Bill Shock Is an Unnecessary Evil

Bill Shock is so common that there is, sadly, a Wikipedia definition of the term. Regulators from New Zealand to New Hampshire, Auckland to Atlanta have been spending time thinking about how best to protect customers from this situation and across the world are taking action. The most recent move comes from the FCC, who in concert with the CTIA have produced a timetable by which telcos must introduce notifications to their customers. These notifications cover data usage limits and roaming alerts.  

Stories of customers receiving huge, unexpected phone bills are commonplace (such as here and here). While the regulators are pushing operators to provide advice of charge to customers, so they can have a full understanding of the price before buying, telco pricing plans are not always easy to completely understand.

Pricing has historically been driven by a complexity curve. Telcos have differentiated themselves by bundling their offerings so that it is hard to compare prices with other providers. This works until customers get frustrated and suddenly simplicity is in itself a differentiator. With the decline of flat rate plans, complexity is now in danger of creeping back in.

It is, however, no excuse. Bill Shock gives customers a bad experience and immediately leads to bad press for the company. With the emergence of real-time charging and analytics, new differentiators are possible.

Telcos must not wait to be forced into doing something about Bill Shock, but must do it right. There is a need for speed and with real-time access to almost everything that customers are doing, the opportunities are only limited by the imagination of the customer service and marketing teams. The means of communicating in real-time with their customers is here, now.

A more positive message is not only better for the customer experience, it is better company policy. Instead of 'throttling' customers, telcos should give them the option to increase their allowance during the month, if the increased usage is a 'one-off,' or allow them to review their communications package, with recommendations that allow them to avoid excessive charges.

Mobile industry professional, Glenn Pingul of Globys, recently said that the difference between customer care and customer service is that customer care is what you do when you screw up and customer service is what you (should) do, day to day. The goal then, is to improve customer service and reduce customer care. Armed with relevant information and real-time speed, the potential to radically enhance the customer experience is here, now. But what are the barriers to success for the industry?