effect, the creation, maintenance, and use of segmentation schemes becomes one of the major functions of the customer management system and of the CRM organization. All Segmentation Schemes to be Recombinant Not only do we require that all segmentation schemes be centrally managed but also that they be recombinant with each other. Basically, the true value of this framework cannot be realized unless the membership of individual customers can be mapped directly to the different segmentation schemes that they are a part of. This ability to place customers in as many segmentation schemes as necessary to meet the needs of the business units while still keeping track of those same customers as individuals makes the whole approach viable. All Segmentation Schemes to be Authoritative and Definitive Besides being centrally managed and recombinant, we also want to be sure that these models are authoritative and definitive. That is, they should be accurate, viable, and considered the last word on whatever issue they are meant to address. Implicit in this condition is the assumption that the models will be well developed and timely and have a high degree of accuracy. eXcellence in Telecommunications The Telco Churn Handbook All Customer Relationship Activities to be Tied to the Framework Finally, and most critically, if the segmentation framework is to be effective, it must become the foundational structure for all CRM activity. Each customer touchpoint activity, each campaign, each policy change, each customer contact and service call must be related to these structures. Otherwise the framework will have no power to make the required changes in the organization. The rest of this chapter explores these segmentation disciplines in more detail. BASE SEGMENTATION The most important of the segmentation schemes to be developed in our CRM framework is the base segmentation. It might be referred to as the real customer segmentation scheme or the enterprise segmentation plan for the telco. Figure 12-1: Base Segmentation Purpose of 