Method for Acquiring and Maintaining High Quality Subscribers Using a Bifurcated Contract
First Claim
1. A method for acquiring subscribers who have a higher probability of retaining and paying for a service for longer than an initial term of a service agreement, the steps comprising:
- creating contractual arrangements that mirror the economic transactions that service providers transact with subscribers that result in periodic payments;
and incorporating a bifurcated contract into the contractual arrangements, the bifurcated contract having a service portion defining the services to be provided by an enterprise and the payments to be made by the subscriber over the life of the relationship and an installment loan portion which provides financing for hardware purchases, select services or installation costs associated with the service.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method to provide an enterprise with the ability to keep service contract subscribers for a longer period of time and the ability to retain subscribers during an initial period of time is presented. A bifurcated contract is used with the subscriber for the agreement. The bifurcated contract consists of a service portion and a financial installment portion to pay for the hardware, certain service costs and installation costs associated with the service. The financing portion allows the subscriber'"'"'s credit rating to be affected and affords the enterprise greater collateral or security as well as potentially lower funding costs. The enterprise encourages the vendor that originated the contract to sell the contract by paying the vendor the vendor'"'"'s cost and a portion of the typical vendor profit along with, in certain cases, a percentage of the monthly payments for those subscribers retaining the service beyond an initial term.
12 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method for acquiring subscribers who have a higher probability of retaining and paying for a service for longer than an initial term of a service agreement, the steps comprising:
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creating contractual arrangements that mirror the economic transactions that service providers transact with subscribers that result in periodic payments; and incorporating a bifurcated contract into the contractual arrangements, the bifurcated contract having a service portion defining the services to be provided by an enterprise and the payments to be made by the subscriber over the life of the relationship and an installment loan portion which provides financing for hardware purchases, select services or installation costs associated with the service. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for acquiring a subscriber and ensuring the subscriber has a higher probability of retaining and paying for a service during an initial term of a service agreement, the steps comprising:
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having the subscriber sign a bifurcated contract to initiate the service, the bifurcated contract having a first portion for providing the service and a second portion for financing the hardware and installation associated with the service; and reporting payment performance of the subscriber to at least one credit bureau. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for acquiring ensuring a subscriber has a higher probability of retaining and paying for a service during an initial term of a service agreement, the service having hardware that is installed as part of the service, the computer executable instructions, when executed, performing the steps comprising:
reporting payment performance of the subscriber to at least one credit bureau if the subscriber signs a bifurcated contract to initiate the service, the bifurcated contract having a first portion for providing the service and a second portion for financing the hardware associated with the service. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
Specification