Recently, we hosted a webinar on social and customer service.... an ongoing series that is industry-specific and sponsored by IBM. Our panelists included the dynamic Jon Hall of Sprint, Perry McDonald of IBM, Michael Galkin of VoiceNEXT, and the discussion centers around how in this industry, where essentially customer acquisition is not the goal (most of us having signed up for one carrier or another) the cost of customer service is the leverage point. This was the second in a series of webinars about what's happening in telecom.
But curiously this industry remains subject to the empowered and social customer imperative: to use technology, community, and mobile to provide an easier and more satisfying way for customers to solve their problems.
Naturally this affects how the call centers are incented and wired for success. That in turn means that the major telecoms are themselves better informed about customer service for their B2B clients. A customer virtuous circle, if you will.
Great discussion: I invite you to join.