Vodafone's Product Portfolio

Introduction

Customer are always right that’s what’s is known as the principle of business regardless of what the business it is might be a retail store a manufacturing unit or even a service company the basic rule is customers are always right. The question is that why? Why are the customers always right and not the suppliers? The answer is clean and neat, the customers are the ones who facilitate the companies with revenue on which the produce the products or pay the salary to their employee and even the only source to pay off different bills. however the customers different from needs and what and since the economic resources are scares the companies have to come across different tradeoff situation where they have to choose the best possible mix of products and services that they will provide to their customers. The product mix that is decided by the suppliers are compressed in a product portfolio.

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A product portfolio is a method to maximize the literal value of the producible goods and services in accordance with the strategic planning by the shareholders. However a product portfolio is customized on the basis of demands by the customers and their ability to pay, another thing to add up on product portfolio is to segmenting the customers and market on which they want to focus is very important as for once the market is segmented the companies can look for more strategic marketing and operational plans. Segmenting the market can be quite easy if the companies answer one of three basic questions of marketing FOR WHOM TO PRODUCE. By these different tools and methods a company can decide on a perfect product portfolio for their market.

Vodafone an international telecommunication company has been trying to plant in their foots in Qatar since year 2009 and is yet not able to capture at least 50% of the market share and the reason is imperfect product portfolio. In the project I will explain the present product portfolio of Vodafone and also give different recommendations for the company to make it better

Managing customers by FISH

By managing customers like fish doesn’t literally mean that customers are fish instead it is a short for “First In Still Here” a customer that visits a company once doesn’t always have to go there the next time. However the aim of every company is to keep the customers active in the organization and to supply them for endless time. The fish states that a customer who comes in for the first time should be treated in such a way that he stay in forever (Wang & huges, 2014).

The customers are known as rational and they may shift to any other organization it sees more value for money hence these customers need to be satisfied by dividing them into different groups such as their age, sex, attitude or even their reliability or monthly income and buying structure. Fish is not about managing customers for short term but to provide customers a comfortable environment which they carve for so that they continue visiting it again and again. In addition to this cooperation’s lack the trust building with the customers and the organizations loose customers due to not coming up to customer expectations even though it’s not the organizations faults as for the customers are so diverse and ever changing it is quite difficult to shift their resources every now and then hence it is very difficult for the companies to decide on one single accurate product portfolio. However in the next segments I would identify different techniques to find out which departments or products should be removed from the organizations portfolio in order to make it effective

Strategic account management

Strategic account management better known as SAM is a strategic approach which comes from account management. However it is used to ensure positive and appropriate relations with different customers of the organization and it provides a shoulder to step on and freshen up relations with important and major customers.in addition to this SAM believes in providing definite customers with their specific and tailored goods and services that provide the prestige

SAM has been increasingly involved in different companies due to diverse relationships required in a business community in the fields of business-business and business-customer .however strategic account management has successfully pushed the companies from no relation to very good relations with their customers and supply chain. In addition to this another advantage is that due to Strategic account management has facilitated organizations to identify different opportunities and increase income massively.

Next it is seen that due to increasing number of customers, companies and competition to win the market strategic account management has been a competitive tool for different organizations to excel in the today’s world also as for strategic account management facilitates organizations in segmenting the market, teaming up with supply chain, winning the loyal customers and also to increase their profits. However the main role player in the game is the product portfolio and deciding on the products with keeping the customers in mind and the aim of satisfying them.

Customer segmentation

Customer segmentation is known as the door to success. Once a company is able to segment its market the company is assured to enjoy profits and high loyal customer average. Different scholars talk about customer segmentation as a goldmine available to the organizations the point arises how effectively the organization segments the market. If an organization does not faithfully decide on accurate customer segmentation it is likely to face loss as for the non-demanded products would be available to the market left unsold.

