INTRODUCTION

Marketing is the art of creating, satisfying customers by meeting

the needs of customers and by creating value satisfaction for them. As

Peter Drucker says “the essence of marketing is that the entire

business has to be seen from the point given of the customer”.

However, customers face a vast array of product and brand choices

prices, supplies and to understand the needs and preferences of the

customers it becomes imperative for us to carry out research together

information.

We believe that customers estimate which offer will deliver the

most value to them and which will deliver and maximize value, within

the bounds of research costs and limited knowledge, mobility, and

income they form an expectation of value and act on it. Whether or not

the offer lives up to the value expectation affects both purchase and

repurchase probability.

The purpose of any Marketing research is to provide information

at a specific time on customer, trade, competition and the future

brands, so as to enable marketers to formulate successful strategies in

their quest for customers mind share and market share.

The research helps the marketers to find out the attributes and

variable that influence the customers behaviour towards a given

product offering and it shapes the attitudes of the customers favorably

towards a specific product, thus by analyzing these undertones the

researcher can find out the levels of customer satisfaction, and the

results of the marketing research can help the marketers to analyse

the weak spots in their marketing strategies and can reformulate their

strategies so that they can satisfy their customers and maximize their

brand loyalty and profitability.

NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY

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From the days of industrial revolution when goods & services

were produced to the present day, the emphasis has shifted from the

producers to the consumer and his needs, and with the consumer

becoming more involved, in the marketing process there is greater

need for information regarding the consumer needs. Preferences and

making them satisfied of the products & services, has led to a constant

but increasing need to conduct marketing research.

This research is an insight into the mind of the consumer, with

the help of which the organizations will become aware of their pitfalls

and in turn can also make improvements in the product regarding the

level of satisfaction of the consumers towards their offerings in the

market place.

The Telecom industry is highly competitive in nature and due to

rapid advancements in the field of technology. Land line phones have

become redundant and the shift is clearly towards cellular services. As

such there has been a greater need to conduct market research

studies. Since no risks can be entertained with regard to the

satisfaction of the people. Hence the need to constantly monitor the

changing preferences, attitudes of the consumers becomes that much

more necessary.

The basic need of this project is to know the”Satisfaction”

amongst the respondents, with regard to “Tata Indicom” services and

its products.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

1) To study the “Customer Satisfaction” amongst the users of

“Tata Indicom” products.

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2) To study the ‘satisfaction’ levels of “Tata Indicom” mobile

customers & Tata Indicom fixed wireless customers.

3) To study the ‘Satisfaction’ level of “Tata Indicom” customers

with regard to other products and services offered by Tata

Indicom.

4) To make suggestions for improvement of their products &

their services from the customer’s point of view based on this

research to fulfill customer’s needs.

5) To know the customers feed back towards the redressal of

grievances by Tata Indicom.

6) To ascertain the role of media in promoting and creating

awareness towards the diversified portfolio of Tata Indicom

products.

7) To find out the quality of service in terms of transmission

coverage, clarity in the reception and connectivity of the

various services that are being offered by Tata Indicom.

8) To study the satisfaction levels of Tata Indicom walky

subscribers.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research in common pursuance refers to a search for knowledge

in a scientific and systematic way for pursuant information on a

specified topic.

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Once the objective is identified that next step is to collect the

data which is relevance to the problem identified and analyze the

collected data in order to find out the hidden reasons for the problem.

There are two types of data namely.

1. Primary Data

2. Secondary Data

1. PRIMARY DATA

Primary data is to be collected by the concerned project

researcher with relevance to his problem. So the primary data is

original in nature and is collected first hand.

Collection of primary dataThere are several methods of collecting primary data particularly

in surveys and descriptive researches. Important ones are as follows:

1. Observation Method

2. Interview Method

3. Questionnaire

4. Schedules and

5. Other methods which include

Warranty needs

Distributor audits

Pantry audits

Consumer panels

Using mechanical devices

Through projective techniques

In depth interviews and

Content analysis

1) OBSERVATION METHOD:

It is the most commonly used methods especially in studies

relating to behavioral sciences. This method implies the collection of

information by way of investigators own observation, without

interviewing the respondents. The information obtained relates to what

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is currently happening and is not complicated by either the past

behavior or future intentions or attitudes of respondents.

2) INTERVIEW METHOD

The interview method of collecting data involves presentation of

oral, verbal stimuli and reply in terms of oral-verbal responses. This

method can be used through personal interview and, if possible,

through telephone interview.

Personal Interview

The method of collecting information through personal interview

is usually carried out in a structured way. As such we call these

interview as structured interviews. Such interviews involve the use of a

set of predetermined questions and of highly standardized techniques

of recording. Thus, the interviewer in a structured interview follows a

rigid procedure laid down, asking questions in a given format and the

order prescribed. As against it, the unstructured interviews are

characterized by flexibility of approach to questioning. Unstructured

interviews do not follow a system of pre-determined questions and

standardized techniques of recording information.

3) QUESTIONNAIRE

The researcher and the respondents do come in contact with

each other if this method of survey is adopted. Questionnaires are

mailed to the respondents with a request to return after completing

the same. It is the most extensively used method in various economic

and business surveys & research. Questionnaire to be used must be

prepared very carefully so that it may prove to be effective in

collecting the relevant information.

Structured questionnaire

Using structured questionnaire method, which contains close-

ended questions, collected the primary data with respect the problem

chosen. The questions have some options, from which the respondents

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have to choose a choice. As the answers lie within a specified range

they are called close-ended questions.

Open-ended questions are those questions where no choices are

given to respondents and respondents are free to express their choice

or answer.

The following sampling method was used.

Sampling:

A non-probability conclusive sampling method was used in the

study for data collection.

Sample size:

The sample was taken from the universe on random sampling

basis in Badrachalam. The sample size designed for this project is 100

keeping in mind the paucity of time and also the customer base of the

organization in the research area.

