Customer

Transcript

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1 CUSTOMER: A customer is someone who makes use of the paid products of an individual or organization. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services. The word historically derives from ³custom´, meaning ³habit´; a customer was someone who frequented a particular shop, who made it a habit to purchase goods of the sort the shop sold their rather than elsewhere, and with whom the shopkeeper had to maintain a relationship to keep his or her ³custom´, meaning expected purchases in the future. The shopkeeper remembered the sizes and preferences of his or her customers, for example. The word did not refer to those who purchased things at a fair or bazaar, or from a street vendor. Types of customers Customers can be classified into two main groups: internal and external. Internal customers work for the organization, possibly in another department or another branch. External customers are essentially the general public. Internal customers  People working in different departments of the vendor¶s organization.  People working in different branches of the vendor¶s organization. External customers  Individuals  Businesses or business people, including suppliers, bankers and competitors.  NGOs, Government bodies, Voluntary organizations. Needs and Expectations Customer needs may be defined as the facilities or services a customer requires to achieve specific goals or objectives. Needs are generally no-negotiable, but may be optional or of varying importance to the customer. In any transaction, customers seek value-for-money, and will often consider a range of vendors¶ offers before settling on a purchase. Customer expectations are based n perceived values of facilities or services as applied to specific needs. Expectations are influenced by cultural values, advertising, marketing, and other 2 communications, both with the supplier and with other sources. Expectations are negotiable and modifiable. Both customer needs and expectations may be determined through interviews, surveys, conversations or other methods of collecting information. Customers at times do not have a clear understanding of their needs. Assisting in determining needs is a valuable service to the customer, the process, expectations may be set or adjusted to correspond to known product capabilities or service levels. A Customer can be defined on a businessman¶s or seller¶s point of view as: A customer is the most important person in any business.  A customer is not dependent upon business. Business is dependent upon him.  A customer is an essential part of the business- not an outsider  A customer is not just money in the cash register. He is a human being with feelings and deserves t be treated with respect.  A customer is a person who comes to sellers with his needs and his wants. It is seller¶s job to fill them.  A customer deserves the most courteous attention the businessmen can give him.  He is the lifeblood of every business. He pays the salary. Without him business would have to closed the doors. As marketers we must never forget it.  Thus customer is treated as the most important fundamental aspect of marketing other than competitor and values. (http://www.docstoc.com/docs/DownloadDoc.aspx?doc_id=7138364) Consumer Preferences and Related Concepts As with much research on consumers, and indeed social science in general, there is a lot of terminological confusion and sometimes a lack of rigor. This is acknowledged within the academic literature and steps are being taken to rectify this situation. The following definitions of key terms are provided in the hope of clarifying the following discussion of the literature. 3 Consumer Satisfaction Consumer satisfaction and acceptance are often considered in the literature to be closely linked yet these are distinct concepts. Satisfaction is the fulfillment and gratification of the need for a stated good or service, here, water. Consumer Acceptance Acceptance describes consumer willingness to receive and/or to tolerate. For example, a customer might accept the occurrence of a certain number of yearly supply interruptions given a certain price. Consumer acceptance and satisfaction are related, as the first is a precursor of the latter. However, despite the fact that satisfaction and acceptance can be thought of as lying on a continuum, acceptance does not automatically lead to satisfaction (see Figure 1.1). Weighing needs or preferences against provided product or service attributes results in the balance of satisfaction pointing in a negative or positive direction, depending on whether interests are conflicting or corresponding. This determines the way in which people evaluate companies¶ or utilities¶ performance. Only when a consumer¶s needs for a stated good or service are met, i.e. when the service provided corresponds with their preferences, will they feel satisfied. Customer satisfaction can be enhanced when their needs are met (in terms of both quality and quantity) and accord with their preferences. At the other end of this dimension, where the service provided conflicts with the prevailing needs or preferences, customers may experience feelings of dissatisfaction. Figure. Schematic review of the concept of acceptance placed in the context of customer preferences and satisfaction 4 Acceptance is also used in the literature to mean an affirmative answer to a proposal. The distinction is subtle but there are occasions where consumers might not agree to a proposal yet accept the subsequent service in the sense of tolerating it. Consumer Concerns These are expressed anxieties or unease over an object broadly defined (e.g. discoloured tap water or a proposal to change the water pricing structure). Consumer Preferences This is used primarily to mean an option that has the greatest anticipated value among a number of options. This is an economic definition and does not tap into µwishes¶ or µdreams¶ (for e.g. that safe drinking water was free, that there should be world peace) but for all practical purposes is an appropriate definition. Preference and acceptance can in certain circumstances mean the same thing but it is useful to keep the distinction in mind with preference tending to indicate choices among neutral or more valued options with acceptance indicating a willingness to tolerate the status quo or some less desirable option. Consumer Expectations The distinction between expectations and preferences is often blurred though the concepts are distinct. Expectation is used in three slightly differing senses in the literature. One is the act of expecting or looking forward ± a belief about what will happen in the future. Most consumers in Europe expect that clean and safe water will come out of their taps the next time they turn them on. A related but more technical use of expectation is to denote a more formal estimation of the probability of an event occurring. These first two definitions can be distinguished from preference in that preferences refer to some desired state and, as in the above definition, imply that more than one state is possible and that there are some options. Unfortunately expectation is also used more loosely to mean a requirement or demand for something and in this sense is a kind of strong preference. When reading the literature it is important to ascertain which definition is being used. Consumer Awareness Consumer awareness is the level of knowledge about, in this case, water which includes the water company, regulatory framework, supply system and service, or the water itself. In most 5 research the adequacy