A STUDY ON POSTPAID CUSTOMER ACQUISTION IN ENTERPRISE VERTICAL AND ANALYSIS OF CHURN FOR TATA DOCOMO IN COIMBATORE AND THIRUPPUR

A Summer internship report submitted in partial fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Business Administration of Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai

May – June 2014

By

KARTHIKEYAN RM

Reg. No – 1311041

Under the guidance of

Internal Guide: Dr. B. Janarthanan, Thiagarajar School of Management

External Guide: Mr. Rajeev, CSM, Tata Teleservices Limited, Coimbatore

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that this internship on “A STUDY ON POSTPAID CUSTOMER ACQUISTION IN ENTERPRISE VERTICAL AND ANALYSIS OF CHURN FOR TATA DOCOMO IN COIMBATORE AND THIRUPPUR” is a bonafide work done by Mr. Karthikeyan RM in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of the Master of Business Administration, under my guidance. To the best of my knowledge this is his original effort and has not been submitted for the award of any degree, diploma or certificate of this University or any other university.

Principal, Faculty Guide,

Dr. J. SATHYAKUMAR Dr. B. JANARTHANAN

Thiagarajar School of Management Thiagarajar School of Management

Madurai 625005 Madurai 625005

Place: Madurai Date:

DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE

KARTHIKEYAN RM

Register no: 1311041

II- MBA

THIAGARAJAR SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

MADURAI - 625005

I hereby state that the report entitled, “A STUDY ON POSTPAID CUSTOMER

ACQUISTION IN ENTERPRISE VERTICAL AND ANALYSIS OF CHURN FOR TATA

DOCOMO IN COIMBATORE AND THIRUPPUR”, was undertaken at TATA Teleservices

Limited, Coimbatore and Submitted to Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai in partial

fulfillment of Master of Business Administration Degree is record of the Original work done

by me and no part of this internship report has been submitted for the award of any degree,

Diploma, Fellowship or other similar studies.

Place: Signature of the Candidate

Date: ( KARTHIKEYAN RM)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my sincere and whole hearted gratitude to the organization of TATA

TELESERVICES LIMITED, COIMBATORE for giving me a golden opportunity to pursue a

valuable project.

I deem it a privilege to thank Mr. Gautham Ghosh, Director, Thiagarajar School of Management for facilitating my value addition at the institution.

I sincerely thank Dr. Sathyakumar. J, Principal, Thiagarajar School of Management, for his encouragement.

 I’m extremely thankful and pay my gratitude to Dr. Janarthanan. B, Faculty, Thiagarajar

School of Management for providing support guidance and valuable ideas which helped me to

complete this project in this presently.

I thank Mr. Rajeev, Channel Sales Manager RoTN Outbound for providing me an opportunity to do my summer internship at TATA Teleservices Limited, Coimbatore and for his guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement throughout the course of this project.

I also thank Mr. Suresh Kumar B, Manager, Suraj&Co for his guidance, and constant support

throughout the course of this project.

Lastly, I thank almighty, my parents, brother, sisters and friends for their constant

encouragement without which this assignment would not be possible.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The primary objective of this study is to understand the sales distribution prospects of TATA

DOCOMO post-paid GSM connections, analyzing the structure and functioning of sales partners

by working with them and procure the new sectors of market in the top corporate and

government sectors. Penetration in to non-pulsing segments, problems faced by sales channels

through promotion activities, survey, and taking part in direct selling activity. The factors which

influence the customer churn

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION

1.1 ABOUT THE PROJECT

The primary objective of this study is to understand the sales distribution prospects of

TATA DOCOMO postpaid GSM connections and analyzing the structure and functioning of

sales partners by working with them and procuring the new sectors of market in the top corporate

and Government segment. Analyzing the major factors for AV (Address Verification) Negative,

Customer churn, Penetration in to non-pulsing segments, Flaws in pulsing segments are done

through activities like tele-calling . promotional and direct selling activities. Based on these

activities suggestions and recommendation are provided.

1.2 STRUCTURE OF THE PROJECT

My internship program is with the objective of learning the process of sales and

distribution, promoting and selling the new GSM voice connections to new and existing market

sectors in TATA DOCOMO.

The internship was dedicated more in cracking new accounts in Top Corporate segment and

analyzing the problems faces by sales distribution channels in Coimbatore and Thiruppur.

