In the modern world every thing becomes close to everyone because of the improvement in the science & technology and also in the research & development. Innovation of new product changes the life style of common man. in the dynamic enviroment it has become essential to have competitive edge over others in every sphere of life. Faster mode of communication for any purpose can provide a solution for this A Few years back the telephone was considered to be an extra ordinary thing & status symbol;but now most of the people are using basic telephone services & also mobile phone has become a part of day today life.
In India cellular phones were introduced in mid of the nineties in the metro cities but now most of the towns are connected by cellular network including remote villages. The overcoming of communication barriers has helped everyone to grow relationship with others. Information & ideas are being exchanged at a faster rate in order to update & enrich & leading them to prosperity In order to have proper understanding of this study it is nesscary to discuss some of the marketing related concepts.
INTRODUCTION
BSNL was the biggest telecom service provider in the India. As government allowed the private companies to invest in the telecom sector the monopoly of BSNL came to an end. The employee of the BSNL was still not responsive to their customers problems and here the other private player saw an opportunity, which could have been tapped. BSNL had good base of the customers but gradually it declined and is still declining. The research I conducted about the failure of BSNL to retain customers, shows that they are still not very good at the customer services. I have talked to different people who has used the services of BSNL or experienced its services by any means.
Most of the respondents were not satisfied with the behavior of the employees. As it was the biggest telecom company in India, it could have given the best services to its customers but the private companies came and attracted the customers not only from the market but also the users of BSNL also switched to other service provider. If we compare the services provided by the private companies and that of the BSNL we can still see that the BSNL is far behind. They are still not able to catch up with the speed of the other private companies.
But it has started to improve the service quality of the customer and other services. But it is very difficult to regain the confidence of the dissatisfied customers. The survey I have conducted shows the sign of the confidence is gaining but very slowly. Some of the customers are satisfied and some are not. It means that this company is still not able to satisfy all of its customers. One of my respondent expressed his grief that, he has given money for the connection 6 months earlier but it is still not connected.
It shows the inability of the company to satisfy its customer at the primary level itself. So it needs to work more towards the customer satisfaction so that it could regain its status of the best service provider in telecom sector in India. After the LPG policy in 1991 many privatization enabled core competency in various restricted government sector like Telecom, Airways etc.. BSNL was enjoying the monopoly in telecom gradually face intense competition with the private players like Airtel entered into the Indian market merging with Bharti, Hutch, Reliance etc. They were reducing the call rates gradually and TRAI act being liberalized, the profit margin for telecom companies reduced drastically.
After starting the TQM concept in India the customer services and product quality became the vital factor for the success of the organization. BSNL being the government company started lagging the competition on these parameters when compareto the technically advanced private players. Further introduction of the customized cellphone, prepaid services and utility features, BSNL started loosing customers at rapid speed.
Even after getting the subsidies BSNL could not sustain its profit. In the current scenario when the private players are giving the more emphasis on better relation with the customer a large number of loyal customer of BSNL are found himself to be dissatisfied with the current services provided by the same. But from the study I have done, this show that in Hyderabad the customers are very satisfied with the services provided by the BSNL. This could be because of the change in the mindset of the management. BSNL is using the latest technology in the telecom industry.
Earlier it was not able to use the latest technology for the benefit of the sales of the company but now with change in the management it started to increase its sales. It is still slow but in Hyderabad it is good. In this city it has gained its value once again.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Though customer’s bye an industrial machinery or consumer product or service oriented products they all expect certain level of satisfaction of particular needs. This needs-based satisfaction will depend upon customer’s perception of product or service performance.
The satisfaction derived will be in proportion to the difference between actual performance and perceived performance of a product. The lower the difference the greater will be the satisfaction. The satisfaction can be defined as “a person’s feeling of pleasure or his disappointment resulting from comparing a products perceived performance ( or out come ) in relation to his or her expectations”. As this definition makes clear satisfaction is a function of perceived performance and expectations. If the performance falls shorts of expectations, the customer is dissatisfied. If the performance matches expectations the customer is satisfied.
If the performance exceeds expectations the customer is highly satisfied or delighted. Many companies are aiming for high satisfaction because customers who are first satisfied still find it easy to switch when a better offer comes along. Those who are highly satisfied are less likely to switch. High satisfaction or delights creates an emotional affinity with the brand, not first a rational preference. The result is high customer loyalty. Buyer expectations are influenced by their past buying experience, friends and associates advice and marketer and competitors information and promises.