or otherwise of this awareness is anchored against the service provider or regulator¶s perspective on the supply. Where consumer awareness does not equate with this industry perspective this is often termed a consumer (mis)perception. However, it should be noted that there is a distinction between holding factually incorrect knowledge about the supply system (for e.g. that the water comes from a river when it comes from an aquifer) and differing perspectives on, say, the safety of the supply. In the latter example assessments of safety are judgements made under uncertainty about the future and thus have a legitimately contestable truth status. What is acceptably safe is a matter of judgment (potentially based on µgood science¶ but a judgement under uncertainty nonetheless) and may or may not be a µmis-perception¶. Risk Perception This is a term used rather loosely in the literature to mean the level of risk associated with exposure to a hazard. Unfortunately a µrisk¶ is often used to mean the specific hazard itself rather than a formal risk which is a combined assessment of the likelihood and magnitude of harm that may occur as a result of exposure to the hazard. In section 3 we discuss this concept further. Consumer Attitudes An attitude is a positive or negative evaluation of a social object or action. A µsocial object¶ in the present context might mean the water company, water regulations, supply system and service, or the water itself. Many theories of attitudes (e.g. the well-known theory of planned behavior, Ajzen, 1985) have attitude as a factor involved in determining behavioral choices however there is considerable continuing debate about when, and in what circumstances, attitudes are important determinants of behavior. An attitude toward something should thus not be taken to imply that attitude consistent behavior will automatically follow. Consumers and the Public While discussing definitional clarity it is worth acknowledging that µthe consumer¶ is not a representative of a single homogeneous group, µthe public¶. Social scientists prefer to use the term µpublics¶ to reflect the idea that not all members of µthe public¶ share the same goals and 6 values nor have the same relative power status within any society. A crude example we will return to later is that the poor/unemployed are unable to pay for some services and it would be a mistake to ignore the importance of this different status when studying preferences. In the case of water consumption, all members of the population have to consume water from some source but some are the direct payers of water bills (customers), some pay indirectly (e.g. those living in care homes, or some forms of rented accommodation) and others are dependents of customers. These differing groups will have differing relationships with suppliers and may well have different preferences. (http://www.techneau.org/fileadmin/files/Publications/Publications/Deliverables/D6.2.1.pdf) Tips for getting closer to your customers ‡ Involve the customer in product development. Look at what Dell is doing using IdeaStorm4 to see how companies like this are co-creating with their customers. ‡ Recognize key customer events. For example, many insurers proactively contact a customer one month prior to their insurance policy renewal date. You can always predict and pre-empt your customers¶ needs: if they bought a printer they¶re going to need more ink! ‡ Cross-channel consistency ± recognize customers across different channels from one interaction to the next, whether they¶re in-store buying with loyalty points, or chasing a delivery online. ‡ Be a great listener. Keep talking to customers and use their constructive feedback to shape your future plans. Tell them exactly what you¶ve done to address their views. (http://www.vodafone.com/etc/medialib/business_refresh/pdf.Par.69894.File.dat/Getting-closerred-paper.pdf) 7 Why do we think customer satisfaction is important? In a competitive market place where businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy. How to measure customer satisfaction? There are many ways to measure customer satisfaction. First of all we will give you some examples of methods you can use: THE SERVQUAL MODEL: The SERVQUAL model was originally measured on 10 aspects of service quality: reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding or knowing the customer and tangibles. It measures the gap between customer expectations and experience. By the early nineties the authors had refined the model to the useful acronym RATER: ·Reliability ·Assurance ·Tangibles ·Empathy ·Responsiveness The simplified RATER model however is a simple and useful model for qualitatively exploring and assessing customers' service experiences and has been used widely by service delivery organizations. It is an efficient model in helping an organization shape up their efforts in bridging the gap between perceived and expected service. THE BALANCED SCORECARD 8 The balanced scorecard (BSC) is a strategic performance management tool for measuring whether the smaller-scale operational activities of a company are aligned with its larger-scale objectives in terms of vision and strategy. By focusing not only on financial outcomes but also on the operational, marketing and developmental inputs to these, the Balanced Scorecard helps provide a more comprehensive view of a business, which in turn helps organizations act in their best long-term interests. The underlying rationale is that organizations cannot directly influence financial outcomes, as these are "lag" measures, and that the use of financial measures alone to inform the strategic control of the firm is unwise. Organizations should instead also measure those areas where direct management intervention is possible. In so doing, the early versions of the Balanced Scorecard helped organizations achieve a degree of "balance" in selection of performance measures. In practice, early Scorecards achieved this balance by encouraging managers to select measures from three additional categories or perspectives: "Customer," "Internal Business Processes" and "Learning and Growth." Implementing Balanced Scorecards typically includes four processes: 1. 2. 3. 4. Translating the vision into operational goals; Communicating the vision and link it to individual performance; Business planning; index setting Feedback and learning, and adjusting the strategy accordingly. According to Kaplan and Norton, ³The Balanced Scorecard provides managers with the instrumentation they need to navigate to future competitive success´. Many books and articles referring to balanced scorecards confuse the design process elements and the balanced scorecard itself. In particular, it is common for people to refer to a ³strategic linkage model´ or ³strategy map´ as being a balanced scorecard. Although it helps focus managers' attention on strategic issues and the management of the implementation of strategy, it is important to remember that the balanced scorecard itself has no 9 role in the formation of strategy. In fact, balanced scorecards can comfortably co-exist with strategic planning systems and other tool. KANO MODEL: The Kano model is a theory of product development and customer satisfaction developed in the 80's by Professor Noriaki Kano which classifies customer preferences into five categories: ·Attractive ·One-Dimensional ·Must-Be ·Indifferent ·Reverse These categories have been translated into English using various different names (delighters/exciters, satisfiers, dissatisfiers, etc.), but all refer to the original articles written by Kano The Kano model offers some insight into the product attributes which are perceived to be important to customers. The purpose of the tool is to support product specification and discussion through better development team understanding. Kano's model focuses on differentiating product features, as opposed to focusing initially on customer needs. Kano also produced a methodology for mapping consumer responses to questionnaires onto his model. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) makes use of the Kano model in terms of the structuring of the Comprehensive QFD matrices. Mixing Kano types in QFD matrices can lead to distortions in the customer weighting of product characteristics. For instance, mixing Must-Be product characteristics --such as cost, reliability, workmanship, safety, and technologies used in the product--in the initial House of Quality will usually result in completely filled rows and columns with high correlation values. Other Comprehensive QFD techniques using additional matrices are used to avoid such issues. Kano's model provides the insights into the dynamics of customer preferences to understand these methodology dynamics SIMALTO MODEL: 10 Finding out what people value lies at the very heart of successful pricing research. Yet establishing the value that people place on the goods and services they sell is one of the most difficult tasks for the business-to-business marketer. If they pitch their price too high then quite clearly they will lose out to the competition. Equally, if the price is too low, the company is in danger of leaving money on the table for the customer. For most b-to-b marketers, finding the right price is a judgment which many get badly wrong usually charging too little because they don¶t realize the value of their offerings. What we really need is a tool to help us measure value. Three main tools exist for measuring value. Each has its own merits and may be utilized in different circumstances: 1. Points Spend A very simple approach is to present the buyer with a list of the benefits and ask him/her to indicate their relative importance by spending a number of points according to which are most valued. The points-spend gives a rough indication of how buyers see value in the products and services they buy. This is a relatively crude and unsophisticated approach to researching price and value. 2. Conjoint Analysis This is a long-established technique used by market researchers for assessing the value of different elements of an offering. However, even with relatively simple conjoint concepts it is necessary to interview a minimum of 200 respondents in order to obtain an accurate result, and most statisticians would look for at least twice this number. Conjoint analysis is not, therefore, without its problems for the business-to-business researcher. 3. SIMALTO The third and most powerful tool we recommend is SIMALTO. SIMALTO helps you to understand how your offering is valued, and can be an essential tool in investigating value in business-to-business situations. 11 (http://www.justdoiteasy.com/united-kingdom/questionnaire/customer-satisfaction.html) 12 13 14 (http://www.karmayog.org/education/upload/28069/Telecom%20Sector%20thesis.pdf) 15 BHARTI AIRTEL Bharti Airtel formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures LTD (BTVL) is the largest cellular service provider in India, with more than 126 million subscribers as of December 2010. With this, Bharti is now the world's third-largest, single-country mobile operator and sixth-largest integrated telecom operator. It also offers fixed line services and broadband services. It offers its TELECOM services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal. The company also provides telephone services and broadband Internet access (DSL) in top 95 cities in India. It also acts as a carrier for national and international long distance communication services. The company has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore. The businesses at Bharti Airtel have always been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBU's) - Mobile Services, Airtel Telemedia Services & Enterprise Services. The mobile business provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles while the Airtel Telemedia Services business offers broadband & telephone services in 95 cities and has Direct-to-Home (DTH) service, Airtel Digital TV. Shahrukh Khan is the brand ambassador of the mobile company and Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan are the brand ambassadors of the DTH company. The company provides end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate customers through its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing station. Airtel Airtel is a brand of telecommunication services in India, Bangladesh and in Sri Lanka owned and operated by Bharti Airtel. It is the largest cellular service provider in India in terms of number of subscribers. Services are offered under the brand name Airtel: Mobile Services (using GSM Technology), Broadband & Telephone Services (Fixed line, Internet Connectivity(DSL) and Leased Line), Long Distance Services and Enterprise Services (Telecommunications Consulting for corporates). It has presence in all 23 circles of the country and covers 71% of the current 16 population (as of Financial Year 2009). Airtel has also launched 16Mb/s broadband plans in India, making it the first ISP to do so. Subscriber base The Airtel subscriber base according to COAI - Cellular Operators Association of India as of December 2010 was: y y y y y y Chennai - 3,746,100 Delhi - 1,822,208 Mumbai - 3,003,201 Kolkata - 2,746,100 Punjab - 4,581,187 Maharashtra - 6,518,134 The total is 131,714,243 or 32.86% of the total 404,349,733 GSM mobile connections in India till December 2010; and presently the Number 1 operator in India. On the 9th of May, 2009 Airtel signed a major deal with Manchester United Football Club. As a result of the deal, Airtel gets the rights to broadcast the matches played by the team to its customers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharti_Airtel) 17 Perception of people about AirtelThe advancement of technology has made the mobile users to pay in advance to the mobile usage and as of now 99% of new entrants to the mobile field have opted for pre-paid scheme and there has been a wane in the post-paid scheme. This is the outcome of the various beneficial offers extended by the competitive mobile operators in the country. As evident from the figures available, Bharti Airtel, the top most operators in the country has envisaged a thumping 8.1 new customers in the last quarter of 2010 of which 99.9% are pre-paid users. Spreading across different parameters, survey highlights interesting choices and preferences of µMobile India¶. Airtel has India¶s largest music collection across both mobile and digital categories. Over 220 million music downloads were completed by Airtel users in 2010. Airtel Mobitude 2009 is a compilation of millions of downloads and billions of SMSs by Airtel customers across cities, towns and villages of India. The outcome of this network congestion is call drops, fallacious voice quality and impatient attitude of the consumers. TRAI traced this network congestion levels at the Points of Interconnection (POI) where the mobile traffic meet to be diverted to desired locations. Bharti Airtel tops the list in this network congestion with 41 places while Vodafone contributing congestion in 22 places. The two companies are good in providing different facilities. The various facilities provided by these two companies are: Facilities provided by Airtel according to people: 1. Airtel provides very cheap call rates. 2. Airtel provides the facility of easy recharge. 3. M-Check recharge offer is offered by Airtel. 4. Low cost hello tunes are provided by this company. 5. Unlimited browsing and voice SMS. 6. Low STD charges and good network coverage are the best features of this company. 7. The strength behind Airtel is the Bharti Group, a telecom giant - the biggest private integrated telecom conglomerate based in India. 18 8. Bharti Airtel is the top most operator in the country 99 % of its customers are pre paid users. 9. Airtel has one of the best coverage areas and services. 10. Airtel has been coming up with innovative advertisements frequently to dominate the market and attract the customers. Airtel is countering this approach through celebrity power. (http://toostep.com/debate/vodafone-zoozoo-ads-versus-airtel-lovebirds-ads) (http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080505221139AAvszNX) (http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=186142) (http://www.indiastudychannel.com/forum/26528-Airtel-BSNL-Vodafone-Idea-Which-Best.aspx) 19 VODAFONE Vodafone Group plc is a British multinational mobile network operator headquartered in Newbury, Berkshire, United Kingdom. Vodafone is the world's largest mobile telecommunication network company, based on revenue, and has a market value of about £71.2 billion (November 2009). It currently has operations in 31 countries and partner networks in a further 40 countries. Based on subscribers, it is the world's second largest mobile phone operator behind China Mobile, with over 427 million subscribers in 31 markets across 5 continents as of 2009. In the UK, its home ground, Vodafone has badly underperformed in the last few years due to brisk change in administration. It has slipped from first to third largest telecom operator generating a revenue of £4.9 billion from its 18.7 million customers in 2008-09. The name Vodafone comes from voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones". Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, the largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, based on number of subscribers. Vodafone Global Enterprise Vodafone Operating Countries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodafone) Perception of people about Vodafone 20 Vodafone is considered to be one of the best networks due to its wide and better coverage. It has positioned itself well with the use of ZooZoo¶s. The SMS service provided by the company is most economical and thus Vodafone customer¶s loyalty towards the brand is quite high. Facilities provided by Vodafone according to people: 1. Vodafone is best in providing services to customers. 2. Vodafone has 97.3% prepaid customers. 3. Vodafone provides best and great offers to its customers and also have a good customer support. 4. Vodafone is the most technologically advanced network in India. 5. This company is also coming up with innovative advertisements frequently to dominate the market and attract the customers. 7. ZooZoo is definitely entertaining because it's funny and cute. (http://toostep.com/debate/vodafone-zoozoo-ads-versus-airtel-lovebirds-ads) (http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080505221139AAvszNX) (http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=186142) (http://www.indiastudychannel.com/forum/26528-Airtel-BSNL-Vodafone-Idea-Which-Best.aspx) 21 Comparison between Vodafone and Airtel: The war for the very huge Indian telecom sector has just heated up. In fact it¶s now moving into the next phase. The battle to enter the market and build a loyal customer base thus generating revenue through sales is no longer the sole business model. The two big giants in the Indian telecom industry namely Airtel and Vodafone have established themselves for a pretty long while. It is now time to consolidate their position and increase their sales figures. No longer is the battle simply restricted to providing a telecom service on a cheap and affordable handset. It¶s now about making money through network services. Airtel and Vodafone who already have an established customer base , it¶s about entering areas in the country that have poor telecom access like the rural areas. They definitely have the funds. 1. Airtel is best in providing cheap call rates but Vodafone is best in providing services to customers. 2. Bharti Airtel is the top most operator in the country 99% of the customers are pre paid users while in Vodafone 97.3% of the customers are prepaid customers. 3. Airtel is using celebrities¶ Shahrukh,Kareena,Saif,Vidhya,Madhvan etc to advertise its products while Vodafone is using innovative Zoo Zoo a funny character for its products. 4. Airtel has one of the best network coverage features while Vodafone is most technologically advanced network. 5. The basic strength of Airtel is Bharti group whereas Vodafone have a good customer support. (http://toostep.com/debate/vodafone-zoozoo-ads-versus-airtel-lovebirds-ads) (http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080505221139AAvszNX) (http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=186142) (http://www.indiastudychannel.com/forum/26528-Airtel-BSNL-Vodafone-Idea-Which-Best.aspx) (http://www.theindiastreet.com/2009/05/vodafone-vs-airtelthe-gloves-are-off.html) 22 Chapter 2 REVIEW OF LITERATRURE 23 Satitsamitpong and Mitomo (2006) ± This paper aimed to analyze the factors that affect mobile operators switching intention. We applied the stated preference method for data collection and employed choice probability modelsLK, specifically conditional logit model to estimate the utility function. The results revealed that expected reduction in monthly bill is the most important factor for customers to switch the operators. In addition, brand preference effect still exists in Thai mobile industry. Mobile number portability (MNP) adoption fee and porting time are negative and significant to the probability of switching mobile operators. Lately postpaid users tend to switch operators more than prepaid users do given becomes available. Bhatt (2008) - In this survey, the author collects the information about the characteristics and trends of the youth market for mobile phones. For this survey, 700 respondents were selected. According to the study, the differences between the genders and their perception appear to reflect something of a decreasing trend amidst this new generation of technology adopters. This paper has tried to compare the usage differences by gender with respect to the different manufacturing and service provider companies. Sinha and Wagh (2008) - Author studied consumer choices, preference regarding mobile services and mobile usage. For this study 100 consumers was selected from the streets and markets of the Maunpur city to put forth their views and to fill the questionnaire. And secondary data was collected from the journals, articles, newspapers, TRAI reports. The result of the study stated that major chunk of the mobile users were below 35 years of age and were post graduates and plus graduates. Majority of the consumers considered multi usage features of cell phones as a reason behind choosing a cell phone. Majority of the consumers considered that they remained connected with the family and friends is the main benefits from the cell phones, remaining says to enjoy wide coverage at low cost while rest says for entertainment, for convenience at business operations and for enjoying internet. 