vodafone project 2011

8/6/2019 vodafone project 2011

1/48

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS VODAFONE SERVICE S

Bapuji Academy Of Management & Research, DAVANAGERE 1

Introduction:

Customer satisfaction, a business term, is a measure of how products and services

supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. It is seen as a key

performance indicator within business and is part of the four perspectives 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.

There is a substantial body of empirical literature that establishes the benefits of

customer satisfaction for firms.

3.2) Measuring customer satisfaction

Organizations are increasingly interested in retaining 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.

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 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.

Because satisfaction is basically a psychological state, care should be taken in the

effort of quantitative measurement, although a large quantity of research in this area has

recently been developed. Work done by Berry, Brodeur between 1990 and 1998 defined

ten 'Quality Values' which influence satisfaction behavior, further expanded by Berry in

2002 and known as the ten domains of satisfaction.


2/48



These ten domains of satisfaction include: Quality, Value, Timeliness, Efficiency,

Ease of Access, Environment, Inter-departmental Teamwork, Front line Service Behaviors,

Commitment to the Customer and Innovation. These factors are emphasized for continuous

improvement and organizational change measurement and are most often utilized to

develop the architecture for satisfaction measurement as an integrated model. 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. Work done by Cronin and Taylor propose the "confirmation/disconfirmation"

theory of combining the "gap" described by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry as two

different measures (perception and expectation of performance) into a single measurement

of performance according to expectation. According to Garbrand, customer satisfaction

equals perception of performance divided by expectation of performance.

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.


3/48



Industry Profile:

1.1) Introduction:

The telecom network in India is the fifth largest network in the world meeting up

with global standards. Presently, the Indian telecom industry is currently slated to an

estimated contribution of nearly 1% to Indias GDP.

The Indian Telecommunications network with 110.01 million connections is the

fifth largest in the world and the second largest among the emerging economies of Asia.

Today, it is the fastest growing market in the world and represents unique opportunities for

U.S. companies in the stagnant global scenario. The total subscriber base, which has grown

by 40% in 2005, is expected to reach 250 million in 2007.

According to Broadband Policy 2004, Government of India aims at 9 million

broadband connections and 18 million internet connections by 2007. The wireless

subscriber base has jumped from 33.69 million in 2004 to 62.57 million in FY2004- 2005.

In the last 3 years, two out of every three new telephone subscribers were wireless

subscribers. Consequently, wireless now accounts for 54.6% of the total telephone

subscriber base, as compared to only 40% in 2003. Wireless subscriber growth is expectedto bypass 2.5 million new subscribers per month by 2007. The wireless technologies

currently in use are Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code Division

Multiple Access (CDMA). There are primarily 9 GSM and 5CDMA operators providing

mobile services in 19 telecom circles and 4 metro cities, covering 2000 towns across the

country.


4/48



1.2) Evolution of the Industry - Important Milestones:

Year Description1851 First operational land lines were laid by the govt. near Calcutta(seat of

British Power)

1881 Telephone Service introduced in India

1883 Merger with the postal system1923 Formation of Indian Radio Telegraph Company (IRT)

1932 Merger of ETC and IRT into the Indian Radio and CommunicationCompany(IRCC)

1947 Nationalization of all foreign telecommunication companies to form thePosts, Telephone and Telegraph(PTT), a monopoly run by thegovernments Ministry of Communication

1985 Department of Telecommunications (DOT) established, an exclusive provider of domestic and long-distance service that would be its ownregulator (separate from the postal system)

1986 Conversion of DOT into two wholly government-owned companies: theVidesh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) for internationaltelecommunications and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL)for service in metropolitan areas.

1997 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India created

1999 Cellular Services are launched in India. New National Telecom Policy isadopted.

2000 DoT becomes a corporation, BSNL

(Source: The Indian Telecom Industry by consulting club, IIM Calcutta)

1.3) Major Players:

There are three types of players in telecom services:

State owned companies (BSNL and MTNL)

Private Indian owned companies (Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices)

Foreign invested companies (Vodafone-Essar, Bharti Tele-Ventures, Escotel, Idea

Cellular, BPL Mobile, Spice Communications)

India's mobile telecom sector is one of the fastest growing sectors. Unlike in the 1990s

when the mobile phone was an elitist product, mobile operators now tap a mass market

with mass marketing techniques. "Unified licensing" rules allow basic and mobile

operators into each others territory, and have ushered in perhaps the final phase of

industry consolidation.


5/48



It seems that only companies with deep pockets can effectively compete as primary

operators mobile markets. Economies of scale, scope, and end-to-end presence in long-

distance as well as local telecom, are desirable.

There are, besides, new challenges. Operators have to find new growth drivers for

the wire line business. There are problems of getting broadband to take off, of technology

choice, of when to introduce new technologies, and of developing a viable business model

in an era of convergence

1.4) Growth of mobile technology:

India has the fastest growing mobile markets in the world. The mobile services

were commercially launched in August 1995 in India. In the initial 5-6 years the averagemonthly subscribers additions were around 0.05 to 0.1 million only and the total mobile

subscribers base in December 2002 stood at 10.5 millions. However, after the number of

proactive initiatives taken by regulator and licensor, the monthly subscriber additions

increased to around 2 million per month in the year 2003-04 and 2004-05.

