Telecom Outbound Retention Programme
Client Profile
A national South African telecom operator providing mobile, broadband, and bundled communications services to millions of subscribers. Operating in one of the most competitive telecoms markets in Africa, the operator was under increasing pressure to protect its subscriber base from aggressive competitor pricing and promotional offers.
The Challenge
The operator was seeing its churn rate climb and its internal teams were unable to mount an effective proactive response. Specific challenges included:
- Increasing customer churn across both prepaid and contract segments, driven by competitive offers and price sensitivity
- Limited internal capacity for proactive retention — the existing contact centre was fully committed to inbound service and support, leaving no bandwidth for outbound save campaigns
- Customers leaving for competitor offers that were often matched or exceeded by the client's own plans, but not communicated effectively
- No structured win-back process for recently lapsed subscribers, resulting in permanent revenue loss for customers who could have been recovered
- Lack of performance visibility — previous retention efforts were ad hoc, with no clear tracking of contact rates, save rates, or campaign ROI
The Vernice Approach
Vernice Merchants deployed a dedicated outbound retention and win-back team, operating under clear performance frameworks and in close coordination with the client's retention strategy team:
- Built a specialist outbound team focused exclusively on retention, win-back, and upgrade conversations
- Developed targeted call scripts in collaboration with the client's product and marketing teams, incorporating personalised save offers based on customer segment and usage patterns
- Implemented rigorous performance tracking from day one — contact rates, right-party connects, save rates, and revenue retained per agent per day
- Established a structured coaching cadence with daily huddles, weekly performance reviews, and monthly strategic alignment sessions with the client
- Created tailored approaches for different churn segments: early warning (at-risk), cancellation requests (save desk), and lapsed subscribers (win-back)
Services Delivered
- Retention calls to at-risk customers
- Win-back campaigns for lapsed subscribers
- Plan upgrade offers
- Cross-sell and bundling
- Complaint resolution during retention calls
Results
A meaningful uplift in the proportion of at-risk customers successfully retained through proactive outbound engagement.
Previously lapsed subscribers were re-activated through targeted win-back campaigns with personalised offers.
Retention conversations doubled as opportunities to upgrade customers onto plans that better matched their usage, increasing ARPU.
The combined retention and win-back programme contributed to a measurable reduction in overall monthly churn rates.
Why It Worked
The programme succeeded because it combined operational discipline with strategic flexibility, giving the client a responsive and accountable retention capability they didn't have before:
- Segment-specific save strategies
- Dedicated retention specialists
- Real-time performance tracking
- Structured coaching cadence
- Continuous script optimisation
[Client testimonial to be added]
National SA Telecom Operator
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