Posts Tagged ‘Customer Experience’

It’s All About Those Core Values

In: Culture

By: Sherry Zachary on Dec 14, 2010 at 8:45 am

… and Why They Translate into the ‘How’ of WOW!

We talk all the time at WOW! about the fact that it’s not what we do, but how we do it.  How we do it differently from our competitors is a result of the engagement and commitment of our frontline employees… to create a better experience for our customers.  Why do they do it?  Because it makes them feel good, feel proud and… well because it’s fun. 

It’s hard to believe I’ve been contributing to this blog for a whole year – yes, time flies as you get older (groan), but more importantly time flies when you’re having fun.  I guess that’s the last message I’d like to communicate in this space called ‘Culture’ on our blog.  At WOW!, having fun at work is something we’ve come to expect and I believe it translates to how.

In a work environment that is focused on Serving Others, where Respect, Accountability and Integrity rule the day… week… month… year, a natural byproduct is this:  People are happy to come to work.  There’s no worry about back-stabbing, sabotaging, blame-laying or spotlight stealing.  Our core values don’t permit these things.

When people are happy to come to work, there is a whole different kind of energy that pervades the workplace, for example:

- Particularly hard jobs become team challenges
- Unexpected ‘priority projects’ become volunteer opportunities
- Extra efforts are appreciated and recognized on the spot and…
- When there’s a reason to celebrate, congratulate or even reach out to the community, participation is whole-hearted and heartfelt.

So here’s my logic:
1. Core Values make you feel good at work.
2. Feeling good creates fun.
3. Fun Drives The How.

I have to admit I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to write about in this last ‘culture column’ and I also have to admit that I left it to the last minute.  It’s due to be posted today – 12/14/10.  So now I need to  get this up on the blog and then get back to having fun… oops – I mean get back to work… at WOW!.

Best Wishes for a Happy and Personally Rewarding New Year!

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A Special Thank You!!

In: Customer Experience & Support

By: Bill Wright on Nov 11, 2010 at 9:16 am

  I just wanted to take today’s blog to say a special “Thank You!!” to those of you that have served in the military.

  To take a message from my FB friends:
   A veteran is someone, who at one point in their life, wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount up to, and including, their life. That is beyond honor, and there are far too many people in this country who no longer remember that fact.

  Thanks to all the men and women, who have fought for the freedom we all know and love today. To all of the veterans that have worked at WOW! to give you the wonderful experience and to all of you veterans out there, THANK YOU!!!!

William Wright
Army Veteran

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Bigger IS Better – When It’s Done The WOW! Way

In: Culture

By: Sherry Zachary on Oct 26, 2010 at 8:00 am

Expansion has been a big focus for WOW! recently, as it has been for years from the very people we encounter in our daily walks of life.  I cannot count the many times I’ve been asked in my own city “WOW!……..what’s that mean?”  In a lot of cases this is just a question from seeing the letters on a shirt or coat, but then it turns into something much, much more.  As I go into who we are, what products we offer, and the amazing customer experience we provide I’m left with a “when are you coming to our neck of the woods” or “are you available in…..”.  Recently the time has come where we are finally moving outside of our original boundaries via expansion into new cities and towns.  For Illinois that first city is Park Ridge!
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Expansion is an expensive venture with significant capital investment, so we really want to focus on being successful – which means bringing our exceptional customer service experience to as many new customers as possible.  Our Dispatch Team really wanted to do our part in sharing the responsibility of spreading the word and participating in this much anticipated growth.  How? was the big question.  Our interactions derive mostly with internal customers (technicians, call center representatives, etc…).  What could we do to play our part? 

We decided to help with marketing efforts and the Dispatch Management Team organized an outing to go door-to-door with door-hanger tags in newly released areas of Park Ridge.  That was it!!  What an amazing opportunity to get out of the office and celebrate the expansion opportunities first hand.  On 10/13/10 the Dispatch Management team conducted their first Door-Hanging Party, hitting the streets with door-hangers, chip clips, and WOW pens in hand for friendly distribution.  We were able to hang a total of 595 homes!  The team really “owned” it by going a step further ensuring their business cards were affixed to their hangers in an effort to demonstrate the dedication our staff has in reaching out to the residents/future customers of Park Ridge.  We had an amazing time and really were able to use this outing as a means to strengthen our relationships with each other. 