Research Methodology

A structured questionnaire was prepared and presented to the

respondents and related questions were asked. Questionnaires mainly

contained close-ended questions and a few open ended questions, to

identify the reasons for customer’s satisfaction & their dissatisfaction.

Secondary data

It is the data already existing, which has gone through some standard analysis. Under the secondary data, the company’s annual reports, brouchers, pamphlets, newspapers, journals and internet were taken into consideration.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of project work is to get the opinions from

respondents on the issues mentioned earlier.

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It is limited to the city of Badrachalam and is confused to the

urban areas as the respondents are the subscribers of Tata

Indicom services is one form or the other.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

1) The present research is restricted to the city of

Badrachalam city only.

2) The sample size taken is only 100 and as such is very

small as compared to the universe, this is due to the

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constraints of time and effort, and as such may not be

enough to generalize to the entire population, however

it is presumed that the sample represents the universe.

3) Respondents might have responded with the actual

feelings of facts while giving responses to the

questionnaire.

4) Time being a limiting factor was not sufficient to gather

opinions from majority of the respondents, who form

part of the universal sample.

5) While every care as been taken to eliminate perceptual

bias from the side of the researcher and the

respondents however certain element of bias might

have set in to the research inadverantly.

6) Since this study concentrated on customer satisfaction

towards Tata Indicom no attempt was made to study

other activities of the organization. Such as finance,

human resource management etc.,

INDUSTRY PROFILE

In the present day, the information technologies have been

successful in building a super highway for communications.

Communication technologies are found contributing substantially to

the developmental process. In the communication services, we find

that telecommunications are playing a significant role, in various

processes and in the overall development of the economy.

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We can’t nagate the fact that after the attainment of

independence and to be more specific during 1980s and 1990s. The

telecommunication services have made rapid strides both in quality

and quantity. However, the users at large are found dissatisfied with

the quality of services made available to them.

The major problem area for telecommunication service providers

is to meet the expectation of the consumers with regard to quality of

service and value added services along with competitive pricing. So to

satisfy the consumer and to retain customer loyalty in the fast growing

telecom sector it becomes pestiuent to study the various factors that

have a bearing on the customer satisfaction towards the organization

& to find ways to improve the level of customer satisfaction amongst

the users of these services.

As consumers, each one of us has a vast number of attitudes

towards products, towards services, towards advertisements, towards

retailers. Whenever we are asked whether we like or dislike a product,

service, we are being asked to express our attitudes and when we like

a product or service we express our attitudes and when we like a

product or service we express it in items of our satisfaction, and

satisfied customers leads to more customers by way of publicity. The

first experimental electric telegraph line was started between Calcutta

and Diamond Harbour in November, 1850.

The visionary behind this landmark was Dr. William O’

Shaughnessay –credited to pioneer telegraph and telephone in India.

The successful working of this experimental lime led to the

construction of 4000 miles of telegraph line connecting Calcutta and

Peshawar in the north via Agra and Mumbai through Sindhwa Ghats,

Mumbai and Chennai in the south as well as Ooctacamund and

Bangalore. A regular Telegraph Department was set up in 1854 when

the Telegraph Act was enacted and telegraph facilities were thrown

open to public traffic.

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Dr. O’ Shaughnessy’s continual innovative perusals propelled

him to the coveted post of the first Director General. The significant

leap, which really set the telecom ball rolling, was the establishment of

Indo-Ceylon link. The Indo-Ceylon cable was laid in 1858, in 1865 the

first Indo-European telegraph communication was effected in 1873

Duplex telegraphy was introduced between Bombay and Calcutta. In

1875, ITD supplied the first private telephone line and two ears later it

erected telegraph line between Srinagar and Gilgit on behalf of

Maharaja of Kashmir.

In the historical archives, the year 1888 has vital importance. It

was in this year that the Indo-European Telegraph Department was

merged with Indian Telegraph Department. In 1895, phonograms were

introduced for the first time at Bombay and Calcutta and in 1902 the

first wireless Telegraph Stations was established between Saugor

Islands and Sand heads and a year, the Department Wireless

Telegraph was introduced.

The tradition of milestone years was now gaining momentum.

1905 can be termed as the cornerstone of today’s telecom profile. It

was in this year that the control of the Telegraph Department was

transferred from PWD to Commerce & Industry Department.

In 1907, women signalers were employed for the first time. In

1914 the Postal and Telegraph Departments were amalgamated under

a single Director General. At the same the control of the P & T

Department was reverted top PWD. The year also witnessed the

opening of the first automatic exchange at Simla with a capacity of 700

lines and 400 actual connections.

A major reorganization of the department took place when the

accounts of the Indian Posts and Telegraphs were reconstituted to

examine the true fiscal profile of the Department the attempt was to

find out the extent to which the department was imposing a burden on

the taxpayers and bringing in revenue to the Exchequer and how far

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each of the four constituent branches, namely postal, telephone and

wireless, were contributing.

Radio Telephone Communications between England and India

were opened in 1933: Indo-Burma Radio Telephone Service started

functioning between Madras and Rangoon in 1936.

Deluxe Telegrams with foreign countries were introduced in

1937; Bombay –New York wireless telegraph service was

commissioned in 1914;Hindi telegram in Devnagari script was

introduced and won your telephone scheme was inaugurated in 1949.

The year 1950 saw the Indian telegraph and Radio/Wireless

telephone service span its wings across frontiers. “Own your telephone

exchange” scheme began to operate in 1950. The first coaxial route

between Delhi and Agra and the first Subscriber Trunk Dialing (STD)

route between Kanpur and Lucknow were commissioned.

In the 1950 and 60’s while the Beatles wave was sweeping the

world. The Indian telecom think tank was busy in introducing the

microwave culture long before the Indian housewife ever heard about

it. In the 1960’s the first microwave route between Calcutta and

Asansol was opened.

