Customer Service as a Differentiator Croos Sectionnal Study

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PART II

Report on-

Customer Service as a Differentiator

A Cross-Sectional Study of the Mobile Market of

Bangladesh

Prepared for:

Prof. G. M. Chowdhury

Chairperson, Internship & Placement Program

Institute of Business Administration

University of Dhaka

Prepared by:

Md. Ahsanul Abid

Roll # 44

MBA 38th Evening

January 11, 2007

Institute of Business Administration


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University of Dhaka

Dhaka 1000

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Letter of transmittal:

January 11, 2007

Prof. G. M. Chowdhury

Chairperson, Internship & Placement ProgramInstitute of Business Administration

University of Dhaka

Subject: Letter of Transmittal

Dear Sir:

Please find attached the Internship report titled Customer Service as a Differentiator A

Cross-Sectional Study of the Mobile Market of Bangladesh. This report is the culmination ofmy 12-weeks of internship at Grameenphone Ltd. My special gratitude to Prof. Nurur

Rahman, Prof. GM Chowdhury and Mr. Ferdous Ahmed (my supervisor at Grameenphone),

whose guidance helped me to complete this final chapter of MBA degree.

For any further clarification, I will be more than glad to comply.

With Regards & Sincerity,

Md. Ahsanul AbidRoll # 44

MBA 38th (Evening)

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Acknowledgement:

In preparing this report, support from a number of individuals were invaluable.

Following few names, I must quote individually for special citation-

Prof. Nurur Rahman My academic supervisor, whose guidance and care

inspired me.

Prof. GM Chowdhury Chairperson of Internship & Placement Program, who

guided me about the pitfalls and key points of Internship well before the start of

the Internship program.

Mr. Ferdous Ahmed, Additional General Manager, CMD, Grameenphone Ltd.

My organizational supervisor, who despite his over-demanded schedule, always

found some time to advice & guide me in the right direction.

A group of 20 young members of Grameenphone who helped metremendously in completing my survey within a reasonable time.

My sincere gratitude toward all of them.

Besides, I must express my thanks to numerous academics and publishers whose

papers I used to prepare the secondary analysis.

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Table of Content:

Dhaka 1000..............................................................................................................................2

Letter of transmittal:...................................................................................................................3

MBA 38th (Evening) .................................................................................................................3

Acknowledgement:.....................................................................................................................4

Table of Content:........................................................................................................................5

1. Background of the Study:.......................................................................................................6

1.1 Findings of qualitative study.............................................................................................71.2 The big question:...............................................................................................................7

1.3 Rationale of the study.......................................................................................................8

1.3 Objectives of the Research................................................................................................8

1.4 Hypothesis.........................................................................................................................82. Executive Summary:...............................................................................................................9

3. Methodology:........................................................................................................................11

3.1 Scope:..............................................................................................................................11

3.2 Limitations:.....................................................................................................................11

3.3 Sampling type:................................................................................................................123.4 Sample size: ...................................................................................................................12

3.5 Field survey method: ......................................................................................................12

4. Contribution of research: .....................................................................................................12

5. Analysis techniques used:.....................................................................................................12

6. Findings & Recommendations:.............................................................................................13

6.1 Reliability:.......................................................................................................................13

6.2 Distribution of Sample....................................................................................................14

6.3 What is Quality Customer Service?................................................................................166.4 Relationship between Quality of Customer Service & Impression about Operator.......18

Correlations # 1.................................................................................................................18

Correlations # 2.................................................................................................................19Correlations # 3.................................................................................................................20

6.5 Quality of Customer Service: Determining the Key Components..................................21

6.5 Quality of Customer Service Determines Degree of Customer Retention ....................22

6.7 Perceptual position of the four operators (in eyes of the customers):.............................247. Recommendations:................................................................................................................26

7.1 Limitations:.....................................................................................................................26

8. Conclusion:...........................................................................................................................27

Appendix:..................................................................................................................................28

Appendix- 1: Sample Structure ............................................................................................28Appendix-2: Copy of Questionnaire.....................................................................................28

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1. Background of the Study:

Differentiation, as opposed to price-focus, is a feature-based strategy to outperform ones

competitors. This approach primarily focuses on creating a separate or unique identity of the

company or products to the eyes of customers. Whereby, price-based competition emphasizes

price cutting (cost cutting) and other methods of aggressive pricing, differentiation focuses on

a quality perspective by adding new or unique features to the offerings. In Bangladesh, mobile

operators have been unable to create any differentiated positioning in customer perception,

leading to price-based competition, fragmentation and lower profitability. This paper strives

to prove this hypothesis and offer new insight in mobile service differentiation.

