Bsnl Services on Customer Satisfaction

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Certificate DeclarationAcknowledgementExecutive summary

CHAPTER – 1

1 INTRODUTION1.1 About the company1.2 Satisfaction1.3 Consumers satisfaction1.4 Measuring of Customer satisfaction1.5 Telecom service provider in Raipur city1.5.1 Airtel1.5.2 Idea1.5.3 Reliance GSM and RIM 1.5.4 BSNL1.5.5 Tata Indicom

CHAPTER – 2

2.1 Objective of Research2.2 Purpose of Research

2.3 Limitations 2.4 Methodology 2.5 Sample Size

GA 2008-2010 DIMATPage 1

CHAPTER - 3

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

3.1 Hypotheses Testing

CHAPTER – 4

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

CHAPTER – 5

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CHAPTER – 6

ANNEXURE


INTRODUCTION

My project title was inclusive of objective, later on we discussed what dimensions

should be covered under this title, like analysis of data collected by questionnaires

which was filled by the users during the survey in the Raipur city, then I applied various

statistical method like hypotheses, ranking, graphical representation, and various test

on collected data to get accurate result.

In order to convince the respondents we have to explain them why we conduct survey

and the information what we need is fill in the form of questionnaires.

Our learning here is as follows:-

I learn that theoretical knowledge is different from practical knowledge.

Learned about some of the soft skills like acceptability, adjustability and patience

required during field work.

Time management.

Art of convincing people.

Discipline of the work place.

Consistency in work.


ABOUT THE COMPANY

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. formed in October, 2000, is World's 7th largest

Telecommunications Company providing comprehensive range of telecom services in

India: Wire line, CDMA mobile, GSM Mobile, Internet, Broadband, Carrier service,

MPLS-VPN, VSAT, VoIP services, IN Services etc. Within a span of five years it has

become one of the largest public sector unit in India.

BSNL has installed Quality Telecom Network in the country and now focusing on

improving it, expanding the network, introducing new telecom services with ICT

applications in villages and wining customer's confidence. Today, it has about 47.3

million line basic telephone capacity, 4 million WLL capacity, 20.1 Million GSM

Capacity, more than 37382 fixed exchanges, 18000 BTS, 287 Satellite Stations, 480196

Rkm of OFC Cable, 63730 Rkm of Microwave Network connecting 602 Districts, 7330

cities/towns and 5.5 Lakhs villages.

BSNL is the only service provider, making focused efforts and planned initiatives to

bridge the Rural-Urban Digital Divide ICT sector. In fact there is no telecom operator in

the country to beat its reach with its wide network giving services in every nook & corner

of country and operates across India except Delhi & Mumbai. Whether it is inaccessible


areas of Siachen glacier and North-eastern region of the country. BSNL serves its

customers with its wide bouquet of telecom services.

BSNL is numero Uno operator of India in all services in its license area. The company

offers vide ranging & most transparent tariff schemes designed to suite every customer.

BSNL cellular service, Cell One, has more than 17.8 million cellular customers,

garnering 24 percent of all mobile users as its subscribers. That means that almost

every fourth mobile user in the country has a BSNL connection. In basic services, BSNL

is miles ahead of its rivals, with 35.1 million Basic Phone subscribers i.e. 85 per cent

share of the subscriber base and 92 percent share in revenue terms.

BSNL has more than 2.5 million WLL subscribers and 2.5 million Internet Customers

who access Internet through various modes viz. Dial-up, Leased Line, DIAS, Account

Less Internet (CLI). BSNL has been adjudged as the NUMBER ONE ISP in the country.

BSNL has set up a world class multi-gigabit, multi-protocol convergent IP infrastructure

that provides convergent services like voice, data and video through the same

Backbone and Broadband Access Network. At present there are 0.6 million DataOne

broadband customers.

The company has vast experience in Planning, Installation, network integration and

Maintenance of Switching & Transmission Networks and also has a world class ISO

9000 certified Telecom Training Institute.

Scaling new heights of success, the present turnover of BSNL is more than Rs.351,820

million (US $ 8 billion) with net profit to the tune of Rs.99,390 million (US $ 2.26 billion)

for last financial year. The infrastructure asset on telephone alone is worth about

Rs.630, 000 million (US $ 14.37 billion).


BSNL plans to expand its customer base from present 47 millions lines to 125 million

lines by December 2007 and infrastructure investment plan to the tune of Rs. 733

crores (US$ 16.67 million) in the next three years.

The turnover, nationwide coverage, reach, comprehensive range of telecom services

and the desire to excel has made BSNL the No. 1 Telecom Company of India.

1.1 Satisfaction

Satisfaction is a person’s feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from

comparing a product’s perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her

expectations. If the performance falls short of expectations, the customer is dissatisfied.

If the performance matches the expectations, the customer is satisfied.

If the performance exceeds expectations, the customer is highly satisfied or delighted.

1.2 Customer satisfaction

A business term is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company

Meet or surpass customer expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator within

business and is a part four consumer perspectives of a balanced scoreboard.

