Finding value in a crowded marketplace

In this guest blog, Ulrika Burling, CEO of management consulting company NoA Consulting reflects upon the findings from extensive research made in conjunction with our rebranding project last year. Insights from hundreds of customers and prospects showed that Arelion ranks highest against competitors across the strongest sales drivers – high quality, trustworthy, prestigious and professional.

A brand is more than a name or a logo. It’s the promise of an experience, a distillation of values – and an emotional connection. So, when Telia Carrier (now Arelion) approached us about rebranding, we were excited. However, becoming an independent provider takes more than just changing business cards; it requires an understanding of core values. As part of the branding process, we surveyed existing and potential customers about the qualities they value most.

The network operator’s long track record for delivering world-class customer experience comes from its unique culture, an experienced executive team, technical customer service experts and global service managers that care about every customer service interaction – no matter the scale. Still, the rebranding necessitated a new, research-driven alignment informed by insights from current and prospective customers across the enterprise and wholesale marketplace.

In our survey, we asked participants to rate Arelion based on key sales drivers and rank them against competing industry players. This feedback formed the foundations of Arelion’s new identity.

The survey process: discovering the importance of high quality

Based on 329 interviews with customers and prospects, the final analysis was divided into wholesale customers, wholesale prospects, enterprise customers and enterprise prospects. Many enterprise respondents represent the IT/telecom, banking/financial services and manufacturing industries. For enterprise and wholesale customer groups, respondents are mainly from Europe and North America.

Our research surveyed management roles or senior engineers to gain global insight into 12 industries. The goal was to provide a macro-level scope of Arelion’s strengths and current brand position across 40 associations or perceived sales drivers.

Surprisingly, our global sample revealed strong similarities across target groups. We were struck by the high levels of customer satisfaction across the board. High quality, trustworthy, prestigious and professional were the top drivers for current and prospective customers in both markets. Arelion outperformed its competitors in the most important drivers among its own customers, revealing that Arelion’s ability to satisfy these drivers enabled it to deliver on a “trust us, we have the quality you need” promise.

Participants indicated that high quality and professionalism were the top drivers Arelion’s customers experience when doing business with the global provider. The results validate the trustworthiness of Arelion’s Internet backbone. Arelion’s backbone powers 65 percent of global IP routes and provides high quality connectivity that meets the service needs of its customers.

Essential sales drivers: service reliability and customer experience

In this survey, one priority remained constant for customers when choosing a connectivity partner: high-quality experience. Arelion ranks best in class for 17 sales premium drivers. These include:

• High quality
• Trustworthy
• Prestigious
• Professional

These sales drivers are functional and emotional, including quality and a stable network on the one hand and prestige and friendliness on the other. A significant differentiator between wholesale and enterprise customers amounts to a preference for advice on the enterprise side and network issue resolution and customer support on the wholesale side.

Helping global customers secure high-quality connectivity for their business needs

Customer responses show that Arelion is light-years ahead of competitors in areas that matter most to those needing high-quality connectivity. Definitive results encompassing most sales drivers are unusual and impressive. This is especially noteworthy considering many of Arelion’s customers subscribe to multiple providers.

While Arelion continues to provide high-quality experiences to its customers in the connectivity market, customers also told us that Arelion is uniquely different, with a culture that cares. This trickles down into everything Arelion does – through an unrelenting commitment to high-quality customer experiences backed by professionalism and trustworthiness.

For more information on Arelion’s global connectivity services and world-class customer service, visit https://www.arelion.com/ or read stories from its customers: https://www.arelion.com/knowledge-hub/customer-stories.html.

Ulrika Burling, NoA Consulting CEO and Strategic Advisor