PROBLEM: Fortune 500 subscription business experienced growing subscriber churn.

FINDINGS: In depth analysis revealed many attributes and behavioral factors that correlated with higher levels of churn, and inversely some that correlated with low churn and longer customer lifetimes.

• Payment methods had become an issue as more customers' credit cards were expiring (standard expiry and fraud issues).
• Customer initiated contacts with Customer Service for specific types of issues (technical issues, satisfaction issues) correlated strongly with higher churn rates.
• The timing of account activation showed a relationship with churn (fast activation: lower churn, slow or no activation: higher churn).
• Specific feature usage and adoption showed correlation with lower rates of churn.

ACTION: Actions were taken to address most of the issues identified in the analyses:

• Customer Service addressed card expiry well in advance or immediately when possible in the case of lost cards or fraud card replacement.
• Technical and satisfaction issues were addressed large scale.
• Emails were sent to new customers touting features and benefits of activation.
• Features that correlated with higher retention were given higher levels of promotion to drive users to adopt.

RESULTS: Retention was improved by 30% over the course of one year.