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Finnish mobile phone operators 2006 according to the EPSI Rating Customer Satisfaction Study

¢ Mobile phone operators' customer satisfaction all time low in Finland
¢ The highest satisfaction scores this year to Saunalahti and Kolumbus
¢ Customers' loyalty to their current operator is increasing
¢ Half of the Finnish mobile phone customers have concentrated all their telephone services into a single company
¢ Complaining customers are more satisfied and much more loyal than non-complaining customers
¢ Women prefer bundling a subscription and a phone together
¢ Finland stands alone with its downward trend in customer satisfaction

These are some of the results from the latest EPSI Rating study concerning private customers' satisfaction with their mobile phone operators in Finland. The same study was also conducted in Sweden and Norway and in all Baltic countries. The interviews were done in September 2006.

In the EPSI study, customer satisfaction index is the most central measurement. It can take values between 0 and 100 where 100 means that all customers are very satisfied. However, other measurements are included as well. These are known as important drivers and consist of company images, customer expectations, product and service quality, value for money. These drivers together with customer satisfaction result in customer loyalty. The mobile operator market was measured for the first time in Finland in 1999.

 
Customer satisfaction all time low in Finland

Finnish mobile operators' private customers' satisfaction with their operators' was 69.2 (on scale 0-100). Satisfaction has decreased from last year by 0.4 points and from year 1999 by 4.4 index points.

In this study, the customers evaluated a mobile telephone service for domestic purposes (not supplied by or paid for by your employer). The results concerning private customers' satisfaction with different operator brands are presented below.

The best satisfaction scores this year to Saunalahti and Kolumbus

The best satisfaction scores were given to the group "Other brands". The group includes such "smaller" brands as Saunalahti and Kolumbus. Their common customer satisfaction index was 72.0. It has increased from last year by 1.9 index points. The number of observations in the study was not high enough that precise separate indexes could be calculated for Saunalahti or Kolumbus.

Among the "bigger" brands, the best scores were still given to DNA. However from last year, its satisfaction score has dropped by 1.3 points. Elisa, on the other hand, has increased its customer satisfaction index from last year by 1.0 points. Sonera's index has dropped by 1.7 points and is now the lowest 67.5.

When the reasons for the differences in private customers' satisfaction with their mobile phone operators are examined, it seems that all providers are suffering from low corporate images, especially Sonera. Concerning operators' technical quality, all providers seem to work technically well enough. However, operators' customer service is not good at any of the providers.
The biggest difference among operators in private customers' eyes seems to come from the pricing issues. For their value for money, the small operators received a reasonably good index (76.2). In contrast, Sonera received the lowest index (65.6) for its pricing from its private customers.

Customers' loyalty to their current operator increasing

Although, mobile operators' private customers' satisfaction has decreased from last year, their loyalty index has increased. It indicates that customers do not want to change their operator as directly as earlier. The results concerning private customers' loyalty indexes to different operator brands are presented below.

Last year, private customers' loyalty index was 69.3 and is now 70,8. However, mobile phone customers' loyalty index is still much lower than, for example, customers' loyalty to their own bank (79.7). DNA seems to have the most loyal private mobile phone customers in Finland (76.0). Elisa has also increased it private customer loyalty considerably, although its loyalty index is still much lower than DNA's (71.4). Sonera seems to be the only operator whose private customers' loyalty index has slightly decreased from last year.

51 % of Finnish mobile phone customers have concentrated their telephone services into one company

Totally 51 % of Finnish households have concentrated all their private mobile, fixed line, and broadband connections into the same telephone operator. Among operators, Elisa has managed to catch the highest share of those customers who have concentrated all their private telephone services under one brand.

Complaining customers are much more satisfied than those who do not bother to complain

Totally, 22 per cent of the Finnish mobile phones owners said that, during the last year, they have had at least one reason to complain to their operator. However, 43 % of them did not bother to complain.

Interestingly, those customers who complained to their operator were much more satisfied with their operators than those customers, who did not make an effort to complain. Those customers who complained gave their operator 3.4 higher satisfaction indexes than those, who did not bother to complain. The difference was even more dramatic in the loyalty indexes. Those who complained gave their operator 7.1 higher loyalty index units than those who did not complain.

The share of customers, who did not bother to complain, although they had a reason for that, was the highest in Sonera 13.9 %, in Elisa 9.6 % and in DNA 7.2 % of all customers.

The scores of complaint handling ranged from 1 (extremely poor) to 10 (extremely well). The average score for the complaints handling was 6,1. DNA received the lowest score for its complaint handling 4.6.

Women prefer to buy a mobile phone and a subscription together

The Finnish mobile phone owners were asked how important they see that they will get a discount on a mobile phone, when they are buying a new mobile subscription. The scale ranged from 1 "not at all important" to 10 "very important". 

Finnish customers did not see it would be very important for them. The average score for all respondents was only 6.3. Interestingly, for women it was more important, than it was for men. There were no significant differences in this matter among the customers of different operators, neither among the owners of different mobile phone brands.

 
Customer Satisfaction in the Nordic Countries

The mobile operator sector was also examined in the other Scandinavian countries and in the Baltic countries. In Lithuania and Latvia, mobile operators have the most satisfied customers. Finland is the only country where customer satisfaction has a three year downward trend.

The EPSI study

The data for the research was gathered by telephone interviews. The respondents were asked to evaluate the mobile operator they use. The respondents were selected by randomization procedures to participate to the research. Totally 250 respondents we interviewed from each major operator.

This research is part of European Customer Satisfaction Research, EPSI Rating. It is coordinated by the Swedish Institute of Quality and the Stockholm School of Economics. European quality organizations are also backing the research. In Sweden, the same methodology has been in use since the year 1984, and it already covers a major portion of the Swedish economy.

In Finland as well, it is the intention to gradually expand the research to cover the Finnish economy. In a few weeks, the results from broadband operators will be released. After that, studies on insurance companies, supermarket chains, "do-it-yourself" chains, and electricity companies will be released. The research is coordinated in Finland by Dr. Juhani Kuokkanen.

For additional information, please contact:

Dr. Juhani Kuokkanen phone: +358 40 5093401, e-mail: juhani.kuokkanen@epsi-finland.org
Professor Jan Eklöf  phone: +46 7069 64185, e-mail: jan.eklof@epsi-rating.com
Dr. Johan Parmler phone: Tel.: +46 8736 92 47, e-mail: johan.parmler@epsi-rating.com