By:- Ujjwal Chandra Chand and Akhilesh Kumar

(with respect to Reliance Communication.)

CONTENTS

1. Abstract ---- 3

2. Objectives ---- 4

3. Introduction ---- 5 - 9

4. Research Methodology ---- 10

5. Data representation and analysis ---- 11 - 20

6. Conclusion ---- 21

7. Bibliography ---- 21

8. Questionnaire ---- 22-23

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ABSTRCT

Customer is one for whom any organization is functioning. Every organization has its own

goals to maximize profits with minimum cost and for this every organization wants to have

maximum number of customers. In the current scenario retaining a customer is more difficult

than to get a new customer, because an old customer is like an asset to the organization.

Customer loyalty is very important in any business. If your business wants to grow in the

future it has to provide quality customer management and effective strategies to realize all its

goals. An old customer works as a communicator to the target market with reference to–

informing about the features, qualities, reliability and the most important feature is the

resolution of the customer queries, and this plays a very vital role in retaining the customers.

Successful customer retention starts with the first contact which

an organization has with a customer and continuous throughout the entire lifetime of a

relationship. A company’s ability to attract and retain new customers, is not only related to its

product or services, but strongly related to the way its services its existing customers and the

reputation it creates within and across the marketplace. There is very close relationship

between customer retention and customer satisfaction. If a customer is satisfied with the

products and services offer by the company then there is higher probability rate that the

customer will buy the product and service again. But on the other hand it is also true that

giving a satisfying product and service is difficult for a company and this could be a

challenge because of the competition in the market with various competitors and the dynamic

behaviour of the market.

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OBJECTIVE

Main objective

o To identify the strategies to retaining customers

o To understand the challenges faced by marketers in retaining customers.

Sub objectives

o To identify the competitors

o To identify the factors to customer retaining

Page | 4

Introduction

As communications service providers (CSPs) continue to engage in fierce customer

acquisition and customer poaching programs, they themselves are increasingly feeling the

pinch of customer churn within their base. Given the increasing number of players in the

market (traditional telecom, cable, broadband phone providers) and the increasing number of

options (wireless, fixed PSTN, VoIP), CSPs are being forced to devote more resources to

their customer retention strategies. As a result, increased focus has been placed on customer

service as a both a competitive strategy and a survival strategy, perhaps more intensively here

than in any other industry.

Some companies have even dedicated entire contact center operations exclusively to save at-

risk customers. However, as critical as contact center operations have become to customer

retention strategies, most companies still face major operational issues, such as efficiency and

productivity obstacles, which traditional contact center technology has failed to address.

One such company, Vodafone UK, one of the leading wireless providers, is continually trying

to perfect its retention process. Most recently it created a single contact center devoted

exclusively to customer retention. By using Jacada® Fusion, the Vodafone “SAVES” group

has increased customer and agent satisfaction levels by dramatically decreasing overall call

handle time – and as a side benefit, was able to completely eliminate after call wrap-up,

resulting in a significant reduction in operational costs.

The customer lifecycle is made up of three core customer management processes: customer

acquisition, customer retention and customer development. The processes of customer

retention and development are the focus of this chapter.

A customer retention strategy aims to keep a high proportion of valuable customers by

reducing customer defections (churn), and a customer development strategy aims to increase

the value of those retained customers to the company. Just as customer acquisition is focused

on particular prospects, retention and development also focus on particular customers. Focus

is necessary because not all customers are worth retaining and not all customers have

potential for development.

We will deal with the issue of retention first, before turning to development.

A number of important questions have to be answered when a company puts together a

customer retention strategy.

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Which customers will be targeted for retention?

What customer retention strategies will be used?

How will the customer retention performance be measured?

We believe that these issues need to be carefully considered and programmed into a properly

resourced customer retention plan. Many companies, perhaps as many as six out of ten, have

no explicit customer retention plan in place. 1 Most companies spend a majority of their time,

energy and resources chasing new business, with 75 per cent or more of marketing budgets

being earmarked for customer acquisition.

Page | 6

CONCEPT OF RELIANCE COMMUNICATION

“My vision is to provide the latest telecommunication facilities to every Indian

at the price of a post card” – Dhirubhai Ambani.

Reliance Infocomm was launched as a very ambitious project. The project was

conceived at the convergence of communication and information technology. It was designed

to connect every home and office in India with each other and the world.

On Thursday, August 09, 2007

Anil Ambani has chosen as “ Telecom person of the year 2007 “

His marketing strategy has made millions of Indians happy, they got the best mobile

tariffs in the world-local call costs at 15 paise/minute, and STD call at 40 paise/minute .

As per its expansion plan, Reliance Communications will have the single largest wireless

network in the world, covering over 950 mn Indians or more than 5% of the global

population. It will cover 23,300 towns or every single Indian habitation with a population of

over 1,000. Reliance Communications will cover almost 100% of all rail routes, providing

seamless voice, video, radio, and Internet connectivity to 14 mn commuters every day. It will

also cover almost 100% of all national highways, and 84% of all state highways, giving

millions of users the power to talk, text, surf, play, chat or simply stay in touch across nearly

the entire length of India's 2,00,000-km-long road network.

Having achieved tremendous growth, the main challenge for Reliance Communications is

to improve quality of service and ARPU. Its enterprise business is also not in a position to

compete with the global majors. Stock market valuations may boost the fortunes of an

entrepreneur, but Ambani needs to address the issues faced by the growing mobile customer

base, especially in India, where bureaucracy takes pride in checking the businessman.

Page | 7

SWOT Analysis of Reliance Com.

