Doing Right By Customers
Cox President Pat Esser Succeeds With A Personal Touch
by K.C. Neel -- Multichannel News, 12/16/2007 7:00:00 PM
The editors of Multichannel News have chosen Cox Communications president Pat Esser to be 2007’s Executive of the Year.
Recognized for outstanding leadership and corporate management, the Executive of the Year demonstrates that success in the marketplace is achieved by putting customer satisfaction front and center and that by focusing on customer service, a company also serves its employees, investors and the overall industry.
It was 1979 and Pat Esser, a recent communications graduate from the University of Northern Iowa, was looking for work in a tight job market when he landed an interview with McDonald Group in Waterloo, Iowa. The company had just been awarded a cable franchise and the promise of work, especially in a field he just spent four years studying, was enticing to say the least.
But the general manager of the system wasn’t very impressed with Esser’s credentials. He had dozens of resumes from college graduates looking for white-collar desk jobs. He needed someone willing to do the dirty work of building the system.
“I said, 'I’m your guy,’ ” Esser recalls. “And he hired me to climb poles and cut in taps. I fell a lot … so they moved me into marketing.”
The various bumps and bruises from those tumbles didn’t mean he was moving inside, though. Instead, Esser began selling cable service door to door. He liked the job, but he knew he could be doing more. His boss, a former Cox employee, was always talking that company up, Esser said. “So, on a Thursday night [in 1981], I loaded everything I owned into the back of my car and drove to Tidewater, Virginia.”
Cox had just received the cable franchise for what is now known as its Hampton Roads, Va., division. “I knocked on their door and the local manager, Dennis Marmon, hired me and made me the local programming/ public-access/community relations/whatever-needed-to-be-done guy,” Esser said. “I was a Cox employee and found all of the good things I had heard about the company and the people who worked there to be true.”
STEPPING UP
He has worked at Cox ever since, yet his journey has been more diverse than some executives who have worked for several firms during their careers. Indeed, he is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to cable. In addition to working on the system’s local programming, Esser was part of the original management team that pioneered Cox’s local advertising-sales division, CableRep Advertising (now Cox Media). In 1991, he was named corporate vice president of advertising sales.
He was named vice president of operations for Cox’s Western Division in 1999, and was promoted to senior vice president of operations in 2000. Soon after, he was promoted to executive vice president and added chief operating officer to his title in 2004. Two years ago, he took the helm of the company upon CEO Jim Robbins’s retirement.
“I am definitely the product of development training at Cox,” he said. “I didn’t change jobs because I couldn’t do them. Cox’s development programs really do give our people an opportunity to grow, and I am a perfect example of that. It’s a mind-set here. We have GMs that come from all areas of the company.
“Leo Brennan, who runs our Las Vegas system, was in marketing. Steve Rizley, who runs our Arizona operations, came from ad sales. Jaqui Vines, who is in charge of our Louisiana operations, came from people services. They have all excelled in their current positions even though they didn’t start out in operations.”
Today, Esser probably would not be qualified to hold some of the jobs he has had in the past, he noted, because cable is so much more complex than when he signed on almost 30 years ago.
“I’m a classic story: A kid picked out of Iowa who was given jobs and skill sets and the opportunity to succeed,” he said. “It really wasn’t a plan for me, per se. But events caused me to be the luckiest guy in the world.”
All that experience has helped Esser become a more well-rounded executive and one able to connect and inspire employees, said Cox chief people officer Mae Douglas. Being a CEO “has always been part of his destiny. He never forgets where he came from but he is able to lead our company in one of the most complex, difficult and competitive times in our history.”
“We are trying to figure out the next level of products people are going to want and his understanding of the customer helps tremendously with that,” she said. “Whenever he speaks to employees — and he does it a lot — he has an uncanny ability to connect, especially with customer-facing employees. Pat’s taking our focus on the customer to the next level by being the trusted provider.”
