“CUSTOMER SATISFACTION REPORT OF VODAFONE”
PROJECT REPORT Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the INTERNATIONAL MBA IN RETAIL MANAGEMENT
By Pravin Gidwani “A00012295”
Under the guidance of Mr. Nitin Gidwani (MBA)
JARO EDUCATION MUMBAI April, 2013
DECLARATION
I, Pravin Gidwani hereby declare that this Project report titled “Customer Satisfaction Report of Vodafone” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the International MBA in Retail Management is my original work and it has not formed the basis for the award of any other degree.
Pravin Gidwani
Place: Pune Date: 29/ 04/ 2013
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT It gives me great pleasure to present this project. I owe a great many thanks to all those people who helped and supported me during the preparation of this project. I would like to thank Jaro Education for giving me an opportunity to prepare this project. I would like to express my sincere thanks to my guide, Mr. Nitin Gidwani, for his constructive suggestions and valuable guidance. This project would have been impossible without his guidance. I would like to express my gratitude towards employees of Vodafone Ltd. for their kind co-operation and encouragement which helped me in completion of this project. I am also thankful to my parents and friends who helped me throughout the project.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
S.No.
Particulars
Page No.
1.
Industry Profile
5
2.
Company Profile
9
3.
Need of the Study
17
4
Literature Survey
18
5
Objectives of the Study
21
6
Research Methodology
22
7
Analysis
24
8
Conclusions
43
9
Bibliography
46
5
1. INDUSTRY PROFILE 1.1 Introduction: The Indian telecommunications industry is one of the fastest growing in the world. Government policies and regulatory framework implemented by Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) have provided conducive environment for service providers. This has made
the
sector
more
competitive,
while
enhancing
the
accessibility
of
telecommunication services at affordable tariffs to the consumers. In the last two decades, the Indian telecom sector and mobile telephony in particular has caught the imagination of India by revolutionizing the way we communicate, share information; and has helped millions stay connected. 1.2 History of the industry: The major milestones in the development of telecom industry are as follows:
Pre-1902 – Cable telegraph
1902–5 First wireless
telegraph station
established
between Sagar
Island and Sandhead.
1907– First Central Battery of telephones introduced in Kanpur.
1913–1914 - First Automatic Exchange installed in Shimla.
1927 – Radio-telegraph system between the UK and India, with Imperial Wireless Chain beam stations at Khadki and Daund. Inaugurated by Lord Irwin on 23 July by exchanging greetings with King George V.
1933 – Radiotelephone system inaugurated between the UK and India.
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1953 – 12 channel carrier system introduced.
1960
–
First subscriber
trunk
dialing route
commissioned
between Lucknow and Kanpur.
–
1975
First PCM system
commissioned
between Mumbai City
and Andheri telephone exchanges.
1976 – First digital microwave junction.
1979 – First optical fibre system for local junction commissioned at Pune.
1980 – First satellite earth station for domestic communications established at Sikandarabad, U.P.
1983
–
First analogue Stored
Program
Control
exchange
for trunk
lines commissioned at Mumbai.
1984
– C-DOT established
for
indigenous
development
and
production
of digital exchanges.
1995 – First mobile telephone service started on non-commercial basis on 15 August 1995 in Delhi.
1995 – Internet Introduced in India starting with Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai and Pune on 15 August 1995
1.3 Current Scenario: Following are the major achievements of telecom industry:
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has revealed that the country's mobile subscriber base has increased from 893.84 million in December 2011 to 903.73 million in January 2012.
Telecom operators added 9.88 million mobile subscribers in January 2012.
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The overall tele-density reached 77.57 per cent.
Broadband subscriber base increased from 13.30 million at the end of December 2011 to 13.42 million at the end of January 2012.
Telecom users in rural areas have grown at a faster pace compared to their urban counterparts in the last five years, a CAG report said.
India added around 20 million subscriptions of the estimated 140 million net additions in mobile subscriptions across the world during the April-June quarter in 2012, said a report by Ericsson.
