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CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AMONG B2B CUSTOMERS OF RELIENCE

COMMUNICATION IN TAMILNADU

PTOJECT GUIDE

DR. P. MOHAN SUYAMBURAJ,

PROFESSOR,

THIAGARAJAR SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, MADURAI

BY

ANAND NATARAJAN S

ANANTHI.I

ANUP KANNAN G

EGBERT PRADESH DE PATRIC

EVANGELIN

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CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction:

Customer satisfaction has been used as key performance indicator, not only in relation to

marketing but also in broader economic and management contexts. Customer satisfaction is the

crucial factor which is used to measure the company’s internal and external performances and

assigning funds to each and every activity. Thus achieving the right service quality is important

as it is the driving force for customer satisfaction. Service is a key factor for customer

satisfaction although this is not the only factor which is responsible for customer satisfaction.

This paper investigated the factors influencing customer satisfaction in Telecom Industry. It also

concentrates in finding the customer satisfaction rating of Internet Service Providers by

enterprises. The enterprise customers of Reliance Communication were selected as the basis of

this study. The scope of the study is limited to the Wire line services offered by Reliance

Communications.

1.2 Importance of the Study:

Today the Indian telecommunications network with over 375 Million subscribers is the

second largest network in the world after China. India is also the fastest growing telecom

market in the world with an addition of 9- 10 million monthly subscribers. The Department of

Telecommunications has been able to provide state-of-the-art world-class infrastructure at

globally competitive tariffs and reduce the digital divide by extending connectivity to the

unconnected areas. Thus Indian telecom sector has come a long way in achieving its dream of

providing affordable and effective communication facilities to Indian citizens. The reform

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measures coupled with the proactive measures of the Department of Telecommunications have

resulted in an unprecedented growth of the Telecom sector. India's telecom sector has shown

massive upsurge in the recent years in all respects of industrial growth. From the status of state

monopoly with very limited growth, it has grown in to the level of an industry.The intensive

competitive environment makes it essential for the Reliance Communication to retain its

profitable customer base by increasing their satisfaction levels.

1.3 Objectives of the Study:

To understand the enterprise’s organisation buying behavior for Telecom services

To identify the factors influencing customer satisfaction in the Telecom industry

To determine the satisfaction level of enterprise customers of Reliance Communication

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CHAPTER II – INDUSTRY AND ORGANISATION PROFILE

2.1 Telecommunication Industry:

Indian telecom sector is more than 165 years old. Telecommunications was first

introduced in India in 1851 when the first operational land lines were laid by the government

near Kolkata, although telephone services were formally introduced in India much later in 1881.

The Indian telecom sector was entirely under government ownership until 1984, when the private

sector was allowed in telecommunication equipment manufacturing only. The government

concretized its earlier efforts towards developing R&D in the sector by setting up an autonomous

body – Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) in 1984 to develop state-of-the-art

telecommunication technology to meet the growing needs of the Indian telecommunication

network.Until the late 90s the Government of India held a monopoly on all types of

communications – as a result of the Telegraph Act of 1885.

At present India is the world’s second-largest telecommunications market. The telecom

industry in India is likely to contribute US$ 400 billion to the country’s gross domestic product

(GDP) and has the potential to generate about 4.1 million additional jobs by 2020. The

telecommunications industry attracted foreign direct investments (FDI) worth US$ 59,796

million from April 2000 to January 2014, an increase of 6 per cent to the total FDI inflows in

terms of US. India’s global system for mobile (GSM) operators added 4.14 million rural

subscribers in January 2014, taking the total to 285.35 million. The Government of India has

approved the Empowered Group of Minister's decision on spectrum pricing. The Group had

endorsed the Telecom Commission's proposal to fix reserve price for the 1,800 megahertz (MHz)

and 900 MHz spectrum bands. Liberalized FDI policy in telecommunication has been proposed

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in the Union Budget 2014-15 to attract large investments. In addition, the states will partner in

development so as to enable the Centre to focus on telecommunications besides other sectors.

