What’s the Secret of Proactive Customer Support As You Launch Managed Services? A “Smart Start”

Broadband service providers (BSPs) face a new reality. Speed and reliability are no longer differentiators. To stand out, BSPs must focus on the subscriber experience. That starts with delivering managed services that excite them. Parental controls. Home network security. Connected cameras. Social media monitoring tools that help parents keep kids safe from the damaging effects of cyberbullying. And guess what? Each of these services means customer support teams must become more proactive than ever.

Wondering how your customer support team can make this happen?  The answer is easy— Managed Services and Smart Start from Calix. Rolling out new managed services may at first seem daunting, particularly in areas where your support team may have little experience or expertise. But the managed services opportunity doesn’t have to mean a bigger support workload for you. With the right preparation, data, resources, and tools, you can get ahead and embrace this growth.

Scale, Support, and Simplify Operations for Managed Services Success

To help BSPs launch new services faster and with better results, the Calix Services team recently introduced Smart Start for Managed Services. The program provides step-by-step guidance, resources, and tools to ensure alignment among customer support, field technicians, and marketing. Leveraging experience from hundreds of deployments, Smart Start for Managed Services prepares all support roles to deliver an exceptional subscriber experience, while simplifying and streamlining support operations. Here are three tips that will help you launch new services with confidence. 

1. Map the entire customer journey. Identify all touchpoints your subscribers will experience with your new service. Starting with your subscriber’s first inquiry, include touchpoints across signup, installation, post-install checks, and ongoing support. Use every step of the journey as an opportunity to ensure and increase subscriber satisfaction.  
2. Create an employee pilot program. It’s much easier to understand the subscriber experience if employees are using the service themselves. Customize an employee testing plan and create a survey to capture feedback that can strengthen your launch and support processes.  
3. Ensure support readiness with role-specific training. The support organization is often the first point of contact for subscribers—so make sure everyone is up-to-speed on the new service. Technicians should be prepared to explain the technical aspects of the service, answer questions, and support sales efforts with subscribers directly. Once the service has launched, support will be ready to monitor and maintain the service through Calix Support Cloud (Support Cloud). In addition, Calix Premier Customer Success (Customer Success) has built Revenue EDGE™ Bootcamps to provide in-depth training for support and technical teams. 

Need proof this approach works? Ontario & Trumansburg Telephone Companies (OTTC) partnered with the Customer Success team to launch ProtectIQ® for home network security and ExperienceIQ® for enhanced parental controls in 2021. OTTC was able to get to market quickly, differentiate itself in a competitive marketplace—and drive 25 percent annual growth. 

Support Partner-Based Managed Services With Ease

Calix continues to expand our ecosystem of Revenue EDGE managed services and provide the support system to deliver a differentiated subscriber experience. With our new Calix Support for Managed Services, we’re making it easier than ever to maintain your partner-based managed services. Together with Support Cloud and Premier Customer Success, we’re with you every step of the way—from launch to activation and ongoing support. The results? Your support team has the tools, data, and processes to ensure an exceptional experience. And you’ll see the results of subscriber satisfaction in higher Net Promoter Scores.

Learn how you can accelerate your time to market with Smart Start for Managed Services. Schedule a consult today.