Meeting Gen Z’s Telecoms Needs

How Can SPs Keep Their Youngest Customers Happy?

As the first truly digital native generation, Gen Z presents a unique challenge to service providers in any industry. But in telecoms — an industry with not the best of reputations when it comes to customer service — the challenge is greater than most. Here, Hamish White, CEO of telecoms SaaS provider Mobilise, explains how telecoms SPs can leverage digital solutions to keep Gen Z happy.

Gen Z, also known as generation internet, widely refers to those born between 1997 and 2012. They are the first generation to have grown up with smartphones and social media as an integral part of their lives, and with a growing share of purchasing power, their coming-of-age into the consumer market has shifted the focus for sales and marketing teams across every industry.

The Expectations of Gen Z

Gen Z has grown up on the internet, and appreciates how it provides value and convenience, removes friction and allows them to interact with brands in their preferred way. Another key aspect of Gen Z’s expectations is speed. They are a generation that has grown up with instant gratification, and they expect the same from their mobile operators. They want a service, and they want it now — 54 per cent of Gen Z consumers expect a response from customer service within just ten minutes.

Their expectations are high — they’ve been set by digital-native tech giants like Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Uber. These companies have redefined customer expectations by offering simple, intuitive, personalised interactions, leading to impressive customer experience ratings. 

While telecoms customers are also using digital channels far more often than they did pre-pandemic, Gen Z frequently finds itself disappointed by their brand interaction. On average, just 50 per cent of Gen Z consumers report any of their customer experiences as “satisfying” compared to an average of 71 per cent for older generations. For Gen Z, it’s not enough to have an online presence or mobile application, it needs to be executed excellently. So, what are the key strategies to acquiring, and keeping, Gen Z customers?

Personalisation

Gen Z needs their experience with a brand to be tailored. They expect brands to know their preferences and alter their experiences accordingly. This can include personalised recommendations based on their browsing history or location, personalised content such as promotions and offers, and bespoke communication such as push notifications and messages.

A survey from WP Engine revealed just how highly Gen Z values individual experiences, with 41 per cent of Gen Z consumers agreeing that they’d waiver security and privacy concerns and provide their data to a business in order to receive a personalised experience in return — more than any other generation.

Personalised content and interactions involve using data and analytics to anticipate consumers’ needs and preferences. This can include personalised promotions, offers, push notifications and messages, and personalised recommendations based on browsing history or location. And with an increasing number of AI applications, personalisation will only continue to get even more personal.

Self-serve Channels

Another important factor is self-service. Gen Z consumers are comfortable with technology and prefer to solve their own problems where possible, rather than reaching out to customer service. They expect mobile operators to offer intuitive self-service options that allow them to manage their accounts. 

For Gen Z, this should include a mobile application that allows them to manage their account, track their data usage, and make payments, as well as AI-powered chatbots that can answer common questions and resolve issues quickly.

Mobilise’s HERO business support system (BSS) plug-and-play platform includes back-office tools to enable SPs to deliver hyper personalised services and an entire self-care function. It can store, process and analyse data and real-time customer behaviour to allow SPs to adopt a next best offer (NBO) model. By putting this data through an ML engine that identifies patterns, HERO makes predictions and identifies opportunities to suggest relevant and timely offers for products and services to customers. All completely personalised for each customer. 

The self-care app module empowers consumers to take full control of their mobile account — directly meeting the preferences of Gen Z. It allows end-users to monitor usage, upgrade, pay bills and provision their own subscription through in-app, one-tap eSIM activation. Telecoms SPs can increase customer satisfaction, reduce complaints and queries raised to the contact centre and act as a sales channel to upsell new products and ultimately meet the expectations of their youngest customers with ease.

Gen Z presents a unique challenge to telecoms SPs. They are a demanding demographic that expects personalised content, quick responses, and seamless self-service options. By nailing their digital presence, SPs build authentic relationships with Gen Z consumers and keep them happy, loyal customers.

About Mobilise

Mobilise is a leading provider of SaaS solutions to the telecommunications industry. Focused on delivering highly engaging digital-first service propositions with excellent customer experience, Mobilise has a proven track record, deep industry knowledge and a team of specialists to support clients to building and executing transformational strategies. 

Clients range from large corporate organisations with over 100,000 employees to small enterprises with under 20 employees. Mobilise has a deep knowledge of the telecoms business model and our experience includes working with over 40 service providers across eight markets for brands including Virgin, Dixon’s Carphone, Red Bull Mobile, Manx Telecom and Freenet.

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