Customer centric organisations will: determine the customers expectations when they plan listen to the customer as they

they design focus on the delivery of customer service activities value customer feedback when they measure performance.

Why customer satisfaction is important There are a number of reasons why customer satisfaction is important to your organisation: Meeting the needs of the customer is the underlying rationale for the existence of community service organisations. Customers have a right to quality services that deliver outcomes. Organisations that strive beyond minimum standards and exceed the expectations of their customers are likely to be leaders in their sector. Organisations that provide high quality services instil confidence in their customers, stakeholder and their funders. Customers are recognised as key partners in shaping service development and assessing quality of service delivery.

The process for measuring customer satisfaction and obtaining feedback on organisational performance are valuable tools for quality and continuous service improvement.

BENEFITS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION Don't underestimate the value of customer satisfaction. It's becoming an important area of competition. A high level of satisfaction can deliver many benefits, including:

Loyalty: a highly satisfied customer is a loyal customer. Repeat purchase: a highly satisfied customer buys more products. Referrals: a highly satisfied customer tells their family and friends about the product or service. Retention: a highly satisfied customer is less likely to switch brands. Reduced costs: a highly satisfied customer costs less to serve than a new customer. Premium prices: a highly satisfied customer is willing to pay more for the product or service.

What do I need to do? In order to place customers at the centre of community services it is essential to:

Understand customer and community needs, value customer feedback and deliver services that meet the needs of the customer. Measure satisfaction levels and incorporate feedback into service planning and service improvement initiatives.

Understand your customers, from their perspective Delivering a service that makes a positive impression on your customers starts with understanding what good service is from their point of view. What you do, how you do it, how well it's done and doing it consistently are fundamental to meeting expectations and satisfying needs. Customer empowerment in service provision

Ensure customers participate in the assessment and program planning process to create services tailored to their specific and individual needs.

Ensure customers are well informed, and assist them to participate in decision making regarding the service they receive. Where appropriate, coordinate service plans for individuals to ensure a seamless service and assist with referrals to other agencies.

Measure customer satisfaction There are a number of ways to determine what customers value and measure how satisfied they are with the services and products provided. The most direct way is to use surveys, questionnaires and interviews, focus groups, telephone surveys and feedback via email or the internet. It is important to determine the purpose of measuring customer satisfaction and then tailor the collection of data accordingly. This includes determining the appropriate research methods and that a statistically sound sample is collected to measure and obtain an accurate picture of overall customer satisfaction. The results need to be carefully analysed to ensure that opportunities for meaningful service improvements can be made. Undertaking service improvement reviews based on the feedback provided strengthens overall customer relationships; trust and confidence will build as customers witness the impact of their feedback to improve service delivery. In this project, in order to measure Customer Satisfaction, I have taken a Telecom Company named IDEA CELLULAR and conducted a survey in order to know how much the users of the company are satisfied by the services provided by them.

IDEA CELLULAR

IDEA Cellular is a publicly listed company, having listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in March 2007. As India's leading GSM Mobile Services operator, IDEA Cellular has licenses to operate in all 22 Service Areas. Presently, operations exist in 12 Service Areas covering states of Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, UP, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Kerala. With a customer base of over 28 million, IDEA Cellular's footprint currently covers approximately 70% of India's telecom population. Services in Bihar & Jharkhand are expected to be launched by end of Q2 08-09 and in Tamilnadu and Orissa before end of financial year 08-09. A frontrunner in introducing revolutionary tariff plans, IDEA Cellular has the distinction of offering the most customer friendly and competitive Pre Paid offerings, for the first time in India in an increasingly segmented market. Customer Service and Innovation are the drivers of this Cellular Brand. A brand known for their many firsts, Idea is only operator to launch GPRS and EDGE in the country. Idea has received international recognition for its path-breaking innovations when it won the GSM Association Award for Best Billing and Customer Care Solution for 2 consecutive years. IDEA Cellular is part of the Aditya Birla Group, a US$ 24 billion corporation and in the league of Fortune 500. Anchored by an extraordinary force of over 100,000 employees belonging to 25 different nationalities, over 50% of its revenues flow from its overseas operations. The Group has been adjudged The Best Employer in India and among the Top 20 in Asia by the HewittEconomic Times and Wall Street Journal Study 2007.