The activities which have been done are:

TRAINING: A three days training program was conducted for the understanding the basic

concepts in telecom, telecom market, TATA TELE SERVICES, TATA DOCOMO and Product

Packages available in it.

DIRECT SELLING: Approaching the customers, explaining the product scheme and selling

new connections (SIM cards and DATA CARDS).

SALES CALLS: Approaching the customers who are in need of new connection and providing

them the apt plans and helping them to avail the best suited plan.

CORPORATE PRESENTATIONS: Visiting corporate and presenting the schemes and offers to

the employees working in the corporate with references to their higher authorities.

SURVEY: Survey to the pulsing customers, non-pulsing customers and FOS for analyzing the

customer churn, problems faces by customers and sales forces.

SALES ACTIVITY: Umbrella and Kiosk activity are done to attract the customers inside industries

for better promotion and reach to the customer

Others than sales and promotion activities, taking part in conversation and conference call with sales

head and marketing manager was done in view of gaining more knowledge of marketing and sales

department.

CHAPTER 2INDUSTRY PROFILE AND ORGANIZATION PROFILE

2.1INDIAN TELECOM INDUSTRY

India's telecommunication network is the second largest in the world based on the total

number of telephone users (both fixed and mobile phone). It has the world's third-largest Internet

user-base. According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), the Internet user

base in the country stood at 190 million at the end of June, 2013.

The telephony segment is dominated by private-sector and two state-run businesses. Foreign

Direct Investment policy increased the foreign ownership cap from 49% to 74%.

The telecom operators in India include:

Airtel

Vodafone

Idea

Aircel

BSNL

MTNL

Reliance Communications

TATA Teleservices

MTS

TATA DoCoMo

Videocon

Telewings

Sistema

Quadrant.

The Indian Telecom Industry is typically divided into two sectors namely:

Public Sector

Private Sector

The Public sector includes:

BSNL

MTNL

The Private sector includes:

Indian companies (Reliance, TATA Teleservices etc)

Foreign invested companies (Vodafone, Airtel, Aircel etc)

2.2 TRAI’s REPORT ON INDIAN TELECOM INDUSTRY

In the report issued Jun 10, 2014 TRAI data show turnaround happening in telecom

sector and the industry revenue grew 10% last fiscal.

In a visible sign of a turnaround in the India telecom sector, the industry’s revenue grew 10.1 per

cent in financial year 2014, compared with an 8.6 per cent growth in the previous year. The top

three operators garnered a combined revenue market share (RMS) of 70.4 per cent in the fourth

quarter of the fiscal.

Bharti Airtel, the country’s leading operator by revenue and subscribers, had a 30.5 per cent

RMS, followed by Vodafone India with a 23.4 per cent RMS, an analysis of Telecom Regulatory

Authority of India (TRAI) data revealed.

Idea Cellular, the country’s third largest mobile operator, had a 16.6 per cent RMS.

While Bharti recorded a 50 basis points year-on-year growth and Vodafone India a 40 basis

points growth, Idea Cellular topped the charts with a 90 basis points rise.

The top three companies – Bharti Airtel (35 per cent), Vodafone India (28 per cent) and Idea

Cellular 28 (per cent) - accounted for 91 per cent of incremental industry revenue in FY14. Idea

Cellular gained the most RMS in FY14, following the trend of the previous financial year.

The financial services firm confirmed that over the last year the big three operators have gained

RMS in most of the 22 circles (Idea in 19, Bharti in 16 and Vodafone India in 15), while Tata,

BSNL and Reliance Communications lost in 21, 18 and 18 circles, respectively.

2.3 THE MARKET SHARE AND NET CUSTOMER ADDITIONS OF

TELECOM OPERATORS

Fig Represents the market share of current telecom operators in India as of January 2014

Fig Represents service provider wise net customer additions as of January 2014

2.4 COMPANY PROFILE-TATA TELESERVICES LIMITED

Tata DOCOMO is Tata Teleservices Limited's telecom service on the GSM platform-

arising out of the Tata Group's strategic alliance with Japanese telecom major NTT DOCOMO in

November 2008. Tata Teleservices has received a license to operate GSM telecom services in 19

of India's 22 telecom Circles-and has also been allotted spectrum in 18 telecom circles. Of these,

it has already rolled out services in all the 18 Circles that it received spectrum in from the

