Tuesday, May 10. 2011When You Can't Beat Them......John Linton ....copy them. Exetel has done, for a company of its size, a lot of innovation over its existence but we have really struggled to come up with really attractive ADSL plans over the last year or so. We have tried many different things over the last two years but have been unable to match Telstra's ever escalating "win back" programs nor TPG's "unlimited" packaging with their 'pretend' telephone service. We simply couldn't find a way of overcoming Telstra's marketing budgets nor could we bring ourselves to adopt the tactics of the scummier ADSL providers in terms of under provisioning and under resourcing provisioning and support facilities. That left very little leeway and practically no real paths to follow other than to just let the residential business we have built over the past seven years gradually decline - which still might be the best option. It's very difficult to make any real decisions under such circumstances. So having watched the inexorable progress of Telstra's "win back" programs based on throwing lots of money at our customers to get them to change we almost reached the stage of saying there's nothing more we can do and we will have to give up on trying to convince our customers and prospective customers that "all that glistens is not gold" and that contended networks, poor quality support and expensive or fraudulent "add ons" are not really delivering what they think they will. We came to the 'brilliant' realisation that if the marketplaces we address think that either TPG's or Telstra Retail's offers are the best in the ADSL market then we should simply combine the appealing features of both (large downloads from TPG and 'win back' money from Telstra) minus TPG's contended network and minus Telstra's high priced add ons. Too easy. So we found a way that we could do something like that and if we can persuade one or more third parties to work sensibly with us to make it happen we will offer to both new users and our current customers 'copies' of TPG's plans with $200 or so cash "win back" (for new customers) or "loyalty bonuses" (for current customers). So that would mean that we would give away as much cash as Telstra is offering (it may well have gone up recently but we have no real way of finding out) and as much download as TPG is offering (without having to use the sub-standard TPG network). Of course we don't have even TPG's marketing dollars (let alone Telstra's) so it is not a lay Will it work? I don't really know but no-one in Exetel has any ideas on how we can address the realities of the current markets so combining the principal attractions of the two current major 'market leaders' may well be the next best thing. If we can put the various 'logistics' in place we will provide a new range of plans (prefixed SOPJ) some time in the not too distant future. It is a strange feeling to become a copier rather than an innovative thinker but it's clear that no amount of innovative thinking can address a monopolist's cash give aways and the 'general' ADSL buyer appears to believe that all networks are equal in performance and that prompt and competent support is something they will never need and has no value to them so the only criterion for supplier selection is price. Fair enough. We'll just have to wait and see. Copyright © Exetel Pty Ltd 2011 Trackbacks
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Does it really matter if you can't beat them? Sure, you might not grow as fast, or may even decline a bit. Life can be boom and bust.
You still have a great product and the best user interface around; and that should keep you going. The competition can't keep cutting costs forever. Just keep watching for ways to sensibly compete Comment (1)
Mike,
While it doesn't really matter we can't just do nothing while our user base slowly erodes. It seems to us that the ways of presenting our services to potential users and current users no longer 'works' and we need to do something different. That's something we have no current ideas about so, until we can re-establish a 'sensibly honest' approach that works we need to change our personal preferences about how services should be presented to the markets in 2011. Pricing at $XX.99 is crass, stupid and demeaning but - "everyone else does it". Presenting prices that either don't include the rental of a telephone line or hide the cost is not something that sits well with me personally - "but everyone does it". ....and so on. Comments (4)
I'm sorry if I missed you saying something about it, but have you stopped selling AAPT plans to new customers indefinitely? AAPT plans are no longer on the website.
As to copying... as long as it is relatively sustainable (as in you wont be asking customers to move off these plans soon after the contract expires) I actually don't mind it. It is only the data allowance levels you are copying, it's not everything else that makes up a service that a customer wants to purchase. As long as Exetel can highlight the pros of choosing them then you can show it isn't a pure copy. Comment (1)
Col,
We will have to change the ways we present our services as what has worked very well for many years, now, no longer works at all. Comments (4)
John I follow your blogs with interest but I am becoming confused about my own status. I have been with Exetel for about 4 years and progressively moved my plans upward or changed plans according to your offers. Sometimes it has cost more and others less. I am not on contract but I am not contemplating going anywhere else and have paid increases rather than pursue change for changes sake. I hate change and I hate having to make decisions and I love stability. At 79 I know there is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I assume that my modest sub does not represent much but people like me are not going to leave lightly. I sense that I may be in a category that you feel might be one that Exetel may soon close off. Am I reading you correctly?
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Kevin,
We are trying to find plans that suit all of our current users - we would hate to lose you as a customer and nothing I 'say' we do is intended to convey that impression. At the moment it is very difficult to understand what our longer term customers really want. Your comments are valuable to me in trying to understand exactly what the situation actually is. Comments (4)
John, putting in my two bob's worth - I have been with Exetel for a similar time as Kevin and have been ok with paying an increase rather than change just for the sake of it - problems that I get (mainly due to rubbish copper in the ground) I know are outside the control of Exetel whose support, product & ethics I am very happy with.
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it is very difficult to understand what our longer term customers really want
I've been an Exetel customer since Feb 2005, so I think that makes me a "longer term customer". I'm currently on TCV20-200 Telstra ADSL2... 200gb to use any time (no peak/offpeak) for $50/mth, plus all the usual Exetel extras.(fax, sms, etc) I'm very happy with this plan, and my only wish is that I can continue to have it. I don't receive any discount from exetel, and that doesn't really bother me, although some sort of recognition as a long-term customer would be nice... maybe an Exetel coffee cup or something I'd rather see Exetel continue as a profitable entity so I can continue to enjoy the service, than receive some ongoing discount. But what I'm most interested in having is a continuation of my stable, fast service, without being forced to change plans at some future time. If I see an alternative Exetel plan that I'd prefer to be on, I'll change to it myself, without needing to be pushed or "encouraged". I guess what I'm saying is I'd like to see Exetel a little more stable with their offerings, rather than chopping and changing every 5 minutes. Comment (1)
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