Essay: Importance Of Marketing Mix For Customer Satisfaction In Telecom Sector.

Discuss about Customer Satisfaction in the Telecommunication Sector.

Marketing mixes of companies play significant roles in earning them customer satisfaction and revenue generation. The fact holds more appropriate for service sector where customer satisfaction creation is more challenging owing to the intangible nature of services like telecommunication services. The telecommunication sector in the UK has become deadly competitive and require these forming marketing mixes. The paper would delve into the importance of marketing mix in creating customers satisfaction with emphasis on the telecommunication sector in the UK. It opens with a research qustion followed by sections that proceed in th ligt of .the question.

Why is marketing mix important for customer satisfaction in telecommunication service sector?

The question is very pertinent today because of the intense competition in the service sector in the UK and the need of the service providing companies to sustain in the face of this competition. The situation has been aggravated due to the need of the telecommunication companies to give positive return to their shareholders and gain financial sustainability simultaneously. This pressure has compelled them to bring about changes in the marketing mixes to ensure customer satisfaction and serve maximum customers, thus generating maximum revenue and lower cost at the same time. These challenges have made the question very pertinent (Hsiao,  Lee and Chen 2015). 

The five factors supporting the validity of marketing mix in attaining customer satisfaction:

The telecommunication companies today in order to gain high competitive position form marketing mixes which ensures maximum customer satisfaction. The marketing mixes are composed of affordable products which serve multiple needs of the customers at affordable rates, thereby maximizing customer satisfaction and profit generation simultaneously. Thus, marketing mixes enable companies to sustain in the intense competition (Ashok, Day and Narula 2017).

The telecommunication companies are under continuous pressure to cut their costs to attain financial sustainability. Again, their marketing mixes allow them to offer low priced yet multipurpose product bundling like talk time and data packs with affordable prices. These bundles ensure that the customers are satisfied and generate revenue for the companies on continuous basis. The companies as a result are able to diversify the expenses over the revenue base, thus lowering their cost to revenue ratio and enhancing profits percentage (Mattson et al. 2017).  

The shareholders invest in the shares of the telecommunication companies and expect return on investment (ROI). The telecommunication companies are under continuous pressure to give high ROI in spite of cost cutting. Formidable marketing mixes and consequent customer satisfaction enable them to earn high profit which allows them to give high ROI to investors and attract more investment (Bezemer et al. 2015).

Five factors supporting the importance of marketing mix in customer satisfaction

The telecommunication companies are under continuous pressure to gain sustainability and reduce their environmental impacts. They, in order to attain this objective install windmills and waste management plants which attract costs. The high level of customer satisfaction through market mixes ensure that these companies earn high revenue, a portion of which they can allocate towards these sustainable investments. Thus, customer satisfaction and marketing mix pave ways for companies to attain environmental sustainability (Holden, Linnerud and Banister 2017). 

Brand equity is very important for companies to earn high profits in the intensely competitive telecommunication market.  The telecommunication companies today ensure customer satisfaction with their marketing mixes which attributes them with high brand equity. Thus, marketing mix and resultant customer satisfaction are important for companies to gain brand equity (Le Blanc 2015).

Figure 1. Figure showing factors supporting importance of marketing mix

(Source: Author)

The marketing mix is a marketing theory which is composed of the following elements:

Products refer to the items which satisfy customer needs and can be purchased in the market. Products may be tangible (goods) or intangible (services) and should be aimed to meet the needs of the customers. For example, the telecommunication companies operating in the UK offer communication packages consisting of talk time and data packs to meet the needs of the consumers in the United Kingdom. This appropriate product mix ensures customer satisfaction and consequent revenue generation (O'Cass and Heirati 2015). 

The second important component of the marketing mix theory which ensures high degree of customer satisfaction is pricing strategies of the companies. The telecommunication companies use pricing as a formidable tool to create satisfaction for both business and domestic customers. They use low pricing strategy to suit the limited income of the domestic customers and high pricing but low rates for business customers. This efficient pricing enable the telecommunication companies satisfy both domestic and business customers in the United Kingdom (Le Blanc 2015).

The third important component of marketing mix theory is place which ensures that the customers can avail the products (services in this case) easily. The telecommunication companies in the UK today have increased their presence to ensure round the clock services to customers and maximisation of their satisfaction. The telecommunication packages are available both at the brick-and-mortar stores and on the official websites of the companies. Thus, place plays a significant role in ensuring customer satisfaction and revenue generation (O'Cass and Heirati 2015).

