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By Rob Stewart, Managing Consultant, Advocate Networks, LLC
In today's economy, and particularly in the telecommunications market, structural reorganizations are a given. Although the enterprise customer cannot prevent carriers' reorganizations, it can prepare for them to minimize the impact on its organization and service.
Many carrier reorganizations are splashed in the press. The AT&T/Cingular and Sprint/Nextel deals are obvious. Others take part with no fanfare, press or official notification. This can be more much harmful to the customer. Verizon Wireless had a significant reorganization in September, but little was heard outside the company.
What should a company look for? Announcements, no matter how subtle, that changes are pending. Verizon announced on October 6 that it has launched a "4G Wireless Forum Initiative." At the bottom of the press release was an announcement that it will merge its two wireline units, Verizon Telecom and Verizon Business, "to eliminate duplication {and} drive down costs." Industry veterans know that this will be the most recent bloodletting following the collision of two widely disparate cultures in 2006, as Verizon cuts duplicate jobs and attempts to merge or sunset redundant systems and products. Also look for an account team gone silent, the inability to receive a return call on trouble tickets, or a significant increase in the number of billing errors, missed installation/termination dates and outages.
What happens when reorganization occurs? Personnel take their eye off the ball as they fear for their jobs. Veterans seek greener pastures or are put out to pasture, and the company's institutional knowledge and problem-solving capabilities correspondingly wane. Customers are "encouraged" to move off old product sets, sometimes via steep price hikes or virtual ultimatum. Bottom line, service levels fall.
How can you prepare? Schedule regular stewardship meetings with your account teams; best case they can take you to lunch if all is going smoothly. Know the carrier chain-of-command, up to the Sales VP level. It is amazing how many clients do not know the authority to call if something bad happens. Meet with carrier executives at least once a year; give them honest, constructive feedback, and become known to them. Escalate firmly, judiciously and diplomatically when a true issue occurs; resolution usually follows more quickly if you are personally known to management, and are fair but persistent. When a reorganization is announced, or its impact is sharply felt, immediately call the account team and management to have them present their plan to support you going forward and rectify open issues. If you are not making noise, you can bet that their other customers who are making noise will be getting the best support. Keep a scorecard, and use recurring issues as leverage in sourcing a new contract. If a product platform change is being pushed, then take your business to market; a hot-cut to another carrier is just as easy as a hot-cut to the same carrier. At contract renegotiation, ensure that a stewardship clause is written into your contract. This sets expectations up front, and ensures that all in the carrier chain-of-command understand you take service seriously.
Bottom line, clear expectations and timely communication are a key to better service levels.
Want a second opinion? Need someone with deep industry knowledge to help understand the situation, analyze technology choices or take your business to market? Contact Rob Stewart at (678) 987-5926 or rob.stewart@advocatenetworks.com.