Although mobile telephones followed the New Telecom Policy 1994, growth was

tardy in the early years because of the high price of hand sets as well as the high tariff

structure of mobile telephones. The New Telecom Policy in 1999, the industry heralded

several pro consumer initiatives. Mobile subscriber additions started picking up. The

number of mobile phones added throughout the country in 2003 was 16 million, followed

by 22 millions in 2004, 32 million in 2005 and 65 million in 2006. The only countries with

more mobile phones than India with 156.31 million mobile phones are China 408 million

and USA 170 million.

India has opted for the use of both the GSM (global system for mobile

communications) and CDMA (code-division multiple access) technologies in the mobile

sector.

The mobile tariffs in India have also become lowest in the world. A new mobile

connection can be activated with a monthly commitment of US$ 5 only. In 2005 alone 32

million handsets were sold in India. The data reveals the real potential for growth of the

Indian mobile market.


6/48



1.5) Cellular Service Providers:

As on Apr 2007 India has 167 million mobile phone subscribers. Out of this 125million are GSM users and 41 million CDMA users. BSNL, BhartiAirtel, Hutch, Idea,

Aircel, Spice and MTNL are the main GSM providers in India. Reliance Communications

and Tata Indicom are the main CDMA providers in India.

Vodafone

Vodafone is another emerging GSM provider in India with coverage in Kerala,

Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab with a

total subscriber base of 27 million.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)

BSNL is a state owned telecom company which has GSM presence in almost every

cities and towns. BSNL has 27 million subscribers with a market share of 16%.

BhartiAirtel

Airtel is providing cellular services in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Andhra

Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala,

Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, UP and West

Bengal. Airtel is the No.1 cellular service provider in India using GSM technology. Airtel

has 23% market share in India with a total subscriber base of 38 million.

Reliance Communications

Reliance has both CDMA and GSM networks and total subscriber base of 29

million or 17% market share. It has GSM network in Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh,

Kolkata, North East, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. Reliance has CDMA

networks in other states and cities

Tata Indicom

Tata Indicom is a main CDMA provider in India with 16 million subscribers all

over India. Tata Indicom has presence in almost every state and cities in India.


7/48



COMPANY PROFILE:

2.1) Introduction:

Vodafone is a mobile network operator headquartered in Berkshire, England, UK.

It is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover and

has a market value of about 75 billion (August 2008). Vodafone currently has operations

in 25 countries and partner networks in a further 42 countries.

The name Vodafone comes from Voice data fone, chosen by the company to

"reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones."

As of 2006 Vodafone had an estimated 260 million customers in 25 markets across

5 continents. On this measure, it is the second largest mobile telecom group in the world

behind China Mobile.

In the United States, Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon Wireless.


8/48



2.2)Mission:

Vodafone is primarily a user of technology rather than a developer of it, and this

fact is reflected in the emphasis of our work program on enabling new applications of

mobile communications, using new technology for new services, research for improving

operational efficiency and quality of our networks, and providing technology vision and

leadership that can contribute directly to business decisions.

2.3) Vision:

Our Vision is to be the worlds mobile communication leader enriching

customers lives, helping individuals, businesses and Communities be more connected in a

mobile world.

2.4) History:

In 1982 Racal Electronics plc's subsidiary Racal Strategic Radio Ltd. won one of

two UK cellular telephone network licenses. The network, known as Racal Vodafone was

80% owned by Racal, with Millicom and the Hambros Technology Trust owning 15% and

5% respectively. Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985. Racal Strategic Radio was

renamed Racal Telecommunications Group Limited in 1985. On 29 December 1986 Racal

Electronics bought out the minority shareholders of Vodafone for GB110 million.

In September 1988 the company was again renamed Racal Telecom and on 26

October 1988 Racal Electronics floated 20% of the company. The flotation valued Racal

Telecom at GB1.7 billion On 16 September 1991 Racal Telecom was demerged from

Racal Electronics as Vodafone Group.

In July 1996 Vodafone acquired the two thirds of Talkland it did not already own

for 30.6 million. On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone purchased

Peoples Phone for 77 million, a 181 store chain whose customers were overwhelmingly

using Vodafone's network. In a similar move the company acquired the 80% of Astec

Communications that it did not own, a service provider with 21 stores.


9/48

C

M

R

C

R

R

C

Bapu i Academy Of Management& Research DAVANAGERE 9

i t it Speech mark l as it is a quotation mark in a

circl ; t O's in t Vodafone logot e are opening and closing quotation marks,

suggesting conversation.

On 29 June 1999 Vodafone completed its purchase of AirTouch Communications,

Inc. and changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch plc. Trading of the new company

commenced on 30 June 1999. To approve the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in E-

Plus Mobilfunk. The acquisition gave Vodafone a 35% share of Mannesmann, owner of

the largest German mobile network.

Vodafones originallogo used untilthe introduction ofthe speech marklogo in 1998.

On 21 September 1999 Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with

those of Bell Atlantic Corp to form Veri on Wireless. The merger was completed on 4

April 2000.

