Problem Statement
Bill shock can have several causes: unforeseen roaming charges, grossly overusing apps leading to excessive data allowances, or customer misunderstanding of service terms and conditions. Regardless of its cause, it is always perceived as an unpleasant experience and negatively impacts the telco’s relationship with the customer. From the telco’s perspective, this can be problematic too. Sometimes, the operator needs to significantly reduce these unexpectedly high fees or even waive them to avoid damaging their brand’s image.
Use Case Overview
This use case aims to protect consumers from negative experiences arising from a bill shock. Customers will receive relevant content and properly timed communications: warnings about predicted excessive data usage, reminders about ending promotions, additional overseas charges – allowing them to stay within their budget and avoid bill shock. Powerful insights from the customer’s usage consumption patterns could also be used to identify other cross- or upsell opportunities for that customer. For instance, a heavy social media user would benefit from social data plans recommendations or a frequent traveler from roaming plans.
Solution Approach
Experiences sent to each customer will vary based on the type of telco services they use. The ‘journey’ of a postpaid will differ from that of a prepaid user or an overseas leisure traveler versus a business traveler. NGDATA’s Intelligent Engagement Platform (IEP) continually listens to each customer’s interactions and sends out the relevant experiences if a potential “bill shock” trigger is detected. This trigger could be set off if a customer has used 90% of the monthly data limit, changed their location overseas without any roaming plan activated, etc. It also generates insights into the customer’s usage and consumption patterns, subsequently triggering personalized experiences to advise customers on how to mitigate a potential bill shock, along with the best subscription upgrade options, so customers do not feel like their actions are limited.