Differentiation strategy is an integrated set of action designed to produce or deliver goods or

services that customers perceive as being different in ways that are important to them. It calls

for to sell non-standardized products to customers with unique needs. (Prof. Ferhat Anwar,

Undated)

Differentiation can be (a) the target market , (b) the brand, (c)a character or a personality, (d)

Positioning, (e) product benefits - More Value-Added (MVA), (f) a single, key persuasive

sentence, and / or (g) integration across communication. The factors can be summed up in five

ways Identity, Personify, Create a new generic, Change the name, and Reposition the

category

Strategies of Differentiation:

Getting into the mind with a new idea or product or benefit is an enormous advantage. An

attribute is a characteristic, peculiarity, or distinctive feature of a person of thing. Leadership

is the most powerful way to differentiate a brand. The reason is that its most direct way to

establish the credentials of a brand. And credentials are the collateral you put up to guaranteethe performance of your brand.

Positioning Strategy: Position is that one thing, that one descriptive sentence or slogan the

company is known for; that one specific idea that first comes to mind about the product; and

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that one characteristic that sets the service apart from competitors. (Prof. Ferhat Anwar,

Undated)

Dimensions of Customer Service:

Availability of product or service (to what extent products & services of a company

are available)

Lead time (difference between time of placing the order and delivery-time) variability

System recovery (if something goes wrong, how quickly system can recover)

Presence of shadow system [ability to cater to the specialized needs of favored

customers]

Availability of system information [includes, information availability, quickness,

accuracy and completeness]

Post sale support system [accessories, maintenance, follow-up etc.]

(Prof. Nurur Rahman, Undated)

1.1 Findings of qualitative study

1.2 The big question:

Is it possible to differentiate (a service offering) based on pre- & post- sales customer

services?

7

Quality of

Customer Service

Availability Lead timevariability

Systemrecovery

time

Presence ofshadow system

Systeminformation

Post salessupport

Differentiation in

customer Perception

Customer retentionThe Model


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1.3 Rationale of the study

Over the last 2 years, Grameenphone Ltd. has invested heavily in developing a aide network

customer service. Value-added services were introduced and specially, access to customer

service has been made available for the wider population. In this backdrop, the

Grameenphone management now wants to find out whether these investments have made

inroad to the customer heart and any position of differentiation has been created in terms of

retaining the customers.

1.3 Objectives of the Research

Broad Objectives of the Research: To find out whether quality in customer service retains

customers.

Specific Objectives of the Research:

1. To find out whether (pre & post sale-) customer service can make an operator

different (better or worse in customer perception) from its competitors -

2. To identify the effect of product / service availability on customers perception

3. To identify the effect of lead time variability on customers reaction toward an operator

4. To identify the effect of system recovery time on customers level of satisfaction

5. To find whether having a shadow system makes customers satisfied

6. To identify the effect of system information availability on customers perception

toward an operator

7. To identify effect of post-sale support system on customer perception

1.4 Hypothesis

Ho: Quality of Pre- & Post-sale customer service has direct relationship with the retention

rate of customers.

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2. Executive Summary:

Findings from the study:

There was not reasonable ground to disprove the null hypothesis that quality of customer

service directly related to the retention rate of a customer (time with an operator). In

other words, Quality of customer service has reasonable relationship with the retention of

customers. Besides, other key findings of the study are:

- Perception of customer service is strongly dependent on eight independent

parameters - Ease of use and customer friendly, Cost effectiveness of customer

service, Easy & cheap information about products & services, Behavior of customer

service people, Lead time variability, Availability & reach of customer service points,

Readiness to go the extra mile, Ease of access to customer service people

- Quality of customer service can help build positive impression about the operator in

the perception of the customer

- Quality of customer service can help build loyalty and attachment within the

customer. However, this relationship does not hold true if we try to incorporate time-

length of subscription in the equation. As the correlation # 3 shows, people who havebeen longer with a particular operator have shown less favorable attitude about the

respective operator

- The principal component analysis identifies the following 06 components to be

consistent with the factor analysis (in order the importance):

a) Ease of access to customer service people,

b) Easy & cheap information about products & services,

c) Cost effectiveness of customer service,

d) Availability & reach of customer service points,

e) Readiness to go the extra mile,

f) Behavior of customer service people.

