I think it's probably the most frequently asked question among teenagers who come to our house: "How much data have you got left this month?" And then, if the status of their data limit requires it, they immediately ask for my wi-fi password. They carry on unperturbed watching YouTube videos and using Instagram, Snapchat, or whatever. But what if, as a telco provider, you actually exploited this moment for something other than communicating the current usage? What if you could convince these customers – at the time when they are most susceptible to it – to expand their bundle and pay a bit more?
Moment of truth
I am talking about the moment of truth (MOT). Virtually every marketer dreams of approaching the customer at exactly the right moment (with the right offer). This moment of truth is different for everyone because some people really need to feel the pain before they take action, and others want to act before experiencing 
the pain.
My children receive a message when they have used 80 percent of their data bundle. The message is that they are just a few MBs away from their bandwidth being limited, unless they pay extra. But crazily enough, at that time they never receive an offer for a new bundle that would better suit their usage pattern. I know that my son wouldn't be able to resist that offer. Especially when he is at school in between classes and runs out of data. I know that mainly because I know my son well, of course.
Predict response to offer
That is the big difference. Determining the MOT is not rocket science, but rather a question of knowing your customers and their behaviours. Some providers continually monitor consumers' data consumption. Not just the volume of data, but the speed it is used at, too. If you really know your customer, you can also predict how they will respond to a specific offer. Users who do not want to be confronted with extra costs will use less after they receive a message about reaching their data limit. You can offer these customers something that is in line with their cost-conscious behaviour. You probably don't send offers to users who regularly use more data and simply accept the additional costs, so as not to cannibalise your own revenue, unless of course you recognise indicators for churn. Using your knowledge of the customer, the usage and the real-time analysis of the behaviour, you determine the moment of truth and make the perfect offer.
If you have identified the right moment and the best offer, you have that much more chance of the customer accepting the offer. I have seen successful cases where, by offering the best deal at the right time, the offer take rate was as high as 24 percent. But unfortunately, what I see far more is an offer being made too late, or not made at all. And not just among telco providers.
Proactive
So dare to be proactive and make sure that the customer does not ultimately look for a different provider. Determine the MOT and make it easy from a practical perspective to accept such an offer. This approach makes every customer's life that bit easier. Starting with those teenagers in my house.
Want to know more about how telco companies can successfully approach their customers? Read the white paper Creating Smarter Connections with Customers, Customer Intelligence Analytics for Telco companies.