Without customer segmentation a marketing mix is like a disabled person as for once the market is segmented the organizations decide on the product, price, place and promotion unless and until an organization knows there the buyers of their location, what their budget is or how much they are willing to pay, what they demand or like and what offers or promotions they are looking for it is useless to supply in general public, for no one would be willing to buy the products.

Finally after customer segmentation a company is required to design a product portfolio and differentiate products, prices and designs on the basis of their customer’s affordability and income structure. It is also identified that organizations are better off when they segment the market and on the basis of income structure of the customers as for the organizations re able to identify different product portfolios for customers who are more profitable and low cost effective.

Vodafone’s customers

Telecom industry is known as one of the ever living industry as for rather than just being immortal the customers of telecommunication industry keeps increasing in the market. The different telecom industries in the world are able to generate new markets through the advancement of technology and derived demand through the mobile phones. In the matter of Qatar only two telecommunication companies’ reside major being the Qtel and Vodafone. Both the companies are quite competitive in order to win more and more market share of Qatar .however both the companies fight on the basis of different customer oriented approaches available to utilize.

Until the introduction of Vodafone Qtel had complete control of the market but Vodafone being an international telecom industry they have actively captured enough of the market share. However it is not a huge percentage or accurate to the percentage that was expected through Vodafone and the blame is in correct product portfolio. Qatar being an Arab country requires different services unlike the western population.

The chart one shows the different market share captured by the telecom industries in Qatar

Chart 1-

In the year 2009 it is seen that Vodafone was able to capture 16% of the market share very effectively and the reason can be due to being a fresh company in the industry the customers were likely to enter into contracts with the company in order to try something new. However after the years Vodafone is able to sustain itself but no much growth is shown in the market and finally in the year 2013 Vodafone is able to capture 25% of the market share. However the market share should be increased to a much more better ratio unlike the company from year 2009-2012

Products and services offered by Vodafone:

1. Connectivity- Vodafone product known as gateway is a signal booster for wireless connections
2. Headsets and headphones – Bluetooth enabled headphones
3. Memory cards- micro and mini memory card
4. Chargers- portable mobile and tablet chargers.
5. Prepaid Sim cards – extras, smart packs, calls, sms, internet over mobile, data celluar.
6. Postpaid Sim cards- Red, Classic 100.
7. Youth packages- Falla, anghami+.
8. Fixed telephone lines

Vodafone has divided and segmented its customers on the basis of the number of customers they are able to pull of the market. However I have turned the statistic in chart format as it can be seen below in chart 2.

Since Vodafone is able to capture only 25% of the 1.8 million population in the Qatar it has a number of customers using their mobile services which touch to approximately 300000 whereas on the other hand a number of customers use fixed fines still with about 100000 and broad band connections end up to 180000.

Table 1-

Customer portfolio

Customer portfolio is made up to identify different groups of services provided by an organization in the matter of the revenue it generates for the company due to this an organization is able to judge and understand that not all segments are the same and on which of the products the company is earning very well and which of the segments they are facing losses

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The most important part of any organization is to send back satisfied customers and it is only possible with the way of generating an intelligent portfolio .however an intelligent or reliable portfolio is only possible through a very tested and decided upon market segment where the organization has divided its products on the basics on what the customers actually need and what they are willing to pay for and add value to strategic accounts’ services and products in line with the vision the organization has and the mission it wants to reach on.

A number of scholars explain that every customer or segment for instance should be treated very differently and apart for other so that they feel the services they are opting to are specially designed for them and they come out feeling prestigious. Hence in the matter of Vodafone it is very important that they decide upon a different package for every customer that pops up in their office and make him feel special in the matter if attractiveness, price and design.

Below the table shows a outlook client portfolio for vodafone that displays spans and segments of clients of that the marketing strategy ought to depend on as investing on every single segment according to reports development and the relationship/service requirement. The pursuing segments embody possible attractiveness reports and supplementary reports that the firm has to strategically assess beforehand requesting each investment in their product portfolios.