Wire line subscriber base declined from 28.59 million at the end of February, 2014 to

28.49 Million at the end of March, 2014. Net reduction in wire line subscriber base was 0.11

million at the decline rate of 0.37%. The share of urban subscribers has increased from 78.99%

to 79.09% whereas share of rural subscribers has decreased from 21.01% to 20.91%. The

graphical presentation of market share of all service providers as on 31st March, 2014 is given

below.

Service Provider wise Market Share as on 31st March 2014 (Wire line)

2.2 Reliance Communication:

Reliance Communications Ltd. (commonly called RCOM) is an Indian broadband and

telecommunications company headquartered in Navi Mumbai, India. RCOM is India's second

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largest telecom operator, only after BhartiAirtel. It is world's 15th largest mobile phone operator

with over 150 million subscribers. Established in 2004, it is a subsidiary of the Reliance Group.

The company has five segments: Wireless segment includes wireless operations of the company;

broadband segment includes broadband operations of the company; Global segment include

national long distance and international long distance operations of the company and the

wholesale operations of its subsidiaries; Investment segment includes investment activities of the

Group companies, and Other segment consists of the customer care activities and direct-to-home

(DTH) activities.

In India, RCOM mainly provides wireless telecom services to the consumer segment. It

also provides voice, long distance services and broadband access to enterprise customers. In

addition, it includes managed internet data centers and direct to home business as well. Indian

operations has been further categorized into voice, non-voice and others segments. Voice

segment constitutes business generated mainly from the wireless customers and 1.2 million wire

line customers. The Others segment constitute activities such as managed internet data centers

and direct-to-home business etc. RCOM provides gamut of services in mobile and fixed wireless

voice, data, and value added services for individual consumers and enterprises. RCOM are now

the only player in the country offering both GSM and CDMA services on a nationwide basis. As

on date, RCOM have rolled-out 3G services in all the 13 circles where RCOM have won 3G

spectrum, covering over 333 towns. RCOM not only provide telecom connectivity to the mass

market consumer segment but also, as an Integrated Telecom Service Provider, it offer total

telecom solutions to our Corporate, SME & Solo customers. RCOM portfolio of products

includes mobile handsets, fixed wireless phones/terminals, tablets, high-speed internet data cards

and Blackberry services. RCOM primary brands are Reliance Mobile for the mobile portfolio of

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services, Reliance Hello for the fixed wireless portfolio of services, Reliance Pro and Reliance

Pro3 for CDMA wireless data services and Reliance 3G for 3G Services. It offers a unique

wireless multimedia experience under the brand Reliance Mobile World. RCOM also offer

public calling office (“PCO”) services over our wireless network through independent retail

operators of such facilities. Additionally, it provides connectivity for devices such as point of

sale terminals, lottery terminals, and ATM terminals.

RCOM are also India’s first DTH Player to offer Consumer Loyalty Program. This is the

first time in Indian DTH industry’s history that the consumer will get rewarded for long term

association. For every rupee spent on Reliance Digital TV subscription, the consumer will now

earn reward points which can be redeemed against various Reliance Digital TV services. During

the past 12 months, there has been a significant enhancement in the already stable product

quality. RCOM Set Top Box (STB) Failure Rate is 0.7%, which is amongst the best

internationally & by far the best in India. After the great success of our revolutionary Zero Plan

offering with Apple iPhones in India, it have extended our first of its kind offering in the Indian

Telecom industry to other smart phones partners such as HTC and Nokia.

2.2.1 Products and services:

Voice Products: E1 DID, Centrex, PBX trunks, One Office Duo, Toll free, Audio conferencing,

and fixed line phones.

Data products: VPN, leased lines, IPLCs, Ethernet, video conferencing, Remote Access VPN

and broadband internet.

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Strengths

• Largest consumer base in India.

• Largest company by market capture in India.

• It has Strategic alliance with leading companies like Nokia.

• It operates across 19 countries in the world.

Weakness

• It could not capture rural market yet.