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Recommendations:

Grameenphone should continue in its path to emphasizing customer service as a key

differentiator while positioning itself apart from other operators.

The key components while defining customer service are- a) Ease of access to customer

service people, b) Easy & cheap information about products & services, c) Cost

effectiveness of customer service, d) Availability & reach of customer service points, e)

Readiness to go the extra mile, f) Behavior of customer service people.

Appeal of a particular service might wear off with the length of time a customer sticks

with a particular operator. So, Grameenphone should continue to redefine the 6-factors

customer service with new features and facilities.

On a more general note, the operator instead of concentrating on price based-

competition should focus on a qualitative positioning. Otherwise they might soon find

their profit base eroding rapidly.

Grameenphone should identify customer service as a core competence area (in addition

to network quality and value-based services) and continue build on that.

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3. Methodology:

3.1 Scope:

The primary scope is to find the answers to the specific objectives as described above

The research will reflect the perception of mobile phone subscribers of Bangladesh

The report will reflect the opinion of the respondents, and findings will be based on those

sampled opinion

The mobile subscribes living within Dhaka city have been taken as the sample frame of the

study; however, the background of the study encompasses the whole mobile industry of

Bangladesh.

Only the subscribers of five operators (GP, Aktel, CityCell, BanglaLink and Tele Talk) have

been considered for the study. Subscribers of any other fringe operators were not considered.

3.2 Limitations:

Sample sizes for Tele Talk and City Cell subscribers are short of the planned number

(30); so any deductions based on these samples regarding Tele Talk and City Cell

might not be statistically correct

Many of the findings & concepts from the qualitative study could not be

accommodated. Some of them (as following) were dropped from quantitative survey:-

o Development of new features in mobile packages

o Role of pricing in customer perception etc.

Customer service (a comprehensive construct) was replaced by 6 parameters

product/service availability, lead time variability, availability of shadow system,

system recovery time, availability of system information, and availability of post sales

support service.

Respondents of the quantitative survey have shown a tendency to over state the time

for which they are using the current operator

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3.3 Sampling type:

Quota sampling method was employed, where sample units represent the proportional

distribution of the population. Sample elements are individual subscribers of different mobile

operators (Grameenphone, Aktel, BanglaLink, CityCell, and Tele Talk). Sample frame is all

the mobile phone subscribers of Bangladesh. Sample elements were selected based on

convenience.

3.4 Sample size:

Sample size is 182 (calculation of the sample structure is given in the appendix # 2)

3.5 Field survey method:

As it is a cross sectional study, survey elements were chosen from the subscribers of five

mobile operators. However, individual elements were picked based on convenience. Although

the study covers the mobile phone industry of Bangladesh, the fieldwork was conducted only

in Dhaka. The researcher acted as interviewer. Sample elements were given the questionnaire

on the spot to fill up. The questionnaire was self-administered.

4. Contribution of research:

Individual: As a student of marketing, I am getting a hands-on learning in the pros & cons of

research. Learning to apply the tools & techniques from classroom to the applied world of

real-life business problems.

Organizational: findings and learning from the study can be used by the mobile operators of

Bangladesh to focus their attention to specific marketing issues like differentiation,

competition and customer satisfaction.

Society: Maybe the learning are minute and fraught with mistakes (of an apprentice),

however, it will add to the total understanding of mobile service marketing in Bangladesh as

very little have been done in areas of differentiation and per se.

5. Analysis techniques used:

Sections of the Findings Analysis Technique used

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Reliability of data Cronbachs Alpha

Distribution of sample Descriptive statistics, graphs

Quality of customer service Regression model and ANOVA table

Relationship between customer service &

impression about operator

Correlation

Test of null hypothesis Paired sample t-test and descriptive statistics

Key components for customer service Key component factor analysis

6. Findings & Recommendations:

6.1 Reliability:

The reliability test shows Cronbachs alpha to be .649 proving the data to be reasonably

reliable.

Case Processing Summary

N %

Cases Valid 101 76.8

Exclud

ed(a)31 23.2

Total 132 100.0

A List wise deletion based on all variables in the procedure.

Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's

Alpha

Cronbach's Alpha

Based on

Standardized Items N of Items

.649 .746 17

Scale Statistics

Mean Variance

Std.

