1.1 Industry Overview
Telecommunication Industry Scenario The telecommunication sector being one of the largest infrastructure providers of the economy experienced milestone growth where the tele-density reached at 24% with 35.55 million (mn) people having access to telecommunication facility. The number of land phone users also increased to 1.18 million subscribers during the year. At present, 6 mobile phone operators and Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) along with 12 private PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) operators are connecting the people of Bangladesh
The framework for telecommunications sector development in Bangladesh Bangladesh Bangladesh December 31, 2005 to 43.7 mn as of June 30, 2008 , representing a Compound Annual Growth Rate (“CAGR”) of approximately 85.9%. However, penetration of telecommunications remains relatively low, with a mobile penetration rate of approximately 31.1% as of June 30, 2008 .
of June 30th, 2008 , GP had more than double the market share of its nearest competitor at 46.5% vs. Banglalink at 21.6%, while the top three operators, GP, Banglalink and AKTEL had an 86.1% market share.
v Grameenphone Limited
Grameenphone Ltd. is the market leader in the telecommunication sector in Bangladesh 26th March, 1997 , Grameenphone Ltd. has recently completed its 11th year of dominant present in the market. It is now able to say that it has the largest network, the widest coverage, the biggest subscriber base and more value added services than any other mobile phone operators in Bangladesh
v Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Limited (Banglalink)
Banglalink was previously known as Sheba Telecom which began operation in 1998. It was a joint venture between a Malaysian Conglomerate, Technology Resources Industries Berhad and a local firm named Integrated Services Ltd. (ISL). In 2005 Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) acquired Sheba Telecom and gave a new trading name ‘Banglalink’.
When Banglalink entered the Bangladesh telecom industry in February 2005, the scenario changed overnight with mobile telephony becoming an extremely useful and affordable communication tool for people across all segments. Within one year of operation, Banglalink became the fastest growing mobile operator of the country with a growth rate of 257%. This milestone was achieved with innovative and attractive products and services targeting the different market segments; aggressive improvement of network quality and dedicated customer care and effective communication that emotionally connected customers with Banglalink. At present it is holding the 2nd position in the cell- phone industry with respect to market share.
v Telecom Malaysia International Bangladesh (Aktel)
Telecom Malaysia International Bangladesh (TMIB) commenced their venture in 1997, the same year when Grameenphone inaugurated its business. TMIB is a joint venture between Telecom Malaysia Bangladesh
v Warid Telecom Bangladesh Ltd.
Warid Telecom Bangladesh Limited is a GSM-based cellular operator in Bangladesh. It is the sixed mobile phone carrier to enter the Bangladesh
In May 10th, 2007, Warid Telecom launched its commercial operations in Bangladesh with a network encompassing 26 districts. By November 2007, the network had been expanded to cover 61 districts and being used by 2 million customers. Based on the NGN (Next-Generation) network, Warid Telecom's operational activities in Bangladesh
v Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited (Citycell)
Among the other four mobile phone operating companies who are running their businesses in the private sector, Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd. (PBTL) is the pioneer. In 1990 Hutchison Bangladesh Telecom Ltd. was formed as a joint venture of Bangladesh Telecom Ltd. (BTL) and Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong . The company began their operations as the analog cellular operator using the CDMA technology in 1993. In 1996 this company was renamed as pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd. (PBTL) with brand name of Citycell. At present the ownership of PBTL belongs to the Pacific Telecom Ltd. a concern of the Pacific Group and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. a Hong Kong based diversified multinational conglomerate.
v Teletalk Bangladesh Limited
Teletalk Bangladesh Limited is a public limited company owned by Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) in other words by the Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. It was incorporated on 26 December, 2004 being the only government sponsored mobile telephone Company in the country. Teletalk Bangladesh
Although Grameenphone dominates the market with around 46.5% of market share, the nature of the industry is oligopolistic in nature. It is characterized by price transparency, very little product differentiation and intense competition in the market. For a competitive environment analysis, Porter’s 5 forces model is most useful.