BGG matrix

Advantages and implications of BCG Matrix

• Focuses attention on cash flow and needs
• It is quantifiable and facile to use
• Easy to recall words and their meanings after denoting to company units
• Assume colossal marketplace allocate, economies of scale, and price association

BCG has two constituents such as upcoming attractiveness of SBA (growth and profitability prospect) and stable extrapolated competitive locale (if our competitive locale looks precisely as nowadays next extrapolate).

Star- (growth strategy)- the product that falls in the category of stars is said to be good nowadays and good in the upcoming so kiss it, affection it but you demand to do diagnosis all the period because if gaps increases next it moves to question mark so larger do diagnosis every single period and do not stay. However in short it can be said as mobile cellular packages specially prepaid service which mean pay before you call .however mobile data packages and prepaid call rates from Vodafone is acting as start for the company and it may further generate revenues for the company

Question mark- (growth strategy)- the products that fall in the category of question marks are said to be poor nowadays and good in the upcoming so you seize milk from cow and locale it in question mark as a matter of fact broadband connections are acting as question marks for the Vodafone company . However we believe that in the near future it is likely to increase sales and come up generating profits for the company.

Dog- (retrenchment strategy) the products that fall in the category of Dogs they are said to be poor nowadays and poor in the upcoming so locale the dog beyond the door that is cut back from SBA .however in the situation of Vodafone it is the land-line connection and due to the advancement and common sizing of mobile phones there are a very few chances for the community to accept landlines again. On the other hand it is a hectic situation for a person to shift from one service provider to another in the matter of landlines. Hence Vodafone is not able to capture of much of the market in Qatar

Cow- (stability) –the goods that fall in the category of cash cows good nowadays and poor in the upcoming so cash cow that is seize the milk and be it a little whereas else. Retain milking the cow that is SBA acting good nowadays but not in the upcoming so make as far money as probable now. In the matter of Vodafone I can be easily understood that the product they are talking about is specially tailored youth services which mainly include Fallah service and is meant to be cheap and for a minor call rate. However the customers of Fallah program of Vodafone has not only captured the youth but also many women and men in the community

Conclusions

In conclusion to this project we can understand the importance of product portfolio, how it changes the impact it has in the community and how it is able to capture the market share with regards to Vodafone it is understood how the company should work on its product portfolio and what things Vodafone is lacking in its product portfolio. In addition to this an organization is supposed to understand on what products it should produce and segment the market on the basics of the targeted segment by which the organization is able capture more market share and return back satisfied customers in the matter of Vodafone the company has no yet able to segment the market accurately and they should look towards the customers they are targeting and what they require I can justify this by stating the matter of fact of Vodafone that they are unable to provide different services to women and they are forced to come to youth Fallah packages as for it suits their needs more accurately . However finally the Vodafone is analyzed on the basic of BGG matrix in the way that the cash cows, stars , dogs and question marks are identified.

Recommendations

After assessing Vodafone’s client portfolio and dotted the crucial question marks reports it feels that for Vodafone it is important to own the world-class sales forces and report association qualities as grasping business-to-business and business-to-customer connections, be confidentially accountable for clients wanted aftermath, comprehend their company and necessities, being adjacent and inside grasp, resolve customers’ setbacks, and be creative in responding to customers’ needs across an innovative R&D workshop Vodafone has to gaze beyond the competitive gains that they own, they have to grasp an competent client connections and report association by looking into customers’ needs and clarify deep vision of their customer’s expectations, and recognize the needs and opportunities beforehand their clients do, they have to deed as a crucial power for their clients and add worth to their services, because clients yet demand their telecom operator to deed and present in a method that differentiate them from their matches and uphold a competitive locale in the marketplace as corporates and of sequence meets confidential needs as individual customers. Though, Vodafone has to accept additionally a Crucial Client Association (SCM) outlook that can be attained across strategizing of sales procedures and constructions Vodafone outlook SCM necessities the following: