Turning a Win-Back Into a Win-Win
By K.C. Neel -- Multichannel News, 9/23/2007 8:00:00 PM
Two years ago, Deirdre Tichy of Yonkers, N.Y., took Cablevision up on its triple-play bundle of video, voice and data services. But she was quickly disillusioned: She had to change her phone number, and she was concerned about possible loss of phone service during power outages. Tichy decided to switch back to Verizon but her troubles were just beginning.
“My switch back to regular phone service was a disaster,” Tichy said. “Verizon had to completely rewire my house, taking out the old wiring and replacing it with their wires. They had a very difficult time doing it, too.”
Despite her negative experience with the operator, Tichy is again a Cablevision subscriber and relatively happy with the product mix and customer service she is getting from the company after a year.
After making several pitches to Tichy after she left, Cablevision's win-back team finally convinced her and her husband to give the company another chance.
“I didn't have to change my phone number this time and my husband, who is with the police department and must make sure he can be reached at any time of the day or night, was more confident in the fact that phone service wouldn't go out all the time,” she said.
Cablevision has had some success winning back defectors. Indeed, the company has a team dedicated solely to that task. But that's only a piece of the equation, according to Cablevision vice president of customer service Rocky Boler.
Five years ago, Cablevision operated 15 regional call centers; today there are six specialized centers that all interconnect to create a virtual network. Two call centers (in Newark, N.J., and Stratford, Conn.) handle billing and call volume overflow. Another two (in Woodbury and the Bronx, N.Y.) handle video repair and service. The last two (Melville and Shelton, N.Y.) take care of voice and high-speed data calls.
The makeup of the customer call centers allow customers to be seamlessly switched to expert customer service reps that can answer their questions and solve their problems, according to Boler.
“We've raised the bar internally,” Boler said. “Most of the technical support group in the voice and online call centers come to us as PC technicians and we've been doing that a long time. But we have now begun hiring techs in the other call centers with the same PC skills.
“When our network was just analog, that wasn't as important for video. But now that we've gone digital, it's more complex and our reps require more knowledge and training. We're really looking for people today who understand networks and electronics. We have found that people who don't have those skill sets today tend to struggle with the calls we're getting now. But we also want reps that have strong people skills. Customer service is more than answering the phones. We want to leave the customer with an exceptional experience every time,” he said.
Cablevision took top honors in J.D. Power & Associates' annual customer service survey for telephone service in the Mid-Atlantic region earlier this year. It hasn't been able to reach the same lofty space in the video side of the equation, but Boler points out that Cablevision improved from last year's scores and expects to do the same next year.
“Gains in customer service satisfaction surveys tend to be measured in inches rather than quantum leaps,” Boler said. “But we're constantly striving for improvements.”
Still, loyalty is hard to come by. Tichy likes her Cablevision service and has been pleased with her contact with field and phone personnel. But Verizon recently sent her a postcard letting her know that the company's FiOS TV service is now available in her neighborhood and she says that if it weren't for the fact that her family is moving next June, she'd explore switching again.
“I'd have to weigh the options. If we were staying, we would examine Verizon's offer more closely,” Tichy said. “Sometimes you stick with what you have because it's convenient.”
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