PROBLEM BEING FACED

Competitors

Not Proper Communication of Customers Complaint to the company

Lack of instant complaint solving due to the lengthy documentation and entertainment

of complaint

WHAT DOES COMPANY EXPECT TO DO BY SOLVING THE PROBLEM

Page | 8

Strength

Low Price

Network

Connectivity

Flexible plans

Cheap VAS Services

Reputed Brand Name

Weakness

Branding Image

Marketing problem

Limited reach of wire lines.

Slowest Activation Process

Limited Budget for Sales Promotion

Opportunity

Preference of Flexible wired plans

IPTV introduction

Rural Telephony

New Market, Vertical, Horizontal

Competitors` Vulnerabilities

Threat

Political destabilization.

New Entrants

IT Development

Market Demand

Seasonality, Weather Effects

New Product development by

competitors

Customer Satisfaction

Customer Retention

Increase in Sale

Service Excellence

Increase in Revenue by Broadband Department

Page | 9

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is a way to systematically do the job. It may be understood as

a science of studying how research is done scientifically. The most desirable approach with

regards to the selection of the research methodology depends on the nature of particular

work, time and resources available along with the desire level of accuracy.

Research Type Descriptive Research

Data Source Primary Data and Secondary data

Research Instrument Questionnaire design

Type of Questionnaire Structured

Sample Size 50

Sampling Method Judgmental

Contact Method Personal Interview

Page | 10

DATA ANALYSIS

Questions put up to the customers:-

Q 1. Most Influencing factor of consideration while purchasing products of Reliance comm.?

Brand name Flexibility in tariff plan

Price Easy availability Aafter sale service0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

15

20

25

10

30

By the help of the graph shown above we can conclude that 25 % of people influence by price only and the major role is played by after sales service.

Page | 11

Q 2. What is the nature of problem you face with Reliance comm.?

Service level Claim level Product availability Product awareness0

10

20

30

40

50

6055

30

10

5

By the help of the graph shown above we can conclude that 55 % of people are facing the problem in service level and the other most effective part is at claim level.

Page | 12

Q 3. Are you aware about new scheme of Reliance comm.?

68

32

YesNo

By the help of the graph shown above we can conclude that 68 % of people are aware of the schemes of reliance.

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Q 4. Which type of problem you face with Reliance comm.?

Call drop Echo Network failure Voice clarity0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

30

13

45

12

By the help of the graph shown above we can conclude that 45 % of people are facing the problem of Network failure and the other most effective part is the call drop.

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Q 5. How you rate Reliance as a service Provider?

12

26

44

18

PoorAverageGoodExcellent

By the help of the graph shown above we can conclude that 44 % of people rate Reliance as Good where as 26 % of people rate as Average.

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Questions put up to the Reliance Comm. people:-

Q 1. How frequently your company comes up with new offers?

12

19

43

26

YearlyWithin 6 monthsWithin 3 monthsMonthly

By the help of the graph shown above we can conclude that 43 % time Reliance comes up with a new offer within three months and 26% in monthly.

Page | 16

Q 2. Does this help in retaining the consumer?

73

27

YesNo

By the help of the graph shown above we can conclude that 68 % of people are aware of the schemes of reliance.

Page | 17

Q 3. What do you do for retaining the customers?

10

24

66

Giving extra schemes Giving proper expected solution on timeBy showing empathy to cus-tomers

By the help of the graph shown above we can conclude that 66% time company retains customers by showing empathy to the customers.

Page | 18

Q 4. What type of customers usually comes to you?

16

42

22

20

FlirtyIrateAbusingNormal

By the help of the graph shown above we can conclude that 42% of the customers that comes are irate customers.

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Q 5. Which helps more in retaining the customer?

54

23

18

5

Good servicePriceProduct qualityOthers

By the help of the graph shown above we can conclude that 54% of the customers are retained just by providing good services and next major part is played by price.

Page | 20

Conclusion

From the above research it can be concluded that customers of Reliance are more inclined towards the price part. Reliance is still facing some network issues and many of the customers rate Reliance as a good service provider.

Where as from the companies prospective new offers does help in retaining the new customers and showing empathy to the customer also helps in many of the situations while retaining.

Bibliography

BOOKS

Marketing Management - Phillip Kotler

MAGAZINE

Business Today

NEWSPAPERS

Economic Times

Hindustan Times

WEBSITE

www.COAI.in

www.trai.co.in

Page | 21

Questionnaire for Customers

1. Most Influencing factor of consideration while purchasing products of Reliance comm.?•

a. brand nameb. flexibility in tariff planc. priced. easy availabilitye. after sale service

2. What is the nature of problem you face with Reliance comm.?a. Service levelb. Claim levelc. Product availabilityd. Product awareness

3. Are you aware about new scheme of Reliance comm.?•

a. Yes•

b. No

4. Which type of problem you face with Reliance comm.?a. Call dropb. Echoc. Network failured. Voice clarity

5. How you rate Reliance as a service Provider?a. Poorb. Averagec. Goodd. Excellent

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Questionnaire for Reliance Comm. Employees

1. How frequently your company comes up with new offers?a. Yearly b. Within 6 months c. Within 3 months d. Monthly

2. Does this help in retaining the consumer?a. Yes b. No

3. What do you do for retaining the customers?a. Giving extra schemesb. Giving proper expected solution on timec. By showing empathy to customers

4. What type of customers usually comes to you?a. Flirty b. Irate c. Abusing d. Normal

5. Which helps more in retaining the customer?a. Good service b. Price c. Product qualityd. Others ( Specify___________)

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