Service, quality – and premium services for B2B. How MVNOs can embrace the business opportunity.
At MVNO Nation Live, we learnt how today’s MVNOs are light-years away from simple value propositions. Service and quality are weapons they have honed to succeed – and customers recognise this. So, why not leverage these assets to target B2B customers, who are neglected by MNOs?
MVNOs have evolved: they can win on experiences, not just price
The recent MVNO Nation Live event showcased the best and brightest of the MVNO world. While there were many outstanding contributions, there were also some general themes that were reinforced, time and time again through the sessions and presentations – and a key lesson for all.
While MVNOs were once (mostly) about value – trying to be the cheapest – the emphasis at MVNO Nation Live was on service and quality. MVNOs have been quietly innovating new service delivery and engagement models, and focussing on the quality of their efforts – which has yielded impressive results in customer satisfaction.
Perhaps that’s because many MVNOs have entered the mobile arena either with a blank slate (rethinking traditional sales and support models) or have come from adjacent industries with different notions of how to deliver customer experiences.
B2B customers want service and quality – but may not find it with MNOs
So, with that in mind, many turned their attention to areas in which MVNOs can also win, based on service and quality – and, for some, B2B was a clear answer – in particular, SME and SoHo segments. There are multiple reasons for this.
First, the obvious: market attraction. As has been reported on numerous occasions, segments within the B2B market are underserved. While traditional MNOs have focused on corporate and large business customers, they’ve largely neglected the SME and SoHo segments – engines of our economies. So, simply by defining these as markets, an attractive business case can be identified.
Second, presence. Many MVNOs have attracted business customers, but they may not be aware of it. Since MNOs don’t tend to recognise a business as a business unless it has 10 or more employees, people who work in these kinds of enterprises have often ended up as customers of consumer MVNOs.
Some are starting to recognise that they already have business customers who are perfectly happy with their services – but could such MVNOs offer more to them? The answer is a resounding yes, so we were delighted to have just those conversations with successful MVNOs who are turning their attention to the business market.
Third, attractiveness. MVNOs tend to be pretty good at marketing – they have to be – so understand how to win customers in competitive markets and against established players. With the same mindset, why can’t they target new segments and meet new customer needs?
Digital engagement wins – get the right tools with Gintel
Finally (there are more reasons, but that’s enough for now), engagement. MVNOs have to make it easy to buy and consume their services. They don’t have time to spend on account management, or complex processes. But, neither do SMEs and SoHos.
They want to buy services with the ease with which they do as consumers. With digital-first models predominating, MVNOs already have the platforms to recruit, engage and register new customers, quickly, easily and efficiently. They can turn these platforms to business customers who have no loyalty to an MNO that doesn’t even notice them.
But none of this is possible without the right tools. Solutions like this. If you have been inspired by MVNO Nation Live and are thinking of how you can target business customers, we’ll show you how you can incorporate a winning proposition and service into your existing portfolio, with true digital-first activation and engagement.
Talk to Gintel and let’s get started in B2B.
