Calix Is Investing To Ensure YOU Are the Consumer Giant in Your Market

We have always said the greatest threat to broadband service providers (BSPs) is the consumer giants. That includes Amazon, Google, and any other over-the-top provider who says they want to “partner”—when the real goal is to build a stronger direct relationship with your subscribers and turn you into a dumb pipe.

Any consumer-direct competitor is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. As a BSP, you need to learn to spot these threats. Watch out for any company that has these three characteristics.

They put their brand first. Their goal is to expand their brand presence with the BSP’s subscriber.
They have a direct relationship with your subscriber. The consumer giant has the subscriber sign into their app and markets directly to the end subscriber—making it easy to replace the BSP by swapping a WAN.
They know data. They understand the power of BSP data and how to capitalize on it.

Again, Amazon reinforced its consumer-direct mindset after announcing plans for 83 rocket launches to deploy its satellite broadband network. From there, it’s a short step to having every EERO connected to that network.

By contrast, Calix has bet exclusively on YOUR success. That’s why we give you the tools and support you need to become the consumer giant in your market by:

Putting YOUR brand first. The BSP brand comes first with the CommandIQ® mobile app. With every new partner product launch, we align the BSP brand to the partner to make the BSP stronger.
Ensuring YOU win the relationship. Unlike partnering with a consumer giant, when a subscriber cancels their broadband service, the GigaSpire BLAST stops working. When they cancel Arlo from the BSP, they have to go through the painful process of sitting in a long queue to get it up and running again—Arlo will never market to them. The BSP owns the relationship, period.
Leveraging Calix Cloud (Marketing Cloud, Support Cloud, and Operations Cloud)—the most advanced real-time data engines in the market. Whether the BSP is a cooperative focused on member satisfaction or a for-profit provider focused on revenue growth, Calix Cloud enables the BSP to be as good with data as a consumer giant. In addition, the Calix Customer Engagement and Services army is ready to help with analysis and best practices.
Building exciting experiences. The consumer giant will not keep up with your offerings. You beat them to market on Wi-Fi 6 and now on Wi-Fi 6E with the GigaSpire BLAST. Through 2022, the BSPs that partner with Calix will crush the consumer giants. How so? Calix will continue to roll out exciting partnerships. For example, Arlo cameras will expand to whole home/SMB security. Plus, we’ll enable you with community Wi-Fi, a full SMB solution, and more to come.
Linking the network to the subscriber. Only a Calix-enabled BSP will be able to link the subscriber Wi-Fi network to the access network through cloud automation. That means fewer truck rolls, greater customer satisfaction, incredible OPEX savings, and zero regrettable churn. There is no comparison.

Whether your mission is member satisfaction or running a successful private BSP, we have invested over $1 billion to enable even the smallest BSP to become the giant in their market. That’s the power of our analytics and platforms to enable exciting subscriber experiences.

If you have any feedback or if there is any way I can assist you, please email me at michael.weening@calix.com.

Wishing you continued success,

Michael

By Michael Weening

President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Michael is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) and is on the Board of Directors at Calix. He brings over 20 years of experience leading growth, strategy, and transformation. Michael served as the company’s president and chief operating officer. Over his career, he has held executive positions in North America, Europe, and Asia in leadership roles at Salesforce, Bell Mobility, and Microsoft. Michael received his B.A. in Business Administration from Brock University, supported by ongoing executive education at Queens, Wharton, and USC.

Success Story

5 Things All Broadband Leaders Must Do To Achieve a Net Promoter Score of 90+

Martha Galley, Executive Vice President Office of Sustainability, Calix

At Calix, our number one goal is to help you succeed. We’re here to help you transform your business, position your communities to thrive, and become leaders in your market, no matter your size or location. But the ultimate barometer of success? Subscriber happiness. Make this your top priority and long-term growth, profitability, and loyalty will follow. Bain & Company research shows B2B loyalty leaders typically grow four to eight percentage points above their market’s annual growth.

And yet broadband service providers (BSPs) have among the lowest Net Promoter Scores (NPS) of almost all industries—lower even than airlines and health insurance companies. BSPs’ recent average NPS ranges from 16 to 33 (on a scale of -100 to +100), with some studies showing scores as low as -5. If your subscribers are detractors, it’s a tough climb back to the top.