The telecom sector is a very capital intensive sector and involves high value investments. Correspondingly, the mobile phone industry is also experiencing a parallel upward surge, and a parallel enhancement in technologies used. With the liberalization of the Indian economy, the telecom sector has become very attractive for mergers and acquisitions latest being SingTel increasing its stake in Bharti telecom. 1.4 Future Goals of the industry: With an ambition to be diesel free by 2020, telecom companies are retrofitting their towers every year. Many telecom tower companies currently use renewable energy sources such as solar, biogas and wind besides hydroelectric power, for individual towers. Bharti Airtel, one of the largest telecom service providers in India, has been testing and implementing various energy saving options for the last two-three years. Additionally, the e-bill initiative is estimated to save as many as 24,000 trees a year. Besides, the metro cities and the urban markets are quite saturated in terms of teledensity and thus, leaving very little scope in terms of new customer acquisition. Lack of
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proper telecom infrastructure, power shortage and lack of trained manpower are some of the challenges which telecom companies have to cope with. 1.5 Key players: The telecom industry of India has registered manifold growth in the recent years. Personalized telecom access is essential necessity of life for increasing number of the people. The sector offers unlimited prospects when we consider future growth. Both Public Players and Private Players are enhancing their technologies and taking the telecom industry to a much higher growth state. The top players in the industry are: 1. Vodafone 2. Bharti Airtel 3. BSNL 4. MTNL 5. Reliance 6. Aircel 7. Uninor 8. Idea Cellular 9. Tata
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2. COMPANY PROFILE 2.1 Introduction Vodafone Group the world specialist in mobile phones is one of the rare groups that have significant world coverage in the telecommunications field. It principally specializes in the mobile telephony and telephonic transmission network sectors. It has subsidiaries in numerous countries: In North and South America, Asia, Oceania and Africa. It is the world's second-largest mobile telecommunications company measured by both subscribers and 2011 revenues. It has over 439 million customers calculated on a proportionate basis in 31 countries and the brand is present in a further 40 countries through partnership networks. Vodafone India started its operations in India in 1994 and is under the Vodafone Group. Vodafone India has become one of the leading companies in the telecom sector in India due to its high standard of services that it provides to its customers. It is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra and operates nationally. The company has its operations in 26 telecom circles of the country, which covers around 86% of the customer mobile base in India. The company offers both postpaid and prepaid GSM cellular mobile coverage all across India and its hold is especially strong in the metropolitan cities. Vodafone India launched 3G services in the country in the January-March quarter of 2011.
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2.2 Product Portfolio
1. Voice Services:
Post-paid Service where in the customer has to pay first and then utilize this service for as much as he has paid.
Pre-paid Services Where in the customer uses the service first and then he pays for it. This is more or less like the normal landline connection
World Calling Cards: World Calling Card from Vodafone is a Pre-paid long distance calling card that one can use with their Vodafone Prepaid and Postpaid mobile phones to make ISD & STD calls
Home Calling Cards: Vodafone Home Calling Card is a Pre-paid calling card that allows one to make calls from landlines, PCOs &mobile phones from over 100 countries. And helps save up to 90% as compared to International Roaming charges.
Handy phone: Handy phone is a landline that‟s loaded with all the features of a cell phone - including low call rates.
2. Value Added services
Tunes & downloads
Entertainment
Devotional
Sports
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News & Updates
Call Management Services
Astrology
Finance
Travel
Mail, messaging & more
Dial in Services
Bill Info
3. Vodafone Live 4. Corporate Services
Mobile Email solution
Data Access
Business Application
Mail on the move
Vodafone Office
2.3 Distribution network: Vodafone‟s products and services are available directly, via Vodafone stores and country specific Vodafone websites, and indirectly via third party service providers, independent dealers, distributors and Retailers, to both consumer and business customers in the majority of markets under the Vodafone brand. Vodafone distribution channel in India normally contributes roughly 85-90 % of total business volume.