The 1970’s witnessed the installation of SPC Gateway Telex

Exchange and introduction of International Subscriber Dialed Telex

Service and commissioning of the first Optic Fiber System for local

junction in Pune.

The 1980’s completely established Indian Telecom as the

frontrunner. In one giant leap, the universe shrinked the first satellite

earth station for domestic communications was set up at

Secunderabad.

The 1990’s saw the revolution in the Indian telecom sector with

the launch of cellular services, the government gave various incentives

to the service providers to improve the connectivity on one hand and

also lower the prices in the NCD & ICD sector. This period saw the

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emergence of contrasting technology plat forms namely GSM and

CDMA technologies. It also saw the advent of the internet and broad

band services in our country. As the time of the century India. Stood at

the gateways of telecom revolution.

The start of the 21st century saw the explosion of telecom

services and Indian market started to show remarkable growth rates

with respect to addition of new subscribers. This period also saw the

consolidation of the various services providers at regional level and by

2006 there appeared 4 major cellular providers in the GSM space

namely

1) AIRTEL2) BSNL- CELLONE3) Vodafone4) IDEA along with a few fringe players.

On the CDMA front the consolidation saw the emergence of two

rivals namely Tata-Indicom and Reliance Infocomm.

COMPANY PROFILE

History of TATA TELESERVICES LTD:

Tata Tele services is part of the INR Rs. 96723 crore Tata group,

that has 96 companies and over 2,50,000 employees, and more than

2.8 Million share holders, with a committed investment of INR 36,000

crore (US$7.5bill) in Telecom sector. The group has a formidable

presence across the telecom value chain.

Tata Tele Services spearheads the Group’s presence in the

Telecom Sector. Incorporated in 1995, Tata Tele Services was the first

to launch CDMA Mobile Services in India within the A.P. Circle.

ABOUT TATA TELE SERVICES

Starting with the major acquisition of Hughes Telecom Ltd in

December 2002. The company has swing in to expansion mode with

the total investment of Rs. 19,924 Crore. Tata Tele Services is

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operating in 20 circles. i.e., A.P. , Chennai, Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi,

Maharastra, Mumbai, Orissa, Tamilnadu, Bihar, Rajashtan, Punjab,

Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (e). Uttar Pradesh (w),

Kerala, Calcutta, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal. The industry has a

customer base of 3 million. The investment in the companies of March,

2009 totals INR 7,993 (US$1200 mill).

INTEGRATIONS

Having pioneered with CDMA 3GIX Technology plat from in India.

Tata Tele Services has established a robust and reliable infra structure

that ensure quality in its services.

It has partnered with,

1) Motorola

2) Erickson

3) Nokia

4) Lucent

5) LG

6) ECI Telecom for the deployment of reliable, technology

advanced network.

STRENGTH

The company, which heralded convergence technologies in the

Telecom Sector, is today the market leader in the fixed wireless

tele-phony market with a customer vase of 3.8 million.

A) SERVICES OFFERED BY TATA INDICOM

1) Mobile Services

2) Fixed Wireless Services

3) Public Booth Telephony

4) Fixed Wire Line Services

Other services include value added services like, voice portal,

roaming, post-paid & pre-paid, internet services, 3-way conferencing,

group calling and date services.

B) VSNL- BROAD BAND

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It has recently marketed its entry in to the pre-paid segment by

launching 100% “SACHAI TRU PAID” across all its existing 20 circles.

With the latest initiation, Tata Indicom has opened up prepaid

segments, by offering 1-Second pulse and 100% Talk Time on True

Paid.

The company will be shortly launching a new service for

corporate called “PUSH TO TALK” (First across the world partner with

QUALCOMM fro Brew Chat). This service will be advisable for the

masses across the country.

Tata Indicom also launched a collection of 100 mobile games,

one of the largest collections of mobile games in the world.

C) TATA INDICOM RANGE OF SERVICES

1) Post-Paid services

2) Pre-Paid services

3) Wire line Services

4) Wireless Services

5) Public booth Services

6) Internet Connectivity

Post –Paid Services

It has launched Post-Paid. Public phone booth, new handsets,

Brew Games, voice new and interactive applications like News, Cricket,

and Astrology etc.

Pre-Paid services

It is offering 1-second pulse rate and 100% talk time on True-

Paid services. With this the customers can talk according to their

convenience.

D) MEDIA MARKETING

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For Tata Indicom Services, media marketing is necessary one.

With regard to this the company have taken contract with three people

as their Brand Ambassador’s who are public figures in India.

They are,

1) Ajay Devgan

2) Kajol

3) Trisha

Sourav Ganguly launches exclusive Tata Indicom “ Sourav

Phone”.

Irfan Pathan Indian cricket fast bowler presenting Tata Indicom’s

True-Paid Services

The ‘Ace’ Tennis sensation of India Sania Mirza joins hands with

Tata Indicom.

E) MILE STONES

2009

January

Tata Indicom becomes 1st service provider to launch its online

store “I-chosse”

2008

September

Tata indicom enters Limca Book of Records for opening 100

branded stores in 1 single day nationally.

August

Tata indicom launches it unique T-SIM card based “one world one

number” international roaming service across CDMA/GSM countries.

June

Tata Indicom 1st service provider to offer” Anti-theft Mobile

Tracker& Emergency SOS alter” features in handset with Samsung.

Tata Indicom subscriber base crosses the 10 Mn mark nationally

in June 2006.

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January

Tata Indicom subscriber base crosses the 8 Mn mark in Jan 06.

2007

November

Tata Indicom acquires over 1 Mn gross subscribers in the month

of November 05.

Tata Indicom Subscriber base crosses the 7 Mn mark in Nov 05.

October

Tata indicom launches the first of its kind offer-Non stop mobile

in the mobile prepaid market.

