4 Strategies to Reduce Telecom Churn

With an average retention rate of just 79%, telecom churn rates are among the highest in any industry. “Telco customer churn” or “customer churn in telecom” refers to the percentage of existing customers who’ve stopped doing business with a company during a specified period. Knowing how to reduce churn rate in telecom is critical to success, and here’s why: Churn is expensive. With some estimates saying that it costs six to seven times more to win over a new customer vs. retaining an existing one, losing customers can really add up. Fortunately, with just a 5% reduction in churn, telecom companies can increase profitability by up to 75%.

In this article, we’ll tell you how to reduce churn rate in telecom with four strategies that you can use to reduce telco customer churn. But before we dive into those, you might want to check out these five crucial telecom KPIs. Curious about where the industry is heading in 2023? Read this article about current trends in the telecom industry.

4 Strategies to Reduce Customer Churn in Telecom

1. Provide state-of-the-art customer service

With 50% of customers claiming that one bad customer service experience is enough to make them switch providers, companies that don’t meet their customers’ expectations will suffer dire consequences. Harvard Business Review reports that telecom customers who receive a response to their issue within 5 minutes are willing to pay up to $17 more per month for their wireless subscription, amounting to a yearly increase of over $200 per subscriber! So, what does “state-of-the-art customer service” look like? In short, it’s online, self-service, omnichannel, and available around the clock.

78% of customers expect the ability to engage with companies via their preferred channel 24/7 – and they expect to switch between channels without having to explain their inquiry in-depth multiple times to different reps. Companies that are serious about reducing telco customer churn have no choice but to offer omnichannel support, which tracks all customer interactions in one place, regardless of how many channels or how many stakeholders are involved. In addition, 40% of customers prefer to use self-service tools to find answers to simple questions, and they generally prefer to manage and configure their subscriptions online themselves instead of waiting in a queue and having to interact with a live person.

What to know more? Check out these five key strategies to provide great telecom customer service.

2. Let AI help you

The savviest of telecom companies have realized AI’s potential to reduce telecom churn, and they’re using AI-enabled predictive behavior analysis to automate CRM, improve personalization, sharpen customer segmentation, better identify customers who are about to churn, and more! Today’s AI capabilities can help telecom companies to predict customer inquiry patterns to help them staff up when needed and respond with world-class efficiency, troubleshooting assistance, and technical support. In addition, a combination of AI algorithms and machine learning can help telecom companies to optimize their network traffic by predicting usage patterns, and adapting and reconfiguring networks to respond to fluctuating usage demands, thereby improving reliability and customer satisfaction.

3. Listen to what your customers are telling you

Telecom companies collect vast amounts of customer data, yet most of it just sits in data warehouses. Looking into support tickets can tell you a lot about your customers’ satisfaction (or dissatisfaction), help to identify high-priority bug fixes, and uncover demand for new products and features. If a lot of customers have unresolved issues or a high number of support tickets, consider contacting them directly to get their feedback. Showing that the company values its business and cares about its experience could move the company’s telecom churn rate in the right direction – and maybe even result in some positive word-of-mouth recommendations!

What are customers saying on your social media channels and online reviews? Many businesses don’t bother to monitor these channels, which can be a gold mine of information that companies can use to improve their marketing, onboarding, products, and more. In 2020, 79% of consumers surveyed said that they trust online reviews as much as recommendations from friends and family – and 55% say they have a positive impression of companies that respond to reviews. So even if your company receives negative reviews, responding with how you’re going to address the customer’s concerns is excellent damage control – and can go a long way toward reducing customer churn in telecom.

4. Incentivize customers to stay

As long as the network is stable, billing is straightforward, and customer service meets expectations, it might seem like there’s little reason for telco customer churn. But there’s an elephant in the room – it’s called “the loyalty penalty.” The longer a customer stays with their existing telecom provider, the more likely they are to feel that they’re overpaying, especially when the provider is offering fantastic deals to new customers. More than half of telecom churn happens passively when customers come across a better deal from a competitor – and while 61% of telecom companies say they try to win back customers who’ve already churned, the majority of their efforts are unsuccessful. Proactively working to reduce customer churn in telecom by offering existing customers unexpected upgrades and deals delivers outstanding ROI while building their loyalty, especially when service has fallen short of the customer’s expectations.

Plecto Can Help You Track and Manage Your Strategies to Reduce Telecom Churn

Plecto can help you reduce telecom churn with real-time dashboards that can assist you in keeping tabs on customer service. With an up-to-the-minute overview of your support channels, you can identify common complaints and customers who have had a mediocre experience – so you can act before it’s too late! Plecto also enables you to schedule and generate automatic reports with custom KPIs and real-time data to help you share crucial insights with everyone who needs them.

Sign up for a free 14-day trial and discover how Plecto can help your company improve customer retention and succeed in one of the world’s most competitive industries!