Deliver an Exceptional Subscriber Experience and Watch Your NPS Hit 70, 80, Even 90

As an industry, we have work to do—and it all starts with experience. We’re proud that many of our long-standing BSP partners have seen their NPS skyrocket, having adopted a comprehensive subscriber experience strategy. For instance, ALLO Communications, Horry Telephone Cooperative (HTC), and Ontario & Trumansburg Telephone Companies (OTTC) all enjoy NPS in the 70s, or more. How are they beating underperforming legacy operators? Simple. They have made providing a superior subscriber experience their top priority.

Here are five things BSP leaders must do to boost NPS:

Lead with managed services. Differentiate your brand with exciting services that create stickiness with your subscribers and make you hard to displace. With the comprehensive Calix Revenue EDGE™ platform, we provide an ecosystem of value-added managed services that will literally change your subscribers’ lives. And we continue to add to the portfolio—last month we launched our sixth and seventh managed services, Bark social media monitoring and Servify Care™ device protection plans.
Align your company behind a subscriber-first mindset. Improving NPS requires a company-wide commitment from the top down. As leaders you need to be champions—adapting to become a smart-thinking customer success organization where every employee becomes a subscriber-oriented brand ambassador. You’ll hear much more about this from New York Times bestselling author Daniel Pink at ConneXions 2022.
Embrace the power of the cloud. Calix Cloud (Calix Marketing Cloud, Calix Support Cloud, and Calix Operations Cloud) is the key to transforming the subscriber experience—and your business. Your marketing team can use analytics in Marketing Cloud to engage subscribers and determine what managed services subscribers will love. Proactivity is built into Operations Cloud, detecting poor performance even before your subscriber even suspects a problem. And Support Cloud provides actionable insights proven to reduce time-wasting truck rolls—a direct influencer of customer satisfaction. This end-to-end level of intelligence and automation, spanning from the subscriber Wi-Fi network to the access network, is a powerful set of tools to drive subscriber satisfaction.
Build your brand. Does your brand give you a competitive edge? Leverage the power of the Calix Market Activation program with its plug-and-play marketing resources (look out for more amazing Gerry Dee content coming out at ConneXions) that speak your subscribers’ language. The language of parents, work-from-homers, gamers, and streamers, to name a few. Take advantage of Calix Premier Customer Success Services to help advance and refine your NPS programs. Only when you deploy, manage, and operate exciting managed services—in a way that speaks to subscribers—does NPS go up.
Live your values. As a BSP, you sit at the heart of your community. Your local knowledge, trust, and intimacy is a powerful combination that cannot be replicated by the consumer giants. Use this to your advantage to ensure your subscribers are protected by offering services that deliver peace of mind. Whether that’s safeguarding your subscribers with ProtectIQ® for home network security, providing home and business monitoring with Arlo Secure, or keeping their kids safe from online threats with Bark, you are living your brand values. Your community will thank you and it will reflect in your NPS.

Cumberland Connect Delivers Peace of Mind for Subscribers and Reaps NPS of +92

Cumberland Connect, an electrical co-operative based in Tennessee, shows this approach works. Last year, they introduced their “Peace of Mind” package, which includes ProtectIQ for home network security and ExperienceIQ® for advanced parental controls. Delivered via their branded CCFiber SmartIQ app, adoption more than doubled in just four months. Not only did they generate new revenue streams and grow ARPU, but they also increased their NPS to +92. Adding more value-added services creates more profit, which then goes back into the community, which in turn drives satisfaction; it’s a virtuous circle.

When you leverage the power of the Calix platforms and managed services, BSPs flourish and NPS follows. Lead your organization to drive growth, positively impact your community, and stay competitive. It boils down to being customer-first, data-driven, and technology-led. Take this on board and you will earn unbeatable subscriber loyalty and stand out from the faceless trillion-dollar goliaths.

As always, Calix and our entire community are here to help you achieve your customer support goals. If you have questions or feedback about how we can help you meet and exceed your objectives, email me at martha.galley@calix.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.