Tata Indicom Subscriber base crosses the 6 Mn mark.

August

Tata Indicom Subscriber base crosses the 5 Mn mark.

Tata Indicom service made available in 1500 cities. Tata Indicom

crosses the 1500 city mark

June

Tata Indicom launches its first own exclusively branded phone

under the brand name “Indicom gem”.

May

Tata Indicom Subscriber base crosses the 4 Mn mark

Tata Indicom service made available in 1000 cities. Tata Indicom

crosses the 1000 city mark

March

Tata Indicom launches its exclusive portal for women on its

mobile phones called “Woman’s Zone”.

February

Tata Indicom completes roll-out in new circles with its services

now available in 20 circles.

January

Tata Indicom subscriber base touches crosses the 3 Mn Mark.

F) TATA WALKY FEATURES & SERVICES

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FEATURES

Clip facility

Get missed calls details

Send & receive SMS

In-hook alarm

10 in-built ring tones

Alert for unread messages

Alarm & reminders details

Speed dial

Call log register

Make emergency call even if phone is disconnected

Speaker phone

Control cost with per minute alert

Services

1) Saving monthly bills by paying just land line rates

2) Roam the number same, when customer change their home

or office

3) Enjoyment of voice based infotainments

4) Avoidment of dead phones or irritating linemen’s

5) Prevent misuse with the keypad lock

G) TATA INDICOM PRODUCTS & SERVICES

1) Tata Indicom Mobile

2) Tata Indicom Walky

3) Tata Indicom Fixed wire phone

4) Tata Indicom fixed Wireless

5) Tata Indicom ISDN services

6) Tata Indicom E-links

7) Tata Indicom basic/primary rate ISDN

8) Tata Indicom managed leased lines

9) Tata Indicom inward dialing

10) Tata Indicom public booth

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11) Tata Indicom voice reminder services

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Mr. Rathan Tata Mr. K.A. Chukar

Chairman Managing Director

Tata Son’s Ltd. Tata Industries Ltd.

Dr. J.J. Irani Mr. S.K. Gupta

Director Group Telecom

Tata Son’s Ltd. Advisor

Mr. R. Gopala Krishnan Mr. I. Hussain

Director Director

Tata Consultants Ltd. Group Tata Son’s Ltd

Mr. N. Srinata Mr. N.s.Ramachandram

Director Director

Group –VSNL Tata Tele Services Ltd.

Mr. S. Ramadorai Dr. Mukund Govind Rajn

CEO & MD Vice President

Tata Consultancy Services Tata Son’s Ltd.

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TATA INDICOM THERITICAL ANALYSIS

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION & THEORETICAL OVER VIEW

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Customer Satisfaction is supreme in business. It focuses on how

to satisfy people who are using our product or services. Delivering

great customer satisfaction is no accident. It’s the result of skilled

planning and exceptional management practices. At any help desk;

customer satisfaction is a key indicator of success.

Theoretical over view on customer satisfaction

Satisfaction in person’s feelings of pleasure of disappointment

resulting from comparing a product’s perceived performance (out

come) in relation to his or her expectations.

Customer perceived value

Our premise is that customers will buy from the firm that they

see as offering the highest perceived value. Customer perceived value

(CPV) is the difference between the prospective customer’s evaluation

of all the benefits and all the costs of an offering and the perceived

alternatives.

Total customer Value is the perceived monetary value of the

bundle of economic, functional and psychological benefits customers

expect from a given market offering. Total Customer Cost is the bundle

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of costs customers expect to incur in evaluating, obtaining, using and

disposing of the given market offering.

Total Customer Satisfaction

Whether the buyer is satisfied after purchase depends on the

offer’s performance in relation to the buyer’s expectations. In general,

satisfaction is a person’s feelings of pleasure of disappointment

resulting from comparing a product perceived performance (or

outcome) in relation to his or her expectations. If the performance falls

short of expectorations, the customer is dissatisfied. It is the

performance matches the expectations, the customer is satisfied. If the

performance exceeds the expectations, the customer is highly satisfied

or delighted.

Measuring Satisfaction

Although the customer centered firm seeks to create high

customer satisfaction, that is no its main goal. If the company

increases customer satisfaction by lowering its price or increasing its

services, the result may be lower profits. Even bad-mouth it. At levels

two or four, customers are fairly satisfied but still find it easy to switch

when a better offer comes along. At level five, the customer is very

likely to repurchase and even spread good work of mouth about the

company. High satisfaction or delight creates an emotional bond with

brand or company.

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High satisfaction or delight creates an emotional bond with the

brand or company, not just a rational preference.

Customer expectations

From past buying experience, friends and associates advice, and

marketers and competitors information and promises. If marketers

raise expectations too high, the buyer is likely to be disappointed.

However, if the company sets expectations too low, it won’t attract

enough buyers (although it will satisfy those who do buy).

Delivering high customer value

The key to generating high customer loyalty is to deliver high

customer value. According to Micheal planning, in his delivering

profitable value, a company must design a competitively superior

value proposition aimed at a specific market segment, backed by a

superior value-delivery system.

The value proposition consists of the whole cluster of benefits

the company promises to deliver, it is more than the core positioning

of the offering.

THEORETICAL OVERVIEW ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

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In a buyer’s market where the customer is the king, business

begins and ends with the customer. The business growth, profitability,

liquidity and image of an organization depend upon the customer. It is

therefore essential that a supplier meets the customer’s expectations

fully and ensures that he is satisfied. Hence it is necessary to place

emphasis on building and maintaining customer satisfaction by putting

the customer first in all activities.

Customer satisfaction is the customer’s perception that a vendor

has met his expectation fully, efficiently and promptly.

