In 2015, only 17 percent of companies were involved in some sort of data-driven initiative involving business intelligence (BI). By 2017 that number had reached 53 percent, and it is likely even higher now. BI is clearly a tool that the majority of companies have embraced and leveraged to create value. However, that doesn’t mean the impact is equal across companies or industries.
The earliest adopters of BI were largely consolidated in finance and telecom. Those industries quickly realized that BI was crucial to their growth and stability. In both industries, but especially in telecom, that perception persists. In fact, telecom’s investment in business intelligence is projected to increase by 12.8 percent CAGR through 2020. Here are four of the forces that are driving that growth and enthusiasm:
Gaining Customer Insights
BI makes it possible for telecom companies to understand customers like never. By capturing, storing, organizing, and then analyzing data, companies discover what customers really want and how they really act. As a result, these companies can refine their pricing, marketing, and product development based on an empirical understanding of consumers. In a highly competitive market like telecom, providing personalized service represents a big advantage over the competition; along with building products and giving customers what they want when they want it. This is best accomplished if strategies are built around data-driven insights.
Predicting Customer Churn
Churn is one of the unruliest challenges in telecom. Some estimates put churn rates as high as 40 percent, which is a huge cost for any industry to bear. Today’s business intelligence tools are smart enough to predict churn rates based on customer data. In turn, that allows telecom companies to reach out to customers likely to leave and reduce churn rates to as low as possible.
Accessing Real-Time Insights
Telecom companies have to act quickly. It’s doesn’t take long for consumers to choose one company over another, then, later, to switch companies again. One of the biggest advantages of modern BI in the telecom industry is that it makes insights available on demand. For instance, an embedded dashboard allows decision-makers to take a deep dive into data in just a few seconds with a couple of keystrokes without leaving their existing workflow. In an industry like telecom where decision-makers must act with speed, clarity, and certainty, business intelligence is essential.
Improving Customer Service
Telecom companies compete based on price and products. What drives consumers to switch from one provider to another, however, is poor service. One unhelpful attendant or long wait time can lead to thousands of dollars in lost revenue. Since BI facilitates process improvements, it empowers telecom providers to make meaningful upgrades to service and support. Customer service becomes faster, more accessible, and, most importantly, more helpful. It helps telecom companies avoid losing customers unnecessarily.
The telecom industry may be unique, but the ways it leverages business intelligence are quite common. In general, companies want to analyze data to understand themselves and understand their customers. Business intelligence reveals what consumers really need and want. Then it reveals a company’s true strengths and weaknesses. In any industry, it uncovers what is unknown so that companies can proceed confidently.
