o change to take the new insights into account. The End of Blind Acquisition If we are to be effective, then the whole process of acquiring new customers needs to be handled differently. First, we have to eliminate the concept of blind acquisition. Blind acquisition is the process of taking on new customers from anywhere for any reason. The basic philosophy of most start-up sales organizations is that any customer is a good customer and the best are those that are easiest to get. Under this model no consideration is given to the type of customers that are being approached, their history, or their potential value. This view is valid for the retailer to whom it does not matter who buys the goods as long as they pay for them, but it is absolutely not valid for the telco. The decision to take on a telecommunication customer is not a retail transaction, but the beginning of a relationship, one eXcellence in Telecommunications The Telco Churn Handbook that is expensive for the carrier to maintain. If the telco hopes to adjust to the new competitive marketplace of loyalty-based activity, then some filtering of customers is a must. Acquiring Customers from the Competition Chances are that the customers you are acquiring now are less and less likely to be first-time subscribers but rather customers from the competition. When the majority of the customers that you are signing up comes to you from the competition, then many new variables get introduced into your equation. Handling the Professional Churner A certain number of your new subscribers will be professional churners. Professional churners are people who go back and forth between telcos to get the best deals possible. They are the customers who stay in the negotiation zone all of the time. The sales and promotion group needs to ask if it makes economic sense to acquire this customer. The answer, of course, depends on several factors. How long is the customer likely to stay this time? Will the revenue generated before the next churn offset the cost of acquiring this 