24 Bhave and Behura (2008) ± The survey revealed that customer care was not the strongpoint of any service provider, as the average time that a subscriber took to be able to connect to the customer service was 5 minutes as against the legal requirement of one minute. Besides, only 30% subscribers confirmed that they were able to get through in just one call attempt. The survey covered nine mobile service providers that serve consumers in these metros. The survey assumes importance at the fast growth of Mobile services which is adding nearly 8 million new subscribers a month. The growth is to be seen in the context of the fact that the cost of mobile telephony service in India is among the lowest in the world and Indian consumers do get good value for money insofar as mobile phone services are concerned. There are sore points in services that make a consumer grumble, but the overall picture cannot be said to be negative. Consumer VOICE dedicated three months of research time to interviewing 4,745 consumers in the four metro cities of India to find out their level of customer satisfaction with mobile phone services. BPL, Vodafone, and TATA are the leaders if we consider people's collective view about which service provider they would most highly recommend to their friends or relatives. On the ten point scale, overall satisfaction of service provider is as BPL with 7.7, BSNL and Aircel with 7.6, Idea with 7.4, Airtel and Tata with 7.3, Reliance and Vodafone with 7.2 and MTNL with 6.9. Slezak (2009) - The purpose of this study was to examine why mobile phone usage increased faster in Spain in recent years compared to the United States. Upon applying the theory of supply and demand to the mobile communications market structures in both countries, conclusions can be drawn to explain important reasons behind their differing growth rates in cellular mobile penetration. In regard to traditional determinant analysis, each demand-side factor including tastes and preferences and the price and availability of substitutes and complements, pointed toward more rapid growth in Spain compared to the United States. On the supply side, the impact that regulation had on the markets caused a greater increase in supply in the United States 25 compared to Spain. These above conclusions result in a slightly larger equilibrium quantity of mobile penetrations in Spain than in the United States, but do not explain Spain¶s current rapid growth. The most important conclusion of this paper is that the introduction of pre-paid pricing schemes coupled with the CPP pricing structure caused a favorable shift in demand in Spain, as opposed to a movement along the demand curve. When this factor is considered with the results of traditional supply and demand analysis, it reinforces the conclusion that demand in the mobile communications market increased greater in Spain, thus yielding a greater equilibrium quantity of mobile penetration. The policy implication stemming from the analysis suggest that Spain needs to reexamine the supply-side factor of the impact of regulation and the United States must review pricing schemes that effect the demand side of its mobile communications market. It is essential for countries to invest in the design and implementation of infrastructures. The ability to communicate quickly and efficiently is necessary to spurm economic growth. Future trends in wireless communication promise the invention of new technologies that will posses the ability for providers to pinpoint their phones within 100 yards making it easier to locate the origin of 911 calls. Whether an individual is looking for safety, status, or service, wireless communication is the answer and both the United States and Spain needs to take regulatory measures to invest in its infrastructure to ensure they do not get lost in the ³cellular divide´. Kumar (2009) - In this survey, comparative report on the various Mobile phones and service providers from the consumer view point and thus finding the best mobile and service provider. Based on the survey report it can be concluded that NOKIA is the best mobile because of its durability, long standby hours, good camera resolution and better display. Also AIRTEL is the best service provider because of its greater coverage, promotional offers, good GPRS facility and better customer support. 26 Kashyap (2009) - After analyzing the findings of the research, the author concluded that Airtel lagged behind its competitors as far as customer service and availability is concerned. The maximum no. of people who used the mobile was in the age group of 20 to 28. Cash cards were the most popular type of mobile connections, as they were consumer friendly and recharging the connection was not a problem. Maximum no. of people spent RS 500 on their connections. As Airtel was the only company having the maximum no of mobile connections so it must seriously looked into the loop holes of the existing customer service department. Although people were aware about the tariff plans offered by WLL service providers, but right now they were not in hurry to adopt it. The public wants to wait and watch their respective performances. 27 Chapter 3 RESEARCH METHEDOLOGY 28 The success of the analysis mostly depends on the methodology on which it is carried out. The appropriate methodology will improve the validity of the findings.  Area of the study: The study was mainly concentrated on Amritsar city.  Research Design: Descriptive Research: Descriptive research includes survey and fact-findings enquire of different kinds. The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the state affairs, as it exists at present.  Data Collection: The study is based on the data collected through primary and secondary sources. o Primary Data: A questionnaire was designed to collect primary data from various cell phone users. o Secondary Data: Secondary data was collected from journals, magazines, web sites and from other relevant publications.  Sampling Design: The sampling design mainly consists of the sample taken for the study along with the sample size, sample frame and sampling method.  Sample Universe: All customers using cell phones was taken as the sample universe. 29  Sample Size: From the universe, sample sizes of 150 customers were selected for the purpose of the study.  Sample Frame: The customers were selected on a random basis from which the respondents were selected based on convenience and judgement.  Sampling Method: Convenience sampling was used, based on the willingness and availability of the respondents. The study was conducted on consumers with different type of business.  Research period: The time for the project was limited to 3 months only. From this, 2 months were spent for the collection of data. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The project helps the student to check whether the theory and practice actually matches. Organizational exposure helps the student to know how effectively they performed in the market. The primary objectives of the study was, y To analyze the preference level of customers towards Airtel & Vodafone services. The secondary objectives of the study was, a) To study how the customer choose their respective service provider. b) To find the awareness among the customers about Airtel & Vodafone and their new products. c) To find out the problems faced by the service users d) To analyze the position of both service providers against their competitors. e) To analyze the loyalty status of the consumers. f) To identify the customer preferences. 