Deviation

N of

Items

51.3619 49.5601 7.0399 17

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6.2 Distribution of Sample

Bars show Last Values

Aktel

BanglaLink

City Cell

Grameenphone

Tele Talk

Reference Category

0

20

40

60

Referencenumber

Distribution of Sample According to Operator

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Aktel

BanglaLink

City Cell

Grameenphone

Tele Talk

Reference CategoryLess than 1 yr

1 to 2 yr

2 to 3 yr

3 to 4 yr

More than 4 yr

Distribution of Sample as per Longivity (Time with Current Operator)

Pies show counts

Interpretation:As the above pie-chart shows, Grameenphone has clearly lead the

pack in terms of retaining their customers over the years followed by Aktel. On

the other hand, BanglaLink has majority of their subscribers for less than 1 year.

This fact is consistent with the core hypothesis, as Grameenphone has been

spending heavily on customer service over the years; and currently has more

than 600 customer contact points through out Bangladesh, which provides an

edge over its competitors.

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Distribution of Sample Based on Operator

Reference Category

Tele Talk

Grameenphone

City Cell

BanglaLink

Aktel

Percent

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Age group of the re

15-25 yrs

26-35 yrs

35+ yrs

Interpretation: Both Aktel and BanglaLink have majority of their subscribers

coming from the age group of 15-25 year; where as Grameenphone has

substantial number of customers who are older than 25 years this fact can have

important implication regarding retention & loyalty as young people are

generally more inquisitive and less loyal; and whenever any new offers come

along they are the first to jump ship.

6.3 What is Quality Customer Service?

Customer Service, to the best of understanding, is a construct, which can mean both pre- &

post- sales services. But, when customers talk about quality of service, they usually mean

speed, convenience, availability and other related concepts. So, for our analysis, customer

service has been replaced by the following 8 parameters or concepts:

a) Ease of use and customer friendly, b) Cost effectiveness of customer service, c) Easy &

cheap information about products & services, d) Behavior of customer service people, e) Lead

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time variability, f) Availability & reach of customer service points, g) Readiness to go the

extra mile, h) Ease of access to customer service people

The following regression model tries to understand the strength and direction of relationship

between these eight parameters (independent variables) and perception about customer

service based on survey results.

Model Summary

Mode

l R

R

Square

Adjusted

R Square

Std.

Error of

the

Estimate Change Statistics

R Square

Change

F

Change df1 df2

Sig. F

Change

1 .

678(

a)

.460 .422 .729 .460 12.042 811

3.000

a Predictors: (Constant), Ease of use and customer friendly, Cost effectiveness of customer

service, Easy & cheap information about products & services, Behavior of customer service

people, Lead time variability, Availability & reach of customer service points, Readiness to

go the extra mile, Ease of access to customer service people

ANOVA(b)

Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.

1 Regression 51.228 8 6.403 12.042 .000(a)

Residual 60.092 113 .532

Total 111.320 121

a Predictors: (Constant), Ease of use and customer friendly, Cost effectiveness of customer

service, Easy & cheap information about products & services, Behavior of customer service

people, Lead time variability, Availability & reach of customer service points, Readiness to

go the extra mile, Ease of access to customer service people

b Dependent Variable: Overall impression about customer service of current operator

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Interpretation:From the above regression model, the R score (0.678) and the

level of significance imply perception of customer service is strongly

dependent on eight independent parameters. However, there might be other

factors (apart from these 8) to consider as the ANOVA table shows Residual

values constitute a significant portion of the total sum of squares value.

6.4 Relationship between Quality of Customer Service & Impression

about Operator

Correlations # 1

Descriptive Statistics

Mean

Std.

Deviation N

Overall impressionabout current

operator

3.18 .846 128

Overall impressionabout customer

service of current

operator

3.39 .968 127

Correlations

Overall impression

about current

operator

Overall impression about

customer service of

current operatorOverall impression about

current operator

Pearson

Correlation1 .591(**)

Sig. (2-tailed) . .000

N 128 126Overall impression about

customer service of current

operator

Pearson

Correlation .591(**) 1

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Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .

N 126 127

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Interpretation: As the above correlation table shows, variable overall impression

about current operator and overall impression about customer service of

current operator have strong correlation (0.591) and they are both

unidirectional. Thus, it can said based on this analysis that quality of customer

service can help build positive impression about the operator in the perception

of the customer.

Interpretation: The following correlation tries to measure the degree of correlation between

the variables feel love & pride to do business with current operator and overall impression

about customer service of current operator. Result of this test also shows quality of customer

service can help build loyalty and attachment within the customer (correlation score 0.548).

