Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Cable One "used FICO scores to determine what quality of customer service to provide"

WM:
Briefly, according to Cable One CEO Thomas Might, Cable One used predictive analytics to determine that customers with low FICO credit scores are 'hollow value' customers. I.e., customers who often pay late or don’t pay, and who don’t buy additional services regularly. These customers either provide little profit to the company, or actually cost the company money (due to the expense of maintaining customers while their bill is disputed, and any costs associated with cancellation and bill collection). While Might explained they did not 'turn people away,' they used FICO scores to determine what quality of customer service to provide. Cable One technicians aren’t going to 'spend 15 minutes setting up an iPhone ap' for someone with a low FICO score, according to Might — regardless of whether the customer in question actually pays her bills on time.