Government of India-Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra,

Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh, Haryana-Punjab, Kolkata, Rest of West Bengal,

Jharkhand, Bihar, UP (East), UP (West), Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Tata DOCOMO has also become the first Indian private operator to launch 3G services in

India, with its recent launch in all the nine telecom Circles where it bagged the 3G license. In

association with its partner NTT DOCOMO, the Company finds itself suitably positioned to

leverage this first-mover advantage. With 3G, Tata DOCOMO stands to redefine the very face of

telecoms in India. Tokyo-based NTT DOCOMO is one of the world's leading mobile operators-

in Japan, the company is the clear market leader, used by nearly 55 per cent of the country's

mobile phone users.

NTT DOCOMO has played a major role in the evolution of mobile telecommunications

through its development of cutting-edge technologies and services. Over the years, technologists

at DOCOMO have defined industry benchmarks like 3G technology, as also products and

services like i-Mode, e-wallet and a plethora of lifestyle-enhancing applications. Last year itself,

while most of the rest of the industry was only beginning to talk of 4G technology and its

possible applications, DOCOMO had already concluded conducting 4G trials in physical

geographies, not just inside laboratories.

DOCOMO is a global leader in the VAS space, both in terms of services and handset

designs, particularly integrating services at the platform stage. The Tata Group-NTT DOCOMO

partnership will see offerings such as these being introduced in the Indian market through the

Tata DOCOMO brand. Tata DOCOMO has also set up a ‘Business and Technology

Coordination Council', comprising of senior personnel from both companies. The council is

responsible for the identification of key areas where the two companies will work together.

DOCOMO, the world's leading mobile operator, will work closely with the Tata Teleservices

Limited management and provide know-how to help the company develop its GSM business

Tata DOCOMO is Tata Teleservices Limited's telecom service on the GSM platform-arising out

of the Tata Group's strategic alliance with Japanese telecom major NTT DOCOMO in November

2008.Tata Teleservices has received a license to operate GSM telecom services in 19 of India's

22 telecom Circles-and has also been allotted spectrum in 18 telecom circles. Of these, it has

already rolled out services in all the 18 Circles that it received spectrum in from the Government

of India-Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mumbai,

Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh, Haryana-Punjab, Kolkata, Rest of West Bengal, Jharkhand,

Bihar, UP (East), UP (West), Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Tata DOCOMO has also become the first Indian private operator to launch 3G services in

India, with its recent launch in all the nine telecom Circles where it bagged the 3G license. In

association with its partner NTT DOCOMO, the Company finds itself suitably positioned to

leverage this first-mover advantage. With 3G, Tata DOCOMO stands to redefine the very face of

telecoms in India. Tokyo-based NTT DOCOMO is one of the world's leading mobile operators-

in Japan, the company is the clear market leader, used by nearly 55 per cent of the country's

mobile phone users.

Tata DOCOMO has also set up a ‘Business and Technology Coordination Council',

comprising of senior personnel from both companies. The council is responsible for the

identification of key areas where the two companies will work together. DOCOMO, the world's

leading mobile operator, will work closely with the Tata Teleservices Limited management and

provide know-how to help the company develop its GSM business. On the CDMA platform,

despite being the latest entrant, Tata Indicom has already established its presence and is the

fastest-growing pan-India operator. Incorporated in 1996, Tata Teleservices is the pioneer of the

CDMA 1x technology platform in India. Today, Tata Teleservices Ltd, along with Tata

Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd, serves over 84 million customers in more than 450,000 towns

and villages across the country, with a bouquet of telephony services encompassing Mobile

Services, Wireless Desktop Phones, Public Booth Telephony and Wire line Services.

On the CDMA platform, despite being the latest entrant, Tata Indicom has already

established its presence and is the fastest-growing pan-India operator. Incorporated in 1996, Tata

Teleservices is the pioneer of the CDMA 1x technology platform in India. Today, Tata

Teleservices Ltd, along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd, serves over 84 million

customers in more than 450,000 towns and villages across the country, with a bouquet of

telephony services encompassing Mobile Services, Wireless Desktop Phones, Public Booth

Telephony and Wire line Services.

2.5 ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS FROM TATA DOCOMO

Tata Docomo is focused on addressing the telecom needs of an enterprise, and is geared

to cater to every communication need of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and of Larger

Corporates. With a focus on driving growth through platforms that deliver practical results and

maximizing revenues for business, our depth of experience and domain expertise enable

enterprises to accomplish more through broad range communication solutions encompassing

Voice, Data and Internet.