The value of this outing to our team and to the company left us wanting more.  So, we will be expanding these Door-Hanging Parties to include the Quality/Training Team and also our Dispatchers, who really represent the “face” of WOW! to customers and technicians each and every day!  Only at WOW! would the expansion of our system into new cities become an expanded teambuilding opportunity for departments that normally have nothing to do with direct sales.

Contributed by Brian Blair, Dispatch Manager

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Delivering an Experience that Lives Up to Our Name

In: Culture

By: Sherry Zachary on Oct 19, 2010 at 8:50 am

If you’ve read more than one or two of the Tuesday articles in this space, you’re already aware this is where I get to write about, brag about and celebrate the culture that drives our company.  I’ve talked about our core values; I’ve shared our passion for serving with heart – meaning our focus on Servanthood with internal and external customers; I’ve tried to help outsiders understand what it is like to be part of a management team who truly believe our business success depends on the motivation, satisfaction and appreciation of front line employees – those who interact directly with our external customers.  AND, of course, I’ve shared all the awards we’ve garnered from third parties that prove WOW! really IS a cut above the rest when it comes to customer service.  What I haven’t done is shared with you my personal ‘yardstick’ on how and why we earn them. 

What is my yardstick?  It’s what we call positive TRs, or positive Tech Reports.  These are comments specifically about Broadband Technicians’ behavior and performance gathered from a number of sources:  calls to our customer service call center, customer surveys from our website and customer WOW! Moments submitted on our blog.  We also have an internal tool that allows other departments to compliment a tech’s behavior or performance too, called the FITS tool.

Ok, bear with me while I take you back in time for a minute.  When I started with WOW!, I joined in 2001 as an HR Manager with an automotive manufacturing background.  All the other department managers had spent their entire careers in the cable industry, but this was a start-up business so we were all taking a risk.  One of the things the technical managers tried to impress upon me was how and why WOW! would be different:  we would focus on top-notch service, we would do this by providing technicians with the proper tools to do their jobs, and we would recognize and reward them when the job was well done.  As an HR manager, this didn’t seem ground-breaking for me, but I’ve learned over time that it was a major change in attitude for a company in this industry. 

Nine years ago, the three senior managers in my region represented over 55 years of cable experience between them.  Each told me he could count on his two hands the number of customer compliments their prior companies had received over those years.  One of these managers was physically threatened, one had his tires slashed, one had a grocery cart flung at him in a parking lot as he wore his company’s jacket, and so on.  Nine years ago, cable companies didn’t have great reputations with their customers.

And then there was WOW!.  And here is my yardstick.  We have systems in four states, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio and we have about 725 technicians providing broadband service to approximately 470,000 customers.  These 725 technicians have earned, this year alone, over 4000 unsolicited, complimentary comments from those they serve.  Let me repeat that:

4000+ compliments so far in 2010. 

Kind of speaks for itself, doesn’t it?!

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It’s NOT an Act! Technicians in WOW! Ads

In: Culture

By: Karyn Huberman on Oct 12, 2010 at 8:00 am

Last week I wrote about the dogs that we used in our WOW! “Dogologue” commercials.  This week I want to share another fun fact about these commercials:  the technicians shown in the commercials are real WOW! employees.

Our technicians serve our customers 24 x 7, ensuring that their services are working and that the customer’s experience is one that lives up to our name.  So why should we have actors portraying them, when this is what they live and do?  And by the way, they do it with a commitment to creating WOW! Moments every day.

So let me introduce you to Bill Workman from Columbus, Ohio and Freddy Rubio from Schaumburg, Illinois.  Here are some videos showing the experience of our technicians during the filming.  I think you’ll have as much fun viewing these as we did in creating them.

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