In a competitive market place where business competes for customers, customer

satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element

of business strategy.


There is substantial body of empirical literature that establishes the benefits of customer

satisfaction for firms.

1.3 Measuring customer satisfaction

Organizations are increasingly interested in retaining existing customers while targeting

non-customers.

Measuring customer satisfaction provides an indication of how successful the

organization is at providing products and or services to the market place.

Customer satisfaction is ambiguous and abstract concept and the actual manifestation

of the state of satisfaction will vary from person to person and product number of both

psychological and physical variables which correlates with satisfaction behaviors as

such returns and recommend rate. The ‘quality values’ which influence satisfaction

behavior, further expanded on satisfaction includes: Quality, Value, Timelines,

Efficiency and Ease improvement and organizational changes and measurement and

are most often utilized to develop the architecture for satisfaction between the

customer’s being measure when an organization can fulfill customer expectation and

perception about their needs.

Measurement of customers’ satisfaction is a difficult task which is challenge for the

marketer and organization. But customer satisfaction measurement is the term which

can provide the grant success to the organization.


1.4 Telecom service providers in Raipur city

BHARTI TELECOM

One of the foremost corporate leaders of contemporary India Sunil Bharti Mittal is the

chairman and MD of Bharti Airtel Ltd.

Telecom giant Bharti Airtel is the flagship company of Bharti enterprise. The Bharti

group has a divert business portfolio and has created global brand in telecommunication

sector. Airtel comes to us from Bharti airtel ltd. India’s largest integrated and the first

privet telecom service provider.

Bharti Airtel offers GSM mobile services in all the 23-telecom circles of India and is the

largest mobile service provider in the country, based on the number of customers.

The Company compliments its mobile and broadband & telephone services with

national and international long distance services. It has over 35,016 route kilometers of

optic fiber on its national long distance network.

Airtel also provides the internet service by there cellular network customers have

freedom to access the internet anytime anywhere across the India.

The company will invest up to $3.5 billion this fiscal (07-08) in network expansion.

It has an installed base of 40,000 cellists and 59% population coverage

After the proposed network expansion, an additional 30,000 towers will result in the

company achieving 70% population coverage. Bharti has over 39 million users as on

March 31, 2007 . It has set a target of 125 million subscribers by 2010


Prepaid customers account for 88.5% of Bharti’s total subscriber base, an increase from

82.7% a year ago.

IDEA CELLULAR

Idea Cellular is a wireless telephony company operating in various states in India. It

initially started in 1995 as a join venture between the Tatas, Aditya Birla Group and

AT&T by merging Tata Cellular and Birla AT&T Communications.

IDEA Cellular is part of the Aditya Birla Group, a US$ 24 billion corporation with a

market cap of US$ 31.5 billion and in the league of Fortune 500.

As India's leading GSM Mobile Services operator, IDEA Cellular has licenses to operate

in all 22 Service Areas. Presently, operations exist in 11 Service Areas covering Delhi,

Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh,

Uttaranchal, Haryana, UP-West, Himachal Pradesh, UP-East, Rajasthan and Kerala.

With a customer base of over 24 million, IDEA Cellular's footprint currently covers

approximately 60% of India's telecom population. Customer Service and Innovation are

the drivers of this Cellular Brand. A brand known for their many firsts, Idea is only

operator to launch GPRS and EDGE in the country. Idea has received international

recognition for its path-breaking innovations when it won the GSM Association Award

for "Best Billing and Customer Care Solution" for 2 consecutive years

The company has its retail outlets under the "Idea n' U" banner. The company has also

been the first to offer flexible tariff plans for prepaid customers. It also offers GPRS

services in urban areas.

IDEA Cellular is a publicly listed company, having listed on the Bombay Stock

Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in March 2007.

The New Service Areas are Uttar Pradesh (East), Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.


Innovate, Stimulate, Liberate….

Idea believes on these three words which makes Idea a Brand which made idea a

formidable player in the telecom industry.

RELIANCE INFOCOMM

It was with this belief in mind that Reliance Communications (formerly Reliance

Infocomm) started laying 60,000 route kilometers of a pan-India fiber optic backbone.

This backbone was commissioned on 28 December 2002, the auspicious occasion of

Dhirubhai’s 70th birthday, though sadly after his unexpected demise on 6 July 2002.

Reliance Communications has a reliable, high-capacity, integrated (both wireless and

wire line) and convergent (voice, data and video) digital network. It is capable of

delivering a range of services spanning the entire infocomm (information and

communication) value chain, including infrastructure and services — for enterprises as

well as individuals, applications, and consulting.

India’s one of the leading integrated telecom company, Reliance Communications is the

flagship company of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) of companies. Listed on

the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange, it is India’s leading

integrated telecommunication company with over 48 million customers.

There business encompasses a complete range of telecom services covering mobile

and fixed line telephony. It includes broadband, national and international long distance

services and data services along with an exhaustive range of value-added services and

applications. Our constant endeavor is to achieve customer delight by enhancing the

productivity of the enterprises and individuals they serve.


