organization part

8/8/2019 Organization Part

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Executive Summary

GrameenPhone Ltd. (GP) is a highly growing company.

Considering the importance of customer satisfaction,

this internship report was designed to assess the

satisfaction level of GPs subscribers. Although

GrameenPhone is leading the market of mobile

telecommunication industry and their customers are

not fully satisfied with their services. If GP does

not take care of these dissatisfactions and another

company enters the market with similar offers, it

will be difficult for GrameenPhone to keep the

current market share intact. Significant

dissatisfactions were observed in the factors like

quality of air time and network availability,

service of helpline, service of info centers, high

billing rate, and so on. Customer satisfaction was

observed in the areas like initial price, wide

network etc. Most importantly, a significant portion

of the GP subscribers were found not be loyal toward

the company. After discovering the dissatisfactions,

the GAPs Model of service quality was applied to

identify company gaps of GrameenPhone. To close

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the gaps, this paper comes up with some

recommendations. Following those recommendations,

GrameenPhone can eliminate the dissatisfactions and

thus earn a sustainable distinct competitive

advantage to continue their market leadership.

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1. Introduction

Topic of my internship project is Assessing the

Customer Satisfaction of GrameenPhone Ltd. I got

the opportunity to do my internship at Grameen Phone

Ltd. I have been working for their Customer

Management Division. As mentioned earlier, this

division consists of 2090 employees. As the name

implies, it deals with the customers after the sales

occurs. Main activities of this division includes

maintaining databases of the customers, preparing

the bills, distributing bills, activating new

connections, helpline service, collection of bill

through different banks all over the country, and

the other after sales services.

As a member of GPs Customer Management Division, my

job is to provide different services to our valued

subscribers over telephone, which is the helpline

service. In other words, my job is to satisfy the

subscribers.

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2. Objectives

This paper was designed to accomplish three

objectives. From my point of view, these issues are

very important find out the gap between expectation

and perception of the subscribers and to eliminate

dissatisfaction. Through this study, I tried to

attain the following objectives:

Prime objective of my study was to find out the

satisfaction level of Grameen Phone subscribers.

As an outcome of the prime objective, I tried to

notice the specific areas of dissatisfaction of

the GP users.

I applied the GAPs Model of service quality to

find out both the customer and provider gaps.

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3. Significance of the Study

We came to know that GrameenPhone is the market

leader in the mobile telecommunication industry of

Bangladesh. Their growth rate is very high. But in

this edge of competition, it is very difficult to

keep the leading edge intact. Companies need to come

up with new ideas to remain competitive. They need

to keep their customers satisfied.

So, it is very important for Grameen Phone to know

whether their customers are satisfied or not. If

the customers are not satisfied, GP can specify the

zones of dissatisfaction and take necessary actions

to remove the dissatisfactions.

Hence, I decided to work on this topic.

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4. Hypothesis

My hypothesis is, Although Grameen Phone is leading

the market of mobile telecommunication industry with

a sharp distance, and their customers are not fully

satisfied with the companys services. If GP does



will be difficult for Grameen Phone to keep the

current market share intact.

In my hypothesis, I have first admitted that Grameen

Phone is the market leader of the mobile

telecommunication industry of Bangladesh. As per the

market share data, there is no scope for

argumentation on this issue. But I assumed that the

customers of GP are not fully satisfied and loyal to

GP.

My logic behind this assumption was: GP is a highly

growing company. It tripled its subscriber base in

the year 2000 and now it is almost 103, 54,666 up to

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17 Oct 2006. In this high growth situation, it is

very difficult to keep the customers satisfied.

Another assumption of my hypothesis was, if GP does

not take care of the dissatisfactions and another

company comes with similar offer, it will be

difficult for GrameenPhone to keep their market

share intact.

The logic that supported this idea was: I assumed

GPs customers are not brand loyal. They are using

GPs service as they do not have any suitable

alternative. So, if a big player form another

industry enters this business, it can be challenging

for GrameenPhone.

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5. Methodology

In my study I mainly depended on Secondary data that

was collected through company internal and external

website. I have also collected data from companys

different division sources.

I also collected data and necessary information by

interviewing officials of GP. These can be treated

as secondary data.

After the analysis my experience, I have applied the

GAPs Model of service quality on my findings.

Finally, I came up with my recommendations.

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6. Introducing the Company

Grameen Phone Ltd. (GP) is the market leader in the

mobile telecommunication industry of Bangladesh.

