Objective.

The objective of the study is to assess the satisfaction level among Airtel customers in Kashmir valley of Jammu and Kashmir state with a special emphasis on finding the areas of deficiencies and to suggest the measures to improve the same. During the course of market study, the decision criteria upon which the customers based there decision of using the Airtel Cellular service was also elicited. This will help in finding the core competencies of Airtel in Kashmir valley. In addition to that an attempt is made to find out the perception of customers towards the Services Cape (i.e., well maintained showrooms, uniform of employees, mobile charging units, etc.) to find out whether the customers value these things or not.

Research design and Methodology.

The methodology adopted for the study was a combination of the field survey method, personal interview and the use of the observational technique. A structured questionnaire was administered to a total of 271 customers (167 to postpaid customers and 104 to prepaid customers). A separate questionnaire was designed for both prepaid and postpaid customers. The structured questionnaire was designed to elicit information from the customers about the satisfaction of customers at each stage in customer life cycle to find the areas where improvement is needed. Sampling plan The target population was all the subscribers of Airtel (both prepaid and postpaid). A sample survey was conducted for getting the response from the customers. The sample was chosen on random convenience-sampling basis. A sample size of 271 customers (104 customers of prepaid and 167 of postpaid customers) were chosen keeping time constraint in considerations.

Data collection
Data source: Primary data obtained through questionnaires, interview method and through observation techniques is used for getting the results. Research instrument In order to get the responses from customers, a structured questionnaire was designed to facilitate the customers to express their views.

Interviewing process In order to get further insights into the problems of customers, an unstructured interview was also conducted along with getting the response as per the questionnaire. Pilot survey For designing the questionnaire, a pilot survey was conducted in Srinagar. An unstructured interview was used for the purpose. About 20-25 customers were interviewed for the purpose. After working on this survey for about 5 days, a structured questionnaire was designed. Pre-testing The questionnaire was pre-tested on few customers to check for: 1) Ease of response for the respondents. 2) Time taken for conducting the interview. 3) Relevance of information. After pre-testing and modifications, a final questionnaire was designed for the purpose of survey.

Scope and limitation of the study. The period of study is February 2006 and is confined to the area of Kashmir valley. The respondents were chosen on random convenience-sampling basis. However the limitations of the study are that since the consumer attitudes keep changing the finding may not be applicable in all cases. Another limitation could be that the size of the sample being relatively small, some of the findings may slightly vary with those of the larger universe.

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

FINDINGS ON THE BASIS OF QUESTIONNAIRE A) FOR POSTPAID:
I) General Characteristics of the Respondents a) Demographic Characteristics District
N=167 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 50%

No. of Respondents

10%

10%

10%

14% 7%

Srinagar

Budgam

Anantnag Pulwama Baramulla Kupwara

50% of the respondents were from Srinagar, 10% each from Budgam, Anantnag, and Pulwama, 14% from Baramulla and 7% from Kupwara

Sex

N=167
Female 4%

Male Female
Male 96%

96% of the respondents were male and only 4% were females. Educational Qualification

N=167

6% 26%

10%

5%

Under Matriculate Undergraduate Graduate Postgraduate Professional

53%

5% respondents were under matriculate, 53% undergraduate, 26% graduate, 6% postgraduate, and 10% professionals.

b) Duration of Subscription

N=167
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No. of Respondents 45%

24% 11%

20%

Less Than 3 3-6 Months Months

6 months-1 more than 1 year year

Age on Network The duration of subscription was less than 3 months for 11% of respondents, 3-6 months for 24%, 6 month to 1 year for 20% and more than I year for 45% of respondents. c) Purpose of using cellular phone

N = 167
120 NUM BER OF RESPONDENTS 100 80 60 40 20 0 BUSINESS OFFICIAL PURPOSE PERSONAL 20% 16% 64%

20% of the respondents used it for business purpose and 16% used cell phone for official purpose and 64% for personal use.

II) Major Findings: 1) Features and factors that compelled the customers to go for Airtel Postpaid.