Reliance Communications, along with Reliance Telecom and Flag Telecom, is part of

Reliance Communications Ventures (RCoVL). According to National Stock Exchange

data, Anil Ambani controls 66.75 per cent of the company, which accounts for more

than 1.36 billion shares of the company.

Reliance Infocomm is an Indian telecommunications company. It is the flagship

company of the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, comprising of power (Reliance

Energy), financial services (Reliance Capital) and telecom initiatives of the Reliance

ADA Group. Reliance Infocomm is currently managed by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani.It uses

CDMA2000 1x technology.

At present, Reliance Telecom's GSM cellular services are available in 340 towns within

its eight-circle footprint. Reliance's CDMA services are available in 19 states and cover

about 65% of the country, state wise. Reliance Infocomm also offered for the first time in

India, mobile data services through its R-World mobile portal. This portal leverages the

data capability of the CDMA 1X network.


TATA TELECOM

Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) is part of the Tata Group of Companies, an Indian

Conglomerate. It runs the brand name Tata Indicom in India in various telecom circles

of India. The company forms part of the Tata Group's presence in the

Telecommunication Industry in India, along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra)

Limited (TTML) and VSNL.

TTSL was incorporated in 1995 and was the first company to offer CDMA Mobile

services in India, specifically in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

In December 2002, the company acquired the erstwhile Hughes Telecom (India) Ltd.

which was renamed Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited.

In September 2007, Tata Indicom launched the Talk World plan, an International Long

Distance Plan.

Tata is the direct competitor with Reliance, both CDMA operators in India. The company

provides unified telecommunication solutions including mobile, fixed wireless, fixed line

and broadband. Other competitors are Vodafone, Airtel, Idea, MTNL, and BSNL

providing GSM based mobile telephony.


The company was first in India to provide free intra network calling within city limits.

They launched a unique scheme providing lifetime rental free connectivity on its mobile

and fixed wireless for a one time charge.

.

BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LIMITED (BSNL)

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (known as BSNL, India Communications Corporation

Limited) is a public sector communications company in India. It is the India's largest

telecommunication company with 24% market share as on March 31, 2008. Its

headquarters are at Bharat Sanchar Bhawan, Harish Chandra Mathur Lane, Janpath,

New Delhi. It has the status of Mini-ratna - a status assigned to reputed Public Sector

companies in India.

BSNL is India's oldest and largest Communication Service Provider (CSP). Currently

BSNL has a customer base of 72.34 million (Basic & Mobile telephony). It has footprints

throughout India except for the metropolitan cities of Mumbai and New Delhi which are

managed by MTNL. As on March 31, 2008 BSNL commanded a customer base of

31.55 million Wireline, 4.58 million CDMA-WLL and 36.21 million GSM Mobile

subscribers. BSNL's earnings for the Financial Year ending March 31, 2007 stood at

INR 397.15b (US$ 9.67 b) with net profit of INR 78.06b (US$ 1.90 billion). Today, BSNL

is India's largest Telco and one of the largest Public Sector Undertaking with estimated

market value of $ 100 Billion.

India's fastest growing cellular service, along with postpaid and prepaid services brings

cellular telephony to the masses, through innovative technology and strategic pricing.

This ambitious service uses state-of-the-art GSM technology to attain global excellence

and leadership in business. There entry into this sector has brought GSM cellular


service at an affordable cost to the common man. All serving a single objective, to

provide better communication to millions across India.

Customers have reposed tremendous faith in BSNL and it has enrolled over 30 Lack

Cellular customers within ten months of launch of Cellular service, an unprecedented

mark in Indian Cellular Market. Cell One provides a number of Value Added Services.

These services helps BSNL serve customer better & enhance the ease & quality of

communication thus bringing global connectivity at customers’ doorstep.

2.1 Objective of Research2.2 Purpose of Research

2.3 Limitations 2.4 Literature Review 2.5 Methodology


2.1 OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH

This study has been under taken with followings objectives:-

1) To find out the impact of customer satisfaction on BSNL services.

2) To find out the different features provided by telecom service provider

3) To find out the factor that influences the consumer to choose BSNL services.

4) To find out the consumer satisfaction towards services provided by BSNL.

5) To find out the satisfaction level of the features provided by telecom providers.


2.2 PURPOSE OF RESEARCH

“Every research has its own purpose which provides the sense to researcher to

help for the society in any form. The analysis of the impact of BSNL services on the

level of customer satisfaction earned could be beneficial for the any company.”

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India periodically publishes a quarterly report on

‘The Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators’. The information contained in the

report is collected from various telecom operators and service providers. TRAI collects

performance-oriented data from various service providers on a quarterly basis to

monitor the growth trend in the sector and to decide upon pro-active and So motto

measures to fuel the growth of the telecom services in the country. Also, in exercise of

the powers vested in the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) under the TRAI

Act, 1997, the Authority has been conducting periodical survey of the quality of basic

and cellular telephone services provided by different telecommunication service

providers all over the country. The survey also covers an assessment of the level of

satisfaction with the services received by subscribers of these telephone service

providers.