In November 1999 Vodafone made an unsolicited bid forMannesmann, which was

rejected. Vodafone's interestin Mannesmann had been increased by the latter's purchase of

Orange, the UK mobile operator. Chris Gent would later say Mannesmann's move into the

UK broke a "gentleman's agreement" not to compete in each other's home territory. The

hostile takeover provoked strong protest in Germany and a "titanic struggle" which saw

Mannesmann resists Vodafone's efforts. However, on 3 February 2000 the Mannesmann

board agreed to an increased offer of 112bn, then the largest corporate merger ever. The

EU approved the mergerin April 2000. The conglomerate was subsequently broken up and

all manufacturing related operations sold off.


10/48



On 28 July 2000 the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group Plc. In

April 2001 the first 3G voice call was made on Vodafone United Kingdom's 3G network.

In 2001 the Company took over Eircell, then part of eircom in Ireland, and rebranded it as

Vodafone Ireland. It then went on to acquire Japan's third-largest mobile operator J-Phone,

which had introduced camera phones first in Japan.

On 17 December 2001 Vodafone introduced the concept of "Partner Networks" by

signing TDC Mobil of Denmark. The new concept involved the introduction of Vodafone

international services to the local market, without the need of investment by Vodafone.

The concept would be used to extend the Vodafone brand and services into markets where

it does not have stakes in local operators. Vodafone services would be marketed under the

dual-brand scheme, where the Vodafone brand is added at the end of the local brand. (i.e.,

TDC Mobil-Vodafone etc.)

In February 2002 Finland was added into the mobile community, as Radiolinja is

signed as a Partner Network. Radiolinja later changed its named to Elisa. Later that year

the Company rebranded Japan's J-sky mobile internet service as Vodafone live! and on 3

December 2002 the Vodafone brand was introduced in the Estonian market with signing of

a Partner Network Agreement with Radiolinja (Eesti). Radiolinja (Eesti) later changed its

name to Elisa.

On 7 January 2003 the Company signed a group-wide Partner agreement with

mobilkom Austria. As a result, Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia were added to the

community. In April 2003 Og Vodafone was introduced in the Icelandic market and in

May 2003 Vodafone Italy (Omnitel Pronto-Italia) was rebranded Vodafone Italy. On 21

July 2003 Lithuania was added to the community, with the signing of a Partner Network

agreement with Bit.

In February 2004 Vodafone signed a Partner Network Agreement with

Luxembourg's LuxGSM and a Partner Network Agreement with Cyta of Cyprus. Cyta

agreed to rename its mobile phone operations to Cytamobile-Vodafone. In April 2004 the

Company purchased Singlepoint airtime provider from John Caudwell (Caudwell Group)

and approx 1.5million customers onto its base for 405million, adding sites in Stoke on

Trent (England) to existing sites in Newbury (HQ), Birmingham, Warrington and Banbury.


11/48



In November 2004 Vodafone introduced 3G services into Europe.

In June 2005 the Company increased its participation in Romania's Connex to 99%

and also bought the Czech mobile operator Oskar. On 1 July 2005 Oskar of the Czech

Republic was rebranded as Oskar-Vodafone. Later that year on 17 October 2005 Vodafone

Portugal launched a revised logo, using new text designed by Dalton Maag, and a 3D

version of the Speech mark logo, but still retaining a red background and white writing (or

vice versa). Also, various operating companies started to drop the use of the SIM card

pattern in the company logo. (The rebranding of Oskar-Vodafone and Connex-Vodafone

also does not use the SIM card pattern.) A custom typeface by Dalton Maag (based on their

font family InterFace) formed part of the new identity.

On 28 October 2005 Connex in Romania was rebranded as Connex-Vodafone and

on 31 October 2005 the Company reached an agreement to sell Vodafone Sweden to

Telenor for approximately 1 billion. After the sale, Vodafone Sweden became a Partner

Network. In December 2005 Vodafone won an auction to buy Turkey's second-largest

mobile phone company, Telsim, for $4.5 billion. In December 2005 Vodafone Spain

became the second member of the group to adopt the revised logo: it was phased in over

the following six months in other countries

In 2006 the Company rebranded its Stoke-on-Trent site as Stoke Premier Centre, acentre of expertise for the company dealing with Customer Care for its higher value

customers, technical support, sales and credit control. All cancellations and upgrades

started to be dealt with by this call centre. On 5 January 2006 Vodafone announced the

completion of the sale of Vodafone Sweden to Telenor. On February 2006 the Company

closed its Birmingham Call Centre. In 1 February 2006 Oskar Vodafone became

Vodafone Czech Republic, adopting the revised logo and on 22 February 2006 the

Company announced that it was extending its footprint to Bulgaria with the signing of

Partner Network Agreement with Mobiltel, which is part of mobilkom Austria group.