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The distribution Model comprises basically comprises of three entities1. A distributor who is given a territory to service. 2. A Distributor FOS (“Feet on Street” on payroll of the distributor) who is appointed by the distributor to service a particular area of his overall territory. 3. A Retailer who is an entity who purchases stock from the distributors, through the FOS of his area and sells it to the end consumer. Other channels like Company owned Retail such as Vodafone mini-stores are also used as Distribution channel and are generally seen to be contributing to around 10-15 % of a telecom company's subscriber base as well as revenues.
2.4 Promotion Strategy:
Marketing or Promotion strategy is a key part of overall corporate strategy, which is concerned with developing plans for finding out what customers want and then efficiently meeting their requirements. Vodafone‟s strategy is customer focused and product led; the company is continually developing new products and services which utilize the latest technological advances. To keep its leading edge, Vodafone is continually looking to add value to the services it provides and to the packages it offers to customers. Vodafone has come with creating advertising
campaign
for
its
various
plans.
Vodafone has given birth to “Zoozoo”: a special character created specifically to advertise value
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added services (VAS) offered by Vodafone. This strategy has captured the imagination of millions. It has created a new wave in the advertising industry. Such a promotion strategy has helped the company to raise not only its profits through sales but has also tremendously increased its brand value. Their add campaign has gained much popularity all over the world. With the popularity of ZooZoos, Vodafone has succeeded in its effort of viral or buzz marketing.
2.5 Customer base Following is the Vodafone India subscriber base statistics as on January, 2013. Telecom Cicle
No. of Subscribers
Gujarat
15,801,116
Uttar Pradesh(East)
14,526,236
Maharashtra
12,977,123
West Bengal
11,165,667
Tamil Nadu
9,777,927
Rajasthan
8,565,366
Uttar Pradesh(West)
8,999,073
Andhra Pradesh
6,080,916
Delhi
8,449,120
Goa
7,134,576
Karnataka
6,452,620
Kerala
6,067,506
Bihar
6,381,278
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Kolkata
4,084,284
Punjab
4,309,853
Haryana
4,437,015
Madhya Pradesh
4,101,877
Chennai
2,091,411
Orissa
2,789,575
Assam
2,188,073
North East
928,563
Jammu & Kashmir
666,009
Himachal Pradesh
475,329
Mumbai
6,160,353
Total number of Vodafone India Subscribers is 141,519,840
2.6 Market Share
Vodafone India, is the third largest mobile network operator in India after Airtel and Reliance Communications. With new players coming in, the intensity of competition in the industry has increased, especially over the last four years. As of April 30, 2012, following are the market shares of various players:
a. Bharti Airtel- 19.94% b. Reliance-16.58% c. Vodafone-16.41% d. Idea-12.4% e. BSNL- 10.51%
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f. TATA- 8.77% g. Aircel-6.93%
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2.7 SWOT Analysis:
Strengths: 1. One of the most popular and trusted cellular service provider in India 2. One of the largest Telecom operators in the world. 3. Only Indian operator that has an international submarine cable. 4. High brand visibility. 5. Strong advertising with ZooZoo concept. 6. Tie-up with international sports like Formula One.
Weaknesses: 1. Price competition from BSNL and MTNL 2. Untapped Rural Market
Opportunities: 1. Fast expanding cellular market 2. Latest and low cost technology 3. Untapped rural market
Threats 1. New entrant's low price offering 2. Saturation point in Basic telephony service 3. Mobile Number Portability
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3. NEED OF THE STUDY The ruling factors of today‟s market have a common axis named „consumer‟, who decides the destiny of any firm in the market. Every organization is increasingly interested in retaining existing customers while targeting new customers. Measuring customer satisfaction provides an indication of how successful the organization is at providing products and/or services to the marketplace. Vodafone is the third largest mobile network operator in India.