30 g) To find out the strength and weakness of services and their competitors h) To make suggestion, if any to improve existing condition. NEED AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY Today, for any organization or firm to survive in this competitive world depends on its ability to be dynamic and be different from the competition to be unique in the industry. Customer Satisfaction helps every organization to keep the existing customer and to build new customer. This research is aimed at profiling the standard customer with an aim to increase the network and improve company-customer relations. The information gathered through this research can be used by the company to improve its services and became more customers friendly. This can increase the goodwill of the company and its overall performance. Thus this study is aimed to provide the management with some knowledge about its status in market both in terms of sales and customer awareness. The research also aims to provide some ideas to improve the company¶s present condition. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY a) The behavior of the customer while approaching them to fill the questionnaire was unpredictable. b) The shortage of time was another constrain for the study. c) There may be error due to bias of respondents. d) Lack of customer¶s cooperation was a major constraint. e) Majority of the customer were too aggressive in nature. f) The sample was restricted to 150 customers, which may restrict the scope and completion of study. 31 Chapter 4 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 32 1. Mobile services used by respondents: Table 1- Frequency distribution of respondents: Mobile Services Vodafone Airtel Total No. Of Respondents 82 68 150 % of Respondents 55% 45% 100% Figure 1- Mobile Services Airtel 45% Vodafone 55% INTERPRETATIONA survey of 150 respondents was taken, out of which 55% of respondents use Vodafone services and 45% of respondents use Airtel services. 33 2. Gender: Table 2- Frequency wise distribution of gender: Gender Male Female Total No. Of Respondents 62 88 150 % of Respondents 41% 59% 100% Figure 2- Gender 41% Male Female 59% INTERPRETATIONOut of 150 Respondents, most of them were female respondents i.e. 62 were male and 88 were female respondents. 34 3. Occupation: Table 3- Frequency wise distribution of respondents: Occupation Professional Academic Computer/Engineering Student Others Total No. Of Respondents 12 21 26 83 8 150 % 0f Respondents 8% 14% 17% 55% 6% 100% Figure 3- Occupation 5% 8% 14% Professional Acedemic Computer/Engineering 17% 56% Student Others INTERPRETATIONTalking about the occupation of the respondents, 12 were professional, 21 were academic, 26 were computer/engineering background, 83 were students and 8 were others like security guards etc. 35 4. Age wise distribution of respondents: Table 4S.No. 1. 2. 3. 4. Age Below 20 21-30 31-40 Above 40 % of Respondents 4% 68% 18% 10% Figure 4- Age Above 40 10% 31-40 18% Below 20 4% 21-30 68% INTERPRETATIONAge factor also have important role in usage of services. 4 % lies below age group of 20 years, 68% of respondent lie in age group of 21-30, 18% in 31-40, again 10% of respondent¶s lies in age group above 40. 36 5. Type of services used by respondents: Table 5Type Of Services Postpaid Prepaid Total No. Of Respondents 32 118 150 % of Respondents 21% 79% 100% Figure 5- Type of Services 21% Postpaid Prepaid 79% INTERPRETATIONGenerally most of the people prefer prepaid connection. Due to which, out of 150 respondents, 32 respondents use post-paid connection and 118 use prepaid connection. 37 6. Distribution on the basis of using these services Table 6Time Period for Using the Services Less than 6 months 6 months to 1 year More than 1 year Total 10 47 93 150 7% 31% 62% 100% No. Of Respondents % of Respondents Figure 6- Time Period for Using the Services 7% Less than 6 months 31% 6 Months to 1 Year More than 1 year 62% INTERPRETATIONColour green shows that about 62% respondents are using the current service for more than 1 year, red shows 31% respondent are using the service between 6 months to 1year and blue colour shows 5% of respondents using the service for less than six months. 38 7. Distribution on basis of monthly expenditure in terms of your mobile usage Table 7Monthly Expenditure Less than Rs 200 Rs 200 to Rs 500 Rs 500 to Rs 1000 More than Rs 1000 Total No. Of Respondents 3 42 79 26 150 % of Respondents 2% 28% 53% 17% 100% Figure 7- Monthly Expenditure 2% 17% Less t a RS 200 RS 200 to Rs 500 RS 500 to Rs 1000 More t a RS 1000 53% INTERPRETATIONAccording to survey, 28% respondents spend around Rs 200 to Rs500 on their mobile usage per month, around 53% spend between Rs 500 to Rs1000/ month, around 2% spend less than Rs200 and around 17% spend more than Rs 1000 per month. 39 ¡ ¡     28% 8. How do you rate your services provider in terms of connectivity and area of network coverage? Table 8Network Coverage Bad Good Neither Good Nor Bad Total No. Of Respondents 0 118 32 150 % of Respondents 0% 79% 21% 100% Figure 8- Network Coverage Bad Good Neither good Nor bad 0% 21% 79% INTERPRETATIONAirtel customers are more satisfied if talking about network coverage as compared to Vodafone. Whereas in case of total respondents, about 119 respondents show good response to Network coverage and remaining respondents responded to neither good nor bad i.e. around 31 respondents. 40 9. What do you feel about the call tariff linked with the connection you are currently using? Table 9Call Tariff Very Economical Cheap Normal Expensive Total No. Of Respondents 0 16 102 32 150 % of Respondents 0% 11% 68% 21% 100% Figure 9- Call Tariff 0% 11% 21% Very Economical Cheap Normal Expensive 68% INTERPRETATIONOut of 150 respondents, 16 respondents respond cheap call tariff provided by their service provider whereas 102 respond normal and 32 respond expensive. Most of the respondents who respond expensive are Airtel customers. 41 10. How appropriate are the STD and ISD rates related with your plan being used right now? Table 10STD & ISD Rates Very Economical Cheap Normal Expensive Total No. Of Respondents 0 7 93 50 150 % of Respondents 0% 5% 62% 33% 100% Figure 10- STD and ISD Rates 0% 5% 33% Very Economical Cheap Normal Expensive 62% INTERPRETATIONAccording to the survey, 7 respondents respond as cheap STD & ISD rates provided by their service provider whereas 93 respond normal and 50 respond expensive. 42 11. How appropriate are the SMS rates related with the plan you are using currently? Table 11SMS Rates Very Economical Cheap Normal Expensive Total No. Of Respondents 66 47 20 17 150 % Of Respondents 44% 31% 14% 11% 100% Figure 11- SMS Rates 11% 14% 44% Very Economical Cheap Normal Expensive 31% INTERPRETATIONAs most of the service providers provide various plans of free SMS, so most of the respondents respond SMS rates as cheap or very economical. In a survey, 66 respond as very economical, 47 as cheap, 20 as normal and 17 respond as expensive. This is due to reason of expensive international messages. 43 12. Do you receive unwanted calls and SMS Advertisements? If yes, do you mind it? Table 12Receive Unwanted Calls & SMS No Yes, I don¶t mind Ys, I hate them Total 23 42 85 150 15% 28% 57% 100% No. Of Respondents % of Respondents Figure 12- Receive Unwanted Calls and Sms 15% No Yes, I Don t Mind 57% 28% Yes I hate them INTERPRETATIONTalking about the receiving of the unwanted calls and SMS, 22 respondents said that they didn¶t receive any unwanted calls or messages, 41 said that they receive and they don¶t mind it also and 82 said that they receive and they really hate these calls and messages. 