Arelion, which used to be Telia Carrier before Telia Company sold it off to pension fund investors, said that 32% of business leaders admit that over half of their decision-making process is based on emotional response or “gut feel” when choosing a network provider.
And network buyers might be working on the leading edge of technology, but they link to be able to phone their network supplier. What Arelion calls “a resounding 84% of decision-makers” said they should be able to speak with a customer services person “without using chatbots or automated phone lines”.
In the US, 90% of leaders were adamant about this, ahead of UK, French, and German counterparts. And they want the first contact is with someone who is technically qualified to solve their problem.
Andy Everest (pictured), Arelion’s VP for procurement and service delivery, said: “Overall, this research provides valuable insights into what enterprise leaders are experiencing in terms of network and service quality. It gives a clear steer on what they are looking for, which ultimately comes down to their network provider delivering quality – in its broadest sense.”
Decision-makers in the US are particularly driven by emotion, with 46% attributing over half of their decision-making processes to it.
The survey was conducted in the US, UK, France and Germany, and Arelion says the report provides insights into how enterprise leaders assess the quality of their network providers, and the services they offer.
Quality, in a network services sense, “is a broad and somewhat intangible concept”, says Arelion. The company notes that, while, for most leaders, network quality is a given – with SLAs acting as a key safety net – it does not define or capture all the qualities that matter to decision makers.
Everest said: “The challenge for network buyers is that a true evaluation of network service quality goes beyond a simple comparison of performance KPIs and business leaders need to make an assessment of several less tangible attributes that contribute to a compelling customer experience.”
Business leaders rank trustworthiness, professionalism and experience as the top reasons for selecting a network operator, said Arelion. Nearly two-thirds said communication is more important to them when choosing a network provider, with 36% putting speed first.
