Balance collections
with retention for
each customer
Decision Analytics for debt management in telecommunications
Debt management for
telecommunications
The dynamic telecommunications market is seeing an
almost unprecedented level of customer delinquency.
Pressure to grow and retain the
subscriber base, combined with
higher bills resulting from the
convergence of services, as well as
growing use of third party content,
mean that telecommunications
operators are facing escalating
write-off amounts.
This has led to increased pressure
on the debt management operation
to recover these outstanding
amounts.
However, in a highly competitive
environment, it is easy for customers
to switch between suppliers and
leave debts behind them, meaning a
close management of the customer
relationship during collections is
essential, to ensure retention and
reduce churn.
Operators are able
to automate and
streamline the
collections process to
collect more debt from
more customers.
Experian has worked with
telecommunications operators
around the world, and uses this
experience to deliver a Decision
Analytics proposition that addresses
the key debt management challenges.
The proposition enables operators to
minimise bad debt and rehabilitate
customers rapidly, to reduce churn
and maintain revenue streams
for the future profitability of the
organisation.
The challenge
Revenue leakage and debt
management
Poor credit management is
often a significant contributor to
revenue leakage. An inefficient
debt management infrastructure
is often the result of a fast
growing subscriber base, without
the implementation of more
sophisticated systems and
processes that can handle the
complexity of the high volume, low
value debts that are typical of this
industry.
It has become critical for operators
to understand and manage the cost
to collect so that it does not exceed
the value of the debt.
Automation can significantly impact
on efficiency, enabling operators to
grow their subscriber base without
growing the collections personnel.
Operators are increasingly
recognising that a dedicated debt
management solution is the key to
improving collections performance,
to collect more debt, more quickly,
improve cash flow and thus minimise
revenue leakage.
Customer churn
The wealth of service providers
offering competitive deals has
resulted in customers demanding
higher levels of service but being
able to rapidly switch between
operators, leaving unpaid bills
behind them. In saturated markets
customer retention is one of the
drivers of success and it is no longer
effective to immediately disconnect
delinquent customers.
Operators need to maintain a
good relationship with delinquent
customers in order to rehabilitate
more customers, more quickly and
to return them to a position where
they are able to positively contribute
to revenue again. Early intervention
with good communication
encourages customers to remain
with the organisation long after they
have been rehabilitated.
The answer
Experian offers a Decision Analytics
answer to meet these challenges.
It integrates segmentation
and profiling of customers
with automation of collections
activities to create a complete
proposition for debt management in
telecommunications. Next generation
customer debt management places
intelligent segmentation at the heart
of the processes and activities to
drive dynamic, tailored collections
strategies for each delinquent
customer.
Create customer profile and segment
Customers are finely segmented
according to a wide range of
variables to create an accurate
profile. Using behavioural scoring,
each customer is assigned a risk
score according to their account and
delinquent behaviour, which is used
throughout the collections activities
to drive the most appropriate
strategy according to the level of risk
and value.
Prioritise actions
Using the profile, collections actions
can be effectively prioritised, such as
leaving habitual late payers to
self-cure and focusing resources on
high risk, high value customers.
Communicate through preferred
contact channels
Operators are able to utilise
their own technology and the
customer’s preferred communication
channels, such as SMS, for
effective personalised contact
with the customer. This can include
proactively sending limit warnings
to reduce the number of customers
entering delinquency.
Implement provisioning
Both automatic and manual
provisioning can be achieved, so that
suspension, termination and
re-activation, barring and debarring
and throttling and download
restrictions can easily be applied
to both encourage and reward
payments.
Automate manual processes
With a large volume of lower value
debts, automation can have a
significant impact on operational
costs. Collections activities are
automated to minimise manual
intervention, and enable staff to
concentrate on higher value, higher
risk collections.
Decision Analytics for debt management in telecommunications
Meeting the challenges of
debt management
‘‘I need to improve
collections efficiency’’
‘‘I need to improve
collections
effectiveness’’
‘‘I need to reduce the cost
to collect’’
Implementing a comprehensive
debt management approach
Use accurate assessment to
determine and implement the
appropriate approach, from
in-house collection, outsourcing
to DCAs and implementing legal
processes.
Enabling prioritised collections
activities
Use behavioural scoring and
segmentation to dynamically
create accurate and tailored
collections activities according to
the level of risk and value of the
customer.