• According to TRAI customer complaint rates are high.

• Improper implementation of rebranding strategy.

Opportunities

• Global telecommunications and new technology brands see Airtel as a key strategic player in the Indian market.

• Explore rural market.

• Acquisition of smaller companies as they cannot stand by their own.

• Increase the consumer base.

Threats

• Quality of service.

• TRAI regulations on auctions of spectrum.

• Price competition from BSNL and Reliance.

Airtel

Strengths

• Low Cost Service Provider.

• Fast Activation Process.

• Provide data services through fiber wire line.

Weakness

• Branding image, Distribution problem.

• Customer Support is very poor.

• Lack of competitive strength.

Opportunities

• Introducing latest and low cost technology.

• Aggressive Move into the Rural Market.

• Overseas Investments.

Threats

• New entrant's low price offering

• Quicker Than Expected Slowing of Growth in the Indian Marketplace

Reliance

2.3 Market Dynamism:

SWOT ANALYSIS OF AIRTEL

SWOT ANALYSIS OF RELIANCE

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Strengths

• Competitive pricing policy.

• Provides good and a self-motivated work environment to its employees.

• Corporate culture of mutual respect and maintains solid partnerships with its customers.

Weakness

• Investing too much in R&D but its marketing skills are below average.

• It is losing its customers because the competitors are chasing close behind.

Opportunities

• Improve the marketing skills.

• Establish a world-wide knowledge-broadcast system via internet.

• Strengthen and expedite research &development to deliver products oftop international standards.

Threats

• External factors like politicalinstability and economic instability

• Market saturation in term ofbusiness opportunities available inthe conventional telecom business.

BSNL

SWOT ANALYSIS OF BSNL

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CHAPTER III – ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER

3.1 Buying Criteria:

The enterprise customers of Reliance Communication were contacted and interviewed

with open ended questions to understand the procedures and the criteria for the selection of

telecom service providers in their organization. Some of the important attributes that have been

mentioned to be looked on while procuring a new telecom service are:

Competitive price for the service requested, considering the distance between endpoints

or from premises to carrier POP

Quick order processing and rapid provisioning after order is completed

Service Quality, Functionality and Performance

Availability and Reliability

Customer service, support and trouble-shooting problems

Fast restoration of service after an outage

Rapid re-provisioning to accommodate moves and changes and to add or delete end

points

Reputation of brand

3.2 Customer Satisfaction:

The intense competition in the telecom industry makes it essential for the telecom

operators to satisfy the customers in order to maintain long term relationships with them. The

factors that influence customer satisfaction in the Telecom industry have been identified using a

survey. The survey respondents are the enterprise customers of the Reliance Communication.

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The results corresponding to the factors influencing customer satisfaction and customer

satisfaction ratings provided by the enterprise customers are given below:

S.No Factor Influencing Customer Satisfaction

Internet Service Providers (Ratings)

Airtel BSNL Reliance Tata Vodafone

1 Network Presence 3.85 3.38 3.95 4.1 3.95

2 Customer Support 3.69 2.25 3.65 4.07 3.67

3 Billing System 3.15 2.75 4.05 3.86 3.58

4 Key Account Management 3.23 2.75 3.85 3.86 3.75

5 Response time 3.54 3.13 3.40 3.71 4.58

6 Future Consideration 4.08 3.00 3.60 3.43 4.25

7 Recommend to other customers 3.69 2.88 3.60 3.93 3.83

8 Overall rating 3.60 2.88 3.73 3.81 3.89

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4.1 Network Presence

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4.2 Customer Support

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4.4 Key Account Manager

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Network

Presence

Customer

Support

Billing

System

KAM Response

time

Future

Consideration

Recommend

to other

customers

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Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction

Customer Satisfaction Rating of RCOM Customers

The results of the study showthat Reliance has strong network presence when compared

to other Internet Service Provider. Reliance has a well-developed SAP software module for

Accounting System which helps customer to prepare their invoice and billing easy. The result

indicates that the Customers are satisfied with the Billing system of Reliance Communication.

