The news as of the second cup of coffee this morning, and the music is Frank Sinatra's wonderful album Night And Day. As the AllMusic Guide's review says, "Records don't get any better than this:"
IBM
has announced that Digital +, UPC Broadband and Tesco Mobile are improving their customers' experience by using
IBM SPSS predictive analytics software to "gain deeper insights into subscriber behaviors and preferences."
This, so the theory goes, will be used to "improve customer retention, call center interactions and marketing campaigns." You know, reduce churn.
As mobile broadband expands in developed markets, devices like the smartphones and tablets are proliferating rapidly -- challenging the traditional Communication Service Provider's core business capabilities, IBM officials say, adding that in order to succeed, "CSPs need to respond to competitive pressures, reduce customer churn, optimize product portfolios and become more relevant and personalized."
IBM's business analytic products for CSPs use data to "predict business outcomes, spot trends as they emerge, improve customer service, drive customer value and reduce churn by building a better understanding of the customer," said Scott Stainken, general manager for IBM's telecommunication industry.
Big Blue officials point to Digital +, part of Sogecable in Spain, using IBM SPSS predictive analytics to optimize its call center by "predicting individual customer behaviors and directing call center agents to provide real-time recommendations while engaged with customers."
Digital + "improved its customer satisfaction with customized offers, reduced churn by 20 percent and increased cross-sell campaigns by 5 to 10 percent over outbound campaigns," said Omar Rois, customer analysis manager at Digital +.
...
Convergys Corporation, a vendor of relationship management products, has announced that a U.S. wireless operator with millions of subscribers has
signed a contract for
Convergys Intelligent Credits Solution, part of Convergys' Intelligent Automation portfolio.
By using Intelligent Credits to improve the process of issuing customer credits, the client can save on cost while increasing the satisfaction of its most valued customers, Convergys officials say, adding that the software contract, valued at approximately $6.5 million, "includes a license for Convergys Dynamic Decisioning Solution as well as annual maintenance and implementation services."
The implementation will be completed in the second quarter of this year.
The trick for companies looking to reduce costs is to do it while not negatively impacting customer satisfaction. Sure you can cut costs if that's all you want to do, eliminate your call center and hire a few guys in India to get around to answering the e-mails sooner or later, but your customer satisfaction's going to drop just a tad.
With this in mind, some companies choose to provide credits to their good customers when warranted due to an interruption in service or other unforeseen circumstance. Unfortunately, they often lack the automated controls needed to actively manage these credits.
This is what happened to this particular wireless operator, with spending on customer credits exceeding the industry average as a result of inconsistent policy adherence.
Then after finding Convergys Intelligent Credits the company had the capability to centralize policy creation and management as well as automated, real-time, and proactive policy enforcement across all customer contact channels.
The product will enable real-time evaluation of customer requests for credits based upon the wireless operator's business policies and the customer's history with the provider, Convergys officials say: "It will immediately provide customer service and retail associates with the appropriate credit offer they should make to subscribers in real-time."
It's expected to save this operator as much as $100 million per year by eliminating erroneously issued credits and reducing call handle times.