12/48



On 12 March 2006 former chief, Sir Christopher Gent, who was appointed the

honorary post Chairman for Life in 2003, quits following rumours of boardroom rifts. In

April 2006 the Company announced that it has signed an extension to its Partner Network

Agreement with BITE Group, enabling its Latvian subsidiary "BITE Latvija" to become

the latest member of Vodafone's global partner community. Also in April 2006 Vodafone

Sweden changed its name to Telenor Sverige AB and Connex-Vodafone became Vodafone

Romania, also adopting the new logo. On 30 May 2006 Vodafone announced the biggest

loss in British corporate history (14.9 billion) and plans to cut 400 jobs; it reported one-

off costs of 23.5 billion due to the revaluation of its Mannesmann subsidiary. On 24 July

2006 the respected head of Vodafone Europe, Bill Morrow, quit unexpectedly and on 25

August 2006 the Company announced the sale of its 25% stake in Belgium's Proximus for

2 billion. After the deal, Proximus was still part of the community as a Partner Network.

On 5 October 2006 Vodafone announced the first single brand partnership with Og

Vodafone which would operate under the name Vodafone Iceland and on 19 December

2006 the Company announced the sale of its 25% stake in Switzerland's Swisscom for

CHF4.25 billion (1.8 billion).

After the deal, Swisscom would still be part of the community as a Partner

Network. Finally in December 2006 the Company completed the acquisition of Aspective,

an enterprise applications systems integrator in the UK, signaling Vodafone's intent to

grow a significant presence and revenues in the ICT marketplace.

Early in January 2007 Telsim in Turkey adopted Vodafone dual branding as Telsim

Vodafone and on 1 April 2007 Telsim Vodafone Turkey dropped its original brand and

became Vodafone Turkey. On 1 May 2007 Vodafone added Jersey and Guernsey to the

community, as Airtel was signed as Partner Network in both crown dependencies. In June

2007 the Vodafone live! Mobile Internet portal in the UK was relaunched. Front page was

now charged for and previously "bundled" data allowance was removed from existing

contract terms. All users were given access to the "full" web rather than a Walled Garden

and Vodafone became the first mobile network to focus an entire media campaign on its

newly launched mobile Internet portal in the UK. On 1 August 2007 Vodafone Portugal

launched Vodafone Messenger, a service with Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo!

Messenger.


13/48



On 17 April 2008 Vodafone extended its footprint to Serbia as VIP mobile was

added to the community as a Partner Network and on 20 May 2008 the Company added

VIP Operator as a Partner Network thereby extending the global footprint to Macedonia. In

May 2008 Kall of the Faroe Islands rebranded as Vodafone Faroe Islands.

On 30 October 2008, the company announced a strategic, non-equity partnership

with MTS group of Russia. The agreement adds Russia, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine,

and Uzbekistan to the group footprint.

2.5) VODAFONE ESSAR

2.5.1) Introduction:

Vodafone Essar, previously Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in India that

covers 21 telecom circles in India. Despite the official name being Vodafone Essar, its

products are simply branded Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular

phone coverage throughout India and is especially strong in the major metros.

Vodafone Essar provides 2G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM

technology, offering voice and data services in 22 of the country's 23 licence areas.

2.5.2) Ownership:

Vodafone Essar is owned by Vodafone 52%, Essar Group 33%, and other Indian

nationals, 15%.

On February 11, 2007, Vodafone agreed to acquire the controlling interest of 67%

held by Li KaShing Holdings in Hutch-Essar for US$11.1 billion, pipping Reliance

Communications, Hinduja Group, and Essar Group, which is the owner of the remaining

33%. The whole company was valued at USD 18.8 billion. The transaction closed on May

8, 2007.


14/48



2.6) Previous brands:

In December 2006, Hutch Essar re-launched the "Hutch" brand nationwide,

consolidating its services under a single identity. The Company entered into agreement

with NTT DoCoMo to launch i-mode mobile Internet service in India during 2007.

The company used to be named Hutchison Essar, reflecting the name of its

previous owner, Hutchison. However, the brand was marketed as Hutch. After getting the

necessary government approvals with regards to the acquisition of a majority by the

Vodafone Group, the company was rebranded as Vodafone Essar. The marketing brand

was officially changed to Vodafone on 20 September 2007.

On September 20, 2007 Hutch becomes Vodafone in one of the biggest brandtransition exercises in recent times.

Along with the transition, cheap cell phones have been launched in the Indian

market under the Vodafone brand. There are plans to launch co-branded handsets sourced

from global vendors as well.

A popular daily quoted a Vodafone Essar director as saying that "the objective is to

leverage Vodafone Group's global scale in bringing millions of low-cost handsets from

across-the-world into India."

.


15/48

CUSTOMERSATISFACTION TOWAR

S VODAFONE SERVICES


SWOTAnal sis:

SWOT ly i is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths,

Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project orin a business venture. It

involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the

internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective.

The technique is credited to Albert Humphrey, who led a research project at Stanford

University in the 1960s and 1970s using data from Fortune 500 companies.

I e al

Strengths Weak e e

Leadership Position

Global Brand Strength

High Geographical reach

Market driver

Centralized Control Low

Flexibility

High Consumer churn rates

Ex e al

pp

i

ie ! Th ea

!