By measuring its customer satisfaction it can
increase its market share as well as brand loyalty. This study helps to find out the factors affecting purchasing behavior of telecom products and to know customer‟s opinion regarding the services offered by Vodafone services.
The following are the areas of interest: 1. Are the Vodafone users satisfied with services, new schemes and offers? 2. Do the customers find current call rates suitable? 3. Are the customers satisfied with the network coverage? 4. Do the customers think that services of customer care are proper? 5. Which services need to be improved?
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4. LITERATURE SURVEY The summary of available literature on customer satisfaction is as follows: 4.1 Concept: Customer satisfaction is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as "the number of customers, or percentage of total customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services (ratings)
exceeds
specified
satisfaction
goals." In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 71 percent responded that they found a customer satisfaction metric very useful in managing and monitoring their businesses. It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is often part of a Balanced Scorecard. In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy. According to Neil T. Bendle, "Within organizations, customer satisfaction ratings can have powerful effects. They focus employees on the importance of fulfilling customers‟ expectations. Furthermore, when these ratings dip, they warn of problems that can affect sales and profitability. . . . These metrics quantify an important dynamic. When a
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brand has loyal customers, it gains positive word-of-mouth marketing, which is both free and highly effective." Therefore, it is essential for businesses to effectively manage customer satisfaction. To be able do this, firms need reliable and representative measures of satisfaction. In the words of David J. Reibstein ,"In researching satisfaction, firms generally ask customers whether their product or service has met or exceeded expectations. Thus, expectations are a key factor behind satisfaction. When customers have high expectations and the reality falls short, they will be disappointed and will likely rate their experience as less than satisfying." 4.2 Measurement: Organizations need to retain existing customers while targeting non-customers. Measuring customer satisfaction provides an indication of how successful the organization is at providing products and/or services to the marketplace. According to Neil T. Bendle, “Customer satisfaction is measured at the individual level, but it is almost always reported at an aggregate level. It can be, and often is, measured along various dimensions. A hotel, for example, might ask customers to rate their experience with its front desk and check-in service, with the room, with the amenities in the room, with the restaurants, and so on. Additionally, in a holistic sense, the hotel might ask about overall satisfaction 'with your stay.” Customer satisfaction is an ambiguous and abstract concept and the actual manifestation of the state of satisfaction will vary from person to person and product/service to product/service. The state of satisfaction depends on a number of
20
both psychological and physical variables which correlate with satisfaction behaviors such as return and recommend rate. The level of satisfaction can also vary depending on other options the customer may have and other products against which the customer can compare the organization's products. Work done by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry between 1985 and 1988 provides the basis for the measurement of customer satisfaction with a service by using the gap between the customer's expectation of performance and their perceived experience of performance. This provides the measurer with a satisfaction "gap" which is objective and quantitative in nature. The usual measures of customer satisfaction involve a survey with a set of statements using a Likert Technique or scale. The customer is asked to evaluate each statement and in term of their perception and expectation of performance of the organization being measured. Their satisfaction is generally measured on a five-point scale.
Customer satisfaction data can also be collected on a 10-point scale. Regardless of the scale used, the objective is to measure customers‟ perceived satisfaction with their experience of a firm‟s offerings. It is essential for firms to effectively manage customer satisfaction. To be able do this, we need accurate measurement of satisfaction.
21
5. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The major objectives of the study are:
To study the factors influencing the mobile users to choose services of their respective service provider.
To study the different schemes given by cellular service providers.
To study problems faced by customers of GSM and CDMA technology for cellular services users.
To find out the problems and other issues regarding mobile services.
To study telecom market of Pune.
To examine Vodafone users satisfaction.
To explore brand loyalty in the users.