Their focus is to drive growth, deliver practical results and maximize revenues for our

enterprise customers, by amplifying their strengths through seamless communication at all

points. With a vision to fortify businesses with smart communication solutions that create

sustainable business growth, we believe in implementing the best SLAs and service standards to

service our Enterprise customer. We have created India's first Enterprise Customer Commitment

Charter of exceptional levels of service that are measurable against benchmarks that we have set

for ourselves. Our aim is to ensure that our customers are not just satisfied, but delighted too

CORE VALUES

o INTEGRITY

o UNDERSTANDING

o EXCELLENCE

o UNITY

o RESPONSIBILITY

VISION

BE ONE OF THE INDIA‟S TOP 3 TELECOM COMPANIES BY 2015.

MISSION

TO EMPOWER EVERY INDIAN TO CONNECT WITH THE WORLD

AFFORDABLY.

2.6 ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

The services offered by TATA DOCOMO are:

o Prepaid services

o Postpaid services for Retail segment

o Postpaid services for Small & Medium Enterprises segment

o Postpaid services for Top Corporate segment

o TATA Photon Plus Data card services\

o TATA Photon Max Data card services

2.7 STP ANALYSIS OF TATA DOCOMO

2.8 SWOT – TATA DOCOMO

STRENGTH

Advance rental plan

Initial free cost of device

Initial free activation charge

Initial zero deposit

Flexible plans

Good advertising

High brand visibility

Youth appeal

Assistance/ JV from NTT Docomo

WEAKNESS

Competition from other Network Companies

Service centre issues

Untapped Rural Market

Price Higher than few plans of competitors

Similar and monotonous plans schemes

Attractive plans and offers of competitors

No 3G network in many Areas

OPPOURTUNITIES

Growing need for communication and information

Fast expanding cellular market

Latest and low cost technology

Untapped rural market

Value added services

Increased usage of internet

Growing need of connectivity in business platforms

THREATS

Ease of migration

Availability of vast options of network

Saturation point in Basic telephony service

Mobile Number Portability

2.9 SALES OPERATION OF TATA DOCOMO

CHAPTER 3REVIEW OF LITERATURE

3.1REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Financial implications of rate plan optimization in the post-paid mobile market (Ken Kwong and Kay Wong)

In the competitive mobile telecommunications market, rate plans with new pricing structure are introduced regularly. Prior literature reveals that subscribers often overpay for their service because of inappropriate rate plan selection. Having subscribers on financially-optimal rate plans is found to be beneficial from both churn reduction and tenure maximization perspectives. However, the revenue implications of deploying such a customer relationship management strategy have not been thoroughly researched. This paper examines the revenue implications by analysing 1249 post-paid mobile subscribers in Canada over a 44-month period. This research also provides insights into some potential moderators that may influence the strengths of the linkage between rate plan suitability and revenue contribution.

Diversification strategies in network-based services: The case of mobile virtual network operators(Nicoletta Corrocher Laura Lasio)

This paper aims at discussing the entry process and competitive strategies of MVNOs in Italy and France. It illustrates the features of competition in a sector - the mobile telecom service industry - which is characterized by market saturation and demand heterogeneity. In doing so, it looks at the characteristics of the two countries in terms of competition and entry of new operators, at the motivations behind the entry of MVNOs, and at the performance of different companies. Results show that the most successful MVNOs are those characterized by the ability to find a perfect match between their core competencies (large network management, strong brand reputation) and the needs of specific segments of demand that had not been previously fulfilled. In this context, companies with ICT network management skills, whether coming from the telecom sector or from other network-based service industries such as postal operators, have been particularly successful in the market. From a policy perspective, despite the failure of some MVNOs, customers have benefited from the increased competition between MNOs and MVNOs in terms of range of service offerings and prices.

Predicting preferences of university students for prepaid vs post paid cell phone service plans (Melda Akın)

Information and communication technologies have recently become widely used, especially among the younger population. In this study, the factors affecting the preference of undergraduate students for prepaid or postpaid cell phone service plans were analyzed and a multi-layer perceptron type feed forward neural network model was developed to predict the preferences. Using the responses to the questionnaire administered to a group of undergraduate students in Istanbul University, the factors determining the preference for service plan were determined with @g2 test for independence. A classification model based on multi-layer perceptron type neural networks was developed. The classification accuracy of this model was compared to linear regression, LDA, QDA, Naive Bayes and decision tree approaches and shown to be superior.