The present study was deemed necessary because of the following reasons:


•Particularly the surveys conducted to assess the consumer satisfaction misses out on

the multifaceted nature of consumer satisfaction and thus do not capture the status of

consumer satisfaction holistically. The study gives a comprehensive assessment of the

satisfaction of consumers encompassing quality of technical service, quality and

operational aspects of gadgets; and social / psychological costs due to unsolicited

promotional calls/SMSs etc.

• Sometimes, the strategies of service providers / producers to ensure customer

satisfaction by serving them in a better way or providing quality gadgets use to be

based on erroneous theoretical and partially tested empirical postulates. The study aims

to provide inputs to testify few of such postulates in order to provide the service

providers / producers afresh insights on the consumer behavior.

One of the major purposes of the research study is that it is an intellectual

property which encourages the researcher to find out the unknown aspects which is

beneficial for the society. Report writing is beneficial for the newly researcher as they

can use there statistical techniques what they have learnt previously. The research is

the assets of researcher. It is also inspiration for the researcher to work out in future on

another problem.

This research provides us the manifestation of the telephony users and there

views will work as the recommendation for the telecom service provider.

The aim of study was to objectively understand the behavior of BSNL users in

Raipur and further capture their satisfaction level that is influenced by various technical

and non technical factors. Specific aspects to be studied were:

• Level of the satisfaction of users


• Reasons for dissatisfaction

• Usage Pattern of functionalities and added services provided

• Satisfaction regarding frequent calls

2.3 LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH

This study has find out the impact of customer satisfaction of BSNL users with

the specified features. Though researcher goes towards many of the findings and

objective but in this crucial task has a lot of difficulties in the way to get destination.

Specially the satisfaction and attitude measurement are the aspects which is very

difficult to observe very correctly.

The limitations of the research are listed below:

1. Due to time and money constraints sample size is very small.

2. Some of the respondents were not interested to fill the questionnaire.

3. Some question like receive of unsolicited calls and their response didn’t provide

honestly answers.

4. Females are not freely or easily show their interest regarding research and

questionnaire.


5. Random sampling collection for the very low sample size does not give the

appropriate result.

6. Open ended questions used in the questionnaire were answered very difficult

fully by the respondents.

2.4 REVIEW OF RELATED LITRATURE

Review of related literature means researcher should undertake extensive

literature survey connected with the problem. For this purpose, the abstracting and

indexing journals and published or unpublished bibliographies are the first place to go

to. Academic journals, conference proceeding, government reports books etc. must be

tapped depending on the nature of the problem. In this process, it should be

remembered that one source will lead to another. The earlier studies, if any, which are

similar to the study in hand, should be carefully studied. A good library will be a great

help to the researcher at this stage.

SEVEN STEPS OF CONSUMER SATISFACTION

It's a well known fact that no business can exist without customers. In the business of

Website design, it's important to work closely with your customers to make sure the site

or system you create for them is as close to their requirements as you can manage.

Because it's critical that you form a close working relationship with your client, customer


service is of vital importance. What follows are a selection of tips that will make your

clients feel valued, wanted and loved.

1. Encourage Face-to-Face Dealings

This is the most daunting and downright scary part of interacting with a customer. If

you're not used to this sort of thing it can be a pretty nerve-wracking experience. Rest

assured, though, it does get easier over time. It's important to meet your customers face

to face at least once or even twice during the course of a project.

My experience has shown that a client finds it easier to relate to and work with someone

they've actually met in person, rather than a voice on the phone or someone typing into

an email or messenger program. When you do meet them, be calm, confident and

above all, take time to ask them what they need. I believe that if a potential client

spends over half the meeting doing the talking, you're well on your way to a sale.

2. Respond to Messages Promptly & Keep Your Clients Informed

This goes without saying really. We all know how annoying it is to wait days for a

response to an email or phone call. It might not always be practical to deal with all

customers' queries within the space of a few hours, but at least email or call them back

and let them know you've received their message and you'll contact them about it as

soon as possible. Even if you're not able to solve a problem right away, let the customer

know you're working on it.

A good example of this is my Web host. They've had some trouble with server hardware

which has caused a fair bit of downtime lately. At every step along the way I was

emailed and told exactly what was going on, why things were going wrong, and how


long it would be before they were working again. They also apologised repeatedly,

which was nice. Now if they server had just gone down with no explanation I think I'd

have been pretty annoyed and may have moved my business elsewhere. But because

they took time to keep me informed, it didn't seem so bad, and I at least knew they were

doing something about the problems. That to me is a prime example of customer

service.

3. Be Friendly and Approachable

A fellow Site Pointer once told me that you can hear a smile through the phone. This is

very true. It's very important to be friendly, courteous and to make your clients feel like

you're their friend and you're there to help them out. There will be times when you want

to beat your clients over the head repeatedly with a blunt object - it happens to all of us.

It's vital that you keep a clear head, respond to your clients' wishes as best you can,

and at all times remain polite and courteous.