1.2 Industry Rivalry
The mobile telecom industry is fiercely competitive. Even a few years back the industry was not as robust as it is now. Initially, Citycell enjoyed total monopoly in this sector. After the entry of Grameenphone and Aktel, the industry condition changed. Huge competition begun and the industry became a too much competitive one though the number of firms operating in the industry were very limited – only 5. The price charged by the operators for startup as well as airtime was exorbitant and it was a seller’s market.
The scenario further changed with the entry of Orascom Telecom, the mobile giant from the Middle East . They entered the market by acquiring 100% shares of Sheba Telecom and re-launching the brand as Banglalink™. Aggressive marketing and promotion was one of their entry strategies. The airtime rates and connection prices came down because of the competition. This was an awakening call for the other operators. Grameenphone and Aktel, who were quietly enjoying their market positions, suddenly became aggressive as well. There was a huge increase in promotional activities of all mobile operators. The prices also started climbing downhill.
Companies focused on segment marketing as well as mass marketing. GP launched its youth brand Djuice to cater to the needs of young generation. Citycell came up with their Aalap Super and Aalap Super Plus providing free airtime whole night. Aktel also came up with new offers like Aktel JOY that catered to the need of couples. Overall, the industry became a hubbub of activities. From a customer base of around 4 million at the end 2004, the industry has expanded rapidly and only within 1.5 years reached 14 million customer marks, with a growth rate of 250%.
1.3 Company Overview
This Chapter gives a brief history of GrameenPhone. GrameenPhone is a joint venture between Bangladesh and Norway. It was established in 1995.However, it starting functioning in 1997.
The chapter also includes the vision, mission, operations, and services of the company. The organoram is given diagrammatically. The function of the different customers’ service department is described briefly.
Introduction of the company:
GrameenPhone Ltd. (GP) is the market leader in the mobile telecommunication industry of Bangladesh The concept of mobile telephony became largely familiar and phenomenal in Bangladesh in the early 90’s. The government of Bangladesh awarded Grameenphone a nationwide digital cellular license in November 1996 GP is a joint venture between Bangladesh and Norway. Major shareholders are Telenor (68%) and Grameen Telecom (32%). Telenor is the state owned telecommunication company of Norway. Telenor AS, the main Norwegian Telecommunication Company, Marubeni Corporation, one of the largest trading and investment companies in Japan; and Gonofone Development Corporation, a telecommunication development company in the United States.. On the other hand, Grameen Telecom is the sister concern Grameen Bank, one of the biggest Non Government Organizations (NGO) of Bangladesh
GP’s aim was to develop one GSM cellular mobile communications network in Bangladesh. GP aims to provide the best possible technical quality, customer service, and coverage also in the rural areas at the most favorable prices, to as many customers possible in Bangladesh.
Grameenphone has built the largest cellular network in the country with over 10,000 base stations in more than 5700 locations. Presently, nearly 98 percent of the country's population is within the coverage area of the Grameenphone network.
Grameenphone was also the first operator to introduce the pre-paid service in September 1999. It established the first 24-hour Call Center, introduced value-added services such as VMS, SMS, fax and data transmission services, international roaming service, WAP, SMS-based push-pull services, EDGE, personal ring back tone and many other products and services.
GP has a dynamic management composed of business people with a profile drive, prepared to take calculative risk. The shareholders of the company are stable, established companies with solid international reputation. They have already made approximately $125 million investment to GP and will reinvest their profit share to GP.
The GrameenPhone network is designed with latest computer assisted design technology. GP has reached its break-even point in the year 2000, in the fourth year of its operation. The company made its first net profit of $ 3.7 million during the year ending in December 2000.