Expanding marketing boundaries

Growth through 3G

Strategic Alliances

Increased Competition

Market saturation in Europe

Emergencies of Low cost Brands


16/48



SWOTanalysis of Vodafone

3.1) Strengths:

The main strength of Vodafone within the telecommunications market lies in its

brand image and recognition. Vodafone, having established a global presence and having

invested highly in marketing a differentiated image by promoting a Vodafone life style,

currently enjoys a differentiating advantage that, if exploited properly, can offer a lead in

competition. The presence of Vodafone in numerous countries within Europe as well as in

all part of the world enhances this image. It allows customers to travel and enjoy easily the

services of their home country operator. In the few countries that Vodafone is not

physically present (e.g. Norway) it has well established strategic alliances which allow for

a better service of mobile clients.

3.2) Weaknesses:

The expansion of Vodafone has been completed at the expense of direct control of

its operations. The company grew through a process of acquisitions of national

telecommunications companies (e.g. the acquisition of the third biggest Czech mobile

phone operator, Cesky mobile) rather than organic growth. This increased its subscribers

base quickly, offering direct market knowledge and immediate additions of customer bases

at the expense of direct effective control of the subsidiaries. At the same time though, it

implicitly imposed a centralized operational structure for the group, nominating the UK

headquarters as the leading business unit running a much centralised marketing and

handset procurement at group level. This has resulted in the neglect of local markets and

local differences, allowing market share to be gained by smaller local competitors. Due to

the highly saturated Western European market this has resulted in an increase in the price

elasticity of demand, with consumers becoming continuously price oriented. This has

resulted in high customer churn rates reaching the level of 32.8% in the UK compared to

O2s 24%.


17/48



3.3) Opportunities:

The telecommunications market, even though highly saturated in some regions

offers great potential due to the ageing population and the sophistication of the consumers.

It offers great opportunities through a careful market segmentation and exploitation of

particular profitable segments. Different strategies should be pursued simple phones and

simplified pricing plans to the ageing population and more updated, sophisticated solutions

for younger generations. The expanding Boundaries of the market could provide further

opportunities by allowing Vodafone to enter more aggressively into fixedline service and

to better enjoy the benefits of its high investment in 3G technology. Moreover the

company has undertaken its first steps in establishing strategic alliances to develop

customized solutions for endusers: Vodafone recently announced two new partnerships,

one with supermarket group ASDA to launch an ASDA branded mobile service in the UK,and another with electrical retailer DSG International to provide mobile solutions to small

businesses. This could further be enhanced to avoid being a lateentrant in this new method

of distribution which offers access to a wide potential customer base.

3.4) Threats:

The European part of Vodafones market is characterized by existing high levels of

competition. Major brands such as O2 and TMobile are exploiting the price sensitivity of

customers and in this way they are building a stronger image and presence in the market.

Indirect competition is also increasing further, through the presence of Skype and other

related (not only voice) Internet based services. This combined with the upcoming

European legislative measures is expected to limit further the tariffs for the network

providers imposing further need for price cuts which could harm the bottom line

profitability of the company.


18/48



RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY:

Introduction:

Marketing research means the systematic gathering, recording, analyzing of data

about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services

Marketing research has proved an essential tool to make all the need of marketing

management. Marketing research therefore is the scientific process of gathering and

analyzing of marketing information to meet the needs of marketing management. But

gathering of observation is must be systematic. The systematic conduct of research

requires: Orderliness, in which the measurements are accurate.

Impartiality in analysis and interpretation.

All of research can be categorized into basic and applied.

1. BASIC RESEARCH: - Basic Research is that intended to expand the body of

knowledge for the use of others.

2. APPLIED RESEARCH: - Applied Research is one, which is carried out to find

the solution for a particular problem or for guiding a specific decision. It is usually

private in nature.

My research on Vodafone is carried on for guiding specific decisions and its results

are useful only to Vodafone for taking particular decision regarding product quality, staff

and security. Hence the nature of my research study is APPLIED RESEARCH .


19/48



4.1) Objectives of Study:

Following are the main objective to study about the customer satisfaction on

Vodafone.

To study telecommunication industry.

To study the company profile of Vodafone.

To study customer satisfaction of Vodafone.

To study various Marketing activities provided by Vodafone.

To study the various services provided by Vodafone.

To know the expectation of Vodafone Customers.

4.2) Benefits of study:

There are many benefits related to take this study. Some of the benefits of taking

this study are as follows:

By analyzing this information, the company would be able to better design schemes

& services & target right prospects needs & wants.

More people will get aware about Vodafone that will increase profit level of

Vodafone.

This study helps to identify the behavior of consumerwhen there are no offers &

schemes from Vodafone.


20/48

CUSTOMERSATISFACTION TOWARDS VODAFONE SERVICES


4 " 3#

Pro$ %

ss of &'

rketin(

Research:

The marketing research is done in systematic process. The Researcher has pursued

the below process of marketing for my study at Vodafone:

4.4.1)Problem Identi i tion:

The first and the mostimportant step of marketing research is properly defining the

problem. In order to identify the research problem two categories of problem should be

carefully noticed.

Here the researchers problems are:-

A number of customers are not satisfied with services, new schemes and offers.

A number of customers are not satisfied with the network coverage.

A number of customers are not satisfied with the current call rates of Vodafone.

A number of customers are not satisfied with the Free SMS schemes.