The address of its Head Office is: Celebration

Point, Plot No. 3 & 5, Road No. 113/A, Gulshan-2,

Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh. GP is a joint venture

between Bangladesh and Norway. Major shareholders

are Telenor (68%) and Grameen Telecom (38%). Telenor

is the state owned telecommunication company of

Norway. It has operations in different countries of

the world. On the other hand, Grameen Telecom is the

sister concern Grameen Bank, one of the biggest Non

Government Organizations (NGO) of Bangladesh.

Principally GP was established in 1995. But due to

government policy, GP did not get permission to

start their operation. The license agreement was

signed on October 31, 1996. They started the hard

work of developing the infrastructure facilities in

the country. GP did not take much time to start its

operations. The commercial launch was on March 26,

1997. Bangladesh is a developing country. Per capita

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income here is very low. Very few people have access

to telecommunication. In this situation GP started

their operation here. GPs aim was to develop one

GSM cellular mobile communications network in

Bangladesh in competition with other GSM operators.

GP aims to provide the best possible technical

quality, customer service, and coverage also in the

rural areas at the most favorable prices, to as many

customers possible in Bangladesh.

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7. Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies

7.1 Vision

Were here to help we exist to help our customers

get the full benefit of communication service to our

daily lives. We want to make it easy for customers

to get what they want, when they want it.

7.2 Mission

Make it Easy We are practical. Everything we produce

should be easy to understand and use. Because we

never forget we are trying to make our customers'

lives easier.

Keep Promises Everything we set out to do should

work. If it doesn't, we are there to put things

right. We are about delivery, not over promising

actions not words.

Be Inspiring We are creative. We bring energy and

imagination to our work. We want to be a partner in

the development of our community. We are passionate

about our business, customers and our country.

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Be Respectful We acknowledge and respect the local

culture. We are respectful and professional in

regard to all our interactions, both internally and

externally. We are open, helpful and friendly.

7.3 Objective

To provide quality service at a affordable price

to as many as possible people.

To bring the whole country under the mobile

telecommunication network by the year 2005.

7.4 Strategy

GrameenPhones basic strategy is coverage of both

urban and rural areas. In contrast to the island

strategy followed by some companies, which involves

connecting isolated islands of urban coverage

through transmission links, Grameen Phone builds

continuous coverage, cell after cell. While the

intensity of coverage may vary from area to area

depending on market conditions, the basic strategy

of cell-to-cell coverage is applied throughout

Grameen Phones network.

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8. Products & Services offered by

GrameenPhone

In this section we will get introduced with

different products and services and the principal

functions of GP products and services.

GrameenPhones core offering is air-time (talking

time). GP provides this air-time with variations.

Their product line is much deeper than its

competitors. I would like to briefly focus on

different GP products and their features:

These attractive products and services are designed

to cater to the needs of the individual subscribers.

There are six products currently being offered by

GrameenPhone. The products are:

8.1 Core Products

GP Regular: This is the first offer of Grameen

Phone. This product can reach the local T&T, NWD,

ISD, and all mobiles across the country in both

incoming and out going way. The price of the package

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is 1200 taka. In this package, call charges are 4

taka in pick hour (8 am to 8 pm), 3 taka in off pick

(8pm to 11pm) and 2 taka in super off pick(11 pm to

8 am and monthly line rent 150 taka. Beside these 3

numbers can be kept as friends and family in which a

subscriber can talk a rate of 0.80 taka. As per new

promotional offer now GP to GP call rate 2.5 tk. For

T&T and ISD out going call, the normal T&T and ISD

charges will be added with GP outgoing call. For

incoming of T&T and ISD call first 5 minutes

incoming is free. After that 1 taka/minute will be

charged.

Any Time 300: This package is not available in the

market now. There is no monthly rent, but there is a

bundle fee of 1000 taka. Instead of this 1000 taka,

subscriber gets first 300 hundred minutes free for

call. If there is any out going call occurred after

this 300 minutes or if there is call to other mobile

phone like AKTEL, city cell, that that will cost 4

taka/minute at peak hour and 3 taka/minute at off

peak hour and GP to GP 2.5 taka/minute.

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Any Time 500: The price of the package is 2750 taka.

Here the bundle fee is 1500 taka and subscriber get

first 500 minutes with per second pulse for GP to GP

call. For extra call or other operators call, the

call charge is 3 taka/minute and GP to GP 2.5

taka/munite. For T&T and ISD out going, the T&T or

ISD charges will be added with 3 taka.