To be sure, Esser is passionate about connecting with customers and making sure Cox is the trusted provider in their digital world. It has become the company’s mantra and marketing slogan. It’s also working. In Esser’s first year as Cox’s president in 2006, the multiple-system operator posted gains in every product category and was honored with five J.D. Power and Associates awards, with honors in all three service categories: video, residential telephone and high-speed Internet. He credits his employees for fulfilling the customer service promise but employees and outside observers say the effort starts at the top with Esser.
WINNING WORKPLACE
He also is zealous about making sure his employees have the tools and resources to succeed. The company has long been praised for its work environment. Cox is a perennial winner in Women In Cable & Telecommunications’ PAR (pay equity, advancement, resources) Initiative; it has been named one of Diversity Inc.’s top 50 companies to work for in the past two years; and it is on Working Mother Media’s list of best companies.
“Pat Esser walks the walk when it comes to putting employees first,” said Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing CEO Char Beales. “As chair of CTAM’s Educational Foundation, he focused on developing, revising and updating the most relevant and impactful CTAM U. curriculum possible. And when the sponsor of the Diversity Fellowships bowed out, Pat persuaded four organizations to step up and ensure people of color had the opportunity to attend this amazing educational experience.”
But it’s more than that, his subordinates said. He is accessible and he listens when they have something to say.
When Esser was elevated from chief operating officer to president in 2005, he spent his first 60 days visiting 50 Cox employees to talk about what they expected of him and the company, and what he expected from them. He launched a blog employees could use to ask questions or read about his thoughts on various issues. That blog still exists today.
“I think he’s really listened to what everyone had to say,” said Cox Hampton Roads general manager Gary McCollum. “He’s made decisions as president which has made Cox more effective and efficient. I think his vision for the company — to be the customer’s trusted telecom provider — will be a lasting legacy that will establish Cox as the pre-eminent service provider in the telecommunications industry.
“People want to be attached to something they can be proud of and that is what he has done,” McCollum continued. “We all want to be our customers’ trusted provider of telecom services. I think when history looks back at Cox, this will be a watershed moment for the company and the industry.”
Esser’s ability to connect with past, present and future generations has endeared him to a variety of constituents.
“When Pat Esser joined The Cable Center’s Mavericks Lecture Series [last March], we discovered an executive who is multigenerational,” said center senior vice president of programs and education Jana Henthorn. “He appreciates the history behind the cable industry, yet was able to connect to the millennial generation of students with his passion for the business during his lectures at the University of Florida and University of Northern Iowa.”
His boss — Cox Enterprises president and chief operating officer Jimmy Hayes — has seen how Esser works firsthand and is impressed by his ability to connect with staff and consumers. Hayes has long worked alongside Esser, having served as Cox Communications’ executive vice president and chief financial officer before stepping up to the parent company at the same time Esser became the cable unit’s president.
He spends several face-to-face hours each week with Esser and communicates frequently via phone and e-mail, discussing topics ranging from operating results, such as financial metrics, to customer results. But the most important issues usually include updates on strategic initiatives such as wireless services and new products.
“I trust Pat’s judgment totally and rely on his prioritization of initiatives within CCI, but I am always there for Pat to reflect on his planning,” Hayes said. “Pat is a terrific leader who somehow manages to remain a part of the team. He lives the Cox culture fully by placing his customers, employees and communities at the top of the priority list. Additionally, Pat is highly aggressive, and that is a trait that serves him well in our highly competitive environment.”
A 'NORMAL’ CEO
He may be aggressive, but his ability to charm is evident to those he interacts with. In a Cedar Rapids Courier article announcing his ascension to Cox’s top office in late 2005, he talked about how much he missed that town’s local cuisine, even though he hasn’t lived there in 25 years. When he spoke to college students during The Cable Center’s Maverick Lecture series, students related to what he was trying to say.
“I thought Mr. Esser’s lecture was excellent,” Florida student Carly Litzenberg wrote in an e-mail. “He was humorous and informative with each topic discussed. I was amazed at how 'normal’ a CEO of a major company can be.”
Esser said that while he loves his job and feels an enormous amount of accountability for its success, he hopes he doesn’t take it so seriously that it ever has negative implications. Still, his thirst for knowledge is legendary and he considers himself obsessive when it comes to being prepared for every contingency.