This may pertain to different segments of business from

marketing, engineering, manufacturing, timely project completion,

quality, response to customer queries/suggestions/letters, post-

installation services, complaint handling etc.. Customer satisfaction is

the summary of the opinion of the customer about the vendor. Right

from pre-marketing to after-installation service and complaint

management, the customer comes in contact with carious

departments and functions of vendor organization and the opinion he

makes about the supplier is the sum total of his experience and

perception he makes while coming in contact with different sections of

vendor. The customer ultimately chooses a vendor who provides him

more value for his money and with whose product he is comfortable

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and satisfied. Higher the satisfaction level, the better is the emotional

and sentimental attachment to that brand and more intense is the

relationship between the customer and the vendor. With all the

products and services, these are always chances of problem arising.

What makes a company stands out from the rest is the way these

problems are handled. The customer expects that when he makes a

request for assistance, it will be listened to the issue will be resolved as

quickly as possible. Will have a bearing on the trouble free operation

and lesser maintenance requirement after the product has come into

the operation, i.e. efficiency and performance and its maintenance

requirement. If a product is having frequent breakdowns or is

requiring expert attention more frequently, it becomes a source of

irritation for the customer apart from the financial loss. Similarly, if the

equipment is not operating efficiently and consuming higher resources,

it becomes a source of worry and headache for the customer. It is

seen that in consumer segment, many customers are able to tolerate

slight inefficiency but will get completely detached with the vendor if

the product needs high maintenance. In core segment equipment

efficiency is an important as its availability. Too much maintenance

may affect availability of the equipment and it may derail the

economic calculations of the customer.

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It is generally seen that no single vendor would be able to

provide the entire above feature. There will always be some positive

and negative features in the product and human behavior that will

please or antagonize the customer. More the positive feeling, the

more satisfied a customer feels. The vendor must make an attempt to

increase these positive feelings and make determined attempt to

strengthen them. At the same time he should also look for the

deficiency factors and try to remove them. This way he can enhance

the satisfaction level of the customer.

What will satisfy a customer or, for that matte, an individual is

difficult to predict and will vary from customer to customer. While

some may place more emphasis on price others may be more worried

about quality or complaint management. It is thus necessary to target

a customer and then work out factors that he considers important and

address them appropriately.

FACTORS AFFECTING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION:

Customer satisfaction is the ultimate and final opinion of customer

about the vendor and its product. It is shaped by the vendor’s

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performance or the perception of customer about vendor performance

on following factors:

- capability – financial, technological, project management,

managerial

- Engineering and technology

- Response from vendor

- Vendor’s ability to meet commitments

- Customer service

- Complaint handling

- Product – efficiency, quality, price, performance

- Appearance and customer friendly features

- Life cycle

- Smooth and trouble free operation

- Maintenance requirements

As seen from the above, basically, these factors can be classified

in the following two broad categories:

- vendor behavior

- vendor’s product and service performance

The vendor behavior deals with the behavior of management and

employees of the vendor. The vendor’s response, service and

complaint handling are the factors largely dependent on the attitude

and skill of the human resources available with the vendor. The

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second aspect is about the product itself. It is dependent on the

capabilities of the vendor and the skill of its employees. It exhibits the

engineering and technology developed or acquired by the vendor. The

quality system being followed by the vendor and its effectiveness.

In the core sector the customer needs and focus will vary widely

and unlike consumer segment, it does not follow any pattern or

regional or other type of classification. Hence it becomes essential to

understand each and every customer separately. In case of consumer

sector it is difficult to focus on each and every customer but it is

possible to study and identify behavior and needs of group of

consumers who show common buying characteristics. Having

identified the parameters of importance for the customer, the vendor

must try to get opinion of the customer about himself on these

parameters to get feedback and take corrective action.

MEASUREMENT OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION:

In today’s globalised economy and competitive environment, the

customer has the options and there are competitors waiting to spoil

and exploit the situation. Interested parties can leverage small

amount of dissatisfaction by feeding exaggerated information about a

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vendor to the prospective unsuspecting customer. Thus it is necessary

that the supplier have proper information and feedback on the image

he enjoys with the customer.

To evaluation the image the supplier enjoys with the customer,

he needs reliable information. He needs to know what comes to the

mind of customer on hearing the name of the supplier. Does it sound

as one efficient, innovator, modern, quality supplier, reliable or

untrustworthy? One who keeps commitment? Does the customer

understand and appreciate why the supplier’s company is different

from others and how it provides better value to the customer?

It is therefore necessary for the suppliers to measure customer

satisfaction and take appropriate action to improve it. Nay business

requires quantitative measures to run it. It is often said that what is

not measurable is not authentic. Can a business be run without

knowing in quantitative actual turnover, profitability or cash position?

Customers are the most important assents of a business, without them

there cannot be any business. Measurement provides specific

information needed by the supplier to steer the company through

uncertain waters. It provides ways to keep the organization running

smoothly and meet its business goals.

No customer will buy from, or recommend a supplier until he is

fully satisfied with the product and services offered by the supplier.

Thus measurement of customer satisfaction provides a supplier with

27

quantitative feedback. If such measurement is done at regular

intervals as in the case of other business parameters like turnover

ands profits, the supplier also gets feedback whether his efforts have

produced positive results or there is need for course correction. In fact

it is expected that in future, like targets for turnover, profits, similar

targets would be set for achievement of different parameters of

customer satisfaction to drive the company towards it. The objective

of the supplier should not end at customer enrichment. The road to

this begins with sincerity and integrity followed by hard work and

dedication.

Measurement of customer satisfaction can provide the following

information and feedback and can help in business promotion.

METHODS:

Practicing managers attempt to define standards or targets for

customer service/satisfaction poses one of the most difficult questions

faced by the organization for a variety of reasons. Every organization

must have a set of tools and methodology to collect hard data on

customer expectation, needs and level of its fulfillment. This must

include the tools that provide the following information:

28

- Identifying needs of customer.

- Factors considered by customer as important.

- Customer feedback on these factors for supplier and other

competitors.

