Listening to be heard

In a noisy market, Globe Telecom gets its message out

Mobile-telephone users all over the world switch providers. But in the Philippines, customers switch providers on any given day, every single day. With the overwhelming popularity of prepaid calling plans, the country's 100 million inhabitants keep more than 80 million active SIM cards at hand, poised to react to each price change in the market's volatile rate war.

After years of fast rollout growth accelerated by affordable pay-as-you-go offers, the mobile market in the Philippines – and in other developing countries – has peaked. Few unsigned customers remain. The prepaid model that gave rise to a crowded market now threatens the stability of providers that don't know how to compete.

Globe Telecom, the second largest telecommunications company in the Philippines, knows it can't continue its growth trend based on rates alone. Besides, notes Ernest Cu, Globe President and CEO, "Rates alone do not ensure customer loyalty. Products and services do." Over the years, Globe has built a stable, loyal base of customers by knowing exactly which products and services they want.

"More subscribers does not mean more revenue, as it did in the past," explains Cu. "We've been successful in getting more quality subscribers who are happy to stay with us. Our strong customer focus helps us understand our customers well enough to know what they want."

A communications pioneer
Globe has lived up to its reputation as a leader in innovation for 83 years and prides itself in being first to market with new products. The first SMS or text messaging service in the Philippines was introduced by Globe, as well as the first mobile wallet (GCash) and the first personalized postpaid plans. Globe has pioneered communications in many ways, and each new beginning is a testament of the company's commitment to better serving its customers.

Globe recognizes that its business is shaped by the bonds that tie Filipinos together and believes that communications is ultimately about relationships. This drives the company to constantly innovate and find new ways to enhance its services to be up-to-speed and relevant to their customers.

Hearing its customers
By "listening" to what the data has to say on more than 30 million subscribers, Globe offers its customers a world of their favorite products and services. And by paying attention to all the information that subscribers share with Globe via its call centers, the Web, market research and other touch points, Globe makes better decisions that keep customers loyal and happy.

SAS is a vital partner in Globe Telecom's efforts to listen to its customers. This partnership began in 2004 and has grown over the years. Globe Telecom's analytic journey began with the creation of the Business Intelligence (BI) team. Together with SAS, the Globe BI team has progressed on the path to advanced analytic capabilities.

Competitive advantage through analytics
Analytics proved an effective tool and provided a clearer understanding of the market and consumer behavior, helping Globe to reduce monthly subscriber churn. Armed with the capability for sound decision management and superior insight, analytics became a requisite for continued growth and competitiveness.

"Analytics aids us in understanding our customers better. Through analytics everyone makes faster, more informed decisions, whether it's in the area of customer management, retail management or day-to-day operations of the organization," says Raul Macatangay, Head of Globe Telecom's Business Intelligence team.

But as more players – including brands that aren't even in the industry – enter the market, even well-established providers like Globe must constantly remind existing subscribers why they picked Globe in the first place.

"It is critical that we are effective in reaching our customers with our message," Cu says. "At Globe, that's about understanding our customers. And that begins with understanding our data. Globe is a trusted brand because customers know that we deliver on our commitment. As a result, we deliver effective loyalty programs."

Competitive, lucrative industry
Cu and his executive team understand that competitive advantage in the Philippine market has less to do with winning the rate war and more to do with improving customer experiences and forging strong relationships.

In the Philippines, every retailer – from modest street vendors to department stores – sells prepaid communication products. With its offerings displayed alongside the competition's, Globe has no control over branding and customer-experience issues in those settings.

So Globe remodeled its own retail stores to create interesting, consumer-friendly spaces that would attract consumers and capture their undivided attention. This is just one example of the many initiatives that are part of Globe Telecom's business transformation program.

The transformation covers network and IT modernization, where SAS continues to be a vendor-partner. This program is aimed at significantly improving network quality and customer experience, increasing capacity and driving down costs, as well as preparing Globe Telecom's network to meet its customers' future needs.

Reaping the benefits
Informed decisions and strategies fuel Globe Telecom's competitive advantage despite the noisy mobile communications market. According to Jay Beltran, Head of Customer Lifecycle Management (CLM), "knowing our customers is a key driver to our success. It is the goal of my organization to keep our customers happy and content with quality of service and other value-added services we provide."

The core CLM strategy is micro-segmentation for highly targeted campaigns on an almost one-to-one basis to more than 30 million of Globe Telecom's mobile subscribers, and to launch an umbrella rewards program for Globe Telecom's ever-growing loyal subscribers.

"SAS took this daunting journey with us and we succeeded. To date, we have generated US$42 million in incremental revenues through micro-segmented campaigns and through the rewards program," says Beltran. "What used to be a double digit churn rate is now best-in-class at a blended churn rate of 5 percent for prepaid and 1.65 percent for postpaid."

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