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6. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A systematic and organized methodology was used for the research study. A survey design was used to obtain the required information. Respondents were selected in such a way that data from every age group, gender etc. could be analyzed. The questionnaire was intricately designed to tap the demographic variables including age, education, gender etc of the respondents. The questionnaire also helped to gather information about demographics, attitudinal knowledge level, satisfaction level and behavioral information from the respondents. Following are the important elements of Research Methodology: Research design: The study conducted is exploratory cum descriptive. Structural questionnaire was prepared to conduct the research. It contained questions regarding age, occupation, contact information etc. It also included multiple choice questions regarding Vodafone services. The questionnaire used to collect information is given in the Annexure. Scope of the study The scope of the study is confined to Pune. Population: The population for this study comprised of existing customers of Vodafone. Sample size: A sample size of 100 was chosen for this study.
23
Sampling Techniques: Sampling technique used in this research is non-probability sampling. In non probability sampling, members are selected from the population in some non random manner. Out of the entire population of entire Pune area 100 customers were chosen as per convenience and judgment sampling.
24
7. ANALYSIS 7.1 Age analysis: Purpose: The main purpose of this analysis is to know how many respondents belong to a particular age of group. Following is the analysis of data collected: S.no.
Age
No. of respondents
Percentage
1
Below 18
2
2%
2
18-25
54
54%
3
26-50
38
38%
4
51 or above
6
6%
2% 6%
Below 18 18-25
38%
26-50 54%
51 or above
Interpretation: Major respondents are youngsters i.e. 54% of the respondents belong to age group of 18-25, 38% respondents belong to age group of 26-50, 6% of respondents belong to 51 or above age group while only 2% of the respondents belong to age group of below 18 years.
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7.2 Sources of information about Vodafone: Purpose: The purpose of this analysis is to know from which source the respondents have got information about Vodafone. Following is the analysis of data collected:
S.No.
Sources
No. of respondents
Percentage
1
Advertisements
36
36%
2
Hoardings
29
29%
3
Newspapers
20
20%
4
Mouth Publicity
15
15%
15% 36%
Advertisements Hoardings
20%
Newspapers Mouth Publicity
29%
Interpretation: 36% of the respondents got the information about Vodafone through Advertisements, 29% got it through Hoardings while 20% and 15% of the respondents got information from Newspapers and Mouth Publicity respectively.
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7.3 Duration of using Vodafone Services: Purpose: The purpose of this analysis is to to know about the usage time of Vodafone customers i.e. since how long they are using Vodafone service. Following is the analysis of data collected: S.No. Time period
No. of respondents
Percentage
1
Less than 1 month
14
14%
2
2-6 months
22
22%
3
6-12 months
25
25%
4
More than 1 year
39
39%
14%
Less than 1 month
39% 22%
2-6 months 6-12 months More than 1 year
25%
Interpretation: Major Respondents using Vodafone are old customers. 39% of the respondents are using Vodafone services from more than 1 year while the lowest is 14% respondents using Vodafone services less than 1 month.
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7.4 Postpaid service vs. Prepaid service: Purpose: The purpose of this analysis is to know which services are preferred by the Vodafone customers Pre-Paid or Post-Paid. Following is the analysis of data collected:
S.No.
Services
No. of respondents
Percentage
1
Pre-Paid
74
74%
2
Post-paid
26
26%
26%
Pre-Paid Post-paid
74%
Interpretation 74% of the respondents use pre-paid services while only 26% of the respondents use post-paid services.
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7.5 Most Preferred Services: Purpose: The purpose of this analysis is to know which services are more helpful to the respondent while using Vodafone. Following is the analysis of data collected:
S.No.
Services
No. of respondents Percentage
1
Call
21
21%
2
SMS
37
37%
3
Network
28
28%
4
Value Added Services
14
14%
14%
21% Call Rates SMS services Network
28%
Value Added services 37%
Interpretation: Here major respondents are youngsters so they mainly use SMS services of Vodafone. 37% of the respondents use Vodafone for SMS services while only 14% of the respondents use Vodafone for Value Added Services.
29
7.6 Frequency of calling customer care: Purpose: The purpose of this analysis is to find out how often Vodafone users call Customer Care. Following is the analysis of data collected: S.No.
