Keep 'em happy, Mercury, GTE TSI tackle churn

Mercury Cellular and Paging became one of the first wireless incumbents to outwardly address customer retention last week when it deployed the ChurnManager system from GTE Telecommunication Services Inc.

ChurnManager collects data from marketing, billing, customer service and switch databases to identify the customers most likely to churn and measure those customers' worth. Carriers can then offer to adjust rate plans and features accordingly.

"We can get proactive with these people and try to keep them from churning," said Brenda McElveen, vice president of administration for Mercury. "The minute we pull up a customer, it has all kinds of different information that allows us to tell how valuable a customer is.

The system also allows customer service representatives to offer dissatisfied customers pre-authorized incentives. "This is going to motivate [CSRs] because it's flexible and has all this information at a glance," McElveen said.

The influx of competition in wireless is making churn management increasingly important. "Sophisticated wireless users know that if they're not treated right by their carrier, someone else is going to treat them better," said Perry Walter, vice president of The Robinson-Humphrey Co., a consultancy based in Atlanta.

Most carriers have dealt with problem customers using their own back office equipment, but new pressure is likely to turn many to systems from third-party providers.

"There's been such a focus on fraud that operators are just now beginning to understand the value of reducing churn," said Mike O'Brien, product manager at GTE TSI. "Companies that don't look at churn are not looking far enough into the future."

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