Grameenphone considers its employees to be one of its most important assets. GP has an extensive employee benefit scheme in place including Gratuity, Provident Fund, Group Insurance, Family Health Insurance, Transportation Facility, Day Care Centre, Children's Education Support, Higher Education Support for employees, in-house medical support and other initiatives
GrameenPhone is the leading Cellular Net Provider in Bangladesh. GrameenPhone started their business approximately 12 years. Since then GrameenPhone has been operating in the market for a long time. During this time GrameenPhone went for different types of mergers as well as acquisitions. They gained success from the very beginning of their operation and were capable enough to hold the success year after year. GrameenPhone main competitors are AKTEL, BANGLA LINK, TELETALK and CITYCELL.
GrameenPhone was awarded license to operate as a mobile telecommunication service provider in Bangladesh on 28th of November 1996. It officially launched its network on 26th of March 1997 and went into commercial operation on 15th of April. Four companies including 3 foreign-based companies own GrameenPhone.
Here is view of GrameenPhone Journey:
q Nov’ 1996-Received license from the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications.
q Mar’1997-Launched services in Dhaka.
q Sep’1997-Leased Railway Fiber Optic.
q Mar’ 1999- Launched International Roaming.
q Apr’ 1999-Final interconnection agreement with B.T.T.B.
q Sep’1999- Launched pre-paid services of GP.
q Oct’1999- 50,000 subscribers
q Jan’ 2000- Implemented new credit policy.
q Feb’2000- Launched its services in Sylhet.
q Apr’ 2000 Launched services in Barisal
q Jun’ 2000-100,000 subscribers.
q Dec’2001-Expect to achieve the coverage of the whole country.
q Sep’2004 –2, 00,000 subscribers.
q Nov’2005- 50, 00,000 subscribers.
q Jan’ 2006- 60, 00,000subscribers.
1.4 Shareholders of GrameenPhone:
GrameenPhone is now the leading telecommunications service provider in the country with more than 20 million subscribers as of June 2008. Presently, there are about 30 million telephone users in the country, of which, a little over one million are fixed-phone users and the rest mobile phone subscribers.
It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor (62%), the largest telecommunications service provider in Norway with mobile phone operations in 12 other countries, and Grameen Telecom Corporation (38%), a non-profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed micro-credit pioneer Grameen Bank. Over the years, Grameenphone has always been a pioneer in introducing new products and services in the local market. GP was the first company to introduce GSM technology in Bangladesh when it launched its services in March 1997.
Now GrameenPhone is a joint venture company comprising of:
v Telenor
Telenor is a state-owned telecommunication company from Norway. It has a long history of successful cooperation with other operators in Russia, Hungary, Montenegro, Ireland, Bangladesh, Greece, Germany, Australia, Malaysia etc.
v Grameen Telecom
A sister concern of Grameen Bank . It was established by Grameen Bank to organize and assist those Grameen bank borrowers who wish to retail telephone services in the rural areas
1.5 Company Vision:
“We are here to help”
1.6 Company Mission:
q Knowing customer Expectations
q Knowing us
q Organizing us
1.7 Company Values:
q Make it Easy
q Keep Promises
q Be Inspiring
q Be respectful
1.8 Company Operations:
GP’s mission is divided in five parts. These are:
Ø Purpose
GrameenPhone has a dual purpose, one is to receive and economic return on its investments and secondly to contribute to the economic development of Bangladesh. This is why GrameenPhone, in collaboration with Grameen Bank and Grameen Telecom, is aiming to place one phone in each village to contribute significantly to the economic uplift of those villages.
Ø Strategy
GrameenPhone basic strategy is coverage of both urban and rural areas. In contrast to the “island”: strategy followed by some companies, which involves connecting isolated islands of urban coverage through transmission links. GrameenPhone builds continuous coverage, cell after cell. White the intensity of coverage may vary from area to area depending on market conditions; the basic strategy of cell-to-cell coverage is applied throughout GrameenPhone’s network.
Ø The Technology
Grameenphone’s GSM technology is the most widely accepted digital system in the world, currently used by over 1.3 billion people in some 150 countries. GSM brings the most advanced developments in cellular technology at a reasonable cost by spurring severe competition among manufactures and driving down the cost of equipment. Thus consumers get the best for the least.
