As a telecom provider, you have innumerable opportunities for customer education. You have to explain how your services work, why your customers need them, how they can use them, why your services are better than all the other competing providers, what you’re doing to support your community…..whew!
Sometimes the subjects you really need to cover get a little tricky. I am a big believer in full disclosure for telecom providers (especially small telecom providers). I think the more dialogue you can create with your customers, the better the relationship. I also believe that better educated customers are higher revenue-producing customers. That said, it can be extremely difficult to take a topic like Retransmission Consent, and present it to customers in a way that not only makes it relevant and easy for them to understand, but that paints you as the good guy without coming across as a complainer.
I’ve been fortunate enough to serve on RIITA’s marketing committee for the last several months, where we have discussed this very topic extensively. How do you take those complicated subjects that support your cause, and present them to customers in a simple, friendly, non acronym-y way? Often times, the information you need to disseminate to your customers needs to be turned around very quickly. For example: “Here is what the broadband stimulus package means to you, our customer.”
But with everything on your plate, it’s not easy to take an hour or two at 2:00 on an already busy Tuesday to craft the message the right way when the clock is ticking. So, for your Friday Freebie, here is a generic article on retransmission consent to use how you please—in a company newsletter, e-mail campaign, on your web site, or as a bill insert as support for a rate increase notice.
If you’ve got a great customer education article or press releases that your company has used in the past that you think could benefit other providers, please share in the comments!
I absolutely hate running. I hate it SO much, that in order to make myself do it (because although I hate running, I LOVE to eat more), I commit to doing about three 5K runs every summer. In, oh, say February, I go through the Kansas City 5K running calendar and pick one in April (like this one), one in June-ish and one in August or September, and then I sign up for them. And pay money. And put it on my calendar. And then, I go download (again) my tried and trusty 5K running plan, and I schedule out (again on my calendar) the days and distances that I am going to run so that I’m ready on 5K day.
It’s the same with marketing and sales goals. Setting realistic sales goals forces you to commit and it forces you to follow through. You have to come up with a plan to reach the goals, and you have schedule and implement the plan. It also requires you to go through the marketing planning process to figure out realistic sales goals for your company. And, it gives your employees a clear picture of where you’re going, what you want to achieve, and what is expected of them.
I love this quote from Fitzhugh Dodson ( I also really love his name): “Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.” I agree. Having a destination is so much more productive than wandering aimlessly.