Gp Public Phone: The price of the package is 3450

taka. Here the commitment fee is 3000 taka and

subscriber get per second pulse for GP to GP call.

GP to GP call rate 1.90 taka/min and other operator

2.00 taka/min. For T&T and ISD out going, the T&T or

ISD charges will be added with 2.00 taka.

Village Pay Phone: This is a special type of product

of GP, distributed through Grameen Bank. This

product is sold only for business purpose and

especially to underdeveloped village women. They are

subsidized through half billing rate in comparison

to others. Its features are mostly common with GP

Regular.

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Easy Pre paid and Easy Gold: The price of the Easy

prepaid SIM card is 200 taka and Easy gold SIM card

is 400 taka. For both of them, out going to GP

operator is 2.5 taka and to other operator is 4.8

taka. Easy Gold subscriber enjoys T&T and ISD

incoming and out going facility. For T&T or ISD

incoming call, 1st minute is free and 2 taka occurred

from 2nd minute. For out going to T&T or ISD, 4.8

taka will be added with the government fixed BTTB

charges. For both of Gold and prepaid, my time, my

easy and My choice is applicable. If my choice is

activated, than other two can not be activated and

vice versa. In my time, a subscriber chooses his

preferable time slot 12 pm to 5 pm or 6 am to 11 am.

In this time slot, s/he can talk in 2.5 taka to GP

operators. In my easy, one number can kept in which

subscriber can talk 0.80 taka rate all the time. To

activate my choice subscriber need to pay 25 taka

initially. Than s/he can makes any out going call to

GP number only in 4 tk/minute rate.

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DJUICE: This package is executed towards young

generation. Price of this package 200 taka. Call

rate djuice to djuice is 2.40 Taka /minute. D Juice

to GP charge is 2.50 taka/minute.

8.2 Value added services

GP is offering the following value added services

along with the above mentioned products to its

subscribers:

Short Message Service (SMS) With this service,

GPs subscribers can send text messages of up to 160

characters from one GP handset to another. The

service comes with most of the products, free of

monthly charges. Such messages can also be sent to

other GSM phones in other networks abroad provided

the subscriber has the ISD options with his/her

service. The charge of sending SMS is 2 taka.

Voice Mail Service (VMS) This service works like

an answering machine. Anyone calling a GP subscriber

who is out of reach at that moment can leave a

message, which the subscriber can retrieve later.

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The service comes with most mobile products, free of

monthly charges.

Fax / Data Fax and data services are available in

post-paid packages for corporate clients. The

service enables users to send/receive fax and data

through their handsets by connecting to a PC/Laptop.

Standard GSM features Caller Identification, Call

Barring, Call Holding, Call Conference, and Call

Forwarding in both pre paid and Post-paid packages.

These GSM feature can be activated or deactivated

free of cost.

EDGE service: Grameen Phone is providing Edge

services under which a subscriber can use internet,

multi media message services and WAP. But for using

EDGE, the hand set of the subscriber should be EDGE

software supportable. There are two packages for

EDGE. In package 1 subscriber have to pay .02 taka

for per kilo byte browsing. But for package two,

subscriber will pay 1000 taka per month and against

that, s/he cal have unlimited browse.

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Voice SMS: GP provide voice sms service in which a

subscriber can leave a voice message of 30 seconds.

Last 10 voice sms is kept in GP server. For hearing

voice sms first time, there is no charge. But for

next each time one subscriber wants to hear, s/he

needs to pay 1 taka.

Additional features GP has set up a number of

information hotlines, which can be reached by

dialing a three digit number from the handset.

Call conferencing: By this feature, three to nine

subscriber van make call conferencing with each

other. The charge will be normal out going charge

for all of them.

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9. Industry Analysis

Mobile telecommunication industry in Bangladesh is

still in growth stage. Only five companies are

currently operating in the country. Another operator

will going to introduce soon. It was a question that

whether the market of the country is suitable for

this expensive technology or not. But after few

years of introduction, it has become one the biggest

industries of the country.

In the first half of 90s City Cell started the

journey of mobile industry in Bangladesh. In the

first few years it was the only company in the

industry. Naturally the price was too high and the

general people could not afford mobile phone during

that period of time. The company targeted only the

higher class of the society. During that time price

of mobile was above Tk 50,000/=. Naturally, the

growth of the industry was too slow. So, the

government decided to bring more companies in the

market and break the monopoly.

