Customer Satisfaction With Grameen Phone

Introduction

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In the cellular telecommunication industry of Bangladesh, GrameenPhone Ltd. is a force to be reckoned with. In a little over 12 years, GrameenPhone Ltd. has established itself as the dominant player of in the telecommunications sector, even surpassing the state-run Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) in terms of subscriber base. The company today commands more subscribers than all its competitors in the mobile telephone industry combined. To take the company to its current position, the distribution network of the company has to be an efficient and an organized one. Therefore, it is imperative that the channel partners of the company must be satisfied to deliver their best service so that they can win over its competitors to attract new customers and at the same time keep the existing customers happy as well.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
There is no available information about the satisfaction level of the distributors, dealers, agents and outlets of Grameen Phone Ltd. As a result, Grameen Phone Ltd. wants to get an idea about the prevailing perception of its distributors, dealers, agents and outlets about itself.

OBJECTIVE
The main objective of the survey was to find out the satisfaction level of the dealers and distributors of GP who provide mobile phone service to the customers. Another objective included determining the problems that these outlets faced and also to find out what kind of amendments could be made to improve the GP service from the respondents point of view.

A set of questionnaire was prepared for this purpose, which included various questions that were designed using both open-ended and 5-point scales.

Broad Objectives
1. Find out the level of satisfaction on the Distribution System of GP. 2. Find out the level of satisfaction of Dealers and Agents on GP Services. 3. Find out the level of awareness that the Dealers/Agents have about GP.

Specific Objectives
1.1 To find the level of satisfaction of the dealers and agents regarding the amount of commission they are receiving 1.2 1.3 An indication on how much commission they are willing to get To find the level of satisfaction of the dealers and agents regarding the method of handset delivery from GP logistics 1.4 To find the level of satisfaction of the dealers and agents regarding the time period they need to wait in order to receive commission 1.5 To get an insight on the time taken for subscription activation and any problems faced regarding activation 1.6 To find the level of satisfaction of the dealers and agents regarding the reporting method that needs to be done. 1.7 To find the level of satisfaction of the dealers and agents regarding the flow of information from GP to Dealers/Agents and their subsequent comments on 155 support towards them. 1.8 To find the level of satisfaction of the dealers and agents on their interaction with GP employees on the basis of i. Degree of Professionalism ii. Knowledge about the business iii. Friendliness and helping attitude 1.9 To find the level of satisfaction dealers and agents have regarding GP coverage in their area of operation 1.10 To find out major customer complaints that the dealers/agents are required to handle 1.11 To find the potential areas for GP coverage and areas where improvement is required. 1.12 To find the level of knowledge/awareness dealers and agents have regarding GP products that they are selling and the Value Added Services provided

SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

Dealer and Agent Outlets of GP are to be found in many locations throughout Bangladesh. The report was based on survey of the Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi and Sylhet Divisions of the country.

METHODOLOGY
Nature of the Research
The research is based on both quantitative and qualitative study

Qualitative
The qualitative aspect of the report will include a description of the major complaints received by the Dealers/Agents of GP. This section will try to cover major complaints that are received and how they are dealt with or if it is possible to deal with them. This section will also try to find whether there is any relationship between the major complaints received and the location of the outlet. This section will further address certain recommendations provided by the dealers/agents and their impact on the improvement of performance of GP.

Quantitative
The level of satisfaction of the dealers/agents on GPs distribution system as well as GPs overall system has been covered by the questionnaire. In this questionnaire, satisfaction level of dealers/agents has been quantified. The specific objectives were kept in mind when addressing the questionnaire. Each question was farmed with consideration to the scales to be used in the analysis.

Research Instrument
As mentioned earlier a questionnaire has been used for the quantitative analysis part. The questionnaire was then followed-up by another direct interview and telephone calls to judge the level of knowledge of the channel partners about GrameenPhone and the various services that it offers.

Population
The very basic step in research designing is to define the population upon which we are conducting this study. Population of the study has been identified as:

All Dealer/Agent outlet owners or top management employees who are listed with the GrameenPhone records. The main rationale behind taking this population is that members belonging to the abovementioned section will be able to give the exact picture of the situation that exists between them and GP. Being the owners and top management employees, they will be able to provide more accurate details and provide a broader perspective than would have been available from any other employee.

Sampling Sample Units

Sample units in this research are top management of the outlet. Here top management is defined as those individuals in the outlet who are in the major decision-making body of a particular outlet. Under this definition comes the Owners, Managing Directors, Executive Directors, Sales & Marketing Managers, etc.