The combined holding of the Aditya Birla Group companies in IDEA stands at around 57 per cent. With ambitious future plans, the company is poised for rapid growth across the whole country.

Our Service Areas The Indian telecommunications market for mobile services is divided into 22 Service Areas classified into Metropolitan, Category A, Category B and Category C service areas by the Government of India. These classifications are based principally on a Service Areas revenue generating potential. Our operational 12 Service Areas are broken up into Established and New Service Areas.

Established Service Areas The established service areas are Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (West). Licenses for the Maharashtra and Gujarat Service Areas were awarded in December 1995, with network rollout and commercial launch achieved in 1997. In January 2001 the mobile operations in Andhra Pradesh Service Area were integrated with IDEA through a merger with Tata Cellular Limited. In June 2001, the mobile operations in Madhya Pradesh Service Area were fully integrated with IDEA through an acquisition of RPG Cellcom Limited. In October 2001, the license for Delhi Service Area was acquired during the fourth mobile license auction, with network rollout and commercial launch in November 2002. In January 2004, Escotel Mobile Communications Private Limited (Escotel), was acquired with its original licenses in the Service Areas of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (West) and Kerala. All these Service Areas were re-branded and integrated with IDEA in June 2004.

New Service Areas The New Service Areas are Uttar Pradesh (East), Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh Licenses for these New Service Areas were acquired through the acquisition of Escotel (Escorts Telecommunications Limited). Following significant investment in the roll-out of network in the New Service Areas, amounting to approximately Rs. 4,678 million upto September 30, 2006, a full commercial launch of mobile services was achieved in the New Service Areas between September and November 2006 in a manner which also met the network roll-out requirements of the licenses in 2007.

Coverage Idea Cellular Ltd has seen phenomenal growth since its inception. Idea Cellular's footprint idea is to first achieve critical mass, then drill deep instead of spreading thin. In keeping with this, the company has been providing excellent service to its subscribers in various states. It controls a portfolio of India's most attractive and contiguous telecom geographies, including the circles of Andhra Pradesh & Delhi (inclusive of NCR), Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh & Chattisgarh, Mumbai, Maharashtra & Goa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (W),Uttar Pradesh (E). With a footprint dominating the map of India, Idea Cellular accesses over 60% of India's total telephony potential. The company is now poised to launch its services in new circles - namely Mumbai and Bihar Idea Cellular Ltd, however, does not believe only in increasing geographic footprint - it also drills deep and successfully attempts to provide excellent network coverage in all its circles of operations.

BRAND INFORMATION It is almost impossible to disintegrate brand Idea from the corporate Idea. Brand values are the company values and vise versa. Brand Vision: It goes without saying that the brand vision of idea mirrors the companys vision. The brand mission statement is...... To be the most customer-focused mobile service brand, continuously innovating to help liberate our customers from the shackles of time & space. IDEA - Brand Values Innovate. Stimulate. Liberate.... It is these brand values, which have made us a formidable player in the telecom industry. Innovations that stimulate the customer and liberate him from the shackles of time and space are the core of our brand. This is what we strive for. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. IDEA - Brand Mission The India footprint Idea Anywhere connectivity - bringing India closer. The Technology Advantage Idea Tomorrow's technology to enrich today. The Customer Focus Idea Make a single interaction a lasting relationship. The Employee Focus Idea Nurture the roots that nurture our ideas ACHEIVEMENTS Some Achievements of the Company are listed below: 2007 Won an award for the "CARE" service in the "Best Billing or Customer Care Solution" at the GSM Association Awards in Barcelona, Spain Initial Public Offering aggregating to Rs. 28,187 million and Listing of Equity Shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange Merger of seven subsidiaries with Idea Cellular Limited Reached the twenty million subscriber mark

2006 Became part of the Aditya Birla Group subsequent to the TATA Group transferring its entire shareholding in the Company to the Aditya Birla Group Acquired Escorts Telecommunications Limited (subsequently renamed as Idea Telecommunications Limited)

Launch of the New Circles Received Letter of Intent from the DoT for a new UAS License for the Mumbai Circle.