N=167

Price

Quality Service 7% 15% 8% More Interaction with Airtel Subscribers New Scheme Announced by Company Easily Available

10% 8% 52%

Brand Image

The results show that 8% of the customers purchased the Airtel postpaid SIM because they feel it will be price efficient. About 52% of the customer purchased it because of quality service provided by Airtel. About 8% of the customers purchased it because they have more interaction with Airtel subscribers. 10% of the customers were influenced by new schemes announced by the company. About 15% purchased it because it was easily available and 8% purchased it because of Brand image of the Airtel. This means that core competence of Airtel in Kashmir valley is the quality service. Next in line is its easy availability followed by new schemes announced by the company.

2) Perception about the Behavior of Sales Personal at the time of purchase of SIM

N= 167
120 No. of Respondents 100 80 60 40 20 0
Very Polite Somew hat Polite Niether Polite Nor Rude Somew hat Rude

65%

21% 12% 1% 1%
Very Rude

Behavior 65% of the respondents feel that sales people treated them very politely when they purchased the SIM. 21% feels that they were being treated politely only 12% feels that the behavior was neither polite nor rude and 1% was treated rudely and 1% very rudely. From analyzing the above data we can say that there is no problem as such in the behavior of sales persons with only some exception.

3) Information provided by sales people at the time of purchase.

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

N=167
35%

No.of Respondents

22% 11%

22%

10%

Very Less Information

Somew hat Less Information

Satisf actory

Somew hat Detailed

Very Detailed

Magnitude of Information

10% of the respondents were being provided very less information about the call charges, charges of VAS, etc. 22% respondents said they were being provided by somewhat less information. 35% were being provided by satisfactory information. 11% and 22% respondents feel they were being provided by somewhat detailed and detailed information respectively. Here a good percentage of respondents were being provided with less information which can be the cause of problems for the subsequent stages of customer life cycle. So this must be taken into account.

4) The effect of well maintained showrooms, proper uniform, etc. on customer satisfaction

N=167
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 45% No.of Respondents

25% 15% 10% 5%

Strongly Disagree

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Opinion of Customers

Most of the customers agree that there should be proper uniform, well maintained showrooms. The chart clearly shows that customers generally feel that Services Cape (i.e., well maintained showrooms, proper uniform of employees, etc) have some effect on customer satisfaction. About 70% of the respondents either strongly agree or agree that there should be a proper uniform for the employees. It will have a positive effect on the customer satisfaction. Only 15% of respondents remained neutral while as 15% said it doesnt have any effect on customer satisfaction.

5) Grades to Airtel for Services Cape (i.e., well maintained showrooms, proper uniform of employees, etc).

N=167
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 No. of Respondents 37% 30% 17% 8% 8%

Excellent

Good

Average

Poor

Very Poor

About 8% of the respondents grade the Airtel in terms of its showrooms and uniform of employees as excellent, 30% as good, 37% as average, 17% as poor and 8% as very poor. It means that 38% of the customers grade Airtel from excellent to good and rest graded Airtel from average to poor. It means that there is a lot of scope for improvement in this area.

6) Understandability of subscription Enrollment Form

70 60 No.of Respondents 50 40 30 20 10 0 Very Easy Somewhat Easy Normal Somewhat Complex VeryComplex 11% N=167 36% 28% 25%

1%

30% of the respondents said that subscription enrollment form is very easy to understand while 28% said it is somewhat easy. 25% said it is normal. Only 11% and 1% said it is complex and very complex respectively. But what we see at the showrooms of the Airtel that majority of the customers dont fill in their forms by themselves, instead it is filled in by the showroom employees on behalf of customers and whenever customers fill their forms themselves they often keep some portion unfilled. It means that the customers find it difficult to understand some portion of SEF but didnt reveal the same when asked because of some personal reason.

7) Activation time

N=167
140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0
No.of Respondents

69%

21% 1% Immediately 8% 1-2 days 2-4 days More than 4 days

Only 1% of the respondents said that their SIM was activated immediately. 8% of the respondents said it took about 1-2 days for them to get the SIM activated, 21% said 2-4 days and 69% said more than 4 days. Here a substantial number of respondents say that activation time was more than 4 days. This can be attributed partly to the fact that duration of subscription for about 45% of the respondents is more than 1 year and at the beginning of operation of Airtel in J&K, it took some time to get the SIM activated. But still the activation time of rest of 24% respondents whose subscription duration is less than 1 year was more than 4 days. It means that the activation time for substantial number of respondents is more than as prescribed in TAT.

