Creating a churn tracking program for a “big four” wireless operator
Success Stories | Telecom

Creating a churn tracking program for a “big four” wireless operator

Escalent brings superior expertise to every project so we trust them with the most difficult research questions. Our leadership asks for them by name, because their work is held up as the gold standard inside our business.

Business Issue

One of the “big four” US wireless operators was experiencing industry-leading subscriber acquisition due to its refined business strategy, but was also concerned about its ability to retain the inflow of subscribers because its churn rates were substantially higher than the industry average. As a result, it chose to establish a churn tracking program that would allow it to strategically identify and address the major causes of subscriber deactivation, and respond swiftly to changing market forces that negatively impacted short-term retention.

What We Did

We established a tracking program that surveys and reports on 1,000 churned subscribers each month. Conducted as a multi-mode study to capture both port-outs and non-ports, the program was built to determine subscribers’ overall experiences and path to churn, their primary reasons for leaving, and their likelihood of returning. The program was also designed with the flexibility to integrate with internal data sciences programs, as well as accommodate quick-turn research and analysis in response to market changes. The program has run uninterrupted for eight years and spawned numerous similar studies for the operator’s other brands.

Result

Escalent’s research provided immediate insights into the causes of churn, as well as a prioritized set of recommendations for rectifying issues at both a strategic and tactical level. The data from the program have also been integrated into numerous data sciences programs, including predictive modeling designed to mitigate churn risk well in advance of the subscriber leaving. As a result, the wireless operator has more than halved its churn rate since the program’s inception, and now boasts industry-leading low churn rates to match its stellar growth.

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