The sample units comprise of four components: 1. 2. 3. 4. Dealers of GP new subscriptions Distributors of GP Scratch Cards Proprietors of Outlets Agents of GrameenPhone

Sample size
The total number of dealer and agent outlets in Bangladesh is over 140. Owing to time constraints and unavailability of concerned persons it was not possible to survey all outlets. Thus a total sample size of 80 respondents was taken and the report is based on the findings from this sample size. It should also be mentioned that the survey did not take into account the outlets owned by the newly appointed dealer-RANGS Ltd. No Barisal Outlets were taken into consideration.

Sampling Frame
The listing of Dealer and Agent outlets was available from the GP databanks. In the list the outlets are categorized according to location.

Sampling Method
The study has been conducted by using a probabilistic method, as the complete listing regarding the sampling units was available. This method provides essentially unbiased estimates having measurable precision.

Sampling Technique
For this study area cluster sampling have used. This is a special form of cluster sampling in which the sample items are clustered on a geographic area basis. The technique here is to first select a sample of geographic areas, then studying the particular universe units associated with the selected sample of geographic areas. For our purpose the areas chosen were Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet.

This cluster or group has been taken on the notion that the members of these groups are externally homogenous and internally heterogeneous among themselves. The characteristics for homogeneity are given below:

1. 2.

They are Dealers, or distributors, or Agents, or outlets of GrameenPhone Ltd They are the top management people of the individual outlet

Members within both these groups are homogenous in terms of these above-mentioned criteria. However, the two groups are heterogeneous due to the differences in the volume of each criterion between these each group. This is the key factor that makes them heterogeneous. In addition to this there are other factors for heterogeneity and they are given below:

1. 2. 3. 4.

Monthly subscriptions sold Monthly income from GP subscriptions Knowledge and awareness of GP products and services. Satisfaction level of dealers/agents regarding GP distribution and overall services

Errors
Doing a research of such proportions may have resulted in errors to take place. Much potential error is systematic, the error that results from bias, while the remainder is random, an error that occurs in an erratic fashion.

This research paper takes into account these cases of errors. Major sources of error have been identified as follows:

Situation as an Error: This perhaps has been one of the principle sources of errors. Such errors usually result from any condition that may have placed a strain on the interview. Everyone in the top management of an outlet is extremely busy and managers of different functional areas constantly visit them for various businessrelated purposes. In some situations therefore, the respondent could not freely answer the questions. The physical and mental status of the respondent also at times resulted in error as respondents varied in enthusiasm and participation depending on their mood.

Respondent as an Error: This kind of error results due to both non-response as well as inaccurate perception with regard to a specific concept or construct of a questionnaire. In this research, at times the respondents were reluctant to provide extreme positive or negative views and preferred to reside in the neutral area. This error of neutrality was somewhat checked as most of the scales were in four-point scale. In addition to this, there have been some cases where there were respondents who claimed that they knew a lot about GP; but during the course of the interview this proved to be wrong. The respondents views then tend to be misleading.

Measurer as an Error: Such error, however, happened in the pre-testing phase of the report. The very theme of the report was new to the members; hence much-desired queries and information could not be communicated with the respondents. This however, was rectified once full-fledged interviewing started for the final survey.

It must however be mentioned that there was no case of the instrument, meaning questionnaire, as the source of error. The final questionnaire was designed in such a way that there was least scope for instrument as an error.

FINDINGS
The quantitative part of the research primarily deals with data obtained from the questionnaire. These data will provide a somewhat clear picture of the satisfaction level of the various dealers and agents of GrameenPhone Ltd. For convenience purpose we have tried to remain confined to the specific objectives already defined.

The data have been interpreted as such that we at first summarize the most prevailing outcomes according to the region in Bangladesh. Then we take a graphical look at the whole national perspective of the topic in question

Topic 1: Satisfaction level of the dealers/distributors/agents regarding the amount of

commission received

Topic 2: Satisfaction level regarding the method of receiving handsets, kits, and scratch
cards from GP logistics

Topic 3: Level of satisfaction with the time taken to receive commission Topic 4: Comments on the time taken for subscription activation Topic 5: Satisfaction with the reporting methods Topic 6: Satisfaction with the information flow from GP to dealers/Agents Topic 7: GP employee rating Topic 8: Satisfaction with GP coverage Topic 9: Dealers awareness or knowledge level of the GP products