Mobile number portability: What Airtel, Vodafone, Idea & RCom are doing to retain users

NEW DELHI: A mobile bill doesn't always burn a whole in the pocket. Sometimes, like in the case of Saurabh Patel, it proved to be a passport to freebies. By brandishing his post-paid bill a few days back, Patel was able to pick up some cool Satya Paul accessories worth Rs 5,000 for free. Courtesy of Airtel.
Earlier this month, the largest telecom service provider of the country tied up with the premium designer label brand to surprise post-paid subscribers with a Rs 5,000 gift voucher.
Marketing experts see this as a carrot to retain post-paid subscribers against the backdrop of high churn due to mobile number portability (MNP) . "It's a smart and timely move as customer retention gets tougher in the highly competitive Indian market," says Abhishek Chauhan, senior consultant, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan.
This may also result in a shift of subscribers from the prepaid to post-paid segment as the telcos are increasingly focusing more on high net worth post-paid consumers, avers Chauhan.
Airtel, which has had a run of 12 consecutive quarter losses, has been bearing the brunt of MNP churn, with subscribers leaving in droves.
While over 95% of the pre-paid market is low margin, the post-paid segment has high ARPUs (average revenue per user) and is the way forward for telecom players, say experts.
"Any marketer's worst nightmare would be to deal with a leaking bucket effect wherein you lose customers at nearly the same rate of gaining new ones," says Smitha Sarma Ranganathan, a brand communication specialist who teaches marketing management at IBS Bangalore.
This is all the more relevant for telecom brands where the cost of switching is low with the advent of MNP, she adds.
Airtel, apart from the Satya Paul tie-up, also offered select post-paid consumers passes for the recently-concluded India-England cricket series.
"As a brand we value the patronage of our customers and this is just one of our many ways to acknowledge the same," says Abhilasha Hans, chief service officer, consumer business, Bharti Airtel.
Airtel is not the only one heading in that direction. Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications (RCom) have also been focusing on loyalty programmes to retain high net-worth users.
Vodafone, for its post-paid users, has an 'Earn and Burn' programme that is open to premium cardholders of Stanchart and HSBC; the scheme helped the operator add over 1.3 lakh new users last year. It has also been running the 'My Delights' scheme that offers best deals and discounts on restaurants, health & beauty and travel.
RCom, which plans to increase tariff for post-paid users as well, is betting big on loyalty schemes to retain users. It has a specialised call center offering personalised services to high net-worth post-paid users. It also has dedicated relationship managers for retail and corporate customers with high ARPUs.
RCom will soon roll out discounts on leading brands across over 330 categories exclusively in collaboration with Martjack Exchange, a digital commerce channel that connects consumers with suppliers and retailers.
While other telecom service providers may have recently started focusing on post-paid users, Idea Cellular seems to have understood the game ahead of its rivals-reflected in the MNP charts, which Idea topped last year.
"Idea was the first player to promote MNP through its 'No Idea, Get Idea' campaign that highlighted the company's strength in network coverage, customer service delivery, customised products and services and accurate billing," says Navanit Narayan, chief service delivery officer, Idea Cellular.
Sending customised New Year calendars, celebrating festivals together with subscribers, organising musical evenings and offering a chance to meet brand ambassadors as well as to attend Filmfare awards are some of the initiatives that have helped Idea reap rich dividends.
In today's context of brand building, the moolah spent and the time taken to capture the customers' mindshare is enormous, says Ranganathan of IBS Bangalore.
"Once firmly anchored in the customers' sensibilities, manoeuvring the brand to gain favourable returns is but a logical step. And this is what Idea has done," she concludes.