- April 10, 2023
- Posted by: Gopal Krishna
- Categories:
Can Customer Experience (Cx) drive business?
I got curious to know if there are any companies who owe their business to Cx. Not surprisingly, there are companies representing different industries and geos. I chose 3 X 3 Matrix; 3 Companies & 3 Cx business strategies. One, Cx as strategic differentiator in a big boys banking industry. Two, Cx as key business enabler in a crowded mobile services market. Three, Cx as a turn-around strategy to survive in a telecom world.
I am very excited to be writing about Giffgaff which used Cx as a business enabler in a cluttered Mobile Services Market.
Giffgaff, that’s an unusual name for a brand. Apparently, it means “mutual giving” in old Scottish.
Giffgaff started in late 2009 as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) riding on O2 network (Telefonica). Giffgaff is a UK based SIM only mobile network targeting digitally savvy customers who avoid traditional networks (locked by phone, SIM, contract). It means customers can have free SIM from Giffgaff, choose to use a phone of their choice and buy a very flexible service bundle – goodybag; voice, text, data.
What’s distinct about Giffgaff is the application of Cx principles through a ‘community powered model’. The first step towards this is to treat customers as ‘members’. Giffgaff’s very existence and growth can be attributed to its ‘customer at the center’ approach. At Giffgaff, Members are involved in typical organization (Giffgaff) functions; sales, marketing, recruitment, product development and support. With this unique community/crowd sourcing model, Giffgaff is managing 1.4 million (approx.) members with less than 20 employees.
Now, let’s look at Giffgaff’s core Cx principles:
- Co-create with Customers (Run by You)
- Run by You
- Customer Service/Support
- My Giffgaff
- Payback Scheme
- Social Marketing
Co-create with Customers (Run By You) – Customers participate in Giffgaff forum and social media to provide feedback on new products, enhance product features/benefits, pricing and support. Customers vote and comment on submitted ideas, voting values drive ideas through the process. Giffgaff institutionalized idea sharing and feedback in a transparent and time bound process – Labs Framework, Idea Exchange.
Community Customer Support (Online) – Perhaps, Giffgaff’s online community model is exemplified in their customer service. Members pro-actively share information around service issues, tips and FAQs. Members use community forum for peer to peer support. Thus, avoiding huge costs running call centers and bringing down response/resolution times.
My Giffgaff – Giffgaff has designed a broad, deep and highly interconnected media eco system. The model acts to funnel customer feedback, mutual support and ideas from decentralized social media access points, to a proprietor platform of systematic categorization, then to a developmental process with stage reporting. Ultimately, customers do see a final product or service that they had helped to create.
Payback Scheme – Users are incentivized to participate and contribute through the use of a payback scheme. The payback scheme rewards members for helping other members with Kudos points which can either be redeemed for cash, credit or charity donation. For example, customer’s get 50 points each time they e-mail a friend or 500 points for each SIM card they send to a friend that is activated.
Community Powered Model and its Business Impact
We may wonder if this model makes sense at all in this intense competitive market. Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. In order to be convinced of this model, let’s look at the business impact created by this model.
- Awards & Recognition:
- uSwitch Network of the Year Winner 2016
- Best Telecoms Provider Which? Awards 2015
- Best MVNO at the Mobile Industry Awards 2012
- Customer Experience Excellence (CEE) Survey by KPMG, 2015. Achieved average CEE Rating of 7.7 beating nearest rivals Tesco Mobile and Virgin Mobile.
- Giffgaff‘s NPS (Net Promoter Score) is 75. It’s way above the industry average. In fact, it’s close to Apple and Google.
- Through customer advocacy, Giffgaff acquires almost 25% of new customers
- 50% of customer questions are answered via the online community (as opposed to online self-service or Giffgaff employee moderation).
- The average response time for any question posted in the forum (24×7) is under 3 minutes and 95% of all questions are answered within an hour.
Giffgaff continues to add ‘000 subscribers every month. Giffgaff Cx story proves that any business which keeps customer as focal to its business, will create lasting business impact for all the stakeholders involved; employees, management, shareholders and partners.