A number of customers are not satisfied with the service of customer care of

Vodafone.

Problem Identification

Research Design

Data Collection

Data Analysis & Interpretation

Research Report & Presentation


21/48



4.4.2)Research design:

Research design indicates the methods and procedure of conducting research study. In

this study the design used is Descriptive Research Design. As Descriptive research is

undertaken when the researcher want to know the characteristics of certain groups. Hence,

this research design is appropriate for this project study.

4.4.3)Data Collection and Sampling:

A) Sources of Data Collection:-

Basically there are two types of data i.e. secondary and primary:

I) Primar Data Collection:-

Primary data collection contains the following four types of methods: -

1 Observation Method:

It contains Causal observation, Systematic observation, direct observation and

contrived observation.

2 Surve Method:

It contains Personal Interview, Telephone Interview and Mail Interview.

3 Experimental Method.

4 Panel Method.

Secondar Data Collection: - It can be collected from internal as well as

external sources

1) Internal Source: Various internal sources like employee, books, sales activity, stock

availability, product cost, etc.

2) External Sources: Libraries, trade publications, literatures, etc are some important

sources of external data. In this our survey team have used primary data for the core

purpose of the project and this primary data has been gathered by survey method. We have

also used secondary data to know the background of the company.


22/48



B)Data collection Tools:

To conduct a survey, a selected a structured questionnaire has been used as an

instruction for gathering valuable information from the customers. Questionnaire, which is

used for the survey, is consisting of questions and checklist questions to check the

customer feedback.

Sampling unit:Who is to be surveyed?

For this, youngsters, businessmen, and housewives, employees are selected to

conduct survey and to measure satisfaction level.

Sample Size:

Sample size means limited numbers of respondents covered under the research study froma population and they have taken a survey of 100 respondents to know the satisfaction

level of customer.

I) Sampling Area:

The researchers area for survey was:

Suma stores ,devarajus layout, Davanagere

Telematics,kaipet, Davanagere

BAMR ,Davanagere

II) Sampling Unit:

Here the researcher has randomly selected the respondents of the Davanagerecity.

Data Anal sis and Interpretation

After all the above steps are completed now the important step is data analyzing

and interpretation. For this there are various analytical and statistical tools. Some of these

tools are Percentage, Average, Dispersion, Co-relation, Co-efficient, etc.


23/48



Data Analysis and Interpretation:

Table no 1:-Table showing to know about which telecommunication(operators)

service they use with graph.

services Vodafone Airtel BSNL Idea Reliance TataIndicom

Tatadocomo

MTS Aircel

No. of

respondents

90 10 8 21 26 9 12 8 9

INFERENCE

According to survey Major respondents using mobile are enjoying Vodafone services.

13% of the respondents use Reliance, 11% respondents use Idea while

6%,5%,5%,5%,4%,4%respondents use Tata docomo ,Tata Indicom, Aircel,Airtel, BSNL,

MTS respectively.

47%

5%4%

11%

13%

5%

6%

4%5%

DIFFERENT SERVICE PROVIDERS BREAK UP

Vodafone

Airtel

BSNL

Idea

Reliance

Tata Indicom

Tata docomo

MTS

Aircel


24/48



Table no 2:-Table showing know about the awareness of Vodafone among all the

respondents with graph.

Suggestions Yes No

No. of respondents 90 10

INFERENCE

Major number of customer using enjoying Vodafone services. Here 100% of respondents

are aware about Vodafone Services.


25/48



T ble no 3:-Table showing to know from which source the respondents came to know

about Vodafone with graph.

Sources No. of respondents

Advertisements 18

Hoardings 14

Newspapers 20

Word of mouth38

INFE ENCE

Major number of customer using Vodafone services through Word of mouth.42% of the

respondents are aware about Vodafone through Word of mouth, 22% are aware because of

Newspapers while 20% and 16% ofthe respondents are aware because of Advertisements

and Hoarding respectively.

20%

16%

22%

42%

Source ofAwareness

Adve) 0 1

se2

e3 0

s

H 4 5 ) dings

6ewsp

7pe

8s

W9 8

d of Mouth


26/48



T ble no 4:-Table showingto know aboutthe usage time of Vodafone customers i.e. since

how long they are using Vodafone serviceswith graph.

Time period No. of respondents

Less than 1 month 30

2-6 months 15

6-12 months 25

More than 1 year 20

INFE ENCE

Major Respondents using Vodafone are new customers. 33% of the respondents use

Vodafone services from Less than 1 month , 28%respondents using Vodafone services 6-

12 months, 22% respondents using Vodafone services More than 1 year , 17%respondents

using Vodafone services 2-6 months

33%

17%

@ 8%

A A%

Usage ti e

Less than 1 month

2-6months

6-12 months

More than 1 year


27/48



Table no 5:-Table showingto know which services do the Vodafone customer use, Pre-

Paid or Post-Paidwith graph.

Services No. of

respondents

Pre-Paid 89

Post-paid 1

INFERENCE

According to my survey more number of custumer using prepaid services 99% of

the respondents use pre-paid services while only 1% of the respondents use post-paid

services.Less number of customer using post-paid


28/48



T ble no 6:-Table showingto know Reasons for opting prepaid with graph.

