Sky churn at 10-yr low after CRM blitz

Sky’s CRM programme is continuing to pay huge dividends after the company reported it had gained more than 200,000 new customers in the UK and Ireland in the second half of 2014, while slashing churn to a 10-year low.
The company first launched the CRM strategy in 2000, and it has been the main driver of its sales and marketing operation ever since, with thousands of staff promoting Sky services through contact centres operating in ten locations, including Livingston, Dunfermaline, Newcastle, Leeds and Dublin.
In its first results to include the Italian and German businesses – following the completion of the merger in November – Sky’s adjusted operating profits for the half year were up 16% to £675m. Adjusted revenues were up five per cent to £5.6bn.
The combined business now serves around 20 million customers in Europe, and the addition of 204,000 UK customers was its highest growth in subscribers in nine years. It also gained 214,000 new customers in Germany and Austria, and 30,000 new customers in Italy.
The period saw strong demand for pay-TV across all its markets, while it also saw a fall in the number of customers leaving.
Chief executive Jeremy Darroch said: “The strength of our performance in the UK and Ireland shows that our approach to segmenting the market with the complementary Sky and NOW TV brands is working.
“Across the board, customers are responding to our investment in more high-quality TV and innovative new services. This has resulted in the highest customer growth in nine years, the highest total product growth in four years and the lowest churn in a decade.”