Analysis In order to find whether IDEA users are satisfied with the services provided by them, I have prepared a questionnaire. Most of the respondents in my survey were college students, they all were carrying cell phones. The sample population in our survey was 50 and the method used was convenience sampling. The results of my survey are listed below:-

Ans-1 Our parameter of defining the constant user of a cell phone are those who use it for at least 3-4 times a day, either for incoming or outgoing, and we found that all of them fall into the category of constant users. Ans-2 Almost 60% of our respondents were using two services simultaneously because of the reasons mentioned above, hence from here our results were decided on two parameters i.e. the people who were using two services simultaneously and those were using just one. 30 people were using 2 services and 20 were using one. Hence we get the data of 80 services. The results are listed below:a. b. c. d. e. f. Vodafone Idea - 15 - 7

Tata Indicom - 14 Airtel BSNL/MTNL Reliance - 21 - 5 - 18

25 20 15 10 5 0 Vodafone Airtel Idea Tata Indicom Reliance BSNL/MTNL

A Ans-3 The usage of the college students was almost the same but the people who were using two connections simultaneously were spending more on the services availed, on one connection and were paying just the minimal amount which falls into the category of 200-300 and similar amount on the other connection too. Which makes their monthly expense on mobile to almost 500-600 Rs. On the other hand there were few heavy users , whose monthly expenses go in the range to 800-1000 and even above. The results are listed below:a) b) c) d) e) 200-300 300-500 500-800 800-1000 1000 and above - 18 - 32 - 15 - 10 5

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 200-300 300-500 500-800 800-1000 1000 and above

Ans-4

Almost 85% of the respondents were satisfied with their service providers, the main reasons for opting for the particular service provider was that this is a high involvement decision, they dont want to change their existing numbers, few opted for cheaper call rates and few for free SMS services and various other factors. The remaining 15% were looking to switch because of one major reason which is the network problem like in case of Idea users the network problem was more frequent.

15%

85%

Ans-5 The respondents in our survey were more interested in availing the services which offer free calling to the same network numbers, or the ones which have reduced the tariffs, or night calling etc. hence we found that almost all of are respondents were availing one or the other facilities provided by the service provider. Ans-6 The respondents who were using two connections comprised of mostly the ones who were using at least one postpaid connection, so as to spend minimal on one for the incoming purpose and average on the other connection. We found that out of the total connections surveyed i.e. 80 , around 32 were the postpaid connections and 48 were the prepaid ones. And also that out of 32, 23 were having two connections.

postpaid 40% prepaid 60%

Ans-7 The major schemes used by the respondents were:Low tariff plans Night Calling Free SMS Free Calling Others - 48 - 63 - 32 - 18 - 35

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Low Tariff Night Calling Free SMS Free Calling Others

Ans-8 Though for any consumer the charges of any scheme is always more. And the schemes of all the companies is almost same, hence there is not much option left for the respondents. The respondents said that the charges are affordable to their pockets. But one complaint that we came across was that the schemes offered sometimes becomes more confusing. There were many suggestions, but more or less they were related to the convenience of the respondents.

Ans-9 The respondents were not keen enough to change the service, the major reason for this is that of the after effects of changing the number, though the respondents were aware of the scheme of the TRAI of continuing with the same number after changing the service provider, but its still not available. The responses were more inclined towards Vodafone and Airtel due to the better connectivity and various schemes offered.

Ans -10 Most of the respondents in our survey ranked the service used as good and the figures were 72 %, 23% ranked average, 3 % Poor and just 1 % as Very Good.

1%

23% 3% Average Poor Good Very Good

73%

QUESTIONNAIRE NAME OF THE RESPONDENT AGE OCCUPATION :________________________________ : ________________________________ : ________________________________

Q1. Are you a constant user of mobile?(yes/ no)

Q2. Which telephone network do you use? a) b) c) d) e) Vodafone Idea Tata Indicom Airtel BSNL/MTNL

Q3. How much do you usually spend on your mobile connection per month? a) b) c) d) e) 200-300 300-500 500-800 800-1000 1000 and above

Q3. Do you wish to continue with this network? Why? Q4. Do you avail the facilities provided by the service provider? Q5. Are you a post paid/ prepaid customer? Q6. What schemes do you usually avail? Kindly name those which are currently used by you. Q7. Do you think the charges of various schemes reasonable? Give suggestions, if any. Q8. Given an option to change the connection which other service would you like to take? Why? Q9. Your response for the service being used? a) b) c) d) Poor Average Good Very good

Q10. Name any unique service that you used and like the most.