A

Synopsis Report

On

Quality Service Study Of Telecom Sector

Submitted to fulfilment partial requirement for Master of Business

Administration (Batch 2009-2011)

Project Guide: Prepared by: Himanshu Kalodia

(Prof. Bhavesh pandya) Registration No. :

Specialisation : Marketing.

Institute of Business Management and Research,Near Asia School Drive-in

Road Ahmedabad,Centre for Participatory and Online Programmes

Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. Tamilnadu

QUALITY SERVICE STUDY OF TELECOM SECTOR

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 SERVICE

“Service” is the action of doing something for someone or something. It is largely

intangible (i.e. not material). A product is tangible (i.e. material) since you can touch it
and own it. A service tends to be an experience that is consumed at the point where it is
purchased, and cannot be owned since is quickly perishes. A person could go to a café
one day and have excellent service, and then return the next day and have a poor
experience.

1.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF A SERVICE

What exactly are the characteristics of a service? How are services different from a
product? In fact many organisations do have service elements to the product they sell,
for example McDonald’s sell physical products i.e. burgers but consumers are also
concerned about the quality and speed of service, are staff cheerful and welcoming and
do they serve with a smile on their face?

There are five characteristics to a service which will be discussed below

A. Lack of ownership.

You cannot own and store a service like you can a product. Services are used or hired for
a period of time. For example when buying a ticket to the USA the service lasts maybe 9
hours each way , but consumers want and expect excellent service for that time. Because
you can measure the duration of the service consumers become more demanding of it.
B. Intangibility

You cannot hold or touch a service unlike a product. In saying that although services are
intangible the experience consumers obtain from the service has an impact on how they
will perceive it. What do consumers perceive from customer service? the location, and
the inner presentation of where they are purchasing the service?.

C. Inseparability

Services cannot be separated from the service providers. A product when produced can
be taken away from the producer. However a service is produced at or near the point of
purchase. Take visiting a restaurant, you order your meal, the waiting and delivery of
the meal, the service provided by the waiter/ress is all apart of the service production
process and is inseparable, the staff in a restaurant are as apart of the process as well as
the quality of food provided.

D. Perishability

Services last a specific time and cannot be stored like a product for later use. If
travelling by train, coach or air the service will only last the duration of the journey. The
service is developed and used almost simultaneously. Again because of this time
constraint consumers demand more.

E. Heterogeneity

It is very difficult to make each service experience identical. If travelling by plane the
service quality may differ from the first time you travelled by that airline to the second,
because the airhostess is more or less experienced. A concert performed by a group on
two nights may differ in slight ways because it is very difficult to standardise every
dance move. Generally systems and procedures are put into place to make sure the
service provided is consistent all the time, training in service organisations is essential
for this, however in saying this there will always be subtle differences.

1.2 SERVICES MARKETING

“Service Marketing” is a form of marketing which focuses on selling services. Services

can be tricky to sell and the marketingapproach for them is much different than the
approach for products. Some companies offer both products and services and must use a
mixture of styles; for example, a store which sells computers also tends to offer services
such as helping people select computers and providing computer repair. Such a store
must market both its products and the supporting services it offers to appeal to
customers.

1.3 SERVICE MARKETING TECHNIQUES

Always remember that when dealing with any customer, client or visitor to your
workplace it is a golden opportunity to deliver or provide that person with a sense of
personal satisfaction. Every successful business from local corner stores to high turnover
corporate companies generally strive to satisfy and deliver what the customer wants.
The secret to successfully manage this is to understand and put into practice a number
of tried and true customer services techniques.

You will find that there are a massive amount of books and reading material available
on customer services techniques, training courses and all sorts of spin doctor advice
about service delivery and methods on what to do or not do to improve customer
service.
The following key basic customer service techniques outlined in this article are provided
to help you to deliver exceptional customer service and to assist in making your
clientele feel valued and happy to want to deal with you or your business.

1.3.1 Engaging with your customer

One of the key principles in providing good customer relationships is to build a rapport
and trust with your customer. This can be done in various ways but one of the
best customer service techniques successfully used these days is to engage the customer
in friendly conversation by introducing yourself by name and where appropriate asking
theirs. This indicates to the customer that you are interested in them and what they
want. The customer has chosen your business for a reason so always be polite, ask
relevant questions and be genuinely interested in what the customer has to say by
listening and making eye contact if you can. By showing a genuine interest and being
friendly the customer is more likely to respond in a positive manner and develop
confidence with you. A customer will sense that you are not genuinely interested and it
will become more difficult for you to build a rapport.