But employees dwell on his willingness to listen to their ideas and concerns. Esser doesn’t wear his CEO’s badge on his sleeve, said Douglas. “That doesn’t motivate him to come into the office every day,” she said. “Pat was one of the first executives I ever heard talk about passion and really believe it and live it. I love working with him because he comes into the office every day with a smile on his face and is ready to go. He sets the tone for the whole building every day.”
It might sound corny coming from someone else, but Esser is completely honest and candid when he saying the best part of his job is just coming into work. “My heart rate goes up and I get excited about coming into work every day,” he said. “The people, the growth of the company — those things are very exciting to me. I love to compete, especially as a team. We celebrate together and that’s important.”
Industry partners wax on about his ability to zero in on issues in a way that generates problem-solving ideas, rather than chest-pounding. And vendors like the way he negotiates. The relationship between operators and programmers has been a roller-coaster ride for decades, and while Cox has not been immune to involvement in a few public spats in the past, the company’s rapport with its vendors is very sound.
“Pat is a fascinating guy,” said Turner Network Sales president of domestic distribution Andy Heller. “He’s very smart, has enormous depth and is conversant in multiple disciplines. But most important for me, is his pragmatism in finding win-win situations for everyone. His first reaction to a negotiation is, 'Let’s see if we can’t find something that works for both of us.’
“Don’t get me wrong, he is a tough negotiator. But rather than draw lines in the sand or take fights public, he knows we all need to work together to succeed. It’s refreshing and we enjoy working with them [Esser’s team]. They’re tough, but fair. When they ask for something, it’s something they see as necessary for business. And that all comes from Pat.”
From Esser’s point of view, it all comes down to what is best for the customer.
“I take everything personally,” Esser said of his business ethic. “That includes the loss of a customer. I use it to motivate me and use it to learn lessons.”
Only for a few days back in the late 1990s did Esser think it might be time to move on from Cox. He was participating in the company’s executive-development program when his coach told him it was time to “raise your hand,” Esser said. “He told me I could and should be doing more, either inside or outside the company.”
It wasn’t too long before he was appointed senior vice president of operations. He hasn’t thought about leaving since.
“It wasn’t so much premeditated as it was the opportunity to succeed,” he said. “That is what makes Cox special. Anyone with the desire and ability to learn can succeed here.”
But his ascension to the corner office was long-planned, according to Douglas. “Pat had been on Cox’s succession plan for some time,” she said. “It wasn’t a surprise that he was the successor of choice when Jim retired.”
SMOOTH TRANSITION
Six months before Robbins retired at the end of 2005, both he and Esser were given coaches to help both executives deal with the transition. Esser was introduced to key people in the industry and made more publicly visible within and outside of cable. The transition was smooth as silk, which surprised some outsiders — especially those who didn’t know him. It even impressed those who did.
Robbins was a well-respected, long-established cable titan. Esser knew he had big shoes to fill. Still, he was undaunted and knew he could handle it.
“Jim and I talked for a couple of years about succession before he retired,” Esser said. “We talked about everyone but me, ironically. Then, one night, we were having one of those father/son-like talks and he asked me what I would think of the job. I told him it would take a lot of work to get me ready. By the time he announced his retirement plans that spring, I was ready. I had a lot of help that I still count on today.”
Industry players respect the job Esser is doing and appreciate his skills.
“Pat’s leadership of Cox can’t be underestimated,” said National Cable & Telecommunications Association president Kyle McSlarrow. “He took the baton from the great Jim Robbins a couple of years ago without missing a step, and he’s continued to very forcefully drive growth at the company while sustaining and enhancing all of the special attributes that put Cox in an elite position in the marketplace — the high quality of their services, attention to customer care, and a true employee-centric approach to the business.
“These qualities not only inspire other companies to make progress in these areas, but they reflect well on our business as a whole.”
When the time should come for him to retire or if he were to ever leave Cox, Esser said that he hopes to hand the company off to his successor “like it was handed off to me. If I can do that, I can feel good.”
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