8) Bill received on time

N=167
No. of Respondents 100 80 60 40 20 0 Often Sometimes Rarely Never 13% 8% 47% 32%

47% of the respondents often received the bill on time, 13% sometimes, 8% rarely and 32% never. This means that 53% of respondents either dont receive the bill at all or occasionally receives it. 9) Satisfaction with Bill Payment System

N=167
120 No. of respondents 100 80 60 40 20 0
Highly Satisfied Somewhat Neither Somewhat Highly Satisfied Satisfied Nor Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Dissatisfied

62%

26% 8%

3%

1%

62% of the respondents were highly satisfied with bill payment system, 26% were somewhat satisfied, 8% neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 3% somewhat dissatisfied and 1% highly dissatisfied. Overall 88% were satisfied with bill payment system of Airtel.

10) Mode of Bill Payment

N=167
No. of Respondents 80 60 40 20 0 ABC Coupon Cash Payment Both 19% 43% 38%

19% of the respondents use only ABC coupons for bill payment, 43% cash payment and 38% both.

11) Availability of ABC Coupons of different denomination N=96

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Often Sometimes Rarely Never Availability of ABC Coupons 29% 10% 55%

No. of Respondents

6%

Among those who used ABC Coupons, 55% of the respondents said that the ABC coupons are often available, 29% said that these are only sometimes available, 10% said that these are rarely available and 6% said these are never available.

12) Denomination mostly not available

N=43
No. of Respondents 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Rs. 200 Rs. 500 Rs.1000 Other 19% 16% 5% 60%

Out of those who said ABC Coupons are only sometimes, rarely or never available, 60% said denomination of Rs. 200 is mostly unavailable, 19% said that Rs. 500 denomination is mostly unavailable, 16% said that Rs. 1000 denomination is mostly unavailable and 5% said that other denominations are mostly unavailable.

13) Feeling of being over billed N=167

No. of Respondents 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Often Sometimes Rarely Never 19% 23% 26% 32%

19% of the respondents feel that they are often being over billed i.e., they have been charged much more than usage. 23% feel that they are sometimes over billed while 26% and 32% of the respondents feel that they are either rarely or never being over billed. About 42% of respondents feel that they are being over billed either often or sometimes. This represents a large portion of customers so this problem is to be addressed immediately.

14) Knowledge about the charges of value added services (VAS) N=167
No. of Respondents 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 No Yes 41% 59%

41% of the respondents didnt know the charges of VAS while 59% of the respondents were aware of the charges. The unawareness of the charges of the VAS may result in some problems like feeling of being over billed by customers. This is because they use the VAS without knowing about the charges of it and when they receive the bill, they feel that they have been charged much more than their usage.

15) Source of information about the charges of VAS N=99

No. of Respondents 80 60 40 20 0 SMS from Airtel Friends and Colleagues After enquiry about bill 5% 24% 71%

71% of the respondents came to know about the charges of VAS from SMS sent to them while 5% from friends and colleagues and rest of the 24% came to know about it only after enquiry about the bill. The problem is more with the customers who didnt know the charges before they receive the bill. Most of the customers who feel that they are over billed belong to this category.

16) Usage of VAS even after knowing its charges N=99

No. of Respondents 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Often Sometimes Rarely Never 24% 12% 7% 57%

About 20% of the customers even after knowing about the charges of VAS used it often while 12% and 7% used it sometimes and rarely respectively and rest of the 57% never used it. A good percentage of customers still used VAS even after knowing its charges. 17) Mostly contacted query/request/complaint resolution centre by customers

N = 167

Only Customer Care

17% 5%

Only Connect
64%

14%

Both Customer Care and Connect Never Complained

64% of the customers complained to only Customer Care and 14% to only Connect, 17% to both Customer Care and Connect while 5% have never complained. The high percentage at Customer Care may be because customers feel it more convenient and some even didnt know that they can lodge their complaints at Connect also.

18) Behavior of employees with the customers when customers lodge their complaint N = 167
90 80 No. of Respondents 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Very Polite Som ewhat Niether Somewhat Very Rude Polite Polite Nor Rude Rude
17% 56% 19% 13% 17% 5% 8% 2% 2%

60%

Customer Care Connect

At Customer Care: Among those who call customer care for complaints, most of the respondents (60%) feel that Customer Care Executives treat them very politely, 19% said their behavior remains somewhat polite, 13% feel it is neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 5% said Customer Care Executives are somewhat rude and 2% said they are very rude. At Connect: Among those who visits connect for complaints, 56% said they are very polite, 17% said somewhat polite and neither polite nor rude each, 8% said somewhat rude and 2% said very rude.