CHAPTER 4OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE

4.1 OBJECTIVES

Identifying the major reason for Customer churn

Identifying problems faced by sales channels and provide suggestions to overcome them.

To identify the important network parameters for Tata Docomo and rank them

accordingly

To identify the significant network parameters influencing sales for Tata

Docomo

4.2 SCOPEThe scope of the study is to analyze the factors responsible for competition churn,

customer churn and three-biller churn by interaction with customer, telecalling and survey. A

descriptive research pattern was carried in this project to understand the above mentioned

factors. The results gave useful insights both academically and practically. In other words the

results of the project was well received the by the company for their future promotional

purposes.

CHAPTER 5RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

5.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

Descriptive research methodology is used to test various parameters such as competition

churn, customer churn and billing churn. Using research data which are gathered are ranked in

terms of mean value.

5.2 POPULATION

The population for this research is customers in thiruppur and Coimbatore.

5.3 SAMPLING

The survey was taken with the help of a questionnaire and the questions were regarding

the brand image, network coverage, billing, tariff cost, customer care service of Tata Docomo

and the network used by the respondents.

Nature of the Sample:

Sample Size: 89

Sampling Technique: Convenient sampling

Tools Used: MS Excel, IBM SPSS Statistics 20

Research period: 2 months

CHAPTER 6ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

6.1 ANALYSIS OF ANOVA FOR NETWORK PROVIDERS

Parameters F Sig.

BILLING 2.609 .031

NETWORK COVERAGE 6.493 .000

TARIFF COST 1.556 .182

DATA USAGE 4.260 .002

CUSTOMER SERVICE 3.286 .009

RESPONSE TO CUSTOMER

QUERIES1.913 .101

INTERPRETATION

The values for the service parameter are found to be significant for all the values except tariff cost and Response to Customer Querries.

INFERENCES:

From the ANOVA analysis it is inferred that Tata Docomo needs to give more attention

to service parameters: Billing, Network coverage, Data usage, customer service, Response to

customer queries .

6.2MEAN RANKING

Parameters Mean RankTariff cost 4.17 1Billing 3.58 2Data usage 3.57 3Customer service 3.50 4Response to querry 3.33 5Network coverage 3.27 6

INTERPRETATION:

The factors like Tariff cost and billing are ranked high and network coverage which is

ranked last

INFERENCES:

The competitive advantage of TATA DOCOMO is Economic tariff much below

then the other network providers

Network coverage has to be improved which is the major factor for any Telecom

industry

Customer service should be improved which will increase customer loyality

6.3 MEAN COMPARISION OF TATA DOCOMO AND OTHER NETWORKS

PARAMETERS NETWORKS MEAN FOR NETWORKS

BILLING

AIRTEL 4.00

AIRCEL 3.70

BSNL 4.08

TATA DOCOMO 3.58

RELIANCE 3.83

VODAFONE 4.19

TOTAL 3.91

NETWORK COVERAGE

AIRTEL 4.30

AIRCEL 3.70

BSNL 4.17

TATA DOCOMO 3.27

RELIANCE 3.33

VODAFONE 4.31

TOTAL 3.95

TARIFF COST

AIRTEL 3.65

AIRCEL 3.65

BSNL 4.00

TATA DOCOMO 4.17

RELIANCE 3.67

VODAFONE 3.88

TOTAL 3.81

DATA USAGE

AIRTEL 3.87

AIRCEL 3.45

BSNL 3.83

TATA DOCOMO 3.58

RELIANCE 3.67

VODAFONE 4.38

TOTAL 3.81

CUSTOMER SERVICE AIRTEL 3.87

AIRCEL 3.55

BSNL 3.58

TATA DOCOMO 3.50

RELIANCE 3.17

VODAFONE 4.13

TOTAL 3.71

RESPONSES TO

QUERRRIES

AIRTEL 3.78

AIRCEL 3.63

BSNL 3.67

TATA DOCOMO 3.33

RELIANCE 3.67

VODAFONE 4.06

TOTAL 3.72

INTERPRETATION:

In billing Vodafone has the high rank followed by Airtel, where as TATA

docomo has the least ranking and the mean of tata docomo is very below the

average mean

In network coverage Vodafone has the high rank followed by Airtel, where as

TATA docomo has the least ranking and the mean of tata docomo is very

below the average mean

In Tariff cost Tata tops all the other networks providing at lower rates

Vodafone tops followed by Airtel and the mean value for Tata docomo is

rated fourth

In terms of customer service and response to customer queries docomo is

slightly below the average

6.4 ANALYSIS FOR INTER CORRELATION

Parameter Tata Docomo Other NetworksCorrelation Sig. Correlation Sig.