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After careful evaluation the government decided to

provide three licenses to Grameen Telephone, TM

International (AKTel), and Sheba Telecom. City Cell

is using AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System)

technology; all of these three companies are using

GSM (Global System for Mobile) technology. GSM is

the most popular mobile telecommunication technology

in the world. About 60% of the cell phone users of

the world use GSM technology.

I have already mentioned that the mobile

telecommunication industry is now in the growth

stage. Additional information is that the growth

rate is very high and GP is leading the market with

63.9% market share. It is increasing day to day, so

it is not possible to give the latest accurate data.

City Cell and AKTels market share is 3.92% and

18.67% respectively, and Bangla Link is the follower

with 12.1% market share (Up to September 15, 2006).

Teletalk a government won operator has 1.47% market

share. Another company warid telecom will start its

operation soon.

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10. SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and

Threat. This is a very important tool for a company

to analyze its internal and external environment.

Let us carry out a SWOT Analysis of Grameen Phone.

10.1 Strengths

Strong Shareholders: The shareholders of

GrameenPhone contribute their unique, in-depth

experience in both telecommunications and

development. The international shareholder brings

technological and business management expertise

while the local shareholder provides a presence

throughout Bangladesh and a deep understanding of

its economy. Telenor AS is the leading

Telecommunications Company of Norway listed in the

Oslo and NASDAQ Stock Exchanges. Telenor has played

a pioneering role in development of cellular

communications. Grameen Telecom is a not-for-profit

company and works in close collaboration with

Grameen Bank. The internationally reputed bank for

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the poor has the most extensive rural banking

network and expertise in microfinance.

Competitive price: Price is a big competitive

advantage for GP. GP is selling the hand-sets and

connection package at a very low rate. E.g. lowest

package rate of GP was TK 1999/=. The competitors

are no where near GP, in this regard.

Country-wide emerging network: We have already

mentioned about GPs emerging network. GP is

currently operating in 61 districts in the country.

The network is developing nearly in every month. The

competitors are also lagging far behind in this

regard.

Optical fiber network: GP is using the optical fiber

network of Bangladesh Railway. There is a contract

between Grameen Phone and Bangladesh Railway that GP

will use this network for the next 25 years. This

advantage enables GP to set a Nation Wide Network in

a very contemptible expense.

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Nation Wide Network: Grameen Phone has developed a

nationwide network. The subscribers like GP regular,

Easy Pre-Paid Service holders can roam throughout

the network without any change in billing rate. This

builds a very strong foundation for Grameen Phone in

the whole country.

International Roaming: As mentioned previously,

Grameen Phone is providing international roaming

facility to GP Regular subscribers. These

subscribers can avail this facility after fulfilling

some requirements. Currently GrameenPhone has 310

International Roaming partners with networks spread

across 109 countries in 6 continents as of August

2006.

Dynamic management team: Grameen Phone has a dynamic

management team that consists experts from both home

and abroad. This helps GP to always remain on track

and move forward at a consistent pace.

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24 hours customer service: GP has a 24 hour customer

service tool. This is popularly known as helpline.

This service keeps a continuous relationship with

the subscribers.

10.2 Weaknesses

Weak Coverage: GP has weak coverage in some

districts like Netrokona, Laxmipur, Naogaon,

Pirojpur, Maulvibazar, Habiganj, Coxs Bazar and so

on. As the subscribers complaints, they can not

communicate effectively in these weak networks.

Network development problem: I have already

mentioned that GP has an emerging network throughout

the country. It is always a problem to keep a

consistent service in a situation of frequent

development.

Lack of Education: Subscribers are not educated

enough to handle the mobile phone effectively. This

is very sophisticated technology and proper

knowledge is essential to handle these mobile sets.

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10.3 Opportunities

Leadership in the Tele Services: GP has the

opportunity to become the leader in the

telecommunication industry in the country, including

both mobiles and land phones. In fact, GP is

reducing the gap at a very fast pace.

Land Phone: Bangladesh Government has already

started to provide license to private sector to

setup land phone. Grameen Phone has a very good

reputation in the country. They can capitalize this

goodwill and take initiatives to enter the market of

land phone.

10.4 Threats

New Companies: There are rumors in the market that

some companies are trying to enter the market with

cheaper technology. As Bangladeshi people are very

much price sensitive, it might cause serious problem

for GP.

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Global Companies: As global companies like AT&T, BPL

are operating in India, they might think to enter

the Bangladeshi market with higher capital. If so,

it will be a huge threat for GP.

T&T Mobile: T&T is already of entering the mobile

telecommunication industry. It might come to the

business with unfair advantages and causes sever

problems for all other mobile phone operators.