4. Have a Clearly-Defined Customer Service Policy

This may not be too important when you're just starting out, but a clearly defined

customer service policy is going to save you a lot of time and effort in the long run. If a

customer has a problem, what should they do? If the first option doesn't work, then

what? Should they contact different people for billing and technical enquiries? If they're

not satisfied with any aspect of your customer service, who should they tell?


There's nothing more annoying for a client than being passed from person to person, or

not knowing who to turn to. Making sure they know exactly what to do at each stage of

their enquiry should be of utmost importance. So make sure your customer service

policy is present on your site -- and anywhere else it may be useful.

5. Attention to Detail (also known as 'The Little Niceties')

Have you ever received a Happy Birthday email or card from a company you were a

client of? Have you ever had a personalized sign-up confirmation email for a service

that you could tell was typed from scratch? These little niceties can be time consuming

and aren't always cost effective, but remember to do them.

Even if it's as small as sending a Happy Holidays email to all your customers, it's

something. It shows you care; it shows there are real people on the other end of that

screen or telephone; and most importantly, it makes the customer feel welcomed,

wanted and valued.

6. Anticipate Your Client's Needs & Go Out Of Your Way to Help Them Out

Sometimes this is easier said than done! However, achieving this supreme level of

understanding with your clients will do wonders for your working relationship.


Take this as an example: you're working on the front-end for your client's exciting new

ecommerce endeavor. You have all the images, originals and files backed up on your

desktop computer and the site is going really well. During a meeting with your client

he/she happens to mention a hard-copy brochure their internal marketing people are

developing. As if by magic, a couple of weeks later a CD-ROM arrives on their doorstep

complete with high resolution versions of all the images you've used on the site. A note

accompanies it which reads:

"Hi, you mentioned a hard-copy brochure you were working on and I wanted to provide

you with large-scale copies of the graphics I've used on the site. Hopefully you'll be able

to make use of some in your brochure."

Your client is heartily impressed, and remarks to his colleagues and friends how very

helpful and considerate his Web designers are. Meanwhile, in your office, you lay back

in your chair drinking your 7th cup of coffee that morning, safe in the knowledge this

happy customer will send several referrals your way.

7. Honors Your Promises

It's possible this is the most important point in this article. The simple message:

when you promise something, deliver. The most common example here is

project delivery dates. Clients don't like to be disappointed. Sometimes,

something may not get done, or you might miss a deadline through no fault of

your own. Projects can be late, technology can fail and sub-contractors don't

always deliver on time. In this case a quick apology and assurance it'll be ready

ASAP wouldn't go a miss.


Conclusion

Customer service, like any aspect of business, is a practiced art that takes time

and effort to master. All you need to do to achieve this is to stop and switch roles

with the customer. What would you want from your business if you were the

client? How would you want to be treated? Treat your customers like your friends

and they'll always come back.

Customer Retention

Introduction

In this era of intense competition, it is very important for any service company to

understand that merely acquiring customers is not sufficient because there is a direct

link between customer retention over time and profitability & growth. Customer retention

to a great extent depends on service quality and customer satisfaction. It also depends

on the ability of the organization to encourage customers to complain and then recover

when things go wrong. Complaints are natural part of any service activity as mistakes

are an unavoidable feature of all human endeavor and thus also of service recovery.

Service recovery is the process of putting things right after something goes wrong in the

service delivery.

Importance of Customer Retention


Why are customers more profitable for service firms over a period of time? There are a

number of reasons for this. To begin with, to acquire a customer a company incurs

promotional costs like advertising, sales promotion etc. It is said that it costs five times more to attract a new customer than retaining one. The operating cost decreases

when a customer stays. Services being rich in experience and credence qualities, it

takes some time for customers to get accustomed to it and once they are used to the

service and are satisfied with the service provider ,they tend to purchase more over a

period of time.

As they remain satisfied with a service provider, they spread a positive word of mouth,

which is very effective in case of services for attracting new customers. Longer the

customer stays with an organization, more the organization knows about him, which

enables it to offer customized services which make it difficult for the customer to defect.

This may even provide opportunities to the organization to charge price premium by

offering individualized services which may be difficult for the competitors to offer.

Considering the importance of retaining customers in service business, Reichheld &

Sasser coined a term ‘Zero Defection’. They highlighted that companies can boost

profits by almost 100% by retaining just 5% more of their customers. Further, it is also

very important to understand the life time value of a customer. For example, if an

average customer of BSNL pays Rs. 500 per month and stays with the company for 20

years., his average lifetime value will be Rs. 500x 12x 20=Rs. 1,20,000. Further, if by a

positive word of mouth, he brings just one more customer to the organization, his value

to the organization doubles. Therefore, it is important for all the employees in the

organization to understand the life time value of their customers. Once they understand

it, they will treat the customer accordingly and will focus on building relationship with the

very people who keep them in business.


Reasons for customer Switching

The reasons for customer switching can be identified as following:

1. Pricing (High price, unfair pricing, deceptive pricing)

2. Inconvenience (Wait for service, wait for appointment)

3. Core service failure (Service mistakes, Billing errors)

4. Service encounter failure (Uncaring, impolite, unresponsive behavior)

5. Response to service failure (Negative response, no response, reluctant

response)

6. Competition (Found better service)

7. Ethical problem (Cheating, Unsafe)

8. Involuntary switching (customer moved, provider closed)

An important aspect of the above is that six out of the eight service switching factors are

controllable from a service organization’s point of view.