Billing towards Network coverage

0.289 0.3890.340 .002

Billing towards tariff cost 0.451 0.141 0.483 0.000Billing towards data usage 0.314 0.320 0.504 0.000Billing towards customer service 0.845 0.001

0.347 0.002

Billing towards response towards customer queries 0.723 0.008

0.167 0.150

Network coverage towards Tariff cost 0.254 0.527

0.151 0.189

Network coverage towards data usage 0.500 0.117

0.288 0.011

Network coverage towards customer service 0.346 0.297

0.511 0.00

Network coverage towards responses to queries 0.544 0.084

0.277 0.015

Tariff cost towards data usuage 0.451 0.141

0.531 0.000

Tariff cost towards customer service 0.485 0.110

0.279 0.014

Tariff cost towards customer queries 0.259 0.416

0.562 0.022

Data usage customer service 0.507 0.092

0.244 0.033

Data usage towards responses to queries 0.723 0.08

0.104 0.373

Customer service towards response to queries 0.802 0.002

0.665 0.00

INTERPRETATION:

The service parameters of Tata Docomo have only little influence with each other but for other

networks more parameters have significant relationship.

INFERENCES:

The parameter customer service towards response to queries is found to be

significant , which shows that there is a relationship between these variables, if

TATA DOCOMO concentrate on these issues it will have a good impact on its

sales

Similarly, Billing towards customer service and Billing towards Response to

queries are also found to be significant For Tata Docomo

For other network Providers most variables are significant

6.5 CUSTOMER CHURN:

This section of the report talks about reasons behind customer churn and the reasons

which are have more impact on their decision to change a company services. We have

categorized them based on data of two month May and June‟13 obtained through customer

survey and with the help of secondary data. Various factors such as price, Speed, connectivity,

Bill policies, others (Bill discount, special offers) to customer while buying new connections

28.18%

22.72%19.09%

18.18%

5.45%

3.63%2.75%

CUSTOMER CHURN

Bill Not ReceivedInflated BillsPoor Signal StrenghtPoor Customer Service on Bill Issues & Customer QueriesCustomer AffordabilityDelay in Providing Requested ServiceSlow Data Speed

Represents the type of churn occurred based on the secondary data and data obtained through

survey on May – June’14

INTERPRETATION

From the above figure it is clear that, the major reason for customer leaving the network is

bills not delivered properly(28.8%) and the next major reason is inflated bills(customer feels that the

bills are high)(22.72%), followed by poor signal strength(19.09%) and poor customer

service(18.18%) .

INFERENCES:

The customer service department and management of Tata Docomo has to put more

efforts to reduce the billing issues

The inflated bill issue is caused if the plans are not communicated in detail to customers

by sales team so that customers can limit their usage within the plan limits

Though the network coverage has increase significantly the poor signal strength issue still

persists

The service team has failed in certain cases to reduce service time delay

6.5.1FIRST BILL CHURN:

28%

24%12%

12%

12%

8%

4%

FIRST BILL CHURN

Inflated BillsPoor Signal StrengthBill Not ReceivedPoor Customer Service on Billing Queries & Customer QueriesSlow Data SpeedCUG Not ActivatedActivation of Unspecified Plan

Represents the type of churn occurred based on the secondary data and data

obtained through survey on May – June’14

INTERPRETATION

Inflated bills(28%) may occur because of two reasons over usage by customer and wrong

billing(very few cases) and second is poor signal (24%) , followed by other reasons

INFERENCES:

By communicating the plans in detail and selling appropriate plan to appropriate

customers the first bill churn could have been reduced

The management and sales team have failed to identify areas of poor signal

strength but has made sales in those areas

CUG for certain customers has not been activated

The customer service team is not much sophisticated or trained to solve billing

issue queries

6.5.2 SECOND BILL CHURN :

32%

24%

20%

16%

4%4%

SECOND BILL CHURN

Bill Not ReceivedInflated BillsPoor Customer Service on Billing Queries & Customer QueriesPoor Signal StrenghtDelay in Providing Requested ServiceSlow Data Speed

INTERPRETATION

The major issues concerning second bill churn are found to be Bill not received

(32%) followed by Inflated bills (24%) and poor customer service on Billing

Queries (20%) from the chart.

