Customer Service in UK Mobile Phone Companies - Essay Example

?Introduction The mobile phone industry is one of the fastest growing in the UK. This is due to the increased pace of technological advances both within and outside the country. The mobile phone industry has surpassed the use of fixed lines and this can be attributed to a number of reasons (Fluhr & Nussbaum 1973). These include the fact that mobile phones are portable and can be used anywhere, there are many brands of mobile phones with different features to suit individuals’ needs and also because they are cheaper and do not technological experts to install them, unlike the fixed line phones. With the increase in the market for phones, several companies both retailing handsets and providing mobile phone services have cropped up, each struggling to gain a significant segment of the market. This mostly leads to mobile wars, especially among the service providers, as each of the companies fight to provide the latest, affordable and most valued services to their customers. There is also stiff competition among handset providers, who spend millions of dollars on research and development to provide latest features to their handsets to attract different segments of the market. Hence, it is not hard to find features such as mobile TV, GPRS, e-mail and internet features on most mobile phones. UK Mobile phone industry The mobile phone industry, like most corporate industries have brought both advantages and disadvantages to the modern society. Advantages brought by the advent of mobile phones includes easy communication which has led to expansion of businesses, the creation of different kinds of jobs, sharing of knowledge among people of different regions of the world, it has helped in expansion of the academic world by making research and sharing of such knowledge easy and making it easier for business transactions to be carried out among other benefits. Disadvantages of mobile phones include increase in thefts connected with handsets and identities, mobile phones distract workers and students from carrying out their duties on time, especially due to social network services on internet-enabled phones, they cause distractions leading to accidents especially on the road and mobile phones have led to deterioration of personal communication which has been reduced to short message services, calls and e-mails among other disadvantages. It is however up to individual mobile phone users to determine whether mobile phones add value to their lives or they could do better without them. Being one of the biggest and fastest-growing industries in the world, the UK not excluded, the mobile phone industry has had to be regulated and the fierce competition among stakeholders have given rise to codes of conduct which all the players have to adhere with. Service provision is an area in this industry that the companies in the industry overlook at their own detriment. Most consumers of the mobile phone industry usually look for specific services from their providers (Ericsson 2009). These may include low call and data rates, wide coverage and polite and helpful customer care representatives. Many companies have gone miles ahead and have come up with more creative ways to attract and retain customers. Methods used in increasing client bases for companies include offering corporate packages for companies, advertising, promotions and handset and service providers coming together to offer unique products to consumers. Service delivery however remains the biggest determinant of market share for companies operating in the mobile phone industry. Service Products Developing Service Products is one of the areas explored by players in the mobile phone industry to gain significant market share. This area involves coming up with new and useful products to attract consumers in the market (Blueflag 2010). For instance, at the beginning of the mobile phone era, most phones had very few features that basically included calling and texting features, digital and alarm clocks, calculators and calendars. However with time, mobile phones have become more sophisticated and have more features including internet features, GPRS systems and offering to store large volumes of documents, music and video files, as well as giving users the options of converting their phones to radios or televisions (Ray 2009). Mobile phone providers have also not been left behind, creating means to support the above features and opening avenues to make other areas of businesses easier, for instance through mobile banking and mobile phone money transfers. Although all these features and services have made it easier for people to get around to doing their businesses, some downsides have been experienced especially due to the fast-paced changes in technology that have rendered regulation of such services a very tedious task. These technologies are outpacing the rate at which laws to protect consumers can be put in place and this exposes mobile phone users to exploitation by the companies or other criminals out there who look for loopholes to con users. Many service providers in the mobile phone industry have also realized the importance of consumer feedback on their services. Furthermore, being service providers, problems could arise in the provision of their services to consumers. Most have therefore developed customer care products that are designed to help consumers who are experiencing problems (Kebaso 2010). The most common product in this aspect is the provision of a toll-free twenty-four hour call service that caters for users of the different service-providing companies. These are call centres where all calls from consumers are directed. Some companies usually outsource these services but others have in-house call centres. Whatever the case, these call centres are usually filled with teams of companies’ customer relations officers trained to relate with customers and who are ready to answer customers’ queries, clarify issues or sort out their problems. For big companies, due to a large traffic of calls to these centres, calls not going through usually translate to possibly losing clients. To avoid this, most companies have come up with toll-free texting services and e-mails where consumers’ queries are dealt with and the response set via the same method. These centres have proven worthwhile for providers who then assess different situations to make their services better, both to attract new customers and to retain current ones. Improving Service Quality and Productivity Strategic alliances are another form of service product that companies in the UK mobile phone industry have adopted in order to attract and satisfy consumers. Most strategic alliances in the industry have been between the handset providers and the service providers. For instance, in order to introduce a new phone with