Strategies for Customer Retention

(A) Complaint Management System

Any worthwhile complaints management system has to have following basic features:

a. Visibility: Customer should know where to complain.

b. Accessibility: Customer should know how to complain. As a rule of thumb, the

more formal the system for lodging complaints, the less accessible it is to

customers.


c. Responsiveness: Complaints need to be dealt quickly. The quicker the

complaints are dealt with, the higher the customer satisfaction.

d. Customer-focused approach: A service provider, who adopts customer-

focused approach, invites complaints and indicates commitment of resolving

complaints by its words and actions in all fairness.

e. Accountability: Someone in the organization has to take responsibility for

complaint handling.

f. Continuous Improvement: This is about looking at the root causes and fixing

them.

A good complaint management system must ensure that that complainant is kept

informed, the staff understands the complaint processes, complaints are taken seriously

and employees are empowered to deal with situations.

(B) Service Recovery Strategies

Consider the following incident regarding an airlines (British Airways). “An aircraft door

was left open in a rainstorm before take off and a passenger near the door unfortunately

got showered. The flight attendant not only did everything that was routine- offered to

have the customer’s garments cleaned and made sure that a customer relations

representative contacted the customer later to demonstrate that they genuinely cared-

but also made special gesture by offering the passenger a complimentary choice of

certain tax free goods.”


It is very important for service companies to have service recovery strategies which can

be applied in case of service failure. The following steps are useful in an effective

service recovery system.

1. Measure the costs of effective service recovery. It should include the indirect cost also, when a customer departs unhappily.

2. Break customer silence and listen closely for complaints.

3. Act fast.

4. Train and empower employees. The front line people must be trained and

empowered by the organization.

5. Close the customer feedback loop.

(C) Managing Customer Waiting

Sometimes, it is not possible to match demand & capacity, and hence waiting by

customers becomes inevitable. While reducing waiting time is important for a marketer,

it is equally if not more, important to reduce the customer’s perceived waiting time. If a

customer’s perceived waiting time is less, he will be more satisfied with the service.

Various ways of managing customer waiting are as follows:

1. The organization should analyze its operational processes in order to identify and

remove inefficiencies or bottlenecks, if any.

2. In case waiting cannot be avoided, a reservation system can be used.

3. Since unoccupied time feels longer than occupied time, keep customer occupied

by installing distractions that entertain and physically involve them. For example,

TV sets, magazines reading material can be provided in waiting area.


4. Provide ‘waiting duration information’ i.e. information about the expected length

of wait and/or ‘queuing information’ i.e. a customer’s position in queue with

continuous update.

5. If unexpected delays occur, explanation should be given to the customer. This

helps in reducing uncertainty and customer irritation. The key is to impress upon

the customer that he has not been forgotten. Simple things like providing a glass

of water or a cup of tea to the waiting customer can do wonders.

6. Keep resources not serving customer out of sight. This can be done by keeping

idle employees out of view and conducting activities that do not involve customer

interactions out of customer’s sight.

7. Try to reduce pre-service waiting time by transferring some of the pre-service

waiting to the service encounter phase.

8. A smiling service person who knows his job well can be very helpful in

overcoming many negative effects of waiting. Therefore, training and incentive/

rewards for providing good service should be made.

Conclusion

Today’s customers are becoming harder to please. They are smarter, more price

conscious, more demanding, less forgiving and they are approached by many

more competitors with equal or better offers. The challenge is not to produce

satisfied customers; several competitors can do this. The challenge is to produce

delighted and loyal customers. If these customers are retained with the

organization, they become really profitable by way of increase in purchasing,

reduced operating costs, price premiums and through referrals. Too many


companies suffer from customer churn i.e. high customer defection. It is like

adding water to a leaking bucket. Various strategies such as measuring customer

life time value, efficient complaint management system and service recovery

strategies can be really helpful in retaining customers.

2.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is a way to solve systematically the research problem. In it,

the researcher studies the various steps that are generally adopted in studying research

problem along with the logic behind them. It is necessary for the researcher to design

his methodology for his problem as the same may differ from problem to problem. Thus,

when a researcher talks of research methodology; he not only talks the of research

methods but also considers the logic behind the methods he uses in the context of his


research study and explains why he is using a particular method or technique and why

he is not using others so that research results are capable of being evaluated either by

the researcher himself or by others.

The proper research methods prevent the researcher to trap in the difficulties and

rescue to problems occurring in the path of research study. The proper steps following

are very beneficial for the researcher.

The methodology to conduct the study was composed of different tasks as follows:

The aim of study is to objectively understand the behavior of BSNL users in

Raipur and further capture their satisfaction level that is influenced by various technical

and non-technical factors. Specific aspects to be studied were:

• Level of the satisfaction of users

• Reasons for dissatisfaction

• Usage Pattern of functionalities and added services provided

• Satisfaction regarding frequent calls

1. A review of literature on consumer satisfaction in telecom industry was undertaken in

order to define the comprehensive scope of the study and ensuring its objectivity.

