Turning Data Into Direction: How ECE Fiber Turns Metrics Into Momentum, With Ty Houglum

KPIs, NPS, churn—oh my! Data doesn’t have to be daunting. Ty Houglum, CIO at ECE Fiber, shares how his team turns numbers into action, building a culture that makes data meaningful, not mysterious.

Notes: Filmed at Calix ConneXions conference.

Creators and Guests

Host

Megan McKoy-Noe

Brand Storyteller

What is The StoryConnect Podcast?

StoryConnect features interviews with marketers, communicators, CEOs and other leaders at cooperative and independent broadband companies, electric cooperatives and municipal power providers. The goal of the podcast is to help listeners discover ideas to shape their stories and connect with their customers. It is produced by Pioneer Utility Resources.

Intro:
A production of Pioneer Utility Resources.

StoryConnect, helping communicators discover ideas to shape their
stories and connect with their customers.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Turning data into direction: how ECE Fiber uses metrics to create
momentum.

That's what we'll be talking about on this episode of The
StoryConnect Podcast.

Hi, I'm your host, Megan McKoy-Noe,
one of the storytellers at Pioneer Utility Resources,

and I am joined at the Calix ConneXions event in Las Vegas.

I am joined by Ty Houglum, Chief Information Officer at ECE Fiber
in Minnesota.

Ty Houglum:
Correct.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
So thank you so much for joining us.

I always say Minnesota that way because.

Ty Houglum:
The long "o." Yes, for sure.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
The long – I have to tell you, just talking about your state
makes me feel at home.

So it's one of those things. But Ty,
thank you so much for joining us here.

Now, yesterday you were on a panel about turning metrics into
superpowers,

which is every kid's dream.

Ty Houglum:
Right.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
I feel like it's a cape, but a different kind of cape.

It's a KPI cape.

Ty Houglum:
It's a very catchy phrase to pull everyone in,
right?

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Yeah. Yes. But for folks who do not live and breathe analytics,
which I assume you do,

but for the rest of us mere mortals,
how can you explain what KPIs are,

and why they matter?

Ty Houglum:
Sure. Yeah, I'd say, we for us,
at least at ECE Fiber, we're in such a massive growth phase

right now. We just started this deployment a couple years ago,
and key performance indicators,

KPIs, are so critical for us to measure.

And I think one of the biggest things we're trying to navigate is
the different phases that we're in.

So right now we're in this growth phase,
and now we're kind of transitioning into like maintenance and

operational phase. So the KPIs that we measure now might not be
ones that will focus on too much in 2-3 years or 4-5

years or ten years. And so yeah,
it's definitely something we track.

We've got a couple different platforms using some forms of AI and
power BI with Microsoft some business intelligence

platforms to pull that in. And ultimately,
you know, we're tracking the main KPIs that a lot of folks are

tracking, and then some others that are maybe internal to us
only.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
I like what you said, though, about the key pieces of information
that you're following that evolves over time.

And you can't just stay with one set,
static set of metrics.

You know, at Pioneer, we have something called the subscriber
story cycle that we're trying to encourage folks to think about

because we are evolving from just building things out to then
telling the story in different ways.

And the metrics can do that in a really powerful way if you pay
attention to them and give them some love.

Ty Houglum:
Right.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
I feel, and it's really fun to hear about how Calix is going to
be using agenetic AI to

supercharge your metrics.

Ty Houglum:
Really excited about that.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Very, very excited. And they made them cute and fuzzy.

Ty Houglum:
Yeah.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
So they don't scare us.

Ty Houglum:
I saw the little window icons. I'm like,
"What are those?" And I yeah figured that out in the session.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Yeah. They had outlines on the windows when we first got here
yesterday.

And then today the window outlines are gone,
and instead there's little agents that are like your new best

friends. I'm hoping they have stuffies for kids later on.

Ty Houglum:
Right.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
So you mentioned that you guys have been going through a growth
phase.

So how are you taking all the different points of data that you
have and making them meaningful without

drowning in dashboards?

Ty Houglum:
Sure. Yeah. So probably one of the the best examples,
and this is what I shared in the session,

was we took some a bunch of demographic data to help us and use
information,

some KPIs around that to understand where our packages we're at,
that we're offering to our members,

residential and business. And we completely redefine that and
change them to – we left Calix last year energized to

go value-based packages. And so we went all in on that and
released them in March of '25.

And so now it's fun to watch the take rates on the specific
packages and how they've adjusted.

We've had a $5 increase in ARPU (average revenue per user) just
since March on our business side because of how we're marketing

those to businesses.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Oh, I love that. And what, I have to ask,
because I'm a marketer.

Ty Houglum:
Yeah, yeah.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
What are the names that you came up with for your value-based
offerings?