Today most successful companies are raising expectation and delivering performance to match. These companies aiming for T. C. S-Total customer satisfaction. The challenge of implementing T. C. S is to create a company culture in which every one within the company aims to delight the customer. For customer-centered companies, customer satisfaction is both a good and marketing tool. Companies that achieve that high customer satisfaction rating make sure, that their target market knows it. The companies must pay close attention to their customers defection rate ( the rate at which they lose customers) and take steps to reduce it.
Based on this the companies are recognizing the importance of satisfying and retaining current customers. The better approach for retention of customer is to deliver high customer satisfaction.
LITERATURE REVIEW
To get better understanding of research study it is needless to say that one has to concentrate on the empirical evidence. So a careful study has been made by the researcher to review the various studies, which have been conducted earlier in this regard. Given below are the brief reviews of related research work. In The year 1998 S. Ezhil Selvan conducted survey on market potential of cellular phones in chennai.
Three hundred respondents were selected by Random Sampling and Questionnaires were administered to them. The study showed that Businessmen are in top for using cellular phones. Most of the people are not using cellular phones because of Higher tariff. The majority of respondents felt that charges were high. These are the findings of the study. In the year 2000 Mukthar conducted survey of cellular phone users In Chennai. The Sample Size was two hundred and fifty respondents’ Data Collected by Primary Questionnaire Method.
The findings were that the advertisement given by the company was not adequate for Reaching all the potential customers. espondents were not satisfied with of Escotel. The business people are using the cellular phones. In The Year 2001, L. Dhinakaran Conducted Study On Customer Satisfaction Of Cellular Services In Chennai City. 50 Respondents were selected by Random Sampling and Questionnaires were administered to them. The Study showed that eighty-eighty percentage of respondents were using BSNL Cellular and Majority of the respondents are satisfied with the overall performance of the service provider.
The respondent wants to have free incoming calls for further improvement
- VARIABLES DEPENDENT VARIABLE
- CONSUMER PREFERENCE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES SERVICE QUALITY
- RESPONSIVENESS
- VALUE ADD SERVICES (VAS)
- ALLOTMENT OF CONNECTION CONCEPTUAL MODEL
- DEPENDENT VARIABLE
I have taken consumer preference as a dependent variables because consumers have different choice of having a connection. They prefer the services on the basis of their uses and preferences. They also consider about the services provided after the allotment of connections.
INDEPENDENT VARIABLES
- SERVICE QUALITY- Consumer prefer those service providers which provides good services to its customers. The service quality should be very good so that the consumer could also suggest others to get the connection 2.
- RESPONSIVENESS- The company should be responsive enough to tackle the grievances of the consumers. So that the consumer will not think that they are being neglected.
- VALUE ADD SERVICES- Consumer also consider about the value add services those are being provided by the company.
- ALLOTMENT OF CONNECTION- There should be promptness in the allotment of connections. Consumers don’t want to wait for the activation of the connection.
- UNIT OF ANALYSIS In this research I have taken the consumers of BSNL and those consumers who has used it earlier. Because it is based on the preference of the consumers.
FINDINGS
BSNL Cellular service is very popular among the people in Hyderabad. Faster mode of communication is essential. Cellular phones are convenience for communication. Mobile communication has been launched recently in the town and growing at faster rate. Occupation is considered as important factors of influencing for having cellular phones other factors like speedy communication, reference are not having much influence.
More value added services are attracting customers. Majority of customers are satisfied with the charges collected for service rendered. The accessibility of customer centre is easy. The customer care centre should pay more attention on hearing customer’s problem. Majority of customers are satisfied with action of the service provider. Considerable portion of customers are not satisfied with action of the service provider for their problem solving. Quality of service by BSNL is as per expectation of the customer.
BSNL has larger area of operation. Tariff mostly matches to the customer’s budget. Customers are satisfied with the document needed for activation. Majority of the customer are recommending the service to others. Wide area of operation is more important factor as it is being Eighty nine percent (89%), document needed for activation is the next factor of importance with Seventy Seven percent (77%). Time taken by customer care centre in solving problem is less than average mean that is Forty Nine percent (49%)..