Reason No. of respondents

Economical 15

Easy to use 25

Both 34

Online 15

INFERENCE

Reason for using prepaid is Economical and easy to use

38% of the respondents use Vodafone services from Both , 28%respondents using

Vodafone services Easy to use, 17% respondents using Vodafone services Economical ,

17%respondents using Vodafone services Online

Table no 7:-Table showingReasons for Postpaid with graph

17%

2B

%

38%

17%

Reasonsfor going prepaid

Economical

EasC to use

Both

Online


29/48



Reason No. of respondents

High usage 1

Services

Lower call rates

All of above

INFERENCE

Reason for Less number of customers using post-paid is High usage


30/48



Table no 8:-Table showingto know which services are more helpful to the respondent

while using Vodafone with graph.

Services No. of respondents

CallRates 33

SMS Rates 22

Network 13

Value Added Services 9

GPRS and 3G 13

INFERENCE

Here majorRespondents are youngsters so they mainly useCallRates of Vodafone.

37% of the respondents use Vodafone forCallRates while only 24% of the respondents

use Vodafone for SMS Rates

37%

24%

15%

10%

14%

Wh Vodafone ?

Call Rates

SMS Rates

Detw

Erk

Value Added Services

GPRS and 3G


31/48



Table no 9:-Table showing to know how many times and how often the respondents call at

customer care of Vodafone with graph.

Suggestions Yes No

No. of respondents 78 12

INFERENCE

Major number of customer call to Vodafone customer care87% of the respondent calls at

customer care while 13% respondents do not call at customer care.


32/48



If yes, how often you call at customer care

Time Period No. of respondents

Daily

Once a week

Once a month 2

Occasionally 76

INFERENCEMajor respondents here call customer care occasionally. 97% respondents call customer

care Occasionally while 3% and respondents call once a month 0% of respondentsand not

call tocustomer care Daily and Once in week


33/48



Table no 10:-Table showing to know the reason of the respondents regarding calling atcustomer care with graph.

Reasons No. of respondents

Value Added Services14

Information regarding new schemes 17

Other queries 27

Complaining 20

INFERENCE

Major number of customer call customer for other queries 34% of respondents call

at customer care for other queries purpose while 26%, 22% and 18% of respondents call

customer care for complaining , information regarding new schemes and value added

services respectively.

18%

F F%

34%

G 6%

No.ofrespondents

Value Added Services

Hnformation regarding

newschemes

Other queries

Complaining


34/48



Table no 11:-Table showing to know aboutthe which plans are using more with graph.

plans No. of respondents

Lifetimeplan 11

General plan 79

INFERENCE

According to survey major number customer using general plan 88% of

respondents using General plan and another 12% respondents using life time plan

respectively.

12%

88%

No.ofrespondents

Lifetimeplan

General plan


35/48



Table no 12:-Table showing to know about opinion aboutthe price aspects with graph

Price aspects No. of respondents %

Cheaper 23 26%

Value for money 22 24%

Reliable 45 50%

Too heavy charges 0 0%

INFERENCE

50% of respondents opinion aboutthe price aspects is Reliable while 24%, 26% and 0% of

respondents opinion aboutthe price aspects is Cheaper, Value for money, Too heavy

charges respectively.

Table no 13:-Table showing Rate the following services on the basis of your satisfaction

with graphs.

0

10

20

30

40

50

CheaperValue for

moneyReliable I

oo

heavy

charges

2322

45

No.ofrespondents

No. of respondents


36/48



Services E cellent Very Good Fairly good Average Poor

Network 65 21 3 1

SMS rates 34 47 9

New schemes and offers 26 44 15 5

CustomerCare 7 12 22 49

Recharge outlets 8 67 15

CallRates 10 52 23 5 1

Value Added Services 15 43 22 9 1

Service level satisfaction

Network:

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Poor

Average

Fairly good

Very Good

Excellent


37/48



Purpose:

The purpose of this analysis is to know the perspective of the customers of Vodafone

regarding network service

INFERENCE

Here major respondents are satisfy with the network coverage. 72% of the

respondents are rate the Vodafones network excellent, 24% rate it very good, 3% rate it

farely good while 1% and 0% rate it average and poor.

SMS Rates:

72%

24%

3% 1% 0%

Network

Excellent Very Good Fairly Good Average Poor

Service E cellent Very Good Fairly Good Average Poor

Network 63 21 3 1 0


38/48



Purpose:

The purpose of this analysis is to know the perspective of the customers of vodafone

regarding Rates of SMS.

INFERENCE

Here major respondents are not much satisfied with the SMS rates of Vodafone as

major respondents are youngsters. 38% of respondents rate it excellent, 52% rate it very

good, 10% rate it fairly good, 0% rate it average, 0% rate it poor.

New Schemes and Offers:

Service Excellent Ver Good Fairl Good Average Poor

SMS Rates 34 47 9 0 0


39/48



Purpose:

The main purpose ofthis analysis is to the respondents perspective related to the

new schemes and offers provided by Vodafone.

INFERENCE

Here major respondents are satisfied with new schemes and offers of Vodafone.

