Briefs

Michael Lowenstein of Techtarget writes about churn (attrition) modeling strategies used in banking and telecom.

For example, Wachovia Bank (Charlotte, N.C.) looks at demographics, life events (divorce, losing jobs, opening a business, graduating kids, etc.), declines in account balance levels, and the like. They also survey high value customers who have already defected. Another bank, PNC in Pittsburgh, depends very heavily on analytics which come from behavioral customer research, especially activity information regarding accounts at other institutions; and, like Wachovia, they also monitor account balance levels.

SLP InfoWare, based in France, has a model (called Churn/CPS) which tracks multiple end-user defined churn behaviors, so that clients can engage and refine their retention strategies. Using the Churn/CPS model, Cellular One of Puerto Rico reduced customer turnover by one-third.

A second noted modeling firm is U.K-based Quadstone. Quadstone positions itself as a holistic predictor of customer behavior; and, through their Decisionhouse software, they offer marketers the opportunity to profile and segment customers both visually and interactively.

The third innovative churn modeling consultant is @RISK, Inc., based in Pennsylvania. @RISK, Inc. uses advanced techniques -- neural network protocols, artificial intelligence and causal inference algorithms -- to detect patterns and trends in customers' transactions which could mark them as potential defectors.

Here is full story.