Cablefax The Magazine - July 2012 - 19

2012 Top Ops Awards
CHANGE INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR
Mediacom
Power to Simplify
Keep it simple, stupid. While everyone's familiar with
the adage, it's a lot simpler said than done. Plagued by
low customer satisfaction scores and a higher churn
rate, Mediacom held focus groups with customers and
non-customers to get a better grasp on the problem and
discovered it really is about simplicity.
" Customers said we were acting like a monopoly-we didn't
appreciate them as a customer and weren't acting as if they
had the choices they currently had. And we weren't making
their lives convenient, " says David McNaughton, Mediacom's
SVP of marketing. " The typical cable issue on service was the
cable companies will make you be home from 8 and 5 next
March. We were trying to turn that and show we're different
than we used to be, and we're defi nitely different than your
preconceived notion of what a cable company is. We want to
show that we care a lot about our customers. "
Enter " Power to Simplify, " Mediacom's customer
service enhancement initiative. Components include the
introduction of night and weekend appointments as well as
some 30-minute appointment arrival windows instead of
the traditional 4-hour window. Down the road, Mediacom's
Fast Facts
✦ Power to Simplify includes night and weekend appointments
and 30-minute appointment arrival windows.
✦ Mediacom is the 12th largest MVPD, with more than 1
million basic video subscribers, according to SNL Kagan
estimates.
✦ Mediacom increased its money-back guarantee to 90 days,
no questions asked.
looking at taking that 4-hour window down to 2 hours. The
30-minute service windows are offered to customers who
choose to sign up for the fi rst appointment of the morning
or afternoon. " Now, Mediacom makes appointments on
your schedule, " the MSO proclaims in ads.
And the icing on the cake: Increasing its 30-day money
back guarantee to a 90-day guarantee. The initiative
launched in Feb, with an extensive media campaign
(including the introduction of new spokeswoman Mindy-a
smart-looking woman in a blue blazer and blue jeans),
and so far things seem to be going well. " We had one of
our best fi rst quarters ever, even though it wasn't pricing,
which is what we thought was the only thing that would
drive sales, " says McNaughton. " It's a whole new image for
how we want customers to think about us. "
Pricing is still included in messaging, but it's just one
component. " We want them to think that's not just a good
price, but it's the best Internet product I could get, it's the
best television product I could get, it's the best telephone
product I could get. And add the emotional dimension of
'these are people I like to do business with.' In the past,
that's not something cable typically has been good at. "
The pride in the brand has extended to a new uniform for
all frontline employees, creating a sense of consistency for the
brand while at the same time helping to instill a team spirit in
employees, according to Mediacom execs. As McNaughton
says, for Mediacom to really focus on being customer-centric,
employees have to understand and support it.
Mediacom is kicking around some ideas for Power to
Simplify in the second half of the year, including messaging
on why its services better meet customers' needs. ✴
- Amy Maclean
CableFAX: The Magazine
July 2012
cablefaxmag.com
19
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Cablefax The Magazine - July 2012

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