However, this relationship does not hold true if we try to incorporate time-length of

subscription in the equation. As the correlation # 3 shows, people who have been longer with

a particular operator have shown less favorable attitude about the respective operator

(negative correlation).

Correlations # 2

Descriptive Statistics

Mean Std. Deviation N

Feel love & pride to do business withcurrent operator 3.13 .956 128

Overall impression about customer

service of current operator 3.39 .968 127

Correlations

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Feel love & pride to

do business with

current operator

Overall impressionabout customer

service of current

operatorFeel love & pride to do

business with current

operator

Pearson Correlation

1 .548(**)

Sig. (2-tailed) . .000

N 128 123


customer service ofcurrent operator

Pearson Correlation

.548(**) 1

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .

N 123 127


Correlations # 3

Correlations

Feel love &

pride to dobusiness with

current operator

Overall

impressionabout current

operator

Time withthe current

operator

Feel love & pride to dobusiness with current

operator

PearsonCorrelation 1 .491(**) -.278(**)

Sig. (2-tailed) . .000 .001N 128 125 128


current operator

Pearson

Correlation.491(**) 1 -.033

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 . .710

N 125 128 128Time with the current

operator

Pearson

Correlation-.278(**) -.033 1

Sig. (2-tailed) .001 .710 .

N128 128 132


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6.5 Quality of Customer Service: Determining the Key Components

Communalities

Sl Initial Extraction

01 Lead time variability 1.000 .56202 Ease of use and customer friendly

1.000 .618

03 Behavior of customer service people 1.000 .644

04 Readiness to go the extra mile1.000 .648

05 Availability & reach of customer service

points1.000 .737

06 Cost effectiveness of customer service1.000 .779

07 Easy & cheap information about products &

services1.000 .787

08 Ease of access to customer service people 1.000 .809

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Interpretation: The principal component analysis identifies the following 06 components to be

consistent with the factor analysis (in order the importance):

a) Ease of access to customer service people, b) Easy & cheap information about

products & services, c) Cost effectiveness of customer service, d) Availability & reach

of customer service points, e) Readiness to go the extra mile, f) Behavior of customer

service people.

Thus, we can conclude a model for determining the quality of customer service:

Customer Service = f (Ease of access to customer service people, b) Easy & cheapinformation about products & services, c) Cost effectiveness of customer service, d)

Availability & reach of customer service points, e) Readiness to go the extra mile, f) Behavior

of customer service people)

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6.5 Quality of Customer Service Determines Degree of Customer

Retention

Test of Hypothesis-

Ho: Quality of Pre- & Post-sale customer service has direct relationship with the retention

rate of customers (time with current operator).

Decision rule: If the mean value of the variable time with current operator is not

significantly different from the mean value of variable overall impression about the current

operator, then there is not sufficient ground to disprove the null hypothesis.

Paired Sample t- Test:

T-Test

Variables compared= longevity with current operator and Overall impression about

customer service of current operator

Paired Samples Statistics

Mean NStd.Deviation

Std. ErrorMean

Pair 1 Time with the currentoperator

3.09 127 1.414 .126

Overall impressionabout customer serviceof current operator

3.39 127 .968 .086

Paired Samples Correlations

N Correlation Sig.

Pair 1 Time with the current operator &Overall impression about customerservice of current operator 127 .022 .808

Paired Samples Test

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Paired Differences t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean

Std.Deviation

Std.

ErrorMean

95%ConfidenceInterval of

theDifference

Lower

Upper

Pair 1 Time with thecurrentoperator -Overallimpressionaboutcustomer

service of currentoperator

-.30 1.696 .151 -.60 .00 -1.988 126 .05

Interpretation:The level of significance for T-test is low but not lower than the

critical point (0.05). The Lower and upper limit of the confidence interval

contains zero among them. So, there is not enough evidence to disprove the

null hypothesis.

So, quality of customer service has reasonable relationship with the retention of

customers. However, the correlation value of the paired sample variables show a

weak (0.22) relationship among the two variables.