Delivering automation,
workload balancing and
intelligent allocation
Automate and streamline
collections activities, enabling
skilled collectors to be matched to
the most appropriate cases.
The benefits
• Minimise activity costs and time
by taking the most appropriate
action
• Maximise value from DCA
activity
• Effectively use legal processes
The benefits
• Improve recovery rates
• Increase cash flow
• Reduce bad debt write-offs
• Optimise collections activity
• Improve roll rates
The benefits
• Reduce collections costs
• Decrease time to collect
• Improve staff productivity
• Reduce manual tasks
• Focus collections resources on
high risk, complex cases
‘‘I need to maintain
customer relationships’’
‘‘I want to achieve rapid
return on the investment
in a debt management
solution’’
‘‘I want to continuously
improve the efficiency
and effectiveness
of strategic debt
management’’
Creating a focus on
rehabilitation
Use customer-level profiling to
accurately assess and identify
which subscribers should be
retained and take action that
balances recovery with the
relationship.
Delivering an agile deployment
Ensure the benefits of the solution
are realised more quickly with an
agile implementation.
Deploying a value-added
proposition
Implement debt management
capabilities specifically designed
with built-in intelligence for the
telecommunications market.
The benefits
• Protect future revenue streams
• Reduce churn
• Increase customer loyalty
The benefits
• Realise business benefits faster
• Reduce risk with proven
systems and practices
The benefits
• Focus on value-added activities
• Reduce risk with proven
systems and practices
• Adopt effective practices from
leading organisations worldwide
Decision Analytics for debt management in telecommunications
Integrated products and services
Consulting
Consulting is at the heart of every
Decision Analytics delivery by
Experian. Consultants work with
clients at every stage of the project,
firstly to fully understand the
business and strategic direction, and
then to help design and implement
systems and processes that deliver
objectives.
Following implementation, Experian
consultants work with clients
through a structured and regular
review programme to continually
evolve and enhance strategies
so that organisations continue to
gain maximum value as their needs
change and the business grows.
Experian creates a partnership
with clients to deliver a system that
addresses their business challenges
for today, and in the future. Bringing
a fresh approach and independent
viewpoint to every business, it
delivers practical solutions that
deliver measurable results.
Tallyman software
Tallyman is the sophisticated
software system for managing
customer revenue and collection.
Specifically designed for consumer
credit grantors, or organisations
which extend consumer credit as part
of their business model, Tallyman
provides its users with the necessary
tools to implement fully integrated,
end-to-end collections processes
with flexible user applications and
efficient automation.
The key to Tallyman’s ability to
collect more revenue lies in its rulesbased architecture which underpins
all the activities and functions.
Rules can be as simple or as
complex as required to ensure
that the solution precisely meets
requirements.
Tallyman’s workload targeting
function assigns accounts to
be manually worked or to be
automatically processed by either a
worklist or a route.
Context sensitive displays mean
that collections agents have all
the relevant information at their
fingertips to enable faster, more
informed decisions.
Management information
Tallyman provides the ability to
evaluate the performance of the
implemented processes using visual
interactive real-time performance
dashboards and flexible and powerful
management information through a
suite of defined collections reports.
Progress of work queues, value of
revenue collected and the progress
of payment arrangements can all be
monitored against KPI targets.
Using dashboard tools, managers
can quickly predict daily outcomes
and dynamically allocate resources
and work queues in order to optimise
system performance.
Modular technology with flexible
delivery options
The system has been designed and
built for agile implementation, with
all the elements required for effective
debt management, but with the
ability to customise elements to suit
individual business requirements.
The functionality in the technology
has been designed to be modular,
so it can deliver the functionality
needed today, and meet the needs of
the business tomorrow.
Tallyman is designed to integrate
seamlessly with all leading billing
and customer management solutions
for streamlined operating efficiency.
The fully scalable system is capable
of processing millions of customer
decisions rapidly in this mission
critical environment.
About Decision Analytics from Experian
Decision Analytics is the
international division of Experian
specialising in providing credit risk
and fraud management consulting
services and products.
For more than 30 years, it has
developed its best practice
analytical, consulting and product
capabilities to support organisations
to manage and optimise risk; prevent,
detect and reduce fraud; meet
regulatory obligations; and gain
operational efficiencies throughout
the customer relationship.
With clients in more than 60
countries and offices in more than
30, the Decision Analytics division
of Experian delivers experience and
expertise developed from working
with national and international
organisations around the world
across a wide range of industries and
business size.
www.experian-da.com
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