Telia tries shocking new strategy: improving customer experience

Telcos in the UK might not understand what it means to be customer centric, but the Swedes seem to be having a solid crack at it. Well, Telia at least.

The point of attack here is an app called ‘Min Mobile’, developed by a company called eBuilder, which Telia has a non-controlling stake in. Essentially it is a platform which collects information about you and how you use you device, but then offers advice on how you can improve performance.

It’s an interesting strategy to re-engage customers, who are starting to forget about the operator. Telia’s Gustav Berghog highlighted to us the user is now more concerned with the handset manufacturer and the flashy content providers/OTTs; there is a risk the operator will be thought as nothing more than a commodity, and therefore traded out without much thought or emotional loss.

Ideas like ‘Min Mobile’ are designed to take Telia back into the customer life. The team want to show the operator is more than just a connectivity provider, but provide an experience which adds value. This idea of ‘positive discounting’, as Berghog describes it, removes the idea of an operator relationship being transactional, and aims to create an element of loyalty. That’s ultimately what ‘Min Mobile’ is; a customer retention strategy.

So how does the app work? Once downloaded, the app monitors how you use your device, and aims to predicts any flaws or errors on the device. The app currently monitors four areas; storage, battery, general performance and device condition/age. There are plans to extend in others, but these address the main pain points for consumers for the moment.

After monitoring your device for a while, the app might figure out that your battery performance is 15% less than other users on the same one. Using this information, Telia can make communication with you much more personalised. The might send out a message with tips focused on improving battery life to you, but your partner might get one on storage tricks, as this was an issue highlighted on their device. It is much more appealing, a step away from the general ‘engagement’ messaging which most operators make use of, and it is pretty useful as well.

Data usage is another area which the team might investigate. By monitoring your geographical location and where you turn your wifi on, a pattern will soon emerge. For those who are data conscious, a small reminder to turn on your wifi would be a good little value add. These are not ground breaking ideas, but tie enough of them together and they start to make a difference.

And it seems the Swedes like it as well. Since launching in January, the app has been downloaded 100,000 times, 76% of those downloads retained, and has a rating of 4.5/5 on Google Play. For those who have the app, the Net Promoter Score is 29, compared to a score of 1 when they don’t.  Berghog wasn’t able to say whether this has had a direct positive impact on churn rates, but the early signs are certainly good ones.

But it should be worth noting Telia also plan to make money off this data as well. By collecting information around storage, battery, general performance and device age/condition, and combining that with other data sets such as customer demographic, handset type and historical upgrading behaviour, Telia can start to develop a purchase pattern for each customer. This can be used to approach the customer at the right time to renew an agreement or upsell to more premium products.

Customer retention is clearly an objective for Telia, and creating these purchase patterns mean the team can engage the customer earlier in the process. Potentially the team can start that conversation before the customer get curious by other deals.

Berghog thinks there is also another way the team can provide value by becoming a bit of a broker for the mobile industry. All the data which has been collected so far not only allows Telia to increase engagement, avoid churn and upsell new products, it also tells the team about how you use your device specifically. An ambition for Berghog is to become an independent advisor to the customer.

Imagine you currently have a Samsung handset. With all of this information, Telia might be able to say because the way you use the device, the new Huawei model might be more suitable. It might also be able to suggest not to update to the newest version of an operating system, for example, because that would not suit the way you use your device. Helping the customer make more informed decisions is one way in which Berghog feels Telia can add value and create an emotional connection to the customer.

The best ideas are the ones where both sides of the equation feel they have gained something. This is one of the instances where it could be true. The customer gets a better experience, and potentially a better deal, whereas Telia increases customers loyalty. It is still early days for the moment; Berghog highlighted the team need to validate the benefits to Telia, while also scaling to the rest of the user base, but the early signs are certainly positive.