Time Period
No. of respondents
Percentage
1
Daily
7
7%
2
Once a week
16
16%
3
Once a month
31
31%
4
Occasionally
46
46%
7% 16% 46%
Daily Once a week Once a month Occasionally
31%
Interpretation: Major respondents here call customer care occasionally. 31% respondents respondents call customer care once a month while 16% and 7% of respondents call once a week and daily respectively.
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7.7 Opinion about effectiveness of Post paid service: Purpose: The purpose of this analysis is to know how many of the users think that Postpaid Services of Vodafone are effective. Following is the analysis of data collected:
S. No.
Opinion
No. of respondents
Percentage
1
Yes
37
37%
2
No
63
63%
37% Yes No 63%
Interpretation: Out of 100 People 37% are of opinion that postpaid services are effective and 63% feel that the postpaid services of Vodafone are not effective.
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7.8 Mode of payment of postpaid bills: Purpose: The purpose of this analysis is to find which mode is usually preferred by Vodafone users to pay their postpaid bills. Following is the analysis of data collected: S.No.
Mode of Payment
No. of Respondents
Percentage
1
Cash
11
42%
2
Credit card
9
35%
3
Debit Card
6
23%
23% 42%
Cash Credit card Debit Card
35%
Interpretation: Out of 26 post paid users, 42% users pay the bills by cash, 35% pay by credit card and 23% by debit cards.
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7.9 Reasons for calling customer care: Purpose: The purpose of this analysis is to find out the reasons due to which users call customer service. Following is the analysis of data collected: S.No.
Reasons
No. of respondents
Percentage
1
Value Added Services
17
17%
2
Information
new 19
19%
regarding
schemes 3
Complaining
34
34%
4
Other queries
30
30%
17% Value Added Services
30%
Information regarding new schemes 19%
Complaining Other queries
34%
Interpretation: 34% of respondents call at customer care for complaining purpose while 30%, 19% and 17% of respondents call customer care for other queries, information regarding new schemes and value added services respectively.
33
7.10 Opinion about Network Quality: Purpose: The purpose of this analysis is to know the perspective of the customers of Vodafone regarding network service. Following is the analysis of the data collected:
Service
Excellent
Very Good
Fairly Good
Average
Poor
Network
36
33
20
8
3
Network Quality 3% 8% 36% 20%
Excellent Very Good Fairly Good Average Poor
33%
Interpretation: Here major respondents are satisfied with the network coverage. 36% of the respondents rate the Vodafone‟s network excellent, 33% rate it very good, 20% rate it fairly good while 8% and 3% rate it average and poor.
34
7.11 Opinion about SMS Rates: Purpose: The purpose of this analysis is to know the perspective of the customers of vodafone regarding Rates of SMS. Following is the analysis of the data collected:
Opinion
Excellent
Very Good
Fairly Good
Average
Poor
SMS Rates
7
22
40
28
3
SMS Rates 3% 7% Excellent 28%
22%
Very Good Fairly Good Average Poor
40%
Interpretation: Here major respondents are quite satisfied with the SMS rates of Vodafone as major respondents are youngsters. 7% of respondents rate it excellent, 22% rate it very good, 40% rate it fairly good, 28% rate it average, 3% rate it poor.
35
7.12 Opinion about New Schemes and Offers: Purpose: The main purpose of this analysis is to study the respondent‟s perspective related to the new schemes and offers provided by Vodafone. Following is the analysis of the data collected:
Opinion
Excellent
New schemes 3
Very Good
Fairly Good
Average
Poor
16
31
38
12
and offers
New schemes and offers 3% 12% 16%
Excellent Very Good Fairly Good Average
38% 31%
Poor
Interpretation: Here major respondents find new schemes and offers of Vodafone average. 38% respondents rate new schemes and offers as average, 31% respondents rate it as fairly good, 16% rate it as very good while 12% and 3% rate it as poor and excellent respectively.
