Innovative Product Management Driving Enhanced Customer Experience Management (CEM)

Customer Experience Management (CEM) has been a buzzword in both 'demand' and 'supply' side dynamics of the Telecom value chain. However emphasis is being given around CEM, it never feels just enough! Telecom ISP's are looking to generate more awareness of revenue generation and realization, so that it not only is about the increase of top line but also about consolidation of various products and services, almost being an aggregator at one stage to deliver with the help of a single service delivery platform. In other words, what is commonly known as 'VAS-Value added services' in the industry. The key to this is real 'innovation', of newer ideas and productizing these concepts to market. For innovative product management, Telcos are opting to look for 'value added' services, 'value added' delivery as well as enhanced business models and operational frameworks. This is primarily done to carve out an innovation which leads to a differentiator non-existent in the market. A very common, yet unique one such concept can be the 'Balanced Scorecard' perspective and mapping these different perspectives into various domains of a Telecom business. These are obviously very common in present days and widely used by all Telcos to arrive at a definitive decision for any strategic cause. It can be mapped to perspectives ranging from 'financial', 'customer-centricity and 'orientation', internal process management, functionality&delivery, lastly 'internal learning & growth'.

We need to understand the context of 'innovation' of 'products&services' under all of these above perspectives. This will give us immense clarity in creating such a differentiated offering to render enhanced Customer experience for better sustainability and thus thriving on market competition. Each layer of a Telco enterprise set up follows specific blueprint, whether it's the business or operations or technology. This will ensure that all company strategies which are focused towards creating and delivering differentiated offerings and delivery are being realized appropriately hence the delta of perception versus reality is minimized to a great extent. This would definitely increase 'customer experience' in all possible forms. Product life cycle management which forms the heart of CEM, should be certainly driven by 'cost of sale' as well as 'price of product'. Both of these parameters should be populated through a Balanced scorecard from a financial perspective to decide on a 'go-no go' decision for concepts to be marketed in a Telco. These need to be realized through specific derivatives of business processes following best practices to ensure enhanced customer experience and better delivery of services to the end customer. Perhaps, the most important perspective of creating a balanced scorecard matrix will be the 'customer centricity' perspective. Two fundamental aspects which drive this would be 'price' and 'quality'. Both of these should be focused on to deliver 'value augmentation'. The difference between what becomes a product or a service 'asset' with regards to what transforms into a 'liability' is this value differentiation through the process described. This leads to customer 'delight' or a differentiated customer 'experience' thus enhanced CEM.