We might be better known nowadays for our broadband offer, but TalkTalk started in 2003 as a home phone company offering significant savings for customers over BT. While our business and our offer has evolved since then, offering phone services to millions of our customers is still at the heart of what we do.
The latest data from Ofcom, the regulator for the telecoms industry, has some interesting stats. It found that there were 9% fewer calls by the end of 2008 compared to the end of 2007. That might not sound like much, but it equates to a drop of some 3.4 billion minutes over the period.
So to get a better understanding of the role that landline plays in the lives of UK consumers, and how this is changing, we recently undertook some research of our own with landline users. We asked them to keep a diary of their outgoing communications from home over the period of a week. We wanted to see what sorts of calls they made and what other communications tools they used to keep in touch with friends and family, work and just generally manage their everyday lives.
We learned some pretty interesting things:
*People are confused about the cost of a call from a landline to a mobile phone, with some customers wildly overestimating the cost.
*Instant messaging tools like MSN Messenger and social networking tools like Facebook are being used to expand people’s “communications circles” – and are changing the number and types of calls being made from home phones. While you may not have want to call that long-lost classmate on their landline, you may be willing to say hi by posting on their Facebook wall.
*Others expressed scepticism about “line rental”, the monthly fee that customers pay to their provider. Some people felt that it is often just a fee that “gives them the privilege” of paying the landline provider more money, and feel there is nothing included for the price.
*Others value the landline as their link to the outside world and particularly to their family. Some of the people we spoke to will make calls to their parent’s home, for instance, just for a chat with whoever answers.
*The mobile phone with its convenient built-in address book is the first choice for some customers when they are making a call – even when they are at home – because “no one remembers telephone numbers anymore”.
The research project was fascinating for us and we have already set about using the lessons we learned during it to feed into how we market our current products and which new ones we develop.
One example springs to mind straight away. The scepticism toward the line rental cost, for instance, means we have been clearer to our customers about what is included in that monthly fee. Since May 1st 2009, all local calls (which equate to 7 out of 10 calls made by TalkTalk customers) are now included in the £11.25 monthly line rental fee. And from June 1st all calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers – which could run as high as 10p per minute – are also included.
We believe this, and other initiatives we have planned, will help maintain the role of the home phone as a very important tool for our customers. It’s definitely one we will continue to focus on, so watch this space…
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ijvass@tiscali.co.uk
TalkTalk Blog Team