Carriers Rethink Retention

If you think retention programs are for older carriers, think again. Andrew Gordon, Telecorp vice president of information technology, said although his company launched only four months ago, it already uses a customer-relationship-management (CRM) program to retain customers.

"We had to think retention before we even had a subscriber," he told attendees at Telestrategies' Billing '99 in Dallas.

Gordon said a retention system requires CRM programs to identify customers and allow you to use your data and credit scores to route them and treat them all differently.

Kenneth Monblatt, PrimeCo director of information technology and business integration, said its CRM program showed that customers want fewer new products and more features built around their accounts. They also want cost control. PrimeCo used these facts to give its customers control-oriented features.

"For instance, our customers can dial #BAL for an up-to-the-minute, real-time balance," Monblatt said. "Our prepaid customers hear a whispered prompt when 80% of their balance is gone."

Monblatt said carriers must use their resources to understand the customer himself rather than his usage habits. Instead of knowing his calling pattern, you should learn more about his lifestyle.

Geoffrey Knoerzer, Ameritech Cellular director of information technology, agreed, pointing out that CRM taught Ameritech that its high-usage customers are not the same as high-value customers. A high-usage customer could be a college student who frequently makes long-distance calls and sends his parents the bill.

"We want good data," he said. "We could do a better job upselling with better data. It is a challenge to make sure customers' calls are directed correctly."

Russ Akins, BellSouth Cellular's vice president & chief information officer, said when his company converted 5 million customers to a new system, it found a lot of bad data.

"We learned two things: You have to capture good-quality data, and then you must do something with it when you get it," he said.

With new, clean data, BellSouth was able to roll out 700 new rate plans last September. Sound like a lot? During the same process, it eliminated 2,000 old rate plans.

"Many of them were old plans that people had kept around," Akins said. "We were letting them ride until the customer would wake up and realize he is paying 10 times more than his neighbor."

The new targeted rate plans have had a significant effect on attracting customer segments.

* Sven-Christer Nilsson has resigned as Ericsson president & CEO. He is replaced by Kurt Hellstrom as president, and chairman Lars Ramqvist will serve as CEO.

* VoiceStream Wireless has signed a contract with International Telecommunication Data Systems (ITDS) for its newest product, Xcede.com. VoiceStream will integrate the electronic bill presentment and payment module into its current system by the end of the year.