing with a specific customer 2 Sales, marketing and customer service can access a common repository, but information on specific customers is not always available quickly and easily available 2 There are multiple repositories of customer information, and they are not linked Economist Intelligence Unit 29

23 Appendix Asia-Pacific survey results How well is your organisation able to integrate marketing programmes and campaigns across multiple telecom services? Seamlessly 7 Very well Somewhat Poorly 7 Not at all In which region are you personally based? Asia-Pacific Latin America North America Eastern Europe Western Europe Middle East and Africa 1 How well is your organisation able to measure the effectiveness of such campaigns? What is your company s primary industry? Telecommunications 97 Precisely Very well Somewhat Poorly Not at all Education Which of the following best describes your title? Board member 7 CEO/President/Managing director 7 CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller CIO/Technology director C-level executive SVP/VP/Director Head of Business Unit 7 Head of Department Manager Economist Intelligence Unit 29

24 Appendix Asia-Pacific survey results What are your organisation s global annual revenues in US dollars? Who are your organisation s primary customers? $5m or less $5m to $1bn $1bn to $5bn Business-to-business Consumer/retail Both $5bn to $1bn $1bn or more 1 What are your main functional roles? Please choose no more than three functions. Which perspective consumer/retail or business-to-business are you sharing in this survey? General management Strategy and business development Marketing Sales 17 IT 1 Customer service 1 Risk 7 Operations and production 7 Procurement 7 Finance Information and research R&D Legal Supply-chain management Human resources 2 Consumer/retail Business-to-business 17 2 Economist Intelligence Unit 29

25 Appendix EMEA survey results 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. Operational excellence: Creating highly efficient processes Customer service: Providing superior service to clients Product innovation: First to market with groundbreaking new products or services 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 No coordination; 2. Ad hoc coordination;. Some procedures. Procedures 5. Broad, systematic and units are completely not systematic established, but not established, regular consistent integration of separate or consistent consistently followed interaction information and strategies Generating, tracking and measuring leads Developing and launching new products Planning and executing campaigns Analysing and segmenting customers Gauging customer satisfaction Measuring effectiveness of processes Responding to customer demands or complaints 6 19 Incorporating customer feedback into products/services Economist Intelligence Unit 29

26 Appendix EMEA survey results Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? In chosing to do business with my organisation, price is the single most important factor most customers consider 26 7 Compared to our competitors, my organisation s customers are more loyal My organisation has an accurate way to estimate the lifetime value of customers My organisation prioritises sales and marketing resources based on each customer s lifetime value 17 We are currently developing a social media strategy 1 21 My organisation has more flexibility than its competitors in pricing its products 9 9 Despite the recession, my organisation has greatly strengthened customer relationships over the past months We are more engaged in developing products or services collaboratively with customers than we were months ago 57 9 Customers view my organisation s products and services more as commodities now than five years ago 17 Our margins are higher than the margins of most of our competitors In your view, which of your organisation s activities are most in need of improvement? Select up to four. Measuring/optimising effectiveness of marketing and promotional campaigns 1 Gathering customer intelligence in the course of providing service Cross-selling or upselling customers 5 Targeting the right customers in order to close a high percentage of prospects 2 Building long-term relationships Efficiently acquiring customers (eg, reducing the cost of sales) Ensuring that customer complaints are resolved quickly Involving customers product/service development (eg, co-creation) Generating qualified leads 2 Segmenting and profiling customers 2 Providing a consistent customer experience 22 Creating effective collateral 16 Maximising the number of repeat sales 5 Measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty 5 Which of the following would provide the biggest benefits in integrating your organisation s marketing, sales and service activities? Select up to three. Integrating customer tracking from lead through post-sales service Helping each function find and act on ways to support the others Prioritising resources directed towards customers by total value over life of customer Agree Disagree Establishing common definitions, assumptions and data 5 Making each unit aware of how the others have interacted with a given customer 5 Developing and sharing a detailed picture of customers, behaviour and preferences Measuring the probability that leads will turn into sales, and using these scores to guide sales Presenting customers with a consistent picture of the organisation 16 Our company sees no need to integrate our marketing, sales and service activities /Not applicable 25 Economist Intelligence Unit 29

27 Appendix EMEA survey results Which of the following trends have had the greatest impact on your business over the past months? Select up to three. Global economic downturn Changing customer requirements 9 Emergence of new competitors Significant demand shifts for our products/services Finding access to credit/capital 19 Disruptive technology developments 16 Emergence of new markets for our products and services 1 Accessing key components or resources through our supply chain Focusing on sustainability efforts In which of the following ways does your organisation empower its customers? Select all that apply. Investing in self-service tools across multiple channels (eg, web, mobile devices, , point of sale) 59 Improving online or self-service product support tools 57 Improving usability, search and navigation of customer-facing websites Building or supporting online customer communities 2 Making prices and sales terms more transparent for easy comparability Which of the following product lines does your organisation offer? Select all that apply. Wireless data Voice over IP Wireless voice Business internet (T1, T2, etc.) Residential internet (eg, dial-up, ISDN, cable modem) Landline telephony 1 In-home entertainment (TV, movies, etc.) 16 5 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? There are multiple repositories of loosely linked customer information, depending on the business line or function Sales, marketing and customer service can access a common repository, but information on specific customers is not always available quickly and easily available Sales, marketing and customer service can access a central repository and quickly and easily see customer information when dealing with a specific customer 19 There are multiple repositories of customer information, and they are not linked Economist Intelligence Unit 29

28 Appendix EMEA survey results How well is your organisation able to integrate marketing programmes and campaigns across multiple telecom services? Seamlessly 5 Very well Somewhat Poorly Not at all In which region are you personally based? Western Europe Middle East and Africa 19 Eastern Europe 1 Asia-Pacific Latin America North America 6 What is your company s primary industry? How well is your organisation able to measure the effectiveness of such campaigns? Telecommunications 97 Precisely Very well Somewhat Poorly 5 Not at all Which of the following best describes your title? IT and technology Board member CEO/President/Managing director CFO/Treasurer/Comptroller 5 CIO/Technology director 5 C-level executive SVP/VP/Director Head of Business Unit 5 Head of Department Manager Economist Intelligence Unit 29

29 Appendix EMEA survey results What are your organisation s global annual revenues in US dollars? Who are your organisation s primary customers? $5m or less $5m to $1bn $1bn to $5bn 1 19 Business-to-business Consumer/retail Both 2 $5bn to $1bn 11 $1bn or more 19 What are your main functional roles? Please choose no more than three functions. Which perspective consumer/retail or business-to-business are you sharing in this survey? Strategy and business development Operations and production General management Finance Marketing Sales 1 Information and research 11 R&D 11 Risk Procurement Legal IT 5 Customer service 5 Human resources Supply-chain management Consumer/retail Business-to-business Economist Intelligence Unit 29

30 Whilst every effort has been taken to verify the accuracy of this information, neither The Economist Intelligence Unit Ltd. nor the sponsors of this report can accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by any person on this white paper or any of the information, opinions or conclusions set out in the white paper. Cover image: Shutterstock

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