Ø The People
The people of Grameenphone are young, dedicated and energetic. All employees are well educated at home or abroad, with an even distribution of males and females and social groups in Bangladesh. They know in their hearts that Grameenphone is more than phones. This sense of purpose gives them the dedication and the drive, producing the biggest coverage and subscriber-base in the country. Grameenphone provides equal employment opportunities and recognizes the talents and energy of its employees.
Ø The Service
Grameenphone believes in service that leads to good business development. Telephony helps people work together, raising their productivity. This gain in productivity is development, which in turn enables them to afford a telephone service, generating good business. Thus development and business go together.
1.9 Products and Services of GP
Grameenphone is the pioneer in providing world-class telecommunications services in Bangladesh with innovative products and services while delivering and maintaining superior customer experience. Grameenphone strives to provide the full benefit of communication services through easy-to-use products, addressing the diverse needs of the people of Bangladesh. Keeping to its tradition of introducing exciting innovations in the market, GP continued to offer its valued customers with relevant products and services and attractive new packages in 2007 as well. To bring products within the affordable reach of all, start-up price for both pre-paid and post-paid packages were significantly lowered along with tariff rates. The products of Grameenphone are categorized in four different segments four different kinds of users. They are:
q General Users
q Business Users
q Youth Segment
q Rural Users
1.9.1 General Users
For general users Grameenphone offers two types of products
q Prepaid
q Postpaid
q Prepaid product- “Smile”
Introduction of Grameenphone’s Pre-Paid Service is a revolution of mobile telephony in Bangladesh. More than 95% of GP’s subscribers are prepaid users. Smile connections are of two types namely, “Smile” and “Smile PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network)”. The former is only mobile-to-mobile, while Smile PSTN connects to BTTB local, BTTB-NWD (Nationwide Dialing), ISD (International Standard Dialing), all Grameenphone mobiles, and other mobiles and receives calls from the same. It frees the subscriber from the hassles of paying bills, security deposits and line rents. A wide range of value added services are offered with this connection, namely – news updates, downloadable ringtones, wallpapers, data transfer, internet browsing etc.
q Postpaid Product- “Xplore” Packages
Grameenphone has around 500,000 post-paid subscribers. For these subscribers it offers Xplore-Package. It connects to BTTB local, BTTB-NWD (Nationwide Dialing), all Grameenphone mobiles, and other mobiles and receives calls from the same. It also gives ISD (International Standard Dialing) facilities. But as it is a post-paid connection so a subscriber has to deposit some security money and pay the bill with a flat line rent.
1.9.2 Business Users
Business Solutions is a complete, quality business communications service from Grameenphone – designed especially for the business community in Bangladesh. The Business Solutions team provides the business users customized telecommunications solutions through consultation with them. The newest attraction in Grameenphone Business Solutions portfolio is BlackBerry, a complete solution for the business users. BlackBerry Smartphone enable users to access the proven BlackBerry wireless services with support of email, phone, internet, instant messaging, organizer and much more. This enables the business users to create a much needed balance between work and personal life. There are two different services depending on the need of the user:
q BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) - Complete wireless solution for enterprise:
BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) is a unique and totally integrated service that offers corporate mail integration, secure administration, advanced wireless devices, desktop tools and more. It ensures mobility of workplace by connecting the user to customers, colleagues, and information that drive business. Wireless connectivity allows the user to stay in touch with business contacts at both home and abroad.
q BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS)-Complete wireless solution for individual:
BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) is the easiest and the most affordable way for individuals to start using BlackBerry Smartphone. It is an out-of-the-box service which when integrated with ISP mail service, provides the user with seamless mobile extension to his/her existing email service.
Business Solutions offers services like – International roaming, Internet and data services, business news, business SMS, missed calls alert and many more. This allows business people to stay connected - At office or on the move.