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7.13 Opinion about Customer Care: Purpose: The main purpose of this analysis is to know about the satisfaction of customer care service provided by Vodafone to their customers. Following is the analysis of the data collected:
Opinion
Excellent
Very Good
Fairly Good
Average
Poor
Customer
7
37
33
17
6
Care
Customer Care 6%
7%
17% Excellent Very Good 37%
Fairly Good Average Poor
33%
Interpretation: Customer care service of Vodafone is better compared to some of the other services. 37% respondents rate it as very good, 33% rate it as fairly good, 17% rate it as average, and 6% and 7% rate it as poor and excellent respectively.
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7.14 Opinion about Recharge Outlets: Purpose: The purpose behind this analysis is to know about the satisfaction of the Vodafone customers regarding recharge outlets. Following is the analysis of data collected:
Opinion
Excellent
Very Good
Fairly Good
Average
Poor
Recharge
14
32
36
16
2
Outlets
Recharge Outlets 2%
16%
14% Excellent Very Good Fairly Good 32%
Average Poor
36%
Interpretation: Recharge outlets of Vodafone are majorly rated as fairly good and very good. 36% of the respondents rate it as fairly good, 32% rate it as very good, 16% rate it as average, 14% rate it excellent and 2% respondents rate it as poor.
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7.15 Opinion about Call Rates: Purpose: The purpose behind this analysis is to know about the perception of vodafone customers regarding different call rates. Following is the analysis of data collected:
Opinion
Excellent
Very Good
Fairly Good
Average
Poor
Call Rates
2
23
49
22
4
Call Rates 4% 2%
23%
22%
Excellent Very Good Fairly Good Average Poor
49%
Interpretation: Major percentage of respondents find Call rates offerd by Vodafone fairly good. 49% of respondents rate call rates of vodafone as fairly good, 23% rate it as very good, 22% rate it as average while 4% and 2% respondent rate it as poor and excellent respectively.
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7.16 Opinion about Value Added Services: Purpose: The purpose behind this analysis is to know about the perception of vodafone customers regarding Value Added Services. Following is the analysis of data collected:
Opinion Value
Excellent Added 10
Very Good
Fairly Good
Average
Poor
28
33
22
7
Services
Value Added Service 7%
10% Excellent
22%
Very Good 28%
Fairly Good Average Poor
33%
Interpretation: Value added services of Vodafone are quite feasible as compared to some of the other services. 33% respondents rate it as fairly good, 28% rate it as very good, 22% rate it as average while 10% and 7% rate it as excellent and poor respectively.
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7.17 Overall Satisfaction of Customers: Purpose: The purpose of this analysis is to find out the overall satisfaction of the Vodafone users. Following is the analysis of data collected: S.no.
Opinion
No. of Respondents
Percentage
1
Satisfatory
72
72%
2
Not Satisfactory
28
28%
Overall Satisfaction
28% Satisfatory Not Satisfactory 72%
Interpretation: On overall basis, 72% users are satisfied with Vodafone services whereas 28% users are not satisfied.
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7.18 Reasons for non-satisfaction: Purpose: The purpose of this analysis is to know the reasons due to which some of the users are not satisfied. Following is the analysis of data collected: S.No.
Reasons
No. of respondents
Percentage
1
Lack of awareness
5
16%
2
High Prices
13
46%
3
Poor Services
6
23%
4
Poor Network
4
15%
15%
16%
Lack of awareness High Prices Poor services
23%
Poor Network 46%
Interpretation: Out of 28 users, 13users are dissatisfied with Vodafone services because of high prices. 6 respondents are dissatisfied with Vodafone services because of poor services while 5 respondents are dissatisfied because of lack of awareness and poor network and 4 due to poor network.
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7.19 Recommendation of Vodafone to others: Purpose: The purpose of this question is to know the recommendations of the respondents towards Vodafone i.e. whether they would like to recommend the Vodafone services to others or not. Following is the analysis of data collected:
S.No.