- Benchmark

- Deviation between customers’ expectations and supplier’s

achievement.

- Deviation between supplier’s achievement and benchmark.

If the measurement is being done as a follow-up to a similar exercise

done earlier then the process should also indicate the relative

improvement of worsening of the situation against each identified

factor compared to earlier feedback. This helps in ascertaining the

effectiveness of corrective action taken after similar exercise in the

past and the analyses of the need for incorporating suitable corrective

action in the remedial plan.

There are a number of direct and indirect methods to measure

customer satisfaction. They have their own advantage and

disadvantages and are detailed below:

- Direct methods

- Customer feedback surveys

- Informal chat/interview with the customer

- Surprise visits to market-customer sectors

29

- Indirect methods

- Measurement using transient changes in complaints

- Measurement using transient changes in loyalty

Direct methods:

Listening to the customer and getting his feedback is like an

investigation done to identify diseases in medical science. It can be

done to diagnose the diseases, i.e. falling market share and loss of

business or it can be used as a preventive check-up so that the

organization remains healthy.

There are a number of ways to tab the pulse of the customer. Some of

them are:

Feedback through frontline agencies.

Marketing and service department, call centers, complaint

handling department can act as frontline agencies and their

feedback can be properly compiled and analyzed to provide

structured feedback on customer perception at regular intervals.

Feedback during one-to-one meeting.

It is often seen that during informal meetings or discussion

organized for feedback but these are not comprehensive and are

generally more concentrated on immediate issues.

Complaint/appreciation letters.

Customer meets.

Customer perception/satisfaction survey.

30

The customer survey method is the one that produces the best

results and we shall discuss it in detail.

INDIRECT METHODS:

The biggest disadvantages of direct methods are that they are

costly, require elaborate preparation and can only be done after

substantial time gap/intervals. Thus the supplier, if fully dependent on

then, losses transient feedback and an opportunity to take corrective

action. On such occasions, the vendor can use indirect feedback

methods for obtaining information and modifying the action plan. In

order to minimize the effect of such late feedback and consequent loss

of business and customer, the vendor can monitor two other

parameters for getting feedback on customer satisfaction.

These are:

Customer complaints

Customer loyalty

The methodology is simple. Complaints are classified under

different heads and their movements are monitored. If the number of

complaints against a particular head is increasing for a predetermined

fixed time period then the company’s performance in that particular

area is diminishing and customer satisfaction in that field is

decreasing. If the complaints are decreasing then the company’s

performance in that segment is improving and so is the customer

31

satisfaction. By actually monitoring the quantitative increase and

decrease in the number of complaints, one can arrive at the

quantitative change in performance and keep a detailed record of the

same and plot the curve for relative change. Based on the earlier

results, one can also predict the change in customer satisfaction.

The above system suffers from a number of disadvantages.

Firstly while it can monitor and predict the changes at supplier’s end, it

has no similar access to monitor and analyze the changes taking place

at the competitors end. Customer satisfaction and benchmarking is as

much dependant on supplier’s capabilities and performance as on

competitors. Thus the system cannot provide reliable information on

the customer satisfaction and the supplier’s efforts towards achieving

business excellence.

Secondly there can be reasons other than better performance for

reduction in customer complaints. It can also mean that the customers

are getting increasingly disillusioned with the complaint redressed

mechanism of the supplier and hence have stopped approaching him

with the complaint. Thus the reason for reduction in complaints may

be further deterioration in the customer satisfaction rather than

increase in it.

Similarly increase in customer complaints can on one hand,

mean that the gap between the performance of product and service of

the vendor and expectation of the customer is increasing and is a

32

cause for worry. On the other hand it may also mean that company’s

complaint redressed procedure is meeting the customer needs and

producing more positive results than earlier so that more consumers

are now having faith in it and are increasingly taking the help of the

supplier rather than going outside parties.

In both the above cases results/conclusions for some factual change in

the measuring parameters can be exactly opposite and thus bring forth

the serious limitation of indirect methods. In similar fashion increase

or decrease in customer loyalty may or may not be directly related to

the customer satisfaction for reasons discussed in detail. One method

to reduce this uncertainty and arrive at the possible results can be to

use the result of the indirect methods along with the results available

with other sources. Thus if there is increase in customer loyalty,

increase in market share and increase in price realization then

reduction in customer complaint is a sure sign of increasing customer

satisfaction and business excellence by the supplier and a positive sign

of his efforts in achieving benchmark. Similarly increase in price

realization and market share along with the increase in complaints, the

supplier must do some investigation during service calls to identify

whether the increase in complaints is a result of deterioration in

supplier’s quality or return of earlier loss service business due to better

performance and value now offered by the supplier. The feedback

33

during business negotiations can also be utilized to enable correct

interpretation of quantitative feedback received by indirect methods

ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

Analysis and findings

The total number of respondents of the survey is Hanamkonda.

The main aim of the survey is to know the satisfaction level of the Tata

Indicom Services.

The data collected is through primary source, through

interviewing the concerned respondents by giving them a structured

questionnaire, which includes few open-ended questions.

34

1) Are you really satisfied with Tata services?

Table no: 1

S.NOMode No of responding Percentag

e

1Yes 60 60%

2No 40 40%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear that 60% of respondents are

satisfied with services while a significant number.40% of the

respondents replied they are not satisfied with the services of Tata.

Graph no:1

35

Graph No.1

Tata Services Satisfied & Un satisfied Numbers.

36

2) What is the reason for choosen tata service?

Table:2

s.n

o

mode No. of respondents Percentage

1 Less price 20 20%

2 Convenience 56 56%

3 Brand image 24 24%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation

From the above table it is shown that 56% of the respondents

are citing Convenience as the factor. While 24% cited brand image as

the reason for choosing the service. As far as price is concerned only

20% of the respondents have quoted it as the reason for choosing this

service.