44 13. Are you satisfied with the recharge options? i.e rates / availability etc Table 13Satisfied with Recharge Options No Yes Neither yes nor no Total 98 18 34 150 65% 12% 23% 100% No. Of Respondents % of Respondents Figure 13- Satisfid with Recharge Options 23% No Yes 12% 65% Neither yes nor No INTERPRETATION65% customers are not satisfied with recharge options that are provided by companies, 23% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied and 12% are satisfied customers out of 150 respondents. 45 14. Evaluate your most recent customer services experience Table 14Customer Service Experience Very Bad Bad Neither Good Nor Bad Good Very Good Total No. Of Respondents 3 15 53 78 1 150 % of Respondents 2% 10% 35% 52% 1% 100% Figure 14- Customer Service Experience 1% 2% 10% Very Bad Bad Neither Good Nor Bad Good 52% 35% Very Good INTERPRETATIONOut of 150 respondents, 3 respondents said that they have a very bad customer service experience, 15 said bad customer service experience, 53 said neither good nor bad, 78 said good experience and only 1 respondent respond very good customer service experience. 46 15. How would you rate your level of satisfaction with the service provider in regards to value? Table 15Level of Satisfaction with Service Provider Very Bad Bad Neither Good Nor Bad Good Very Good Total 0 23 47 72 8 150 0% 16% 31% 48% 5% 100% No. Of Respondents % of Respondents Figure 15- Level of satisfaction with service provider 0% 5% 16% Very Bad Bad Neither Good Nor Bad 48% 31% Good Very Good INTERPRETATIONOut of 150 respondents, 23 said that they show lower level of satisfaction, 47 said neither good nor bad, 72 said good response and 8 respondents respond very good level of satisfaction. 47 16. How would you rate your level of satisfaction with the service provider in regards to pricing? Table 16Recent Customer Experience in Regard to Pricing Very Bad Bad Neither Good Nor Bad Good Very Good Total Figure 166 19 41 68 16 150 4% 13% 27% 45% 11% 100% No. Of Respondents % of Respondents Recent Customer Experience in Regard to Pricing 11% 4% 13% Very Bad Bad Neither Good Nor Bad 27% 45% Good Very Good INTERPRETATIONWith respect to the recent customer experience in regard to pricing, 6 respondents show very bad response, 19 respondents receive bad experience, 41 respond neither good nor bad, 68 respond good while 16 respond very good customer experience in regard to pricing. 48 17. How would you rate your overall quality of your relationship with the service provider, Considering all your experiences with them? Table 17- Quality of relationship with service Provider Very Bad Bad Neither Good Nor Bad Good Very Good Total Figure 17- No. Of Respondents % of Respondents 0 5 47 89 14 150 0% 3% 30% 58% 9% 100% Quality of relationship with service Provider 0% 9% 3% 30% Very Bad Bad Neither Good Nor Bad Good Very Good 58% INTERPRETATIONOut of total respondents, 5 respondents have bad relation with the service provider, 47 have neither good nor bad relation, 89 have good relation and 14 have very good relation with their respective service providers. 49 18. How likely are you to repurchase the services from this company in the future? Would you say your chances are? Table 18Chances of Repurchase of Services in Future Very Bad Bad Neither Good Nor Bad Good Very Good Total 1 3 27 83 36 150 1% 2% 18% 55% 24% 100% No. Of Respondents % of Respondents Figure 18- Chances of Repurchase of Services in Future 1% 2% 24% 18% Very Bad Bad Neither Good Nor Bad Good Very Good 55% INTERPRETATION36 respondents show a very good chance of repurchase of services in future, 83 show good chance, 27 respond neither good nor bad, 3 respond bad chances and only 1 respondent respond very bad chances of repurchase of services in future. 50 19. How likely are you to recommend the services of this company to a friend or relative? Would you say your chances are? Table 19Chances of Recommending the Services of Company to Friends Very Bad Bad Neither Good Nor Bad Good Very Good Total Figure 190 4 33 71 42 150 0% 3% 22% 47% 28% 100% No. Of Respondents % of Respondents Recommending Services of company to Friends 0% 3% 28% 22% Very Bad Bad Neither Good Nor Bad Good Very Good 47% INTERPRETATION42 respondents show a very good chance of recommending the services of company to friends, 71 show good chances, 33 respond neither good nor bad chances and 4 respond bad chances. 51 20. Over the next 12 months, how likely are you to change your service provider? Table 20Chances to Change Your Service Provider No Plans Yes will change to something better I am happy with what I am having Total 150 100 57 38% No. Of Respondents 73 20 49% 13% % of Respondents Figure 20- Hw likely are you to change your service in next 12 months No Plans 38% 49% yes will change to something better I am Happy with What I am having 13% INTERPRETATIONOut of 150 respondents, 73 respondents said that they have no plans of changing their service provider, 20 said that they will change to something better and 57 said that they are happy with what they have. 52 Chapter 5 FACTS & FINDINGS: 53 Various findings during this project arey Talking about the network coverage then Airtel has the best network coverage whereas Vodafone has technologically advanced network. y Airtel is best in providing cheap call rates but Vodafone is best in providing services to customers. y Bharti Airtel is the top most operators in the country 99% of the customers are pre paid users while in Vodafone 97.3% of the customers are prepaid customers. y Airtel is using celebrities like Shahrukh,Vidhya,Kareena,Saif,Madhvan etc to advertise its products while Vodafone is using innovative ZooZoo a funny character for its products. y The basic strength of Airtel is Bharti group whereas Vodafone have a good customer support. 54 In short, various perceptions of customers regarding Airtel and Vodafone along with their various attributes are shown below in tabular form:- Airtel Vodafone - formerly Hutch Product Rating: Product Recommendation: Various Attributes Network Coverage: Customer Service: Charges and Billing: Offers: 72% Respective Ratings 57% (http://www.mouthshut.com/comparison/compareproducts.php?prodsel=925020930&id=92502 0924) 55 Chapter 6 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 56 Summary: A customer is someone who makes use of the paid products of an individual or organization. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services. Customer expectations are based on perceived values of facilities or services as applied to specific needs. Expectations are influenced by cultural values, advertising, marketing, and other communications, both with the supplier and with other sources. As customer is rational he wants maximum satisfaction with his resources. At present there are various companies which are providing mobile services to customers, Airtel and Vodafone are the two main companies in the same sector who are fulfilling customers¶ needs. Customers have various perceptions about these two companies. Airtel provides very good coverage and various services. It has very good network, with very cheap call rates, STD charges, it provides the facility of easy recharge etc. Airtel is committed to bring Seychelles the best in telecommunications. The strength behind Airtel is the Bharti Group; a telecom giant - the biggest private integrated telecom conglomerate based in India .on the other hand Vodafone is the world's largest mobile telecommunication network company, based on revenue, Vodafone is best in providing services to its customers and is excellent in technology. Thus in order to attract customers various companies are using effective advertisement and other promotional programs. as both companies are very well established now the main objective of both companies is to target the area which is poor in telecom access like rural areas. Thus the main objective of our study is to know what are the various perceptions of customers about these two companies.. 