19) Time taken to solve the problem. N = 167

60

No. of Respondents

38%
50

40 Customer Care 30 Connect

19% 15% 29% 27%

19%

20

21%
10

10% 10%

13%

Immediately

Few Hours

Few Days

More than 1 w eek

Nev er Resolv ed

At Customer Care: About 38% of the respondents who call Customer Care said their problems get solved immediately, 15% said it took Few Hours for them to solve their problem, 19% said Few Days and More than 1 week each and 10% said their problem was never resolved. The problems which were never resolved were mostly related to wrong billing or bills not received or network related. At Connect: 29% customers said the problem is immediately solved,27% said it took Few Hours, 13% said Few Days, 21% said More than 1 week while 10% said it was never resolved. The problems which are not solved are same as above.

20) No. of visits to these places by customers before problem gets resolved N = 167

70 No. of Respondents 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

46%

30%

Customer Care Connect

46% 13% 13% 11% 13% 27%

Once

T wice

T hrice

More than 3 times

At Customer Care: 46% of the respondents said they have to call only once before problem gets resolved, 13% said twice, 11% thrice, 30% more than 3 times. Again the problems are about non receipt of the bill, network related, wrong billing, etc. At Connect: 46% said they have to visit only once for the problem, 13% said twice,13% thrice and 27% more than 3 times.

21) Help provided by customer care/ connect employees N = 167

70 60 No. of respondents 50 40 30 20 10 0 Often Sometimes Rarely Never 50% 13% 12% 13% 6% 31% 26% Customer Care Connect 49%

At Customer Care: 49% of the respondents who call Customer Care said the employees there often extends help to customers in resolving their problem, 13% said sometimes, 12% said rarely and 26% said they never extends any sought of help to customers. . At Connect: 50% of respondents who visit Connect for their problem said the employees at connect often extends help to customers in resolving their problem, 6% said sometimes, 13% said rarely and 31% said they never extends any sought of help to customers.

22) Overall satisfaction with Airtel.

N = 167
70

No. of Respondents

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Highly Satisfied

36% 29%

12%

11%

11%

Somewhat Satisfied

Neither Somewhat Satisfied Nor Dis satisfied Dissatisfied

Highly Dissatisfied

29% of the respondents are highly satisfied with Airtel, 36% are somewhat satisfied, 12% neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 11% somewhat dissatisfied and 11% highly dissatisfied. This implies that most of the customers are satisfied with Airtel.

B) FOR PREPAID:

I) General Characteristics of the Respondents a) Demographic Characteristics District

N=104 40
No. of Respondents

36%

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
Srinagar Budgam

34%

14% 5% 5% 7%

Anantnag Pulwama Baramulla Kupwara

36% of the respondents were from Srinagar, 5% each from Budgam, Anantnag,14% from Pulwama, 34% from Baramulla and 7% from Kupwara

Sex
N=104
Female 13%

Male Female

Male 87%

13% of the respondents were females and 87% were males. Educational qualification

N=104

17% 23%

7% 13%

Under Matriculate Undergraduate Graduate Postgraduate Professional

40%

13% respondents were under matriculate, 40% undergraduate, 23% graduate, and 17% postgraduate, and 7% professionals.

b) Duration of subscription N = 104

40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Less Than 3-6 Months 6 months-1 more than 1 3 Months year year AGE ON NETWORK 24% 16% 26%

The duration of subscription was less than 3 months for 24% of respondents, 3-6 months for 16%, 6 month to 1 year for 26% and more than I year for 34% of respondents.

NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS

34%

c) Purpose of using cellular phone N = 104

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 BUSINESS OFFICIAL PURPOSE PERSONAL 19% 15% 66%

19% of the respondents used it for business purpose and 15% used cell phone for official purpose and 66% for personal use.

NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS

II) Major Findings: 1) Features and factors that compelled the customers to go for Airtel Prepaid

N=104
2% 18%

Price

Quality Service 3% More Interaction with Airtel Subscribers

12% 57% 8%

New Scheme Announced by Company Easily Available

Brand Image

The results show that 3% of the customers purchased the Airtel postpaid SIM because they feel it will be price efficient. About 57% of the customer purchased it because of quality service provided by Airtel. About 8% of the customers purchased it because they have more interaction with Airtel subscribers. 12% of the customers were influenced by new schemes announced by the company. About 18% purchased it because it was easily available and 2% purchased it because of Brand image of the Airtel. This means that core competence of Airtel in Kashmir valley is the quality service. Next in line is its easy availability followed by new schemes announced by the company.

2) Perception about the Behavior of Sales Personal at the time of purchase of SIM

N= 104
No. of Respondents 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Very Polite Somewhat Polite Niether Polite Nor Rude

65%

21% 11% 2%
Somewhat Rude

1%
Very Rude

Behavior 65% of the respondents feel that sales people treated them very politely when they purchased the SIM. 21% feels that they were being treated politely only 11% feels that the behavior was neither polite nor rude and 2% was treated rudely and 1% very rudely. From analyzing the above data we can say that there is no problem as such in the behavior of sales persons with only some exception.

3) Information provided by sales people at the time of purchase.

40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

N=104
25% 15% 18%

36%

No.of Respondents

6%

Very Less Information

Somew hat Less Information

Satisfactory

Somew hat Detailed

Very Detailed

Magnitude of Information

15% of the respondents were being provided very less information about the call charges, charges of VAS, etc. 18% respondents said they were being provided by somewhat less information. 25% were being provided by satisfactory information. 6% and 36% respondents feel they were being provided by somewhat detailed and detailed information respectively. Here a good percentage of respondents were being provided with less information which can be the cause of problems for the subsequent stages of customer life cycle. So this must be taken into account.

4) The effect of well maintained showrooms, proper uniform, etc. on customer satisfaction N=104
No.of Respondents 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 25% 14% 10% 1% 50%

Most of the customers agree that there should be proper uniform, well maintained showrooms. The chart clearly shows that customers generally feel that Services Cape (i.e., well maintained showrooms, proper uniform of employees, etc) have some effect on customer satisfaction. About 75% of the respondents either strongly agree or agree that there should be a proper uniform for the employees. It will have a positive effect on the customer satisfaction. Only 14% of respondents remained neutral while as 11% said it doesnt have any effect on customer satisfaction.

5) Grades to Airtel for Services Cape (i.e., well maintained showrooms, proper uniform of employees, etc).

N=104
No. of Respondents 50 40 30 20 10 0 38% 42%

14% 1% Excellent Good Average

Grades

5% Very Poor

Poor

About 14% of the respondents grade the Airtel in terms of its showrooms and uniform of employees as excellent, 38% as good, 42% as average, 1% as poor and 5% as very poor. It means that 52% of the customers grade Airtel from excellent to good and rest graded Airtel from average to poor. It means that there is a lot of scope for improvement in this area.

6) Understandability of subscription Enrollment Form

40 35 No.of Respondents 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Very Easy 31%

N=104 33% 29%

6% 1% Somewhat Easy Normal Somewhat Complex VeryComplex

31% of the respondents said that subscription enrollment form is very easy to understand while 33% said it is somewhat easy. 29% said it is normal. Only 1% and 1% said it is complex and very complex respectively. But what we see at the showrooms of the Airtel that majority of the customers dont fill in their forms by themselves, instead it is filled in by the showroom employees on behalf of customers and whenever customers fill their forms themselves they often keep some portion unfilled. It means that the customers find it difficult to understand some portion of SEF but didnt reveal the same when asked because of some reason best understood by them.

7) Activation time

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

N=104
34% 19% 7%

40%

No.of Respondents

Immediately

1-2 Days

2-4 Days

Activation Time

More than 4 Days

About 7% of the respondents said that their SIM was activated immediately. 19% of the respondents said it took about 1-2 days for them to get the SIM activated, 34% said 2-4 days and 40% said more than 4 days. 8) Mode of Recharge

N=104
No.of Respondents 50 40 30 20 10 0 Recharge Coupon Easy recharge 18% 37%

45%

Both

18% of the respondents used Recharge Coupons for the recharging of their SIM while as 37% of the respondents recharge their SIM through Easy Recharge and 45% use both.it means that 63% of the respondents use Recharge Coupons.

9) Availability of Recharge Coupon

N=66
No. of Respondents 50 40 30 20 10 0 Often Sometimes Rarely 9% 0% Never 59% 32%

Availability of Recharge Coupons 59% of the respondents said that Recharge Coupons are often available, 32% said sometimes and 9% said rarely. 10) Availability of Recharge Coupon of Different Denomination

N=66
No. of Respondents 40 30 20 10 0 Often Sometimes Rarely Never Availability of Different Denomination 8% 2% 51% 39%

From among those who said that Recharge Coupons are available, 51% said that different denominations are also often available, 39% said sometimes, 8% said rarely and 2% said never.

11) Denomination Mostly Not Available

N=32
No. of Respondents 20 15 10 5 0 Rs. 200 Rs.350 Rs. 540 Other Recharge Coupon 25% 9% 9% 57%

Among those who said different denominations are not available, 57% of the respondents said that Rs. 200 denomination is mostly unavailable, 25% said that Rs. 350 denomination is mostly unavailable, 9% said Rs. 540 denomination is mostly unavailable and 9% said other denominations are not available. 12) Feeling of being Over Charged

N=104
No. of respondents 80 60 40 20 0 Often Sometimes Rarely Never 7% 11% 16% 66%

7% of the respondents feel that they are often being over charged (i.e., more value gets deducted from the recharge than actually should as per call duration)11% feel that they are being over charged, 16% feel rarely and 66% feel that they are never being over charged.

13) Knowledge about the charges of value added services (VAS)

N=104
No. of Respondents 80 60 40 20 0 No Yes 29% 71%

29% of the respondents didnt know the charges of VAS while 71% of the respondents were aware of the charges. The unawareness of the charges of the VAS may result in some problems like feeling of being over charged by customers. This is because they use the VAS without knowing about the charges of it and when they find the amount deducted from their recharge they feel they are being over charged. 14) Source of information about charges of VAS N=74
No. of Respondents 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 75%

22% 3% SMS from Airtel Friends and Colleagues After deducted from recharge

75% of the respondents came to know about the charges of VAS from SMS sent to them while 3% from friends and colleagues and rest of the 22% came to know about it only after it was deducted from recharge. The problem is more with the customers who didnt know the charges before the amount gets deducted from recharge. Most of the customers who feel that they are over charged belong to this category.

15) Usage of VAS even after knowing the charges of VAS

N=74
No. of Respondents 40 30 20 10 0 Often Sometimes Rarely Never 12% 9% 49% 30%

About 49% of the customers even after knowing about the charges of VAS used it often while 12% and 9% used it sometimes and rarely respectively and rest of the 30% never used it. A good percentage of customers still used VAS even after knowing its charges.

16) Mostly contacted query/request/complaint resolution centre by customers

N = 104

12% 14%

Only Customer Care Only Connect

74%

Both Customer Care and Connect

74% of the customers complained to only Customer Care and 14% to only Connect and 12% to both Customer Care and Connect. The high percentage at Customer Care may be because customers feel it more convenient and some even didnt know that they can lodge their complaints at Connect also.

17) Behavior of employees with the customers when customers lodge their complaint N = 104
70 60 No. of Respondents 50 40 30 20 10 0
52% 11% 6% 23% 3% 7% 7% 26% 65%

Customer Care Connect

0%

Very Polite Somewhat Niether Som ewhat Very Rude Polite Polite Nor Rude Rude

At Customer Care: Among those who call customer care for complaints, most of the respondents (65%) feel that Customer Care Executives treat them very politely, 26% said their behavior remains somewhat polite, 6% feel it is neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 3% said Customer Care Executives are somewhat rude and none said they were very rude. At Connect: Among those who visits connect for complaints, 52% said they are very polite, 11% said somewhat polite, 23% said neither polite nor rude, 7% said somewhat rude and 7% said very rude.

18) Time taken to solve the problem. N = 104

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

65%

No. of Respondents

Customer Care Connect

56%

15% 10% 11% 22% 8% 11% More than 1 week 2% 0%

Immediately

Few Hours

Few Days

Never Resolved

At Customer Care: About 65% of the respondents who call Customer Care said their problem get solved immediately, 15% said it took Few Hours for them to solve their problem, 10% said Few Days, 8% said More than 1 week and 10% said their problem was never resolved. The problems which were never resolved were mostly network related. At Connect: 56% customers said the problem is immediately solved, 11% said it took Few Hours, 22% said Few Days, 11% said More than 1 week while none said it was never resolved. The problems which are not solved are same as above.

19) No. of visits to these places by customers before problem gets resolved

N = 104

70 No. of Respondents 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Once Twice Thrice More than 3 times

59% 11% 11% 7% 8% 16% 22% Customer Care Connect 66%

At Customer Care: 66% of the respondents said they have to call only once before problem gets resolved, 11% said twice, 7% said thrice, 16% said more than 3 times. Again the problems are network related, interconnectivity with Cell-One, etc. At Connect: 59% said they have to visit only once for the problem, 11% said twice, 8% thrice and 22% said more than 3 times.

20) Help provided by customer care/ connect employees

N = 104
60 50 No. of respondents 40 30 20 10 11% 0 Often Sometimes Rarely Never 67% 19% 9% 4% 11% 18% 61%

Customer Care Connect

At Customer Care: 61% of the respondents who call Customer Care said the employees there often extends help to customers in resolving their problem, 19% said sometimes, 9% said rarely and 11% said they never extends any sought of help to customers. . At Connect: 67% of respondents who visit Connect for their problem said the employees at connect often extends help to customers in resolving their problem, 11% said sometimes, 4% said rarely and 18% said they never extends any sought of help to customers.

21) Overall satisfaction with Airtel.

N = 104
70

No. of Respondents

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

56%

29%

8% 2%
Highly Satisfied Somewhat Satisfied Neither Somewhat Satisfied Nor Dissatisfied Dissatisfied

5%
Highly Dissatisfied

56% of the respondents are highly satisfied with Airtel Prepaid service, 29% are somewhat satisfied, 8% neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 2% somewhat dissatisfied and 5% highly dissatisfied. This implies that most of the customers are satisfied with Airtel Prepaid service.

FINDINGS ON THE BASIS OF INTERVIEW METHOD

During the personal interview with the respondents certain other facts came into light which otherwise was not available from questionnaires. 1. Most of the customers are not satisfied with the Promotional SMS sent by the Airtel. 2. Most of the customers get irritated by too many calls from Customer Care regarding payment of bill. 3. Some customers also complaint that customer care executives are not fully informed about there own system. They should be properly educated about their system. Sometimes the customers get some information through SMS from Airtel but customer care executives were not having any information about that SMS. 4. Some of the customers also questioned about the credit limit. According to them there connection was disconnected without any intimation as soon as their bill amount was equal to their credit limit. 5. A large number of customers are not happy with Airtel only because of no network coverage in their areas (far flung areas of Kashmir valley) otherwise they are highly satisfied with Airtel. 6. A number of customers also said that they face problems in getting duplicate SIMs as these are mostly unavailable at different connects and they have to roam through different connects to get duplicate SIM. 7. Most of the customers also complained about the automated bill enquiry system. According to them the system shows the wrong figures. This problem is basically because the system does not give the updated information about the bill.

FINDING THROUGH OBSERVATION TECHNIQUE

While collecting data from customers on connects I also observed certain things related to showrooms and its employees. 1. Mobile charging units are kept at the places not accessible to customers except for Kupwara connect. 2. There was no seating arrangement for the customers in the postpaid section of the Sopore connect. 3. The Connect employees at various Connects in Srinagar sent customers from one Connect to another, if problem cannot be solved at that particular Connect, without confirming whether problem can be solved at any other Connect or not. The end result of this is that customer has to roam around all the Connects to check where his problem can be solved. 4. The employees at Karan Nagar Connect were not able to handle the huge customer inflow. It is probably because of its understaffed nature. 5. The sales people mostly promoted those products which prima facie appears to be price efficient but involves other related cost. They never bother to suggest the right plan to customers as per their usage. This is because they want the sales to take place and the customer also doesnt bother to go into the details of the plan and to choose the right plan for him. This creates the problem for the Airtel in subsequent stages of customer life cycle. 6. There are two systems through which we can see the bill position. In one system we get more updated information than other. When the customer used both the systems he get conflicting figures and he feels that the system is not working well without having any knowledge about that one is more updated and other is not that updated.

