Consumer analytics can save cost: experts

LAHORE: With proper analysis of consumer preferences, the service providers like airlines, banks, telecoms and retailers can fulfill the ambition of serving their customers at an affordable price, while ensuring loyalty, experts said on Saturday.
They said that many companies consider cutting expenses on certain services that they may consider expensive compared with returns. However, compromising service levels is a mistake.
“For instance, companies always try to increase the response time at call centers, but that can only be increased by staffing at least 10 percent more workers.”
They said that prudent companies analyze the customers, the response time that fully satisfies the customer and the time at which they get extremely annoyed when put on hold. Companies then have two options either to raise the service levels to the “delight breakpoint” or reduce it to just above the “patience threshold” of the customer, research has shown that going for the patience threshold is a better option that does not unduly annoy the customers but is not as prompt as they like. “The drop in customer satisfaction this way is negligible. There is, however, significant saving in staff hiring,” they suggested.
Marketing executive Yousuf Ahmad said for other services like setting up a new account, scheduling an appointment, answering a non-urgent e-mail, or having customers to wait in line the same principle as used in call centers could be applied. Instead of going for an ideal approach to fully satisfy every customer the companies should follow a middle course and save on staff, he said, adding that the cost of over staffing would inevitably be passed on to the customers, who would be reluctant to pay additional service charges. He said some banks are currently indulging in over investment in capital and technology. It is of no consequence to average consumer if a bank installs a costly ATM upgrade aimed at improving the user interface and adds

screen barriers around the machines to enhance user privacy. He said analysis in this regard has revealed that this may satisfy around five percent of the technology savvy customers. Instead, what is important for majority of the customers is number of ATMs installed by a bank and ready availability of cash, while what annoys a customer most is the non-availability of cash at the machine.
Similarly, Ahmad added, some companies over invest in their marketing campaigns by offering a customer cheaper rate plan when finances are no problem for him and excessive use of adjustment. “These do not delight the customer enough and it would be unrealistic to assume this leads to increase in customer referrals and retention,” he said.
Market analyst Benish Toor said marketing is an essential tool that determines the success and failure of an enterprise and spending on marketing should be tailored in ways that boost maximum sales at minimum expense. Savings in marketing would come after rigorous analysis of customer experience and there are tech-tools that can facilitate marketers to arrive at customer preferences.
However, the exercise should be conducted in a planned manner from collection of customer-level data to matching survey responses to actual behavior. Then, the statistical analysis should differentiate the possible correlation of facts that customers prefer, she said, adding that the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) should have the courage to alter procedures and marketing operations in line with customer experience evaluated through data analysis. If the CMO feels the need to increase marketing budget, he should boldly ask the management for it.