As telcos flex to meet changing customer needs, innovation is helping empower employees

I recently read an article from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) highlighting innovation in the telco space. This passage really stuck with me:

“Telecommunications companies?have been the unlikely, and unsung, backbone of the fight against the economic paralysis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as the demand for voice and data communications has risen to unprecedented levels, telcos have responded with urgency, technological savvy, and purpose, providing a dependable lifeline for communications—particularly wireless and internet connectivity.”

From the work I see our customers doing in the space, this rang very true to me. Like almost every sector, telcos have doubled down on their digital journeys to stay a step ahead of customer demands. A key part of this has been ensuring technology is maximizing the potential of their employees.

This means not only helping them be more effective at their jobs, but also decreasing strain and promoting balance. A focus on making every day processes simpler is a key way to do this. And technology has an important role to play here.

Empowering in-store managers and associates with data

In Sweden, Telia is a major telecoms player.?Out of a population of 10 million people, about six million Swedes subscribe to the company’s mobile services. In moving to the cloud, the company saw a major opportunity to improve the in-store customer experience while improving the working lives of retail managers and sales associates.

In connecting?Dynamics 365?with its existing SAP system, Telia was able to bring its data together and ensure employees had all of the insights they needed, right at their fingertips.?

“Our legacy POS [point of sales] systems only had order lines and rows…[now] staff have a well-designed UI with product information, images, specifications, related products, and all of the business rules within the system.”? - Andreas Str?m, Product Owner at Telia

For example, the company updated its POS technology to allow associates to easily access relevant and compelling propositions for customers in real-time. This makes the in-store purchasing process faster – but also ensures staff can better anticipate customers’ needs and wants.

In addition, store managers can gain insights from sales data, presented in an accessible, visual way. This sort of real time data helps them optimize things like inventory and promotional offers. Again, helping ensure they are as aligned to their customers’ needs as possible – while also giving managers time back in their day. This is the use of technology that drives me forward in my everyday work: empowering people to concentrate on things that matter the most!

Revolutionizing customer care

Finland’s Nokia needs little introduction. With approximately 100,000 employees in 130 countries, it is one of the world’s largest telcos. Its Care Program Management team – which sits within the Nokia Mobile Networks division– has had a long-standing belief in the power of data to continually improve customers’ experience.

The issue?

Analyzing data from their everyday work and putting it into a report with clear, actionable insights was time-consuming and put a real strain on employees. ?As part of a larger initiative to support citizen developers, the team was empowered to create its own app to help tackle the grunt work. Now, the performance reports that used to take two weeks to prepare can be done in 20 minutes.

This means the team can use data more effectively to spot challenges and opportunities around customer service. And moving forwards, pre-emptively manage customer challenges and opportunities to further improve customers’ experience. Just as important, it helps these staff members maintain balance in their lives. ??

It is important to note that this use case is just one of almost 90 low-code apps they have created in-house. People across all divisions of the business are able to drive their own innovations that ultimately make employees’ jobs more impactful, rewarding and enjoyable.

“The same people building the apps in Microsoft Power Platform all have direct experience as Care Program Managers. They already know what dots need to be connected.” - Samir Sahay, Program Manager at Nokia Care Program Management

Over the years, I’ve spoken with countless business leaders who wonder about the best first steps to take when they are thinking about digitizing a business process or function. My advice is always start with where you can offer more value to customers and how you can best empower your employees to deliver that value.?

If you start with these broader challenges and opportunities and then think about how technology and data can help, you’ll always be on track. These examples definitely speak to this, and I hope provide a little inspiration!

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