Bangla Link and Citycells Recent Expansion Plan:

Among the existing competitors, City Cell and

Banglalink are planning to develop country wide

network. This can also divide the advantage that is

currently enjoyed by Grameen Phone alone.

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11. Assessing GrameenPhones Current State &

Future Direction

As my discussion shows, GP is doing great in its

business. Their market share is significantly high.

The mobile telecommunication industry is also

growing at a significant pace. From the angle of BCG

(Boston Consulting Group) Matrix, GP falls in the

Star group.

But, if we assess the external environment, we find,

the path for Grameen Phone is not that smooth. The

service of GP is extensively dependent on BTTB

(Bangladesh Telephone & Telegraph Board). In many

cases, GP did not get full support of the government

owned department.

E.g. Initially, GP provided connections that were

accessible to BTTB land phones. But at one point of

time, BTTB stopped to provide anymore support in

this regard. At that time GP had to innovate the

mobile to mobile concept to continue the business

growth.

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So, Grameen Phone is doing good to convert the

threats into opportunities. So, it has the scope to

enhance and strengthen its market position. To do

so, they need to put more stress on their policies

like efficiency, quality, innovation, and customer

responsiveness.

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12. Customer Satisfaction: From Theoretical

View

Customer satisfaction is the extent to which a

product or services perceived performance matches a

buyers expectations. If the product or services

performance falls short of expectations, the buyer

is dissatisfied. If performance matches or exceeds

expectations, the buyer is satisfied or delighted.

Expectations are based on customers past buying

experiences, the opinion of friends and associates,

and marketer and competitor information and

promises. Marketer must be careful to set the right

level of expectations. If they set expectations too

low, they may satisfy those who buy but fail to

attract enough buyers. In contrast, if they raise

expectations too high buyers are likely to be

disappointed. Dissatisfaction can arise either from

a decrease in product and service quality or from an

increase in customer expectations. In either case,

it presents an opportunity for companies that can

deliver superior customer value and satisfaction.

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Todays most successful companies are rising

expectationsand delivering performance to match.

Such companies track their customers expectations,

perceived company performance, and customer

satisfaction. Highly satisfied customers produce

several benefits for the company. Satisfied

customers are less price sensitive, remain customers

for a longer period, and talk favorably to others

about the company and its products & services.

Although the customer centered firm seeks to deliver

high customer satisfaction relative to its

competitors, it does not attempt to maximize

customer satisfaction. A company can always increase

customer satisfaction by lowering its price

increasing its services, but it may result in lower

profits. Thus, the purpose of marketing is to

generate customer value profitably. This requires a

very delicate balance: The marketer must continue to

generate more customer value and satisfaction but

not give away house.

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Now, we have a very good idea regarding the

importance of customer satisfaction. So, it is also

important for the company to know about the

satisfaction level of the customers. When any

problem is identified, it becomes easier to solve

the problem.

12.1 Winning Customers over the Telephone

How many times do we think that employee attitude is

communicated by phone? Very often the telephone is

the first and only contact that people have with our

organization. Make sure that this experience is the

best for us and our employees have to offer so that

first-time callers become repeat customers.

Smile when you answer the phone. Even if our hair is

on fire or the last caller chewed you out, pause for

a moment to put a smile on your face and in your

voice. Believe it or not, people can hear me smiling

through the phone.

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Answer the phone on the first ring. Certainly no

later than the third ring. If people have to wait

through rings four and five, they begin to think

that we have closed for the day; gone out of

business or just don't care. We live in a world that

expects instant gratification. Be sure we meet your

customers' expectations.

Ask permission before you put someone on hold. We

may have multiple lines ringing and a line of people

standing at our desk, but wait to hear the caller's

response. It is that person's choice to hold or not.

Try not to turn this move into a power play. When we

come back on the line, thank the person for holding.

If you have to ask the caller to continue to hold,

offer to take a number and return the call.

Transferring calls should be done with care. Before

we connect the caller to someone else's extension,

make sure that person is in and able to help. There

is nothing more frustrating than being transferred

over and over again and having to retell the same

story to a multitude of different people before

finding the right one.

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Before we send the call to co-worker. Give the

caller that person's name and number in case there

is a disconnect. Better yet, tell the caller who we

are and how to reach us if there is a problem. We

will have an extremely satisfied customer.

Always make an offer of help. It may not be our

department, our issue or our job, but if it is the

customer's problem, we need to show concern. Never

tell the caller " 'I don't know'" or "I can't help

you." The best response to a problem is a genuine

"Let me see what I can do or who I can find to help

you."