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4.5 Response time

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4.6 Overall rating

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Key account management helps to develop relationship between the buying and selling

organizations which improve customer satisfaction and help ensure customer retention. Reliance

customer are satisfied with the Key account Manager. Handling customer-complaint effectively

leads to customer satisfaction. The effects of perceived losses arising from transactions or service

failures on duration times are directly weighed by prior satisfaction. Reliance customer support

representative lacks knowledge in trouble shooting a problem. Customers are satisfied with Tata

support service when compared to other Internet Service Providers.

The duration of the service provider-customer relationship also depends on whether

customers experienced service transactions or failures. The response time to solve the trouble

ticket takes long period, so the Reliance customers are unsatisfied with the trouble ticket solving.

The response of the study showed that the 90% of the Reliance Customer will consider RCOM

services on account of future requirement. Since customers weigh satisfaction heavily,

organizations should focus on customers in the early stages of the Service failures - if customers'

experiences are not satisfactory, the relationship is likely to be very short.

Unfortunately, organizations with good prior service levels will suffer more, when

customers perceive that they have suffered a loss arising from a service encounter due to the

existence of contrast effects. However, experienced customers are less sensitive to such losses

because they tend to weigh prior satisfaction levels heavily.

3.3 Key Findings:

Customers expect both the key account manager and the organization which she/he

represents to have integrity. As with any sound relationship, it is important that the key customer

be able to trust the provider and its representative. 70% of the sample survey responded that the

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Key Account Manager of RCOM has sound relationship with the internal members and key

customers. It is concluded that network presence, customer support; Key Account Manager and

Billing System are the key factors contributing towards customer satisfaction in Telecom

Industry.Furthermore, customer services also impact the customer satisfaction regarding any

service provider. The customer services staff should be good enough to handle the customers’

complaint regarding any service. Keeping the findings of this research it is very obvious that the

RCOM should continue to emphasize on Customer support and Response time to trouble shoot a

problem for consumer satisfaction in telecom industry.Since network presence also influences

customer satisfaction. The problem of coverage in which the customers are not able to gain

services from any of the service provider can compel the customers towards Service Provider

switching in order to get the coverage in any particular area.

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CHAPTER IV – CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1 Conclusion:

This study gave a broad overview of the enterprise’s buying behavior with respect to the

telecom services and the factors that has to be looked upon by Reliance Communication to

satisfy and maintain long-term customer relationships. This result accomplished the importance

of Key Accounts. Key accounts typically receive premium customer service in order to

maximize customer satisfaction. It is an attempt to increase the satisfaction and retention of those

customers who are best able to help the provider organization meets its strategic goals. Further,

key account management is used to help organizations that provide products and services to

focus more attention on those customers and potential customers that can best positively impact

their bottom line.

4.2 Recommendations:

An increasingly popular approach to marketing and customer service in many

organizations is to identify key customer accounts that generate a significant proportion of

revenue and assign them special attention and management. We are recommending Key Account

Manager to concentrate on potential customers that will yield the highest return on investment

for the key account management efforts.

The quality of staff and its impact on the quality of customer service are vital in

gaining a competitive advantage. Thus, employees should be viewed as the organization’s most

valuable asset and treated as internal customers. We recommend Reliance Management to treat

employees as customers which could give the organization a competitive edge.

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The customer representative and technical team members should be trained periodically

to improve their coordination level. Reliance Management should concentrate on internal

coordination between customer representative and technical team which are future consideration

factor and recommendation to members about reliance products.

4.3 Limitations:

The study was restricted to only those clients who were related to Reliance

Communications’ products. The sample size was limited, so the results obtained from the study

may not be generalized for the whole population. The time period of the study was not sufficient

to measure the consumer’s response effectively and reach to a more valid conclusion. Many of

the respondents may not have given the correct information due to personal bias.

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Issue 1, p45. 21p.

Websites

www.trai.gov.in

www.rcom.co.in

www.cci.in

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