37

Graph no:2

The reason for choosen tata services

20%

56%

24%

Less price

Quality service

Brand image

38

Convenience

3) How do you feel about the pricing of Tata Indicom

services as compared with other?

Table no:3

S.no Mode No. Of respondents Percentage

1 Expensive 00 00%

2 Competitiv

e

96 96%

3 Can’t say 04 04%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation:

The feelings of customers of Tata Indicom about the pricing of

the services is, 96% of them are satisfied and feel the prices are

comparable with others and 4% of them are not satisfied with

the pricing of the company as they feel the prices are not

competitive enough.

39

Graph NO. 3

The Pricing of Tata Indocom services compared with other.

40

4) Which Kind of service are you using?

Table no:4

s.no Type of service No. of respondents Percentage

1 Fixed line service 27 27%

2 Mobiles 60 60%

3 Walky 13 13%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation

From the above table it can be seen that 60% of them are using

mobile services, while 27% are using fixed line services, and the

remaining 13% are using walky services.

41

Graph no:4

Kinds of services Tata

27%

60%

13%

Fixed line service

Mobiles

Walky

42

5) who influenced your purchase decision?

Table no:5

S no Mode No. of respondents Percentage

1 Family 60 60%

2 Friends 15 15%

3 Own 25 25%

4 Others 0 0%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation:

From the above table it is shown that 60% of the respondents

were influenced by their Family, 25% by their own decisihon and 15%

by friends.

43

Graph no:5

Purchase decission for Tata services

44

6) Which offer is more useful in Tata prepared services?

Table no:6

S no Offers No. of respondents percentage

1 All 50-picea 32 32%

2 Pay per call 55 55%

3 Pay per flex offer 13 13%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation:

The above table is explain about 32% respondents are prefare all

50-pices offer and 55% responding pay per call and 13% respondents

are preferring pay per flexi offer.

45

Graph no:6

Offers of Tata services

46

7) Have you faced any problem at the time of connection &

activation?

Table no:7

s.no mode No. of respondents percentag

e

1 Yes 10 10%

2 No 90 90%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation:

The above table indicates that at the time of activation only 10%

of the respondents have faced problem with company, and 90% of the

respondents have not face any problem.

47

Graph no:7

Any problem at the time of connection and activitation.

48

8)Are you satisfied with availability of recharge vouchers?

Table no:8

S no mode No. Of respondents Percentage

1 Yes 55 55%

2 No 45 45%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation:

The above table is indicating that ,availability of recharge

vouchers are satisfied only 55% the remaining 45% of respondents

are not satisfied about availability of recharge vouchers.

49

Graph no:8

The Availability of recharge vouchers of Tata services

9) Since how many months have you been using this

service?

50

Table no:9

S. noMode No. of respondents

Percentag

e

1 0-6 months 23 23%

2 6-12 months 37 37%

3 1-2 years 36 36%

4 More than 2

years

04 04%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation:

From the above table it is seen that 37% of the respondents

have been using tata indicom products for past one year. While 36%

have been using it for more than 1 year, and a significant 23% of

respondents have been using the service for less than six months. Only

4% of the respondents have been using Tata Indicom products for

more than 2 –years.

Table no:9

How many months have you been using the service.

51

23%

37%

36%

4%

0-6 months

6-12 months

1-2 years

More than 2 years

10) how do you feel using tata products?

Table no:10

S no Mode No. of respondents Percentage

52

1 Happy 60 60%

2 Average 30 30%

3 Not happy 10 10%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation:

From the above table it can be seen that 60% of them are happy

to using tata products 30% are feel average and the remaining 10%

are not satisfied the products of tata.

Graph no:10

53

The custor feel using tata products

11)Are you satisfied with the signal of tata services?

Table no:11

S no Mode No of respondents percentage

54

1 Good 54 54%

2 average 38 38%

3 Bad 8 8%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation:

The above table indicates that 54% of the respondents are

satisfied signal of Tata services 38% of the respondents are say

average and the remaining 8% of the respondents are not satisfied the

signal of Tata services

Graph no:11

55

The signal services of Tata Indicom.

12) Are you satisfied with durability if battery of tata

mobiles?

Table no:12

56

S no Mode No. of respondents Percentage

1 Yes 67 67%

2 No 33 33%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation:

From the above analysis it is clear that 67% of the respondents

are feel the durability of tata mobiles battery is happy and the

remaing 33% off respondents feel uncomfortable.

Graph no:12

Customer satisfied with durability battery of Tata mobiles.

57

13) Are you satisfied with the message services of tata?

Table no:13

S no Mode No. of respondents Percentage

58

1 Yes 59 59%

2 No 41 41%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear that 59% of the respondents are

satisfied the message services of tata indicom and remaining 41% of

respondents are not satisfird the message services of tata indicom.

Graph no:13

The message services of Tata Indicom.

59

14) Are you satisfied with Tata Indicom mobiles price?

Table no:14

S no mode No. of respondents Percentage

1 Yes 58 58%

2 Average 36 36%

60

3 No 06 06%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation:

It is clear that 58% of the respondents are satisfied the price of

tata indicom mobiles 36% of the respondents are average the remaing

6% of the respondents are not satisfied the price of tata indicom

mobiles.

Graph no:14

The mobiles price of Tata Indicom

61

15) where will you complaint if any need on your services?

Table no:15

S no Mode No. of respondents Percentage

62

1 Service center 70 70%

2 Dealer 5 5%

3 Costumer care 25 25%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation:

From the above table it is clear that 70% of the total respondents

are go to service center and 25% respondents are go to customer care

and the remaining 5% of the respondents went to the dealer for

complaint needed.

Graph no:15

Customer complaint if any needed on Tata Services.

63

16) Is the customer care officer pleasing and courteous with

you?