INFERENCES:

The sales team, customer service team and management have not taken steps to check if

customers have received their bills or not

In certain cases the customers have not informed the customer service team that they

have not received their bills

As customers have not received their bills they are unable to analyze why their bill is

inflated and so don’t pay their bills

The customer service team has failed to improve their service leading to defaulting of bill

payment

6.5.3 THIRD BILL CHURN

36.00%

28.00%

24.00%

8.00%

4.00%

THIRD BILL CHURN

Bill Not ReceivedInflated BillsPoor Customer Service on Bill Queries & Customer QueriesPoor Signal StrenghtDelay in Providing Requested Service

INTERPRETATION

The major issues concerning third bill churn are found to be Bill not received (36%)

followed by inflated bills (28%) and Poor Customer Service on Billing Queries (24%) from the

chart.

INFERENCES:

As the management of Tata Docomo was kept uninformed about the growing issue of bill

not received by customers the third bill churn is mostly due to the billing issues

The sales team has failed to maintain a close relationship with their customer to avoid the

billing issue problem

Most customers fail to report their issues to customer service team either because they

don’t find the time or they already perceive that the customer service team may not solve

their issues based on past experiences

The customer service team has not takes enough steps or found newer solutions to rectify

customer issues

CHAPTER 7SUGGESTIONS AND LEARNINGS

7.0 SUGGESTIONS AND LEARNINGS:

7.1 PENETRATING INTO NON-PULSING ACCOUNTS: During my internship, I penetrated these new accounts in Thiruppur and Coimbatore

market .

Government sector District Treasury(Thiruppur)

Revenue office(Thiruppur)

Survey Department(Thiruppur)

Government Law college(coimabatore)

Commercial Tax office (Thiruppur)

Veterinary Hospital(Thiruppur)

Sidha Hospital(Thiruppur)

Government hospital(Thiruppur)

BAR council(coimabatore)

Corporate sector

Apollo Hospitals(coimabatore)

Aqua serve Engineering(coimabatore)

Texmo Industries(coimabatore)

Banking sector LIC (coimabatore) Lakshmi vilas bank(coimabatore)

7.1.2 PENETRATING INTO PULSING ACCOUNTS

These are the existing accounts of TATA DOCOMO , I have increased the numbers in

these accounts

Government sectors

Electricity department(coimabatore)

TWAD(coimabatore)

Kadhi industries(coimabatore)

Police department(coimabatore)

Commercial Tax (coimabatore)

Post office(coimabatore)

Government school(coimabatore)

Corporate sectors

Chandra Honda (coimabatore)

Pricol(coimabatore)

LMW(coimabatore)

Ugham solutions(coimabatore)

In my internship period i sold 46 GSM postpaid sim cards in both the market.

7.2 SUGGESTIONS TO REDUCE CUSTOMER CHURN

Since the major reason for churn is billing issue, effective follow up must be done

by sales team and provisions must me made that customer should get his bill in all

the modes like Mail, Post and sms.

Monthly service camp must be arranged to solve issues faced by customers where

the company has large number of accounts

Bills not received on time also cause bill inflation , so it must be taken care by the

concerned Sales Executive

Sales Team must confirm that the signal strength is good in the area where the

customer is located , it will reduce churn rate and company must also solve the

tower problem by placing repeaters

The salesperson should explain the plans correctly and accurately to the

customers before they buy the product

Few churns are occurring due to the laziness of customer in paying the bill

through outlets, so if a dedicated collection team is arranged for collecting the bill

with prior information, it would make the post-paid users more comfortable in bill

