In crowded and commoditized markets, customer experience is typically the best form of differentiation. Organizations that prioritize CX outperform their competitors through higher retention and referral rates, greater customer lifetime value and lower operating costs.
However, although it enables the round-the-clock digital connectivity that has become essential to all aspects of modern life, the telecoms sector finds itself being treated like a utility rather than a collection of unique brands with differentiated product and service offerings.
And when customers only reach out due to network outages or billing queries, telcos have few opportunities to proactively engage, build relationships or leverage CX as a value driver.
When short-term customer bonds are weak, competition is intense, and industry regulations make it easy for customers to switch providers, telcos are often compelled to balance investments in their long-term CX strategies with aggressive short-term customer acquisition efforts.
However, without the right incentives, training, and a data-driven strategy to prevent high-pressure tactics or excessive outreach, acquisition campaigns can erode rather than elevate brand perception. Even with the best data and insights, sales teams are ultimately limited to qualifying and converting leads.
To successfully differentiate and drive growth, telcos need to leverage the power of CX — a fact reinforced by these compelling insights:
- 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience in telecom.
- Successful experience-led growth strategies can boost wallet share by 15% to 25%.
- Only 46% of tech and telecom companies have customer-first cultures, focusing more on external factors than on customers when building CX strategies.
Make sales central to CX in telecoms
As a leading German telecom brand recently discovered, there is a way to drive sales without damaging brand perception — making sales and marketing central to customer experience delivery.
Because if sales are defined as both driving revenue and adding value, then contact center agents are the ultimate salespeople. By understanding and meeting a customer’s needs, agents have the power to reduce churn, turn detractors into advocates, and, when they have the right insights at their disposal, seize every opportunity to upsell, cross-sell and actively increase lifetime value.
To achieve this, the brand implemented a comprehensive strategy that focused on leveraging customer insights and supporting agents at every step. The key components of this approach included:
- Analyzing customer behavior and histories to build personas and identify needs.
- Aligning needs to specific products, services, or upgrades and developing tailored sales and engagement approaches.
- Coaching agents to build confidence and increase engagement, with ongoing support from managers and HR throughout the campaign.
- Constantly fine-tuning all elements of the approach through real-time performance data and customer feedback.
- Tying agent performance and incentives to both sales conversion rates and NPS scores to ensure the approach remained customer centric.
Doubling sales without damaging brand perception
Within three months of the initiative’s rollout, sales conversion rates doubled, rising from 3.09% to 7.2%, and cancellation rates dropped from 29% to 14%. Within 12 months, gross margin increased from 3.3% to 30.8% and, critically, NPS rose from 44 to 61.
Consultative upselling, when rooted in genuine customer insight and supported by empowered, well-trained agents, offers a sustainable solution to the unique challenges of the telecommunications sector.
By focusing on meaningful conversations rather than transactional interactions, agents can unlock their full human potential — building trust, understanding needs, and delivering tailored recommendations that drive value for both the customer and the business. Through ongoing coaching, data-driven refinement, and a dual focus on sales and customer experience, it is possible to overcome market saturation and brand commoditization without compromising CX.
Discover the full success story behind how this financial services leader turned sales conversations into a value driver.