We will win customers and influence people every

time when we use good phone skills.

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12.2 Business Telephone Etiquette Tips

Make sure we speak clearly and are smiling as

we answer the phone; also identify ourselves.

Before placing a caller on hold, ask their

permission first and thank them.

It is better to return a call than to keep

someone on hold too long. If the phone rings

back to you, you've kept them on hold too long.

Do not forget to return the call as we

promised.

Do not permit the phone to ring into the office

more than three times.

Always use a pleasant, congenial and friendly

tone.

Never interrupt the person while he/she is

talking to you.

Never engage in an argument with a caller.

Do not handle an unhappy caller's concern

openly at the checkin-checkout desk.

Do not make it a habit of receiving personal

calls at work.

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Do not answer the phone if we are eating or

chewing gum.

Do not give the impression that we are rushed.

It is better to return the call when we can

give the person the time they need to handle

the reason for their call.

Learn how to handle several callers

simultaneously with ease and grace.

Always get the best number (and an alternate)

and the best time to have a call returned to

the caller, especially if a manager or another

team member must return the call.

Always make collection calls in private and

away from the patient flow or public areas.

If possible, provide a telephone for

patients/customers/clients to use. An area

providing privacy is preferred.

Do not call a patient, customer or client's

home before 8:00AM or after 9:00PM, unless

they've given you permission to do so.

When hanging up the phone, make sure the caller

or person called hangs up first if the phone is

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slammed on the receiver. Otherwise, always hang

up the phone, gently. I recommend a remote,

handless headset for the business staff. They

are wonderful. This will solve hanging up as we

push release on the headset to hang up the

phone.

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13. Customer Satisfaction Factors of GP

Grameen Phone is a highly growing mobile company. In

mobile telecommunication industry, there are direct

and indirect factors that influence customer

satisfaction. I tried to focus on the most important

factors that influence customer satisfaction at

Grameen Phone.

Airtime

Airtime is the core offering of Grameen Phone. So,

quality of communication, network availability etc.

are the most important customer satisfaction

factors. Quality of airtime depends on the ratio of

subscribers and transmission base stations. If the

numbers of subscribers are increased without

developing the network, quality of airtime goes

down.

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After Sales Services

After sales service is very important in the mobile

telecommunication industry. GP has extensive after

sales customer care tools. I would like to focus on

these tools one by one:

Helpline

GP has the only 24 hours helpline service in

Bangladesh. In my paper I tried to focus on the

existing operations of the helpline service of GP,

which will enable us to understand the importance of

the helpline service.

A GP subscriber needs to dial 121 to reach

GrameenPhone Helpline. It is computer aided

information base to afford immediate access to the

information about the subscribers. But the

operations are done manually.

After dialing 121 the subscriber is first welcomed

by an automated and standardized process. Then s/he

needs to wait for few seconds. After that the

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subscriber reaches the Customer Manager. The CM

starts the conversation with a greeting.

If the inquiry is regarding general information, the

customer Manager does not need to take help of

information system. S/he just provides the

information and the subscriber keeps the phone.

There are some queries that are very much more

personalized and the CM needs to get into the

account of that particular subscriber and provide

the service. In some cases the subscriber just keeps

the complaint/request and later action is needed to

be taken.

Customers need to pay TK 3 per minute to take the

service from helpline.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

This is a newly introduced service by Grameen Phone.

This is an automated helpline service. A GP

subscriber needs to dial 121 to reach this service.

After that s/he can get information regarding bill,

usage, credit policy, bank name that receives GPs

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bill, and so on by choosing different options. It is

free of charge for the first minute, from the second

minute the subscriber needs to pay TK 3 per minute.

GrameenPhone Centers (GPC)

Most of the problems of the subscribers are solved

by the helpline service. But there are some problems

that can not be solved there. Subscribers need to

come physically to deal with those problems. Grameen

Phone has Fourteen GrameenPhone centers that are

popularly known as GPC.

These GP centers are situated in the prime

divisional head-quarters like Dhaka, Chittagong,

Sylhet, Rajshahi, and Khulna, Rangpur. In these

information centers, the subscribers can come

directly with their problems like billing (wrong

bill, detailed bill etc.), address change, SIM

change, handset problems etc.

These after sales services are very crucial to keep

the subscribers satisfied regarding GrameenPhone.