payment

Customer care team must be given training and their performance must be

evaluated periodically

Back end work must be cross checked twice to overcome CUG problems and

Wrong plan activation

In the cases like customer churn because of going out of network, itemized bill

must be properly communicated to them

Customer service team must be polite in handling the customer issues and their

performance should be evaluated periodically

Customer care network should be updated and developed with more number of

employees so that delays in providing service can be eliminated

Most of the churn occur because of poor follow up , so it must be increased

Company must get the Feedback from the customer customer periodically and his

issues should be solved

Since Sales force provides a major role in retaining the customer , a special

incentive plan must be developed by TATA DOCOMO for pushing up high rental

plan

7.3 FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE SALES

KEY FINDINGS

There is only monthly tariff plans, no quarterly or yearly tariff plans

No open option of setting up credit limit for the customers, lack of customization

at the beginning

Many plans are alike to the plans of competitors

In voice category BSNL and IDEA provides cheaper and discount plans

improving customer flexibility , which is threat for TATA DOCOMO since it is

competitive advantage for TATA DOCOMO

Less awareness about ECS mode of bill payment plan among the customer

Less awareness among customers about advance rental plans

Lack of awareness regarding roll over plan to the customers

Many customers use TATA DOCOMO GSM connection as a second option in

their mobile, maximum used only for outgoing

Service support is not impressive

Billing policies are not aware for the customers

RECCOMENDATIONS

Discount offers, yearly plans, uniqueness are few factors to be concentrated in

tariff plans

Billing policies and norms must be made understand clearly to the customers

Product bundling with offers may increase the sales

Strategic decisions has to be made to improve the customer retention and reduce

churn rate

Special collection team has to set up for collecting the bills with prior intimation

to the customers , to provide good service

Sales persons must be trained in all aspects regarding plans and the

responsibilities they have

Incentive schemes can be set up based on the number of sales instead of setting

up target

Proper guidance, transparent communication within the organization, clarity of

norms regarding TRAI are few aspects to be made known by sales force

mandatorily

Proper support and response to the sales partners in all aspects can improve the

sales

People in tell calling should be trained so well that they get proper response and

perfect reason for the discontinuing a service because it will help marketing in

data mining and will give real picture of competition

CONCLUSION:

As per the above statement, whatever we study about our work during the past 2months.

The telecom sector has registered tremendous growth over the years. As a result, India has

become the third largest telecommunication network in the world. They have to concentrate

more on the signal strength and should focus on the existing customers and their needs. They

should reconsider their tariff plans according to the customer needs and satisfaction.

If TATA DOCOMO reconstruct its plans and costs according to the customer needs and

providing high signal strength with good customer service before and after sale, it is the top

telecom operator in the coming years.

BIBLIOGRAPHY :

http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/PIRReport/Documents/Indicator%20Reports%20-

%20Dec-2013.pdf

https://www.dnb.co.in/IndianTelecomIndustry/OverviewTI.asp

http://www.ibef.org/industry/telecommunications.aspx

http://www.tatateleservices.com/t-aboutus-ttsl-organization.aspx

http://www.tatadocomo.com/sme/about-us.aspx

Author:Ken Kwong-Kay Wong,Universitas 21 Global, SingaporePublished in: Journal Telematics and Informatics archiveVolume 29 Issue 1, February, 2012.

Authors: Nicoletta CorrocherLaura Lasio, Published in: Journal, Telecommunications Policy archive, Volume 37 Issue 11, December, 2013

Author: Melda Akın Istanbul University, Department of Econometrics, Beyazıt, Istanbul, Turkey,Published in: Journal, Expert Systems with Applications: An International Journal archive, Volume 38 Issue 8, August, 2011

www.google.com www.wikipedia.com

QUESTIONARE

TATA DOCOMO

NAME :

ORGANIZATION : Government Private

AGE : 20-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61&above

1. Which is(are) your current Network : Tata Docomo

Airtel

Vodafone

BSNL

Aircel

Reliance

Idea

2. Prepaid user Postpaid user

3. Have you ever Used post paid network? Yes No

4. Are you interested to change your connection from pre paid to post? Yes No

5. Do you have CUG? Yes No

6. How is your awareness about Tata docomo?

Poor

Good

Very good

7. Monthly money spent on Mobile phone

0-100

101-200

201-300

301-400

401-500

500-800

>800

8. How do you rate your current network provider?

PARAMETER

VERY SATISFAC

TORY

SATISFACTORY

NEITHER SATISFACTO

RY NOR UNSATISFAC

TORY

UNSATISFACTORY

VERY UNSATISFAC

TORY

BillingNetwork CoverageTariff CostData usageCustomer

ServiceResponses to your queries