Brief of the marketing mix theory

Promotion is very significant because it allows the companies to create continuous demand for their products in the market and market them to generate revenue. The telecommunication companies promote their products on the internet, in the newspapers and on television in the UK. This allows the customers to find products to suit their needs, thus maximising their customer satisfaction level. Thus, promotion plays a very significant role in creation of customer satisfaction and business generation of the telecommunication companies (Bezemer et al. 2015).

The two research hypotheses are:

1. The null hypothesis would be, there is no relationship between marketing mix and customer satisfaction in the telecommunication sector.
2. The alternative hypothesis would show that there is relationship between marketing mix and customer satisfaction in the telecommunication sector.

The hypotheses are directional in nature. This is because the researcher would aim to establish negative or positive relationship between the two items considered.

The operation of the hypothesis is as follows:

The concept of customer satisfaction can be defined as the measure of firm’s capacity to surpass the expectations of the customers with their products (goods and services). The concept of marketing mix can be defined as the combination of factors like products and pricing which business organisations use to satisfy their customers (Zablah et al. 2016).

Customer satisfaction can be defined as the rate of satisfaction which companies aim to create and maximise by combining operational factors like quality and quantity. The marketing mix can be defined as combination of these operational factors or variables to ensure and enhance customer satisfaction.

The following are the instruction of creation of dependent and independent variables in creating of customer satisfaction:

1. The telecommunication companies should first choose their marketing mixes.
2. They should choose the factors like STP and promotional strategies as per their profit targets.

The variables should be effective in achieving customer satisfaction and revenue maximisation. The independent variable like quality, cost and telecommunication package features should aim towards attainment of the dependent variables like profit and customer satisfaction. 

The dependent variables in the hypothesis would be profit, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The independent variables would be quality, price, cost and features (Le Blanc 2015).

The unit of analysis to measure customer satisfaction would be positive ratings received from customers or CSAT. The number of repeat sales would also prove the level of customer satisfaction earned by the telecommunication companies in the UK (Bezemer et al. 2015). 

Conclusion:

One can conclude from the discussion that marketing mixes in the telecommunication companies play significant role in attainment of customer satisfaction. These companies must emphasise on aligning their marketing mixes with the requirements of the customers to enhance this satisfaction level. This would enable them to raise their revenue margin and strengthen their positions in the market. Their marketing mixes should incorporate the customer factors like their income and future needs to ensure repeat business. The marketing mixes should not only help the companies to earn revenue but also strengthen their brand values. 

References:

Ashok, M., Day, M. and Narula, R., 2017. Buyer (dis) satisfaction and process innovation: The case of information technology services provision. Industrial Marketing Management.

Bezemer, P.J., Zajac, E.J., Naumovska, I., van den Bosch, F.A. and Volberda, H.W., 2015. Power and paradigms: the Dutch response to pressures for shareholder value. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 23(1), pp.60-75.

Holden, E., Linnerud, K. and Banister, D., 2017. The imperatives of sustainable development. Sustainable Development, 25(3), pp.213-226.

Hsiao, C., Lee, Y.H. and Chen, W.J., 2015. The effect of servant leadership on customer value co-creation: A cross-level analysis of key mediating roles. Tourism Management, 49, pp.45-57.

Le Blanc, D., 2015. Towards integration at last? The sustainable development goals as a network of targets. Sustainable Development, 23(3), pp.176-187.

Mattson, J., Miller, J., Goodwill, J., Sriraj, P.S. and Hough, J., 2017. Impacts of Mobility Management and Human Service Transportation Coordination Efforts and End-User Quality of Life. In Journal of the Transportation Research Forum (Vol. 56, No. 1, pp. 77-92).

O'Cass, A. and Heirati, N., 2015. Mastering the complementarity between marketing mix and customer-focused capabilities to enhance new product performance. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 30(1), pp.60-71.

Sachs, J.D., 2015. The age of sustainable development. Columbia University Press.

Zablah, A.R., Carlson, B.D., Donavan, D.T., Maxham III, J.G. and Brown, T.J., 2016. A cross-lagged test of the association between customer satisfaction and employee job satisfaction in a relational context. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(5), p.743.