Business Analytics for Sales and Marketing Managers: How to Compete in the Information Age

LOYALTY PROGRAMS BASED ON SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT INTERVIEWS

If you used the decision tree in the beginning of this chapter (Exhibit 6.1), you were directed to this section because you want to build a retention or loyalty program and are considering interviewing subject matter experts during this process. Subject matter experts are typically used during the start-up phase of projects which perhaps at a later stage will focus more on using DW data or questionnaires. Another reason could be that you want to learn what it is that drives loyalty rather than churn, where loyalty drivers are the relational elements that positively differentiate what you go to market with, as opposed to churn drivers, which are hygiene factors that differentiate your company negatively if you do not deliver on these basics.

If you are starting up a new churn prediction project, interviews with subject matter experts are natural first steps to help you understand what customer needs are and, based on this information, how to prioritize which data sources should be sourced first and how the data should be presented. This is all described in more detail in the section “Elements Needed for Churn Prediction.” These sorts of interviews are also valuable in the early phases of a project to educate the project team and create a shared understanding of terms and priorities.

Retention programs are more than tools that identify and act toward high-risk churners, which is the equivalent of stuffing the holes in a bucket. ...