The market scenario in the telecommunications sector is quite turbulent owing to the emergence of various disruptive technologies, changing customer demands, and increasing competition. In this highly tempestuous situation, telecom operators are left with no option but to explore new competitive positioning strategies that would help them gain the upper hand in the market. As far as the customers of the telecommunications industry are concerned, due to the vast options available, they are unable to decide on the features and offers that are best suited for them. Therefore, telecom providers must devise an effective competitive positioning strategy to survive in the long run. Let us explore the step-by-step approach that telecommunication companies can follow to gain a competitive advantage in the market:
Step 1: Specify market boundaries
Firstly, telecom operators must build a position map and specify the boundaries of the market in which they operate to protect their revenue market share. This step helps players in the telecommunications space to evaluate where they stand in the market with respect to their competitors. Furthermore, it also allows them to identify their unique propositions that would help build a competitive positioning in the market. Effective competitive positioning would help companies to penetrate into difficult markets and garner more customer attention.
Step 2: Convert customer experience into value
After identifying benefits and plans that appeal the most to customers, operators in the telecom industry can further decide on how to improve them and create differentiators. Today, the question of how the customer experience is mapped is more critical than customer satisfaction with a service for telecom operators. Customer mapping is a great source to gain information on which products will reap the most value and for which services are customers willing to pay. Companies can further use this information to build competitor strategies and effective competitive positioning strategies.
Step 3: Product mapping across customer segments
The primary revenue streams for telecommunication companies are shifting from voice and value-added services (VAS) to data services. To secure the target market, it is imperative for telecom providers to address the quick changes in the customer demand. Depending on the changing trends, players in the telecom industry can offer new products and verticals to the target customer segments. Timely identification of the changing customer demands will also benefit the companies by giving them the first mover advantage in the market.
Step 4: Deliver value across all channels
With price lines becoming steeper, providing a unified experience across all distribution channels is required for competitive positioning in the telecom industry. A large number of alternative players in the market are putting customers in the position to demand more from companies, such as a seamless experience shift from one channel to another. Therefore, telecommunication companies are now required to have adequate insights about customers’ experience across all channels to create value across the entire supply chain.
Step 5: Identify untapped segments
Identifying and working on the segments that have potential but have not yet been explored by competitors will give telecom companies the early bird advantage. An excellent competitive positioning strategy would help providers to identify those unexplored segments that have high revenue and growth prospects.
Step 6: Hold the mindshare
Customer insights and industry analytics play a key role in maintaining the market share but also creates larger mindshare by addressing the market needs quicker than the competitors. A thorough analysis of the customers’ expectations, behavior, and profile coupled with mapping their current experience helps companies to maintain their position and also prepares the ground for new heights in the future.