CONCLUSION

The data gathered through the survey reveals that customers generally are satisfied with the Airtel. This is evident from the fact that about 85% of the prepaid customers are satisfied with Airtel from moderate to large extent while as in postpaid, 65% of the customers fall in this category. The customers, instead of having so many problems with Airtel, are satisfied because of the fact that the network of Airtel was operating even during the critical conditions in Kashmir valley (during snow tsunami and major earth quack in northern Kashmir). The data gathered reveals that the quality service provided by Airtel is core competence of Airtel in Kashmir valley and it has to work further on it to maintain this competence. The data gathered also revealed that the areas where Airtel is lacking is its Services Cape (uniform of employees, proper signage at showrooms, etc.), the general feeling among customers of being over-billed/overcharged, and lack of knowledge on part of customers about the charges of value added services, bills not received on time by the majority of customers, lack of network coverage in various areas, non availability of ABC Coupons and Recharge coupons of different denomination especially Rs 200 denomination in both cases, interconnectivity problem with Cell-One, temptation of sales people to sell those products which prima facie appears to be good without looking into the fact whether it is really good for customer or not, non availability of duplicate SIMs, use of two different systems of bill enquiry system which give two different figures at the same time, customer care executives not having full information about their own system and many more. In order to keep the customers satisfied these problems should be solved. Customers are expecting much from Airtel and Airtel has to give them more than that so that they will be not only satisfied but delighted.

SUGGESTIONS
1. The Airtel should give proper attention to Services Cape i.e., the employees should have proper uniform so that they will be easily distinguished from others. The mobile charging units should be placed at the places in showrooms easily accessible to customers and if possible make arrangements to keep mobile charging units in some restaurants and other public parks as part of promotional campaign. 2. The over billing/overcharging problem can be solved by making people aware of the fact that there is no human interaction in bill generation system. This can be done through informative advertisements. 3. If possible the Airtel should make the arrangements for sending daily SMSs to customers regarding their usage on that day with opening balance and details about the usage on that particular day and the closing balance free of cost or at a menial charge. It can help in solving two problems. First, it can help in changing the customers perception of over billing as it will remain in their mind how much they have used their mobile for that day. Otherwise when bills are sent to them after one month it gets away of their mind that they have called certain numbers and they feel that they are being charged for the calls they have not made. Second, the customers wont need bills as they can get the details every day and the problem of bills not received can be solved to a large extent. If the service will be charged then it should be provided at the option of customer and it should be made sure that customer knows that the service is being charged. 4. The customer should be made aware that the value added services are being charged. Otherwise they use VAS without knowing its charges and as a result when customer receives the bill he feels that there are hidden charges involved and Airtel is cheating the customers. In the long run such perception of customers regarding Airtel will be detrimental for its brand image and when the competition will come in it will be very difficult for the Airtel to retain its customers. So it is better to make customers aware of the charges of VAS and keep it fully up to the customer whether he wants to use VAS or not.

5. The Airtel should have more control on bill delivery system so that the bills should be dispatched to every customer on time and it should also make sure that the bills are delivered on proper address only. The agency for bill delivery system should be evaluated on the basis of number of complaints received on the bills not received and it should be reflected in deciding about their service charges. 6. As already mentioned the competitive advantage of Airtel in J&K is its quality service (technical quality) so it should make arrangements to continuously improve it so that it will be well ahead of its competitors. For that it should improve its network coverage in far flung areas. 7. The recharge coupons and ABC coupons of all denomination should be made available at all of its showrooms so that the customer should not face the difficulty at any stage. Also it should be made sure that duplicate SIMs are available at all connects. 8. The management should continue the dialogue process with the management of Cell One for the improvement of interconnectivity between the two. 9. The arrangements should be made for the training program of the sales people to teach them which plan is suitable for which customer. They should not only attract the customer but should make sure that the customer will remain with the organization for the whole life time. This can be done only when the sales people will be able to suggest right plan to the customer. 10. There should not be the two different systems of bill enquiry systems especially when both of them give two different figures at the same time. Either there should be only one system which will give more updated information. Or if both the systems will remain there then customers should be well educated about both the systems. Otherwise this also will create the problem in shape of customer perception of being over billed.

11. At last I suggest the Airtel to develop a true customer responsive culture in the whole organization in its soul and spirit if it wants to maintain and even improve its current position in the industry as in this world of tough competition only those organizations will survive who know the art of delighting its customers.