different features in the market, a handset manufacturing company could form an alliance with a leading service provider that also provide benefits of the service provider. In this way, both companies benefit from the alliance. The alliance also benefits consumers since such packages are usually offered at lower prices than if the services and the handsets were sold separately. An illustration of a mobile phone alliance is UK mobile operator 3 offering BMG music videos for download to its customers with mobile phones (West, Ford & Ibrahim 2010). Apart from providing new services and products to the market, it is also imperative for companies in a competitive industry, especially in technology, to improve their service quality and productivity. Most companies when starting out usually have very good services and this helps launch the businesses in the market. However, after a while, most companies’ services tend to deteriorate leading to an out flux of consumers as they look for better services. The mobile phone industry is no exception. However, most companies realize the importance of maintaining quality services in order to maintain the customers and keep them satisfied and happy. Due to the fast pace at which technology in the mobile phone industry changes, it is tempting for companies to offer sub-standard services in order to cut down costs (Herotsc 2010). The slackening may be caused by using old systems that do not meet the demands of current clients, use of outdated technology to solve upcoming problems, to mention but a few. The offering of such services may end up being costly to organizations that do not upgrade. Productivity of employees is also important in any mobile phone company. An increase in employee productivity results in more customers served well, lower costs to the company and to consumers and higher profits for mobile phone companies. Employee productivity can be increased through several ways. Because of the high turnover of employees in the mobile phone industry in the UK, it is important for companies in the industry to strike a balance between exceeding consumer expectation and increasing employee productivity. For this to be achieved, it is important for firms to value their employees by not only treating them with respect, but also give them opportunities to grow in terms of their careers. Satisfied employees tend to work harder and be more productive than disgruntled ones. With all the pressures related to working in the mobile phone industry, companies in such an industry should strive to give support and morale to their staff members if the industry is to play its role in providing worthwhile employment to qualified individuals. Improving on quality of services and productivity has seen many firms in the mobile phone industry cut down on costs by getting rid of inefficient systems and streamlining their systems. The upside of such a move is that the lower costs of operation means that the services provided to the customers are at a cheaper rate, while the companies’ profit margin is increased. As mentioned earlier, inefficiencies can be eliminated by improving on technology and formulation of policies that utilize least resources and come up with worthwhile results. Competition in the world of mobile phones is another factor that has led to firms seeking to be efficient in order to remain afloat in the corporate world. Many companies in the mobile phone sector have also had to keep redesigning jobs for their personnel in order to keep up with current trends and demands in the industry. This helps in increasing productivity and providing relevant services to customers. Recommendations Because of the volatility of the mobile industry and the huge contributions made by it to the country’s economy, recommendations to improve the industry are several and of different natures, especially regarding service provision. First, because the mobile phone industry is still young and probably at its peak, it is highly recommended that the players in the industry put more funds in researching the hazards of long-term use of mobile phones. Though there have been raging debates on whether such long-term use is harmful to consumers, nothing substantial has been discovered or done about it. The importance of such a move is to anticipate the possibilities and causes and deal with them before they get out of hand. Another recommendation would be to have authorities come up with faster ways to regulate the mobile phone industry in order to protect innocent consumers. Regulations should be focused on areas such as mobile money transfers, registration of phones and telephone numbers as well as any other issue that may lead to exploitation of the general public. It is also highly recommended for mobile phone companies to be made at least liable to the increasing role in pollution that dead telephones pose to the environment. Admittedly, several dead mobile phones are disposed of every year, and since not all parts can be recycled, those that do not pose a danger to society. A better approach would be for manufacturers of mobile phones to look for alternative, environment- friendly materials to manufacture phones; in the long-run the benefits of this method outweigh the costs incurred (West, Ford & Ibrahim 2010). It would also be a good recommendation if the general public is educated on the proper use of mobile phones. Parents, especially, should be cautioned on acquiring mobile phones for children who are below a certain age. Although the intentions of such gestures might be innocent and noble, these same gestures might prove harmful to children by exposing them to dangers associated with mobile phones at early ages. Conclusions In conclusion, the mobile phone industry is a multi-billion dollar one that is set to revolutionize the world. However, as much as there are many benefits associated with this, the downsides should not be overlooked, especially in the provision of better services to users of mobile phones. (Word count 2011) Works Cited Blueflag, 2010, Customer Case Study, viewed 5 January 2011, . Ericsson, 2009, Customer Support, viewed 5 January 2011 . Farley, T, 2007, ‘The Cell-Phone Revolution’, American heritage of invention & technology, vol. 22, no. 3, pp 8–19. Fluhr, Z & Nussbaum, E, 1973, ‘Switching Plan for a Cellular Mobile Telephone System’, IEEE Transactions on Communications vol.21, no.11 p. 1281. Herotsc, 2010, An Overview, viewed 5 January 2011, < http://www.herotsc.co.uk/why-herotsc-detail-68>. Kebaso, G, 2010, ‘Bharti Airtel's Strategy – Africa’, Kenya London News. Ray, B, 2009, Ofcom coughs 3G coverage maps, Viewed 5 January 2011, < http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/08/3g_coverage_maps/>. West, F, Ford F, & Ibrahim, H, 2010, Strategic Marketing, 2nd edn. , Oxford University Press, Oxford. Viewed 5 January 2011, . Read More