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6.7 Perceptual position of the four operators (in eyes of the

customers):

[Ref: Differentiation in Mobile

Market of Bangladesh, by this same

author]

A significant number of the

respondents did not answer this

question, while asked to differentiate

Aktel from other operators based on a

certain factor. This can lead to the

conclusion that Aktel has failed to

create any clear position in the

perception of the customers. Apart

from that- low call charge, 10-second

pulse and features & facilities

offered by the operator (Aktel) has

been cited as consistent factors with

Aktel. (Fig-3)

Similarly, regarding CityCell most of the

respondents struggled to delineate a

position for the operator. Most of

respondent could only cite the CDMA

technology as the major differentiating

factor for the operator.

(Fig-4)

24

notgiven

lowerprice

coverage&service

lowerrate

differentpackage

pulsenetquality

userfriendly

Advertisement

fastgrowth&

development

features&facilities

Why Aktel is Different

0

1 0

2 0

3 0

4 0

5 0

6 0

Frequency

Why Aktel is Different

notgiven

lowerprice

coverage&service

lowerrate

differentpackage

pulse

netquality

oldest

CDM

A

Advertisem

ent

features&facilities

Why CityCell is different

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Why CityCell is different


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However, when asked with the same

question regarding GrameenPhone,

most of the respondents talked about

the nation-wide coverage and higher

quality of network for the operator.

(Fig- 5)

Regarding BanglaLink, respondents

could not identify any one or two area

for differentiation, prompting one to

speculate that BanglaLink although

vibrant & dynamic had given away to

many messages cluttering the perception

of the customer; and forcing the

customers from forming any clear

perception about the company.

Results of the above analysis is presented

in the following table:

Table: Perceptual position of the 4 operators (in customer mind)

GP Aktel CityCell BanglaLink Area of Focus Service,

Coverage & NetQuality

Low price, 10-

secod pulse andFeatures &

facilities

CDMA

technology &lower rate

No clear

position

25

not given lower price coverage& service

lower rate differentpackage

net quality features &facilities

Why GP is different

0

20

40

60

80

100

Frequency

Why GP is different

notgiven

lowerprice

lowerrate

differentpackage

netquality

newcom

mer

Advertisement

fastgrowth&developm

ent

features&facilities

novelty

Why BLink is different

0

5

1 0

1 5

2 0

2 5

3 0

Frequency

Why BLink is different


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7. Recommendations:

Grameenphone should continue in its path to emphasizing customer service as a key

differentiator while positioning itself apart from other operators.

The key components while defining customer service are- a) Ease of access to customer

service people, b) Easy & cheap information about products & services, c) Cost

effectiveness of customer service, d) Availability & reach of customer service points, e)

Readiness to go the extra mile, f) Behavior of customer service people.

Appeal of a particular service might wear off with the length of time a customer sticks

with a particular operator. So, Grameenphone should continue to redefine the 6-factors

customer service with new features and facilities.

On a more general note, the operator instead of concentrating on price based-

competition should focus on a qualitative positioning. Otherwise they might soon find

their profit base eroding rapidly.

Grameenphone should identify customer service as a core competence area (in addition

to network quality and value-based services) and continue build on that.

7.1 Limitations:

Lack of availability of the respondents forced the study to be completed with 132 sample

elements rather than the initial 182 (stipulated). However, the researcher tried to meet the 30-

sample mark under each category of population. At the end, the sample was more or less

representational of the population groups.

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8. Conclusion:

There was not sufficient ground to disprove the hypothesis that Quality of Pre- & Post-sale

customer service has direct relationship with the retention rate of customers (time with

current operator). In other words, customer service can give an edge to a particular operator

over its competitors. Grameenphone already has some degree of perceptual positioning

distinct from its competitors (in terms of customer service and network quality). However, the

problem with any service is competitors can quickly catch up with ones position and emulate

Grameenphones current offerings. So, the challenge is to redefine the basic concepts of

customer service (a) Ease of access to customer service people, b) Easy & cheap information

about products & services, c) Cost effectiveness of customer service, d) Availability & reach

of customer service points, e) Readiness to go the extra mile, f) Behavior of customer service

people) with innovative offers and facilities. Only, thus, Grameenphone can stay ahead of its

competitors and create a differentiated position in terms of retaining its customers.

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Appendix:

Appendix- 1: Sample Structure

Appendix-2: Copy of Questionnaire

(In the following page)

Mobile Users(182)

Grameenphone(62)

Tele Talk(30)

62% 4%

Aktel(30)

BanglaLink(30)

City Cell(30)

1%15%18%

P.S. - The percentage amounts are respective market shares of different operators.

- The base sample number was 100

Documents

Customer Service as a Differentiator Croos Sectionnal Study