49% respondents rate new schemes and offers as very good, 29% respondents rate it as

Excellent, 17 % rate it as fairly good while 5% and 0% rate it as Average and Poor

respectively.

Customer Care:

29%

49%

17%

5%

0%

New schemes andoffers



New schemes

and offers

26 44 15 5 0


40/48



Purpose:

The main purpose ofthis analysis is to know aboutthe satisfaction of customer care

service provided by Vodafone to their customers.

INFERENCE

Customer care service of Vodafone is are not much satisfied with CustomerCare of

vodafone. 54% respondents rate it as Average, 25% rate it as fairly good, 13% rate it as

Very good, and 8% and 0% rate it as excellent poor and poor respectively.

Recharge Outlets:

8%

13%

25%54%

0%

Customer Care



CustomerCare 7 12 22 49 0


41/48



Purpose:

The purpose behind this analysis is to know aboutthe satisfaction ofthe Vodafone

customers regarding recharge outlets.

INFERENCE

Recharge outlets of Vodafone are majorly rated on very good and fairly good

basis. 72% ofthe respondents rate it asvery good, 17% rate it as fairly good, 9% rate it as

Excellent, 0% rate it Average and 0% respondents rate it as poor.

Call Rates:

9%

74%

17%

0% 0%

Recharge utlets



Recharge

Outlets

8 67 15 0 0


42/48



Purpose:

The purpose behind this analysis is to know about the perception of vodafone

customers regarding different call rates.

INFERENCEMajor percentage of respondents are happy with the call rates of Vodafone. 59% of

respondents rate call rates of vodafone as Very good, 25% rate it as Farily good, 11% rate

it as Excellent while 6% and 1% respondent rate it as Average and poor respectively.

Value Added Services:

11%

57%

25%

6%

1%

CallRates



CallRates 10 52 23 5 1


43/48



Purpose:

The purpose behind this analysis is to know about the perception of vodafone

customers regarding Value Added Services.

INFERENCE

Value added services of Vodafone are quite feasible as compared to some of the

other services. 43% respondents rate it as Very good, 24% rate it as Fairly good, 17% rate

it as Excellent while 10% and 1% rate it as Average and poor respectively.

Table no 14:-Table showing to know why other respondents do not use Vodafone serviceswith graph.

17%

48%

P 4%

10%

1%

Value AddedSer ices



Value Added

Services

15 43 22 9 1


44/48


45/48



Table no 15:-Table showing to know the recommendations of the respondents towards

Vodafone, whetherthey would like to recommend the Vodafone services to others or not

with graph.

recommend Yes No

No. of

respondents

85 5

INFERENCE

Major number of customer recommend vodafone

services. 94% ofthe Vodafone customers would like to recommend Vodafone services to

others while 6% ofthe Vodafone Customers wont recommend to others.

94%

6%

No.ofrespondents

Yes No


46/48



Findin s&Su estion:

Findings

Majority of the respondents using Vodafone services.

Majority of the respondents are aware about Vodafone Services available.

The respondents are more aware through word of mouth.

Most of the respondents are Vodafonecustomers and majority of them are new to

Vodafone services.

Majority of the respondents use prepaid services.

Majorityof the respondents use Vodafone services for reasons ranging from

Economicalto Easy to use purpose.

Here major respondents are youngsters so they mainly prefer and go for call rates

of Vodafone.

Majorityof the respondent connect with customercare for their queries and

complaints regarding services.

General plan is the most popular plan used by majorityof respondents

Majorityof respondents feel that Vodafone is reliableand prices are competent and

reasonable.

Majorityof the Vodafone customers would like to recommend Vodafone services to

others.


47/48



Suggestions

Suggestions on the basis of study and observation made during the project. They might be

helpful for Vodafone to serve its customers in an improved way and also increase its

customer base in Davangere city:

Vodafone should decrease call rates for local users.It can be done on the basis of

type of usage.

Vodafone should introduce more schemes and offers for all categories.

Vodafone should introdused new SMS schems in their youth plans to meet the

challenges of its rivals.

Vodafone should provide more schemes and offers to its old customers in order to

retain them for the loyalty shown by them.

Vodafone should decrease call rates of STD and ISD to increase its subscriber base.


48/48


Conclusion:

It was a learning experience studying the customer satisfaction towards

Vodafone services in Davangere city. Although it was not easy task collecting

information from the customers but it was also a challenging and interesting

one where I had real experience of customer inputs regarding a product.

From the above analysis, I would like to conclude that major respondents are

satisfied with Vodafone services like call rates, SMS rates and new schemes

& offer many of the respondents are satisfied with the services of Vodafone

and thus they would like to recommend Vodafone to others. Most of the

respondents are also satisfied with the network provided by Vodafone

Vodafone can improve its customer base by innovating variety of services to

its customer. Vodafone Super Weeks is one such example where they are

targeting youth for the online services through mobile phones. Its a strategy

which can get them to the market leader position in the coming year.

To conclude, Vodafone is growing because of satisfied customers with its

services and new and innovative plans for all categories of customers.

vodafone project 2011

Documents

Transcript of vodafone project 2011