57 Conclusion: After analyzing the findings of the research, I can conclude that Airtel lagged behind Vodafone as far as customer service and availability is concerned. The maximum number of people who use the mobile is in the age group of 20 to 28. Cash cards are the most popular type of mobile connections, as they are consumer friendly and recharging the connection is not a problem. Maximum no. of people spends RS 500 on their connections. As Airtel is the only company having the maximum number of mobile connections so it must seriously look into the loop holes of the existing customer service department. The public wants to wait and watch their respective performances. As per according to the data collected using questionnaires results in following conclusions: There is great competition between both the companies but Vodafone has more of its customers as compared to Airtel in mobile services.  In all of their customers in both companies, more than 60% are students or between age group of 20 to 40.  Airtel has more prepaid customers as compared to Vodafone i.e. almost 99.9% customers are using prepaid services.  Most of the customers are quit loyal customers and are stay connected with the service provider for more than 1 year but both companies have maximum customers with expenditure of Rs. 500 to Rs. 1000 per month.  With respect to network Airtel has more network coverage but Vodafone has more technologically advanced network.  Talking about the call tariff, STD & ISD rates and SMS rates, both companies have similar strategies, i.e. lower local and STD call rates but higher ISD rates. But SMS rates of both the companies are found to be very economical.  Almost all the customers of both the companies are satisfied with the services provided by their respective companies with respect to recharge options, their personal customer experience or value and pricing.  Depending on the data collected, most of the customers are loyal customers and still shows a positive response of the loyalty in future also. 58 Recommendations: To Airtel: 1. It shoul give more emphasis on vodafone. 2. It should give more focus on techonological development. 3. Airtel must try some more inovative ideas in making advertisement. 4. It should provide better customer service. To Vodafone: 1. It should provide good network coverage. 2. Vodafone must lower the rates of its various services. 3. Try to lower the international call tariffs and SMS rates. For both the companies:providing services to customers to compete with 59 60 61 ANNAXURE 1 BIBLIOGRAPHY 62 Journal: y Satitsamitpong andMitomo. (2006), ³Factors that affect the Mobile Operators´, Indian Journal of Marketing. y Bhatt, Mayank Vinodbhai. (2008), ³A Study of Mobile Phone Usage among the Post Graduate Students´, Indian Journal of Marketing. y Sinha, S.K and Wagh, Ajay. (2008), ³Analyzing Growth of Cellular Telecom Sector and Understanding Consumer¶s Preferences and Choices on the Use of Cell Phones´, Indian Journal of Marketing. y Bhave, Yashwant and Bheru, Sidhartha.(2008), ³Indian mobile telephony services are competitive and provide good value for money´, assessed from http://consumervoice.org/press_release/Quality-of-Service.pdf. y Slezak. (2009), ³To Study the Mobile Phone Usage in Spain´, µUndergrajuate Journal of Economics¶, assessed from http://www.econ.ilstu.edu/UAUJE. y Kumar, Parveen. (2009), ³Survey Report on Best Mobile and Service´ assessed from http://www.ietymschennai.org/pdf/mobile%202%20prize.pdf. y Kashyap, Vinod. (2009), ³Comparative Study of Airtel and Its Competitors´, assessed from http://www.docstoc.com/docs/DownloadDoc.aspx?doc_id=24904690. Books: y Malhotra K. Naresh- Marketing Research, Pretice Hall of India private limited fourth edition. y Schiffman, Leon G. and Kanuk Leslie Lazar Consumer Behaviour, Pearson Pretice Hall, 9th edition. y Jha S.M, Services Marketing, Himalaya Publishing House, 6th revised edition. 63 Websites: y y (http://www.docstoc.com/docs/DownloadDoc.aspx?doc_id=7138364) (http://www.techneau.org/fileadmin/files/Publications/Publications/Deliverables/D6.2.1. pdf) y (http://www.vodafone.com/etc/medialib/business_refresh/pdf.Par.69894.File.dat/Gettingcloser-red-paper.pdf) y y y y y y y (http://www.justdoiteasy.com/united-kingdom/questionnaire/customer-satisfaction.html) (http://www.karmayog.org/education/upload/28069/Telecom%20Sector%20thesis.pdf) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharti_Airtel) (http://toostep.com/debate/vodafone-zoozoo-ads-versus-airtel-lovebirds-ads) (http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080505221139AAvszNX) (http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=186142) (http://www.indiastudychannel.com/forum/26528-Airtel-BSNL-Vodafone-Idea-WhichBest.aspx) y y y (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodafone) (http://www.theindiastreet.com/2009/05/vodafone-vs-airtelthe-gloves-are-off.html) (http://www.mouthshut.com/comparison/compareproducts.php?prodsel=925020930&id =925020924) 64 ANNEXURE 2 QUESTIONNAIRE 65 Airtel Vs Vodafone Description A survey to find popularity between two major mobile service providers in Amritsar. Survey 1. Which mobile services do you use? Vodafone Airtel 2. Your gender? Male Female 3. What is your occupation? Professional Academic Computers/engineering Student Others 4. What is your age? 10 ± 20 20 ± 30 30 ± 40 66 >40 5. Which type of services do you use? Postpaid Prepaid 6. For how long have you been using these services? Less than 6 months 6 months - 1 year More than a year 7. What is your monthly expenditure in terms of your mobile usage? Less than Rs. 200 Rs. 200 to Rs. 500 Rs. 500 to Rs. 1000 More than Rs. 1000 8. How do you rate your services provider in terms of connectivity and area of network coverage? Good Bad Neither good nor bad 9. What do you feel about the call tariff linked with the connection you are currently using? 67 Very Economical Cheap Normal Expensive 10. How appropriate are the STD and ISD rates related with your plan being used right now? Very Economical Cheap Normal Expensive 11. How appropriate are the SMS rates related with the plan you are using currently? Very Economical Cheap Normal Expensive 12. Do you receive unwanted calls and SMS Advertisements? If Yes, do you mind it? No Yes, I don¶t mind Yes, I hate them 13. Are you satisfied with the recharge options? i.e rates / availability etc. 68 Yes No Neither Yes nor no 14. Evaluate your most recent customer services experience Very Bad Bad Neither Good nor Bad Good Very Good 15. How would you rate your level of satisfaction with the service provider in regards to value? Very Bad Bad Neither Good nor Bad Good Very Good 16. How would you rate your level of satisfaction with the service provider in regards to pricing? Very Bad Bad Neither Good nor Bad 69 Good Very Good 17. How would you rate your overall quality of your relationship with the service provider, considering all your experiences with them? Very Bad Bad Neither Good nor Bad Good Very Good 18. How likely are you to repurchase the services from this company in the future? Would you say your chances are? Very Bad Bad Neither Good nor Bad Good Very Good 19. How likely are you to recommend the services of this company to a friend or relative? Would you say your chances are? Very Bad Bad 70 Neither Good nor Bad Good Very Good 20. Over the next 12 months, how likely are you to change your service provider? No plans at all Yes will change to something better I am happy with what I am having 71