Table no:16

S no Mode No of respondents percentage

64

1 Yes 66 66%

2 No 34 34%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation :

From the above table it is shown that 66% the respondents are

satisfied with the services of costumer care officer and the remaining

34% of the respondents are not satisfied the service of customer care

officer.

Graph no:16

Customer care officer pleasing and courteous with customers.

65

17) How much time are you waiting in getting connected to the

customer care office?

Table no:17

S no Duration of No of respondents Percentage

66

time

1 5 minutes 60 60%

2 5-10

minutes

20 20%

3 10-15

minutes

10 10%

4 15-30

minutes

10 10%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation :

The above table clear that 60% of the respondents are satisfied

with only 5 min to connected with customer care office and 20% are 5-

10 min to connect with customer care office and 10-15 min and 15-10

min those are 10% and10% to connecting with customer care office.

Graph no:17

Time duration while getting connected to the customer care office.

67

18) Are you faced any problem facing with Tata services?

Table no:18

S no Mode No of respondents percentage

68

1 Yes 44 44%

2 No 56 56%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation :

The above table clearly explain 56% of the respondents are not

facing any problems and the remaining 44% of the respondents faced

some problems.

Graph no:18

Any problem faced with Tata services.

69

19) Did you find any variance on Tata promises and

commitments?

Table no:19

S no Mode No of respondents percentage

70

1 Yes 62 62%

2 No 38 38%

Total 100 100%

Interpretation :

The above table clearly explain 62% of the respondents are not

satisfied Tata promises and commitments and the remaining 38% of

them satisfied with Tata commitments and promises.

Graph no:19

Any variance on Tata promises and commitment

71

FINDINGS:

Tata Indicom cannot provide more offers to fixed line

services and waikes compared with mobiles offers

Pay per flex offer is not attract to the customer compare

with pay per call and all 50-pice offer

72

The company failure regularly availability of recharge

voucher based on customer demand

The Tata Indicom failure in message services because in

the time of special occasions the messages are not send to

others

The company take lot of time to connecting with customer

care because of this reason costumers feel un comfortable

More of the costumer says the company not follow the

promises and commitments

Customers are suffering from Tata signal services.

CONCLUSIONS

The respondents are subscribers of Tata Indicom, and they came

know about the service from hoardings, print media, primarily

and through electronic media and road shows secondarily.

73

The respondents are using Tata Indicom since 1 year and below

1 year in most of the cases.

The mobile service provided by Tata Indicom is used by majority

of the respondents and the reason for choosing it is the

quality of the service, followed by brand image.

Customer satisfaction of the respondents towards Tata indicom is

high; however a significant number of the respondents are

dissatisfied with its services.

In purchasing Tata Indicom products family appear to be the

prime motivators of the respondents in making their purchase

decisions, due to the special offers being targeted by the

company at this segment.

The respondents are paying their bills at the company show

rooms, and these are also acting as customer care centers for

all queries and needs of the consumers.

SUGGESTIONS

Tata Indicom should increase the coverage of it cellular

services by installing more towers at strategic points. So that

the signal strength increases in indoors.

The coverage is limited to only urban areas hence effort

should be made to increase the coverage in semi urban and

rural areas, as it increases the number of subscribers.

74

The quality of the cellular service needs to be improved in

terms of clarity and connectivity.

Tata Indicom should create awareness amongst its customers

regarding various services that are being offered by it by

increasing its sales promotion reach.

Tata Indicom should vigorously promote its fixed line services

as compared with the competition and should concentrate on

individual customers and non-commercial customers.

Tata Indicom should aggressively promote its offerings in

various media and should concentrate on hoardings and road

shows and electronic media.

Attractive schemes for owning the cellular instruments should

be launched to attract more customers.

Customer satisfaction of Tata Indicom

ANNEXURE –I

QUESTIONNAIRE

Mobile no:

Name of the respondent :

A) Age :

B) Gender :

Occupation :

1) Are you really satisfied with the Tata services ?

75

a) Yes b) No

2) What is the reason for choosing this service?

a) Less price b) Convenience

b) Brand image d) Features

3) How do you feel about the pricing of Tata Indicom Services as

compared with other?

a) Expensive b) Competitive

c) mode rate

4) Which kind of service is you using?

a) Fixed line service b) Mobiles

c) Wacky

5) Who influenced your purchase decision?

a) family b) friends

c) own d) other

6) Which offer is more useful in Tata prepaid?

a) all 50- Picasa offer b) pay per call offer

c) pay per flexi offer

7) Have you faced any Problem at the time of connation &

activation?

a) Yes b) No

8) are you satisfied with avaleblety of Recharge voucher

a) Yes b)No

9) Since how many months have you been using this?

76

a) 0-6 months b) 6-12 months

c) 1-2 years d) more than 2 years

10) How do you feel using Tata Products ?

a) Happy b) Average

c) not happy

11) Are you satisfied with the signal of Tata Services?

a)Good b)average

c) Bad

14) Are you satisfied with Tata mobiles price?

a) Yes b) average

c) No

15) Where will you complaint is any need on your services?

a) service center b) Dealer

c) customer care

16) Is the customer care officer pleasing and courteous with you?

a) Yes b) No

17) How much time are you waiting in getting connected to the

customer care office?

a) 5 minutes b) 5-10 minutes

c) 10-15 minutes d) 15-30 minutes

18) Are you faced any problems facing with Tata ?

a) Yes b) No.

19) Did you find any variance on Tata promises and commitments?

a) Yes b)No

c) Not happy

Thank you

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. MARKETING MANAGEMENT

- Philip Kotler

2. PRINCIPLE OF MARKETING

- Philip Kotler & Gary Armstrong

3. MARKETING MANAGEMENT

- Stanton

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4. BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

- C.R. Kothari

5. www.tataindicom.com

6. www.tatateleservice.com

7. www.trai.com

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