1.3.2 Find out what the customer wants

A customer will generally know what they want, some customers may be confused and
others may be unsure on how or where to find something. Your primary role is to first
and foremost help the customer by guiding and assisting them to get what they want.
The best customer service technique is to politely converse with the customer and when
the ice has broken and the customer is relaxed ask relevant questions and listen to the
answers as this will help you to assist the customer in getting what they require. A
satisfied customer will remember the friendly helpful service you have provided and
will keep coming back and recommend you and your business to other people.
1.3.3 Be knowledgeable about the business

In many instances (and this can apply to any business or service) it is not possible to
provide what your customer wants for a variety of reasons. It is therefore important to be
familiar with what your business can and can’t offer. To avoid a customer wasting their
time looking for something your business is unable to provide it is a good customer
service technique to be aware if you can of people wandering around looking confused.
By approaching customers and showing you are knowledgeable about what there is to
offer and what you can do for them the customer will feel valued and grateful for the
service you have provided.

1.3.4 The importance of planning to improve service

When things are going well complacency can creep in customer service standards can
slip. When this happens it provides an opportunity for the competition to try and go one
better than your business or service by being smarter, more cost effective and quicker.
To ensure this scenario does not happen many shrewd businesses use the effective
customer service technique of putting in place regular training programmes to instruct
and remind staff about the importance of providing exceptional customer service
through communication effectiveness, customer rapport, phone etiquette and dealing
with difficult customers. It is well known that investing in customer service training
programmes with the aim of improving and training staff is one of the most effective
methods businesses use to consistently deliver what the customer wants.

1.3.5 Earning customer loyalty

This can be achieved through various customer service techniques such as the age old
offering of discounts on products and services to loyal customers (some businesses of
course may have in place a loyalty card that offers discount incentives). If a customer
has forgotten their loyalty card be accommodating and if not a member offer them the
opportunity to join the loyalty programme. When a customer has a problem always do
your best to remedy it as this will in turn lead to customer loyalty and earn you a
reputation for going the extra mile to help your customers. Following up with
customers after providing a service or sale (mainly big ticket items) through Email,
phone or letter will also pay off in customer loyalty and in most cases adds a welcome
personal touch.

1.3.6 Thanking the customer

When concluding a sale or business service ensure the customer is thanked in a genuine
manner. In many cases customers are dealt with hurriedly and sent on there way as if
they are on a production line. Customers like to feel valued and treated with courtesy so
it is an important customer service technique to thank customers genuinely and by
making sure you are grateful for their business. It is also a good idea to ask the
customer if there is anything else you can do because by you taking the time to ask can
sometimes result in more business turnover and customer loyalty.

1.4 Network Service Providers In Ahmedabad

1. Airtel 6. BSNL

2. Idea 7. Tata Docomo

3. Vodafone 8.Aircel

4. Reliance 9.Videocon

5. Uninor 10. MTS

2. Objectives of the study

Following are the objectives of this study:

1. To analyze the quality of service provided by the several telecom companies in

Ahmedabad.

2. To find the factors influencing the service of quality.

3. To find the customer expectation of the service quality.

4. To identify the actual service quality offered by all the telecom service providers

in Ahmedabad.

5. To give suggestions to improve the service quality of these telecom companies.

3. Scope of the study:

Telecommunication market is the growing sector. Today with many players in the
telecommunication market the quality of the service plays a important role in retaining
the customers. The customers expects high quality from their service providers. For a
company to become a leader in the telecommunication market not only it should have
more customers for it but also should be superior in its service than the competitors to
have high customer satisfaction and hence they can easily retain their customers. It is
important for an company to improve their service quality to meet the customer
expectation.
4. Research Methodolgy

4.1 Type of Research

This is a Qualitative type of research.

4.2 Sources of Data

Secondary Data: - The data collected in this is all secondary data. The data has
been collected from various sites and books. The data relating to the Balance Sheet
and Profit and Loss Account pertains to the Annual Reports of the respective
companies.
 Internet
 Books
 Journals
 Annual Reports

4.3 Sample Area

Ahmedabad (Gujarat)

5. Limitations of the study

 This study is based on the secondary data only.

 The comparison is rendered difficult because of differences in

situations of companies over the year.