1.9.3 Youth Segment Product – Djuice
Djuice is a niche prepaid Service designed especially for the youth segment. It was introduced as a Youth Product on ‘Pahela Boishakh’ in April 2005. The core target market of Djuice comprises of 19 to 26 years old youth having a socially active and outgoing lifestyle. Extensions of the core target group are the two secondary groups, 13 to 18 and 27 to 30 years old, people pursuing the same lifestyle benefits for their mobile. The vision of Djuice is to become an integrated part of youth life and help them get more out of it. The brand identity of Djuice in Bangladesh has been developed based on some core values such as Original, Entertaining, Trustworthy, Refreshing, Empathetic, Dynamic, Socially active and Challenging. The call rate of Djuice is low and has lower pulse to attract the young generation. Djuice offers a unique range of value added services for its unique group of subscribers. XTRA Khatir, dDuniya, drockstar are some of those.
1.9.4 Rural Users - Village Phone Program (VPP)
The internationally acclaimed Village Phone Program with the help of Village Phone operators is providing telecommunication services in over 85,000 villages in 61 districts of the country. Started since the inception of Grameenphone in March 1997, the Village Phone Program is a unique initiative to provide telecommunications facilities in remote, rural areas all over Bangladesh. The Village Phone is a shared access model which links the telecommunications sector with the microfinance sector to enable microfinance clients specially women to borrow the money needed to establish a Village Phone business in rural areas. The Village Phones have proven their immense potential in boosting income of poor households in rural areas, promoting health care, development of agri-business and in the social empowerment of rural women. Recently all Village Phones were converted into prepaid for more convenience of the subscribers. The Village Phone Program has also been replicated in a number of countries including Uganda and Rwanda in Africa.
Village Phone Program is a unique initiative to provide telecommunications facilities in remote, rural areas. It has brought about a quiet revolution in mobile telephony in Bangladesh, by putting cell phones in the hands of the rural poor, many of them women, who had never seen a telephone before.
The Village Phone (VP) works as an owner-operated pay phone. It has created a good income-earning opportunity for the VP operators, mostly poor women who are borrower members of Grameen Bank. Typically, a member of Grameen Bank takes a loan to buy a handset and a GP subscription and she is trained by Grameen Telecom on how to operate it. As of today, there are more than 260,000 VP operators in over 50,000 villages in 439 Upazilas (sub-districts) of the country. Amongst GP subscribers, VP operators yielded the highest average revenue per month.
VPP has received many international awards while it has also been extensively featured in the international media over the years and documented by researchers both at home and abroad. It was given the “GSM in the Community Award” by the GSM Association at the GSM Congress in Cannes, France in February 2000. It also received the “Commonwealth Innovation Award” in 2003 and the “Petersburg Prize” awarded by the Gateway Foundation in 2005.
1.10 Innovative Products & Services
Grameenphone continued its efforts to develop innovative and useful new products and services. A number of products and services were launched during the year. Business Solutions was re-launched with additional features and facilities for the business community. The BlackBerry solution, the leading wireless enterprise solution, was launched for the first time in Bangladesh, focused to meet the special needs of the businesses. A number of innovative Value Added Services (VAS) was also introduced during the year. Postpaid bill payment with Flexiload, International roaming service for Pre-paid subscribers for the first time in Bangladesh, Web SMS service, Internet service through Grameenphone mobile, Missed Call Alert, PayForMe service for both voice and SMS are some examples of the innovative services. ThankYou - a customer loyalty and retention program, rewarded millions of prepaid and postpaid customers throughout the year.
