It’s one of the most familiar conversations in the customer call center: your user has run over their mobile data allowance, and they want to discuss (or attempt to negotiate) a surprise bill. It’s no wonder: mobile data usage has increased tenfold over the past five years (Statista), and nearly one in three users say they have received data charges “substantially higher … than expected” at least once. 7% of those surveyed indicate that this happens “frequently.” (Pew) This surge in billing issues can be largely attributed to the types of media we consume, and how we consume them. We rely on our cell phones not only for work and news; increasingly, we turn to phones to be entertained with games, movies, music, and social media. The main sources of online entertainment? Data-hungry apps such as YouTube, Netflix, Facebook, and Instagram (Business Insider).

Proportional to the surge in data charges, customer service calls from customers seeking help to understand the charges. These calls not only put unnecessary strain on customer call centers, they can put a serious damper on good customer relations. Fortunately, there’s a way to keep customers happy, and keep those calls from rolling in.

Power to the People

When it comes to healthy customer retention and satisfaction, knowledge is power. Namely, putting knowledge in the hands of your users, so they can understand their mobile data usage and avoid those surprise overage charges without calling customer service. Here is where Samoby’s real-time advantage can give Mobile Network Operators and Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MNOs and MVNOs respectively) and their customers peace of mind. Using our low- consumption, native data usage app to monitor consumption, we can give users access to comprehensive information to empower their data use. This simple solution can improve customer satisfaction, reduce overages and call center strain, and improve customer retention and adoption.

Nip the Bill in the Bud

The move toward proactive customer service is evident across the service and retail spaces. For telecom, this largely means taking the surprise out of device usage as part of overall mobile digital experience management (DEM).

This can take many forms, including but not limited to:

  • Alerting the customer about approaching overall data limits and impending overage charges before they occur.
  • Warning the customer about weak or inconsistent wifi coverage on home or public networks, which could lead to unintentional data usage.
  • Giving customers insight into data usage by app, allowing them to monitor use of specific high-consumption apps.

Happy Customers make for Long Relationships

When information is at the customer’s fingertips, they don’t need to call in. Reducing this type of customer service call frees up your center to handle necessary support and informational calls more quickly and efficiently. But there’s an even better side effect to proactive customer service: Happy customers tend to stay with their carrier; new customer acquisition costs more than five times as much as retaining current customers, according to reporting from Harvard Business Review. Customer satisfaction might also translate to an increase in new activations, whether from existing customers adding lines, or new activations due influenced by customer satisfaction surveys and word of mouth (social proof).

So, the right questions

Do you want to extend the benefits of real-time usage data to your call centers and your users?

Do you want to add value to your mobile plan, and take the pressure off the call center?

In both cases, refer to Samoby to see the difference in real-time data usage app policies.

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