Retention

[devans]

I work in the retention dept and our save rate goal is 55% per week. As a management team we are trying to come up with some creative ideas that can help us reduce customer churn. Our goal is to try to keep pcs customers who want to cancel our services due to , signing on with another carrier or dropped calls.
And any other factors that would contribute to a cancellation. Right now we can offer some customers 1 month free service or addtional mins or even a refurbished phone. Our problem is that most of our plans come with a one year agreement and the retention plans we can offer also have a one year agreement , so our hands are tied. we need help.

[hallbj2]

Having worked for a major PCS/GSM carrier, I know the importance of churn. One of the things I implemented a few years ago to reduce churn was "welcome calls". Completed on an outbound basis - new PCS customers are called within 30 days of activation (no longer). The calls are somewhat "welcomed" by the customer but the kEY is uncovering any frustrations with the service that would eventually cause a customer to "churn". At one time, our churn was very, very low.
I discovered that the early detection of frustrations with the equipment, service - kept many more customers.
I had a scripted intro and the rest of the call was asking open ended questions to uncover positive / negative. If negative comments were made - we made every effort at the time to resolve.
Positive comments were sometimes rewarded with "extra minutes" added to thier monthly usage.
As you well know, many first time users are confused with getting the optimial use of their PCS equipment and understanding roaming / minutes.
If you'd like for me to assist your team (on a consultancy basis) to help set up such a program - or have questions, feel free to e-mail me privately.
Good Luck!
Hall & Associates
Hallbj2@aol.com

[myla]

Hi Devans,

Indeed, one of the most important if not crucial concern is Customer Retention and Satisfaction.

There are numerous ways /mechanisim to answer this issue but it should be properly targetted, focused and realistic.

I've worked for a telecommunications company for the last six years both in the marketing and customer service side. I'd be willing to share whatever I've learned, please drop me an email should you be interested.

Thanks