Success Factors
It is very important for any company or service provider to stay in the market for a long period otherwise it will be out of the market and suffer a lot. To taste the success, companies have to perform well continuously and make their customers happy all the time by proper CRM and other techniques. Apart from that, there are two types of factors for these companies: (1) shall have and (2) must have factors.
1) Shall Have Factors:
Social relationships: Humans are social beings. They interact constantly with each other and social relationships are a vital part of life. The mobile phone is perfectly suited to satisfy the need of maintaining social relationships. Services that support social relationships are likely to be successful.
Power: One important aspect of social relations is status which is strongly related to power. Two types of power can be distinguished: Power to access and power to execute. The first type of power refers to the possibility to intervene in other people’s life, as for instance parents influencing the life of their children. But also the limitation of the power to access can be useful. One famous example is SMS (Short Message Service). They provide the opportunity to communicate without giving the receiver the chance to reply directly. This way unpleasant information can be communicated.
EQM (Easier, Quicker, More): Easier means that solutions that are simpler and/or more convenient are accepted by customers. One good example for “easier” is the phonebook of cell phones (compared to typing in the complete number when you call someone).
Quicker refers to the opportunity to fulfill customer needs faster than traditional products. One of the reasons why e-mails are common nowadays is that they are faster than traditional letters.
More is related to the fact that humans tend to maximize their benefits. Thus they will welcome every new product allowing them to increase their benefit.
Entertainment: There are two types of entertainment: “scheduled” entertainment, such as visiting a theatre and entertainment during niche times, for example when waiting for public transport. In such time slots a mobile phone can be the perfect entertainment or gaming console.
Security: Security is one of the most important needs of humans. Because of security provided by service providers, the information of users is kept confidential. Apart from that, there can’t be any manipulation done in case of post-paid bills and various services provided as user can have an idea specially in case of pre-paid customers where regular balance can be checked.
(2) Must Have Factors:
The 3 minute value: The average WAP application takes five minutes. In Japan the popular i-mode applications last for less than one and a half minutes on average. The time a customer uses an application may vary from country to country. However, it is quite evident, that a mobile application has to produce a clear, perceived value for the customer within a short period of time. As a rule of thumb the value should be delivered within 3 minutes.
Simplicity: The services provided to the customers should be simple. It should be easy to understand and the customer should be able to use the services intuitionally like GPRS, caller tunes etc. Thus the usability has to meet the customer’s standards.
Additional benefit: For a successful service it is essential that the customer perceives a clear additional value. There are several types of additional values. For example fun, cost saving, time saving or location based additional value.
Customer friendly tariff structure: The willingness to pay for new technologies and new applications is limited since the customer cannot clearly judge the additional benefit a new application yields. This is especially true for B2C markets where the customers tend to be more prices sensitive. For this reason a customer friendly price structure, preferably with a price model that eases diffusion of a new application, is essential.
It is very important for any company or service provider to stay in the market for a long period otherwise it will be out of the market and suffer a lot. To taste the success, companies have to perform well continuously and make their customers happy all the time by proper CRM and other techniques. Apart from that, there are two types of factors for these companies: (1) shall have and (2) must have factors.
1) Shall Have Factors:
Social relationships: Humans are social beings. They interact constantly with each other and social relationships are a vital part of life. The mobile phone is perfectly suited to satisfy the need of maintaining social relationships. Services that support social relationships are likely to be successful.
Power: One important aspect of social relations is status which is strongly related to power. Two types of power can be distinguished: Power to access and power to execute. The first type of power refers to the possibility to intervene in other people’s life, as for instance parents influencing the life of their children. But also the limitation of the power to access can be useful. One famous example is SMS (Short Message Service). They provide the opportunity to communicate without giving the receiver the chance to reply directly. This way unpleasant information can be communicated.
EQM (Easier, Quicker, More): Easier means that solutions that are simpler and/or more convenient are accepted by customers. One good example for “easier” is the phonebook of cell phones (compared to typing in the complete number when you call someone).
Quicker refers to the opportunity to fulfill customer needs faster than traditional products. One of the reasons why e-mails are common nowadays is that they are faster than traditional letters.
More is related to the fact that humans tend to maximize their benefits. Thus they will welcome every new product allowing them to increase their benefit.
Entertainment: There are two types of entertainment: “scheduled” entertainment, such as visiting a theatre and entertainment during niche times, for example when waiting for public transport. In such time slots a mobile phone can be the perfect entertainment or gaming console.
Security: Security is one of the most important needs of humans. Because of security provided by service providers, the information of users is kept confidential. Apart from that, there can’t be any manipulation done in case of post-paid bills and various services provided as user can have an idea specially in case of pre-paid customers where regular balance can be checked.
(2) Must Have Factors:
The 3 minute value: The average WAP application takes five minutes. In Japan the popular i-mode applications last for less than one and a half minutes on average. The time a customer uses an application may vary from country to country. However, it is quite evident, that a mobile application has to produce a clear, perceived value for the customer within a short period of time. As a rule of thumb the value should be delivered within 3 minutes.
Simplicity: The services provided to the customers should be simple. It should be easy to understand and the customer should be able to use the services intuitionally like GPRS, caller tunes etc. Thus the usability has to meet the customer’s standards.
Additional benefit: For a successful service it is essential that the customer perceives a clear additional value. There are several types of additional values. For example fun, cost saving, time saving or location based additional value.
Customer friendly tariff structure: The willingness to pay for new technologies and new applications is limited since the customer cannot clearly judge the additional benefit a new application yields. This is especially true for B2C markets where the customers tend to be more prices sensitive. For this reason a customer friendly price structure, preferably with a price model that eases diffusion of a new application, is essential.