2. Empirical research was based on a stratified random sample survey, a series of

structured interviews and few focus group discussions. The sample size of 100 for the

survey was drawn from various categories of consumers and thus appropriate

representation of all market segments was ensured. The length of survey questionnaire

was kept optimum to avoid the psychological burden of responding for the sampled


consumers. The information collected through survey was supplemented by conducting

a few Focus Group Discussions with consumers in the all market segments.

3. Analytical Framework for the study is aimed at getting an insight in to the behavior of

consumer by analyzing the data / information gathered through empirical research.

2.5.1 UNIVERSEPopulation refers to the total of items about which information is desired. The

attribute that are the object of study are referred to as characteristics and the units

possessing them are called as elementary units. The aggregate of such units is

generally described as population. Thus, all the units in any field of inquiry constitute

universe and all elementary units constitute population.

The population can be finite and in finite. The population is said to be finite if it

consists of a fixed number of elements so that it is possible to enumerate it in its totality.

An infinite population is one in which it is theoretically impossible to observe all the

elements.

The population is specific group of people, firms, conditions; activities etc. which forms

the pivot of research for developing and using.

It becomes primary duty of a researcher to define the population from which he draws

the sample.

Population – To achieve this objective, the city of Raipur was selected.

2.5.2 SAMPLE


The sample is the representative unit of population. The researcher has taken

the consumer as sample for this research. Since in this research the researcher has

collected the sample according to his own convenience, so the sample is convenient

sample and the sample size of the research is 100.

2.5.3 SIZE OF THE SAMPLEThis refers to number of items to be selected from the universe to constitute a

sample. The size of the sample should neither be excessively large, nor too small. It

should be optimum. An optimum sample size is one which fulfills the requirements of

efficiency, representativeness, reliability, and flexibility.

2.5.4 SAMPLING METHOD In this method the Sample units are chosen primarily on the basis of convenience to

the investigator. In this type of sampling, items for the sample are selected deliberately

by the researcher; his choice concerning the items remains supreme. In other words,

under this sampling, the organizers of the inquiry purposely choose the particular unit of

the universe for constituting a sample on the basis that the small mass that they so

select out of a huge one will be typical or representative of the whole.

In this research Random sampling method is used.

2.5.5 DATA COLLECTIONThe task of data collection begins after a research problem has been defined.

Researcher should keep in mind two types of data, primary data and secondary data.

The primary data are those which are collected afresh and for the first time, and thus


happen to be original in character. The secondary data, on the other hand, are those

which have already been collected by someone else and which have already been

passed through the statistical process. Both primary data and secondary data were

used in accomplishment of objective of the research.

1. Primary Data-

In layman’s language data originally collected in the process of the investigation are

known as primary data.

Methods of Collecting Primary Data-

Primary data may be obtained by applying any of the following methods:-

a) Direct Personal Interviews.

b) Indirect oral Investigation.

c) Information from Correspondents.

d) Mailed Questionnaires Methods.

e) Schedules sent through Enumerators.

In this Research we have adopted the “Direct Questionnaire Method”

and Personal Interview Method for collecting primary data.

A qualitative exploratory Questionnaire survey study was conducted to understand

the attitude of Raipur’s consumers towards mobile services.


The present study has been organized on a sample size of 100 Respondents is

thus both a residential and user unit which is considered as respondent. It includes

the persons who are employees, businessman, professionals, Workman, students,

and house wives.



Number of respondents using service providers

SERVICE PROVIDER NO. OF REPONDENT PERCENTAGE (%)AIRTEL 30 30%

IDEA 15 15%

BSNL 34 34%

RELIANCE 16 16%

TATA INDICOM 5 5%

TOTAL 100 100%

INTERPRETATION:-

Thus by observation table we can get the result that BSNL and Airtel are both have

equal respondents and have its market share high than others.


Gender wise analysis

GENDER NUMBER OF RESPONDENT

PERCENTAGE (%)

MALE 76 76%FEMALE 24 24%TOTAL 100 100%

INTERPRETATION:-

Thus by observation table we conclude that the male users is 76% out of total

respondents out of our sample size that is 100.


Preference of using services

SERVICE PROVIDER RANK 1 RANK 5

AIRTEL 55 10

IDEA 5 14

BSNL 17 23

RELIANCE 28 13

TATA INDICOM 5 40

TOTAL 100 100

INTERPRETATION:-

Thus by observation table we can get the result that Airtel have the highest preference

among the respondents and Tata Indicom have the least preference whereas BSNL

having mixed reactions among the respondents.


Satisfaction level of customer care services

LEVEL OF SATISFACTION NO. OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%)HIGHLY SATISFIED 5 5%

SATISFIED 32 32%

AVERAGE 43 43%

DISSATISFIED 12 12%

HIGHLY DISSATISFIED 8 8%

TOTAL 100 100%

INTERPRETATION:-

The buyers behavior is universally known that their highly satisfaction is very difficult

and here also only 5% users are highly satisfied and only 43% are satisfied averagely

and 32% are satisfied which shows that customer care is improving and a major factor

for checking the satisfaction level.


