Abysmal sales practices are hurting UK market for mobile phones
| Do you know Chitter Chatter in Kings Road, London? It is probably the best place in the UK to buy a mobile phone. It is one of only a handful of shops who manages to provide good customer service and professional advice. The UK market for mobile phones is one of the most competitive. Despite this our new study shows that only a minority of the shops tested, provided the customer with a level of service capable either of identifying or fulfilling his needs. Our report The Moment of Truth: a portrait of the UK market for mobile phones is a comprehensive evaluation of all aspects of the sales process, from contact to contract. The findings are disturbing. Despite all the promises, experiences of good customer service were few and far in between. All to often the sales staff showed little or no interest in the customers situation. Of the 132 shops and sales persons tested: ·Only 28 salesmen demonstrated better than average competence ·Only about half the salesmen recommended a solution without being asked to do so ·Only 41 salesmen did better than poorly at asking sufficient questions to discover our needs ·Only 16 shops offered us brochures which included additional services ·Only 5 salesmen asked about our existing knowledge of mobile telephony ·Only 8 salesmen asked if we had tried WAP ·Only 7 shops asked if we would like to be able to read daily news on the mobile ·Functions of the terminals were demonstrated in only 9 shops ·Accessories were mentioned in only 10 shops ·Price was by far the most frequently used argument for choice of operator ·In 103 shops no WAP enabled terminals were demonstrated We think it will probably leave you with the question: Who is responsible? Retailers, mobile operators or terminal producers? We suggest you can answer yes to all three. Each of them is guilty of focusing too much on attracting new customers and too little on providing customers with the service they deserve. Strand Consult is an independent consultancy who specialises in analysing and evaluating sales concepts and sales processes within the mobile communication business. During the past several years we have closely monitored existing and new distribution channels and analysed their respective ability to promote and sell products offered by the respective operators. Today Strand Consult is recognised as one of the leading authorities on the market for mobile communication products. We have sold our surveys to terminal producers, operators and distributors world wide. In fact, more than 50 mobile operators world wide use our surveys to optimise their business. |
| More information on the report |