1.11 Value Added Services:
q SMS (Short Message Service):
With this service, one can receive and send Text Messages (a maximum of 160 characters per message) to any other local mobiles and to foreign operators' (international) mobiles as well.
q Voice Mail Service (VMS):
VMS works like an answering machine. When one is not available or outside the coverage area or simply busy, the caller can leave a message in voice mailbox, which can listen or retrieve.
q Fax and Data:
This service enables a Grameenphone subscriber to send/receive fax and data through their handsets by connecting to a PC/Laptop. Currently, this service is offered to corporate clients only.
q Wireless Application Protocol (WAP):
This is a tool to access WAP-enabled information from the Internet through GP mobile phones. One can also access yahoo e-mail account through GP WAP service.
q News Service:
This is a news broadcasting service jointly provided by Prothom Alo and The Daily Star. A subscriber can call 222 from his/her GP mobile phone and listen to the latest news highlights in English or Bengali.
q Channel-I program schedule:
2525 is a Channel -I Program schedule service. A subscriber can call this number from his/her GP mobile phone and listen to Channel I program (daily) highlights. 2626 is a Channel –GP information service and I whereby a subscriber can avail information on news, events of the day transport schedule and horoscope.
q Event Based Sports Update:
This is an event based Sports Update service. In respect to special sports events for. international and national Cricket events, Grameenphone updates the latest news, which can be accessed.
1.12 Organizational Structure:
Major divisions of GP are: Customer Management Divisions, Sales & Marketing, Technical, Finance, and Personnel & Organization. The Managing Director (MD) also heads a separate department. We would like to focus on each of these divisions to understand their work pattern and basic functions. Here is brief of Customer service division.
1.13 Customer Management Divisions
This division consists of more than 1000 employees. As the name implies, it deals with the customers after the sales occurs. Main activities of this division includes maintaining databases of the customers, preparing the bills, distributing bills, activating new connections, helpline service, collection of bill through different banks all over the country, and so on.
1.1 Rationale of the Study:
In the competitive business environment, it is very important for an organization to adopt new and innovative strategy to survive in the competition or to retain the top position. Telecommunication is one of the most competitive industries in our country and Grameenphone is leading this industry. They are having a tough competition from their close rivals Banglalink. Banglalink are always very innovative and effective with their marketing strategies. So to do something different Grameenphone came with the concept of Telesales, a new strategy of marketing their products and services.
I am proposing this study because:
- Telesales is an important ingredient of Revenue and have a positive impact on profitability. This study will let me identify the contribution of Telesales in GP’s total revenue.
- It will let me interpret a new driver of revenue and its prospect.
- It will be a new type of analysis for our department.
1.2 Statement of the Problems
From the organization part we came to know that Grameen Phone is the market leader in the mobile telecommunication industry of Bangladesh. Their growth rate is very high. But in this edge of competition, it is very difficult to keep the leading edge intact. Companies need to come up with new ideas to remain competitive. They need to keep their customers satisfied.
Recently most of the telecommunication companies are experiencing bad growth of profitability. The main reason is the reduce amount of revenue and increased amount of receivables. GP is already providing various types of services for its subscribers but it can be unsuccessful if subscribers become unaware about a service and as most of the subscribers are uneducated so, very few subscribers actually take those services. So, to reach up to maximum number of subscribers Telesales is one of the most innovative ideas to reach to them and sell those services to all the subscribers. Under the above circumstances, Grameen Phone wants to know about its subscribers’ awareness level and adoption of different sort of services, effective medias to make subscribers aware and promote its services. Thus, based on their feedbacks about currents services, GP intends to provide new and customized services for their valued subscribers. It earns revenue as well as creates a relationship with subscriber. This is very effective in the long run.
1.3 Scope and Delimitation of the Study:
Everything has got some scope and limitation. The scopes of a work lead us towards the achievement of objectives and overcoming the limitations. I have my objectives specified. So, I know what the scopes are those will benefit my work and what will the limitations are that will constraint my work.
Ø Scopes:
· Telesales is a prospective topic to study on.
· Data needed for the interpretation can be gathered easily.
· Supervisors in the workplace are very helpful in case of data analyzing
Ø Delimitations:
· The main limitation is to conduct interview on some top level decision makers as they are less interested to share their strategies and also they have very busy schedules.
· There is insufficient time to do this study.
1.4 Objective of the study
A work can not be progressed accurately and smoothly without clearly defined objectives. Objectives should be pre-decided, so that one can focus on what he is doing. Again, one has to be very careful to determine the objectives as it guides the work through. My objectives to do this study are as follows:
Ø Broad Objective:
§ To analyze the contribution of Telesales in the overall revenue of GP.
Ø Specific Objectives:
§ To analyze the monthly sales report of GP associated with Telesales.
§ To find out any profit or loss from the Telesales project.
§ To find out the strategy of motivating employee towards Telesales.
§ To analyze the prospect of Telesales in GP.
2.0 Methodology:
This is basically a quantitative report in nature. It will be based on both primary and secondary data. The data will be gathered from different internal database and through in-depth interview of 5 management persons. The sources of data are as follows:
· Primary Data:
Primary data will be gathered by interviewing management people related to Telesales and also other management person.
· Secondary Data:
There are various internal and external sources for secondary data and those are:
1. Internal Sources:
§ Annual Reports
§ Telesales Documents
§ Performance Report of call center Agents
2. External Sources:
§ Internet Browsing
§ Prior Reports
Tools:
Incase of interview I will use guide as a tool. I will select the sample for interview on the base of judgment sampling method. I will use MS Excel to analyze the data and interpret them through Graph (Pie Chart and Histogram).
3.1 Sales
Before explaining the term “Telesales”, at first we need to understand what is selling. Selling is simply Money Making, the way by which a business makes money or earns revenue. A business makes money by selling its products or services. To create demand for products or services selling is required. Sale is necessary for the improvement of customer satisfaction.
Now the question that needs to be answered is that why do we sell? The answer is simple. We sell because:
· To present ourselves with solutions that may add benefits to the customers
· We sell to increase the usage of our services and the total number of customers
· To generate more revenue for the organization.
· Customer Service is vital for a company to keep the CSI high and by informing the customer proactively, we can make the position stronger.
3.2 Telesales
In commercial Division, Telesales is a unit within the Customer Services Department of GrameenPhone. The strength of Telesales is selling, customer acquisition & the emphasis is on customer retention. Telesales is made to establish the customer service as a major sales channel. The objective is to build the framework in Customer Service regarding Inbound and Outbound selling.
3.2.1Organogram:
Stian Syvertsen the Head of Telesales, who came from Telenor Norway with an experience of Inbound and Outbound selling. Along With him Sakila Mahmood and
Jannatul Ferdous, both have experience of working in the Contact center. Sakila is mainly working with Outbound and Jannat for Inbound.
So Telesales mainly works two ways:
• Inbound:
Customer Service gives us huge opportunities to talk with the customer about our valued services. Apart from giving good service, scope also prevails to give the customer more than what he/she expected before they made the call, which is what Inbound selling is.
Inbound Sales Campaigns:
· EDGE P5
· EDGE P3/P6
· MCA
• Outbound:
Agents of Customer Service make proactive calls to ensure the service level and give GP an opportunity to call our customers for selling and at the same time providing good service. It is done to make them feel that “customer is our top priority” -In tennis if u serves better u can win. To us a Proactive call is like a magnet for positive results.
Outbound Sales Campaigns:
• EDGE P1/P2 up selling
• Transformer
3.3 Products for Telesales
GrameenPhone promotes its various products for telesales. The main products are:
· EDGE P2
· EDGE P3
· EDGE P5
· EDGE P6
· MCA
EDGE P2:
It’s an unlimited internet package for one month. It cost only BDT 850 (exclusive of VAT) per month. It is the most popular internet package among the post-paid subscribers of GrameenPhone. At first both pre-paid and post-paid users can use it, but after July no new pre-paid subscriber will be able to activate it.
EDGE P3:
It’s an unlimited internet package from 12am-8pm. Only post-paid subscriber has the access to use it. It cost BDT 300 (exclusive of VAT) per month.
EDGE P5:
It is a newly launched internet package for pre-paid user as solution to replace EDGE P2. The feature is 3GB internet usage limit for 1 month. It cost BDT 700 (exclusive of VAT) per month.