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14. Analysis of My experience

As mentioned for several times, Grameen Phone is the

leading company in the mobile telecommunication

industry of Bangladesh. It has been successful to

build a superior image in comparison to the other

operators. In other words, GP has a clear advantage

over the competitors.

Grameen Phone has some additional features in

comparison to its competitors. It is playing a vital

role to increase the subscribers of Grameen Phone.

Another important thing is that GP users are mostly

satisfied with the initial price of GP connections

and hand-sets. Because, before GPs introduction to

the market, mobile phones were totally out of reach

to the major part of the current market. Moreover,

Grameen Phone subscribers are happy with the

country-wide network.

But overall, GP users are not satisfied with service

of the company. Many important factors are acting as

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reasons behind this overall dissatisfaction. Quality

of airtime and network availability is not

satisfactory. Grameen Phone network are not always

available. This is especially true for the Pre-Paid

service or when special service offer.

The GP centers of GP are very important for some

after-sales services. But, these have shortage of

capacity. It is a stressful job to go there and

avail expected service. Dhaka GP Center is located

at Gulshan, Dhanmondi, Motijheel, Uttara and Mirpur

and for most of the people it is not the center

point. Similarly, GP helpline is also an important

customer care tool. But it is also in shortage of

capacity. Subscribers need to spend significant

amount of time to reach the customer care. Behavior

of the helpline CM (Customer Manager) is also

questionable. But if we think from their end (CM) it

is too tough to handle a large numbers of

subscribers with a smiling face continuously. Again

the problem is capacity.

Most of the subscribers are not happy with the

billing rate of Grameen Phone. They think it is too

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high in the context of Bangladesh. But they are

still using the service as they do not have any

alternative to switch. If anyone comes up with lower

price, GP might face challenge.

Another significant dissatisfaction of the GP users

is that most of the GP connections are mobile to

mobile. They do not have access to BTTB. But it is

important for many subscribers to get this service.

Most alarming thing is that most of the Grameen

Phone users are not loyal towards the company. If

any other company comes up with same sort of

services, the GP subscribers might switch to that

company.

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15. Applying the GAPs Model of Service

Quality

Customer perceptions are subjective assessments of

actual service experience. The following figure

correspond to two concepts: customer expectations

and customer perceptions--that play a major role in

service marketing. Customer expectations are the

standards of or reference points for performance,

against which service experiences are compared, and

are often formulated in terms of what a customer

believes, should or will happen.

GAP

Figure: The Customer GAP

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Expected

Service

Perceived

Service


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The sources of customer expectations consists of

market controllable factors (such as pricing,

advertising, sales promises) as well as factors that

the marketer has limited ability to affect (innate

personal needs, word-of-mouth communications,

competitive offerings). In a perfect word,

expectations and perceptions would be identical:

customers would perceive that they receive what they

thought they would and should.

Customer satisfaction is well depended on how

successfully the companies can reduce or close the

gap, as shown in the above figure. In broad sense,

the process of closing the customer gap can be

subdivided into four company gaps, discrepancies

within the organization that inhibit delivery of

quality service.

Company gap 1: Not knowing what customers expect

Reasons:

Inadequate marketing research orientation.

Lack of upward communication.

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Inefficient relationship focus.

Company gap 2: Not selecting the right service

designs and standards

Reasons:

Absence of customer-driven standards.

Inadequate service leadership.

Poor service design.

Company gap 3: Not delivering to service standards

Reasons:

Deficiencies in human resource policies.

Failure to match supply and demand.

Customer not fulfilling roles.

Company gap 4: Not matching performance to promises

Reasons:

Ineffective management of customer expectations.

Over promising.

Inadequate horizontal communication.

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Coming back to my report, I tried to find out the

four company gaps of Grameen Phone, considering my

experience.

Grameen Phones Company Gap 1:

Not knowing what customers expect

Grameen Phone does extensive marketing research on a

continuous basis. Moreover, there is always bottom-

up communication, which enables GP to better

understand what customers expect; because the low-

end officers deal the customers and they better

understand what customers expects.

So, I reach to the conclusion that Grameen Phone has

no company gap 1 at present.


Not selecting the right service designs and

standards

From the experience and my personal observations, I

found few areas that I identified as gap 2.

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Billing rate of Grameen Phone is slightly high in

the context of Bangladesh. Although it is not

playing disturbing role at present, it can emerge

as a problem if any competitor reduces its billing

rate keeping other features intact.

There is a high demand for BTTB accessible mobile

phones. But currently this product is not offered

by Grameen Phone. As the competitors are offering

this product, GP is loosing its market share.