Features to be required in telecom service

FEATURES RATING (1-5)

Network coverage 4.3

Voice quality 3.4

Accuracy of billing 2.8

Time to repair faults 1.8

Variety of value added service provided 3.2

Tariff schemes 3

INTERPRETATION:-

Thus by the observation it is clear about the features required in a telecom services, in

which network coverage is most desired feature.



FORMULATION OF HYPOTHESIS . .

The hypothesis is a statement. It is a prediction or proposed solution to a problem

based on prior knowledge or information gathered. It is an 'educated guess' about the

outcome of the experiment. A hypothesis must be able to be tested. A hypothesis is

also referring to one, hypotheses refers to many.

Chi-square test

Null hypothesis is satisfaction and different features are not dependent to each other.

Alternative hypothesis is satisfaction and different features are dependent to each

other.

Basic Telephony

Customer Care Service

Calls Regarding Various Schemes

TOTAL

Satisfied 77 85 42 204

Dissatisfied 23 5 43 71

TOTAL 100 90 85 275

To determine the value of X², we have to find out the expected value of observed

frequencies. And Formula to find it is following.


E= RT*CT

N

Where,

E=Expected frequency

RT=the row total for the counting the cell

CT=the column total for the column containing the cell

N=the total number of observations.

Expected value of all numbers starts from column wise.

E– Value of 77=204*100/275=74.18

of 23=71*100/275=25.82

of 85=204*90/275=66.76

of 5=71*90/275 =23.24

of 42=204*85/275=63.05

of 43=71*85/275 =21.95

Now the calculation of chi-square test

Formula for that


X²=∑ (O-E)² /E

Where E=Expected frequencies

O=Observed frequencies

Degree of freedom is =(C-1)*(R-1)

(3-1)*(2-1) =2*1=2

O E (O-E)² (O-E) ²/E

77 74.18 7.94 0.11

23 25.82 7.94 0.31

85 66.76 332.56 4.98

5 23.24 332.56 14.31

42 63.05 443.29 7.03

43 21.95 443.29 20.20

∑(O-E)²/E =46.94

Significance level is 1%, the tabulated value is 9.21.

Hence the calculated value of chi-square is more than from tabulated value, so our

hypothesis is rejected and therefore satisfaction and different features are dependent to

each other.



FINDINGS

After the analysis of the data collected the followings were the findings:

The result that BSNL and Airtel are both have equal respondents and have its market share high than others.

That the male users is 76% out of total respondents out of our sample size that is

100.

Airtel have the highest preference among the respondents and Tata Indicom have the least preference whereas BSNL having mixed reactions among the respondents.

5% users are highly satisfied and only 43% are satisfied averagely and 32% are

satisfied with the service provided.

Network coverage is most desired feature for a telecom user.

Satisfaction level and different features of service are dependent to each other.


RECOMMENDATIONS

Telecom service provider can increase their level of satisfaction to the

customers by providing the congestion free network with good signal support.

The paying cost for these services should be low which is affordable by the

lower and middle class persons.

There should not be very much unsolicited calls which make people irritated.

There should be effective customer care services which can properly work on

complaints of customers for their comfort ability.

The effective schemes could also raise the customer satisfaction as their will be

more moneys’ worth.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

The name of the books, websites Magazines and News papers referred to prepare the research are as follows:

Philip Kotler, Marketing Management, Published by Ashok K. Ghosh,12th Edition C.R. Kothari , Research Methodology , New Age International Pvt. Ltd. ,Second

Edition Business Today, Business Magazine

INTERNET:

www.airtel.in

www.ideacellular.com

www.bsnl.co.in

www.tataindicom.com

www.rim.com


www.trai.co.in

ANNEXURE


“BSNL services on customer satisfaction Questionnaire”Name:- Age:- Phone no. :-Occupation:-NOTE: Remember to respond to all items, even if you are not completely sure. Also, please be honest in responding to these statements.

1. Which Teleservices you prefer, please rank.(rank 1to 5)Airtel____ Idea_____ BSNL_____ Reliance______ Tata Indicom_____

2. Which Telecom services you are customer of?____________

3. Please rate (1to5) the features you look for in Telecom Service Provider.Network coverageVoice qualityAccuracy of billingTime to repair faultsVariety of value-added services providedTariff schemes


4. If BSNL user how much satisfied are you with the basic Telephony of BSNL?1. Highly satisfied: 2. Satisfied: 3. Average:

4. Dissatisfied: 5. Highly dissatisfied:

5. Rate how much you are satisfied by the customer care service?1. Highly satisfied: 2. Satisfied: 3. Average:


6. Rate how feel about the frequent calls regarding the various schemes?1. Highly satisfied: 2. Satisfied: 3. Average:


7. What are your recommendations you need for service provider?

__________________________________________________________


Documents

Bsnl Services on Customer Satisfaction