EDGE P6:
It is a newly launched internet package along with EDGE P5 for pre-paid users only to provide them an economic package to internet. The feature is 1GB internet usage limit for 1 month. It cost BDT 300 (exclusive of VAT) per month.
MCA:
Miss Call Alert is one of the unique value added service provided by GrameenPhone. It offers that the user of this service will be notified about the callers called him during his cell was switched off. It cost only BDT 10 (exclusive of VAT) per month.
4.0 Findings:
The study exposed us towards a new dimension of sales. Telesales is effective for both the contact center and the whole organization. From our study we found out:
q Telesales is increasing the amount of service sell to the customers though it is yet to achieve the desired target.
q It is contributing to the overall revenue of GP. It is becoming a new driver of revenue.
q Different selling competitions are working as a motivating factor for employees as they are being rewarded for their achievement.
q Apart from making sales, telesales is making sure that subscribers know about all the products and services.
q Sales targets are being incorporated with KPI.
q As in each call subscribers are being approached for sales, so they feel quite prioritized and also get motivated towards the organization.
q It is enhancing the customer satisfaction rate of the organization.
q Telesales is becoming a new marketing strategy to reach mass number of customers.
q Telesales is changing the traditional call center job type of providing same type of service all the time, as agent now have to make sales along with providing service. So, the agents are developing different skills and knowledge.
5.0 Suggestions:
From our report we can see that Telesales did not achieve which was targeted. There might be several reasons. I have found those and on based of that here are some suggestions:
q GP is failing to make that much sales it targeted. It is reducing the forecasted revenue. The main reason for which agents are less interested in making sales is heavy call pressure. In 6 hours or in 9 hours duty time people need to receive so much calls that sales target becomes a burden on them. They can not take it as fun in work. So, there should be a system in which agents have sufficient time gap between calls so that they can relax a bit and find themselves interested in making telesales.
q Some services which are mainly responsible for heavy amount of revenue are performing very poor. A perfect example is the Data service. People using internet are dissatisfied over the fact that it has slow speed and sometimes problems with the connections. So, the sale will increase if these problems get solved. The greater advantage of GP Internet is that it has got mobility. So a better browsing speed will increase its acceptance among the user.
q Apart from reward and recognition, if monthly allowance is being given for highest sales then it will motivate the agents more.
q Telesales is being adopted only in call center. Agent needs to proactively inform the subscriber about the product during the conversation in a call. If the touch points also adopt the practice of Telesales by proactively inform the subscribers about the services then more people will know about them also will understand them better as in the touch points they came into face-to-face interactions with the agents.
6.0 Conclusion
Now-a-days Telesales is becoming a modern technique of marketing. It is an effective medium of customer contact. There are specialized call centers for making telesales on behalf of a company. This is cheap as well as it has got mobility. One can reach the target customer at any time. It proves to be profitable for the organizations adopting it.
GrameenPhone had this technique adopted in a cost effective way. They don’t make calls to the subscribers, when subscribers calls to the hotline then they attempts for sale. They are the pioneer for bringing GSM technology in Bangladesh as well as adopting telesales as a marketing strategy. It is being started with a focused long term goal. Initially it is not proved to be such profitable project as expected due to some problem regarding the work load of the employees, but it will be effective along with the modification of the system.
To work more effectively there is a department for telesales. Some talented people are being chosen from all around the contact center for this department. They are working hard as they come up with different sales target over the time according to the business needs. They organize sales competition from time to time to boost up the sales. They regularly update sales report to evaluate the performance. Moreover they are in regular contact with the management in order to bring new dimension within the organization.
So along with these supportive activities and adoption of few favorable changes the concept of Telesales will work great for GrameenPhone. This can create greater awareness of products and services among the subscribers which will eventually increase the sales and usage of GP’s services. If they can stay focused then they can achieve which is targeted through Telesales.
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