BT to focus on customers

BT Retail is looking to increase revenue from existing customers and improve the quality of its services by increasing the number of companies selling BT services through indirect channels.

By its our admission, the new unit, called Alternative Channels, is looking to iron out past inadequacies with customer satisfaction levels by developing alternative routes to market, such as focusing on the internet through its bt.com website and working with partners.

Ray Smith, managing director of Alternative Channels at BT, said: "Our strategy at the moment is to grow with our partners. We're focusing on moving our existing partners up the chain and we want to move with them by turning them into 'premier partners'."

But according to Ovum analyst Simon Jones, it is difficult to gauge whether this approach will prove successful as "it depends on the loyalty shown to BT by partners who fall below the 'premier' category."

BT has 20 'premier' indirect channel partners worth £249m, 31 'major' partners worth £64.4m, 46 'key' partners worth £65.8m and 368 other partners worth £60.3m to BT Retail.

Jones added that although the 'premier' partners are not wholly exclusive to BT, they show more loyalty and there are no such guarantees of this from its other partners, as they may be perfectly happy with having a series of different partnerships with rival telcos.

Pierre Danon, CEO of BT Retail said BT has launched this strategy now because of the feedback from 'premier' partners, who said they would rather go to BT for all their requirements in order to reduce their costs.

Danon explained that BT wishes to build on its base of 21 million domestic and business customers by prioritising customer satisfaction, and hopes to do so by reducing costs.

By going through traditional channels for customer enquires, or billing transactions, such as call-centres, it costs BT £3.50 per individual, but via bt.com it is only 3p per individual, said Danon.

He admitted customer service in the past has been "so-so" and said such inefficiencies must be ironed out if BT is to achieve its objectives.