In Dhaka, there is reasonable GP center which is

located at the important portion of the city. So

citizens of Dhaka can get services from their won

locality.

Improper quality of airtime and network

availability is also a problem for Grameen Phone

when it offer reduce tariff to its subscriber.


Not delivering to service standards

This gap is also significant at Grameen Phone. This

gap is very important, because it occurs when a

company sets a standard but not deliver as per the

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standard. From my observation, some areas of gap 3

are:

It takes too much time to reach the helpline at

the pick hours (Roughly 10 AM to 2 PM in the

working days). As the subscribers need to pay TK 3

per minute even when they are waiting in the Que.,

it is a source of dissatisfaction for them.

It is expected to get good and polite behave from

the helpline officers. But, as my observation, the

subscribers of Grameen Phone do not get

appropriate behavior form the helpline. This can

be an alarming problem for GP. Because it is very

easy to lose a customer in a competitive market.

Dhaka info center lacks capacity. It is very much

time consuming to avail service their. But such

services are expected to be availed at a least

possible time.

Most of the GP subscribers are not well educated.

They are not equipped enough to handle the mobile

phone appropriately. This lack of knowledge of the

subscribers creates problems for Grameen Phone.

They assume their inability as GPs poor service.

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Not matching performance to promises

Grameen Phone does not over promise to its

subscribers. It also has a good horizontal

communication between its important functional

divisions like Sales & Marketing, Customer

Relations, and Technical. Still, I find some gaps

under these criteria:

Grameen Phone is not successful to build a

positive and friendly image in their subscribers

minds. Subscribers think that GP is not sincere

about solving their needs. Moreover, GP management

is not successful enough to educate their

subscribers properly. These factors are increasing

the gap 4 according to my observation.

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16. Recommendations to close the GAPs

I designed my recommendations aiming to close the

gaps between customers expectations and perceptions

regarding Grameen Phones service. My

recommendations are:

GrameenPhone should provide connections that have

access to BTTB. It is perceived as an essential

feature by a significant portion of the

subscribers.

GP should earn flexibility to be able to reduce

the bill, if necessary. But currently they should

not reduce the billing rate as no one is offering

lower than them.

There should be more GP center at the capital

city.

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Network development should be steady. GP should

never sell connections excess to its capacity.

Capacity of the helpline should be increased in

the pick hours.

The Customer Manager of the helpline should be

well trained to improve their behavior and quality

of service.

Capacity of the Dhaka info center should be

increased to reduce the stress of the subscribers.

Different programs should be taken to educate the

subscribers regarding different essential features

of mobile phone.

Grameen Phone should take extensive program to build

a positive image among their users. In this process

they should try to eliminate the misconceptions of

the users regarding GP.

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17. Limitations of the Study

Grameen Phones basic strategy is widening their

market through their emerging country-wide network.

As a result of this strategy, the subscribers are

from different segments or from different income

levels. Moreover, the subscribers are from all over

Bangladesh and scattered all over the country.

Moreover, it was not possible to get all required

internal information of the company as these are

treated as confidential company information.

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18. Conclusion

I would like to start the conclusion part by

restating the hypothesis of my study. My hypothesis

was, Although Grameen Phone is leading the market

of mobile telecommunication industry with a sharp

distance, and their customers are not fully

satisfied with the companys services. If GP does



will be difficult for Grameen Phone to keep the

current market share intact. It is clear that GPs

subscribers are dissatisfied with different services

of the company. Moreover, the analysis indicated

that the subscribers of Grameen Phone are not loyal

toward the company. They clearly pointed that if

another company comes with similar offer, they will

not hesitate to switch. So, my hypothesis is proved

as a valid one. But there was a condition in my

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hypothesis: If GP does not take care of these

dissatisfactions... Therefore, I recommended some

courses of action. My observations make me believe

that If GP follows these recommendations; it will

enable them to achieve a sustainable distinct

competitive advantage and to run smoothly with loyal

subscribers & market leadership.

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19. Reference:

Kotler, Philip. Armstrong, Gray. Principles of

Marketing. Eight Edition. Prentice-Hall, India:

1999.

Zeithaml, Valarie. Bitner, Mary. Services

Marketing. Mcgraw Hill, 1996.

http://www.customerservicemanager.com

http://www.crm2day.com

http://www.crm-daily.com

http://www.grameenphone.com

Uddin, Kamal. Personal interview. 19 Oct. 2006.

organization part

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