The easiest business decisions to make are the ones that are almost decided for you. Such was the case in 2000 when the FCC authorized telecom carriers to use third party verification (TPV) as a means to mitigate slamming issues. No need to decide whether or not to implement TPV – you just did it.
Now, almost two decades later, many Telco’s have benefited from TPV in ways unforeseen at the time. For example, Telcos now can easily access the actual recording of the customer confirming services. This has been used many times to deal with disputes before they become bigger issues. And in instances where there may be confusion on what the customer is actually agreeing to, the TPV process ensures this confusion is dealt with before the customer disputes charges, or worse, cancels service out of frustration. In other words, implementing TPV has actually proven to be a customer onboarding best practice.
With the continuing deregulation in energy, some jurisdictions may require using TPV while others may only recommend it. In either case, competitive energy companies will benefit from this best practice. When implemented, maintained and utilized correctly TPV provides a very cost effective way to ensure your sales representatives – whether internal or outsourced – follow proper sales protocol. At Calibrus we have helped our Telco and energy clients achieve quantifiable improvements in completed orders. In some cases we have seen failure rates as high as 12% reduced to lower than 2% through collaborative improvement efforts. When you consider the high cost of customer acquisition and the lifetime value of a customer, every completed order is very valuable.
Utilizing customer acquisition and retention best practices including TPV, will improve customer satisfaction and help create many loyal customers.
About our Guest Blogger – Gary Moulton of CALIBRUS
Gary Moulton – President/COO of CALIBRUS
Mr. Moulton is an entrepreneurial-minded senior executive offering 20 years of telecommunication and technology experience including founding and growing companies to successful exits in audio and web conferencing, inbound and outbound call center services, and numerous Telco services.
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