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S3 E20 Hot Topics at the NTCA PR and Marketing Conferene, With Derek Barr

May 8, 2018 By Andy Johns

Derek Barr moderated a telco marketing roundtable at the NTCA PR and Marketing Conference in Nashville. After the session, he discussed the highlights including Facebook reviews, customer service incentives and explaining broadband.

Website: http://www.hardynet.net/

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Customer Service, Events, Sales, Social Media, Telco

Do You Communicate With Your Communicator?

December 15, 2017 By Zach Moore

We recently heard a story from a utility that’s worth sharing: The utility had a standing discount on surge protectors purchased through their office. It wasn’t the most popular program, but they kept a few units on hand.

One day, the employee in charge of the program gets more calls requesting a surge protector in a few hours than he has in a few years. He had no supplies left and was having to apologize to everyone.

One customer asked how they could run out of supplies on the first day of their big surge protector promotion. Big promotion? The employee had no idea what the customer was talking about. Neither did the CEO or anyone else.

The next customer, which also had to be turned down, solved the mystery. There was a full-page ad proudly promoting surge protectors in their monthly magazine that had hit mailboxes earlier that day. The communications department had scheduled the promotion for the magazine and had it on social media as well. The only problem was they’d never told anyone else about it.

We wanted to share this story because it’s not as unusual as you may think. In our experience there is often a single utility employee who has been told to handle every aspect of communications, sometimes in addition to other roles. They often operate in a silo.

Below are some guidelines that can help you avoid problems caused by a disconnect between your communications department and the rest of the operation.

Communication is a team effort. The communications professional in your organization needs to lead, but every employee is a representative of your utility. All employees need to be informed of your goals, promotions and news — before your customers are told. One of the worst things your employees can say to someone in the community is “I didn’t know about that. They never tell us anything around there.”

Help with proofing. If your communications team is a roster of one, they could use help with proofing newsletters, bill inserts and even social media posts. Do you have one or two employees who would like to get involved in your messaging? Create a proofing team that can help put more eyes on the text and reduce any errors. This has the added benefit of bringing more people into the loop, which increases accountability and decreases the chance of other departments being left in the dark.

Discuss direction and results. All communication should be intentional, and as the leadership of your utility you need to be directly involved in setting those communications goals. Yearly strategy meetings and monthly reports on progress can be key in making sure the communications staff is reaching its goals. If you run promotions, find out how successful they are. If you have a social media program, get reports on how engaged your customers are in those channels.

Silos in the workplace are never good, and in an electric utility or telecommunications company they can be even worse. Utilities often make do with less staff than other companies because they want their members and customers to fund as little overhead as possible. A multiperson communications team may not be a fit for your utility — but making sure your single communications employee has the support they need to do their job well is certainly a worthwhile investment.

Filed Under: Journal, Uncategorized Tagged With: Community, Customer Service, Employees, Sales, Storytelling

#50 Slow, Average and Fast Internet Packages, With Dirk Monson

August 18, 2016 By Andy Johns

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Is it a good idea to name your 20 Mbps service your “Slow” Package? According to ARPU, yes!

Website: http://redrivercomm.com/internet/

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Broadband, Bundles, Sales, Telco

#40 Sales Goals And Incentives For Everyone, With Aaron Rodriguez

August 2, 2016 By Andy Johns

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Sales incentives aren’t just for sales people any more. At Big Bend Telephone, everyone from engineers to accountants has goals for the numbers of upgrades or sales they need to make each year — and they get rewarded for making those happen.

Website: http://www.bigbend.net/

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Customer Service, Employees, Sales

#015 Creative Ideas For Non-Regulated Services, With Andy Isackson Of CTC

May 6, 2016 By Andy Johns

StoryConnect-Art-Isackson-CreativeIdeasforNonRegulatedServices

When it comes to non-regulated services, are you thinking outside the box? Andy Isackson, marketing manager for CTC in Minnesota, discusses creative ways to market such services.

Website: www.connectctc.com

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Sales, Telco, Telco-Electric Partnerships

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A resource for communicators at rural & independent electric & telecommunications companies

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Recent Posts

  • S3 E56 Network Support Services, With Lisa Cope
  • S3 E55 Identifying Expansion Opportunities, With Lee Chambers
  • S3 E54 Communicating in Times of Change, With Jason Shelton
  • S3 E53 Bringing Fiber to Two of America’s Poorest Counties, With Mark Patterson
  • S3 E52 ATMC’s Connect Grants, With Amanda Floyd
  • S3 E51 What Channels Are People Actually Watching? With Scott Meyer

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StoryConnect is a production of WordSouth — A Content Marketing Company. We work with electric utilities and telecommunications companies who serve rural and small-town America. Their mission becomes our mission as our hard work and big ideas earn their trust in us as a true communications partner.

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