Opinion
No. of Respondents
Percentage
1
Yes, I will recommend
85
85%
2
No, I wont recommend
15
15%
15% Yes, I will recommend No, I wont recommend
85%
Interpretation: 90% of the Vodafone customers would like to recommend Vodafone services to others while 10% of the Vodafone Customers won‟t recommend it to others.
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8. CONCLUSIONS 8.1 Findings: Following are the important findings of this research:
The major Vodafone users are youngsters.
Most of the users are using Vodafone more than a year.
TV Advertisement is the chief source of information about Vodafone.
Prepaid Services are mostly preferred by the users.
People use Vodafone basically for their cheap SMS rates.
Cash is the mostly preferred mode of payment.
According to users network quality is satisfactory.
Users find customer care services good.
Respondents find services of recharge outlets are suitable.
According to users, Call rates are competitive.
Overall customer satisfaction is high.
Survey reveals that most of the customers are ready to change their service provider given a better deal in terms of tariff plan and the value added services.
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8.2 Suggestions: Following are some of the suggestions given by the researcher so that Vodafone can serve people and its customers in an improved way:
Vodafone should decrease call rates for local users (like Tata indicom and Uninor).
It should take efforts to decrease call rates of STD and ISD.
Company should take customers feedback by sending a feedback form along with the bill.
It should try to target proper segment of population with the proper plans.
Customer Care centres should be increased
It should provide more offers to Post-Paid customers so that the number of PostPaid customers increase.
Company should enhance network coverage in interior or rural areas by setting up of more towers.
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8.3 Conclusions: From the above analysis it can be concluded that major respondents are satisfied with many services offered by Vodafone. Vodafone has made a great impact in India in a short span of time. It has become a very popular brand. It has impressed lot of Indian mobile users. But there is a scope of improvements in the following areas:
Vodafone is doing well in prepaid section and is growing in this section. But it can increase its profitability by increasing the postpaid users.
Network coverage is quite satisfactory but it needs to be widened by bringing rural, interior and highway areas under its scope.
By making improvements, Vodafone can increase its market share and acquire the topmost position in the Indian telecommunication industry.
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9. BIBLIOGRAPHY Websites:
www.vodafone.in
En.wikipedia.org/wiki/vodafone-india
www.globus.com
www.stapac.com
Books referred
Marketing Management – Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller.
Research Methodology - C. R. Kothari
Journals
Annual report of Vodafone
Information brochure of Vodafone services
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ANNEXURE QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: ________________ Age: ___ years Sex: Male/Female Contact no.: ___________
Q1) Do you have a mobile phone? o Yes o No Q2) If yes, then which operator‟s Service do you use? o Vodafone o Airtel o Idea o Reliance o BSNL o Tata Indicom If not Vodafone, then go to Q11
Q3) From which source did you come to know about Vodafone? o Advertisement o Hoardings o Newspapers o Mouth Publicity
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Q4) Since how long you are using Vodafone services? o Less than 1 month o 2-6 months o 6-12 months o More than 1 year
Q5) Which of the following services do you use? o Pre-paid o Post-paid
Q6) Which services are more helpful to you while using Vodafone services? o Call rates o SMS service o Network o Value Added Services
Q7) Do you call customer care? o Yes o No Q8) If yes, how often do you call customer care? o Daily o Once a week o Once a month o Occasionally
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Q9) For what reason do you call customer care? o Value added services o Information regarding new schemes o Other queries o Complaining
Q10) Rate the following services on the basis of your satisfaction. Services
Excellent
Very Good Fairly good
Network SMS rates New
schemes
and
offers Customer Care Recharge outlets Call Rates Value Added Services
Q11) Why you are not using Vodafone services? o Lack of awareness o High Prices o Poor Services o Poor network
Average
Poor
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Q12) Would you like to recommend Vodafone to others? o Yes o No
Q13) Give your suggestions to help in serve you better. _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________