Ty Houglum:
You're going to quiz me on that.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
No, no it's not a quiz. This is a friendly,
friendly question.

Ty Houglum:
So my favorite one is our two gig package,
which is our digital trendsetter package.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
I like that.

Ty Houglum:
It used to just be our, you know,
speed and price, two gig at, and it's at,

you know we've got the price on,
had that on our website.

Now we have it digital trendsetter,
and it's marketed in a way of value persona based.

How would you look as a consumer,
which package best fits you?

Yeah, we had one of those sold up until March of 2025.

One.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
And then you changed the name.

Ty Houglum:
And now we have 45. So I mean, that's a massive increase.

And in just a short period of time,
and we really haven't done any advanced marketing.

It's just changing it on our site of how you order.

So it's been, you know, all the KPIs leading up to that and the
data that we had to pull in to form and frame these new

packages, we're, you know, big undertaking.

And with the help of Calix, they helped us do all that.

So, yeah, that's probably the best story of taking those KPIs and
actionable super powers,

right, of transitioning them into the newer packages and then,
yeah,

powering forward with some, you know,
RPU.

I'm assuming the the audience would know what that means,
but our average revenue per user.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Thank you so much. Everyone just says ARPU this and argue that.

And I'm like, okay, so that is your average –

Ty Houglum:
Revenue.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Revenue.

Ty Houglum:
Per user.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Per user. So it's how much money you make off of each subscriber
long term as well.

It's important. And I love that you are changing from looking at
your overall take rate,

which a lot of folks do. And for folks that don't know,
a take rate is how many people are subscribing to you based out

of pretty much everyone that could,
and now you're breaking it down per marketing persona.

Ty Houglum:
Correct.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Right?

Ty Houglum:
Per marketing package.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Marketing package, yes.

Ty Houglum:
And then also per demographic based.

We have distribution area based.

So we have areas that we serve that are very low income.

And we have areas that are lake cabin country and,
you know, wealthier folks.

And so, we track that too to see,
okay, what are they looking at and using?

And then we can market to them in the way that,
you know, those folks that are taking our product and market to

the ones that haven't taken it yet.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
I love that. I love taking it and making it into action,
thinking strategically about it.

Is there anything that happened that shifted your mindset towards
trying to lean more heavily into

identifying data with value, and then bringing it back to the
team and helping everyone,

like, focus on that?

Ty Houglum:
Yeah, I think, one of the things that we did was with the data
that we pulled in,

it showed that we had a lot of these outdoor enthusiasts.

And so on our two gig package, we actually put in outdoor Wi-Fi
extender in it.

You just get it automatically.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
There's no question there.

Ty Houglum:
Yeah like, "Here you go; you're getting it." And,
you know, you might have a pool or an outdoor backyard or a patio

or possibly a business, the golf course or church or something
that wants to have some external Wi-Fi.

So that was like our pulling that data in and trying to find
value for the member to see that.

Okay, it's not even an option. Here it is.

And our technicians will help you get that set up during install.

I don't know. I don't know if that quite answers it.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Well, I was wondering. I mean, as a CIO for ECE Fiber,
I was just wondering how you get the team to see the value too.

I love that you're using the specific information you get about
certain subscribers,

and if they have a need, you don't even ask.

You're just like you're getting this because it impacts your
experience.

But I'm wondering about how you,
especially, you know, y'all work with ECE,

a cooperative, right? So how do you get all the staff on board
with learning to value the data and not get

overwhelmed by the data?

Ty Houglum:
You can either ramrod it in and say.

"We're doing this," right? Yeah,
no, that's not the right way to do it.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
That is a path.

Ty Houglum:
Yeah, I would say we are very strong in our change management
process.

So when I say change management,
the people side of change.

And so we actually have a full platform we use,
and we used it in these rollouts.

So it's not anything we produce.

It's a model out there. It's called ADKAR.

So you first build awareness which is the "A" to get to desire.

Then you build knowledge and give ability and reinforce it in the
end.

So you just do that like on a loop on all the different changes.

So internally, like we actually map that out and write it out.

On these types of things, we have to be a little more nimble.

So I am personally constantly always ADKARing in my brain of,
okay,

how do we get folks to understand and be aware of why we need to
make this change to get them to desire?

Because if you don't build the awareness,
you're never going to get to that "D" which is desire. So that's

an actual formal process that we use with all of our project
management,

there's a change management component tied to it.

We actually have a change manager for each one of them.

I'm a change manager on a number of the projects,
and so that's probably the best way I can describe getting folks

on board. And, you know, most sometimes the building,
getting to desire is not hard when you can see the data showing,

hey, this makes sense to do it. But the billing on the back end,
you know,

that's a lot of work for them to change a package and pricing if
we're going to change that as well.

You're adding in a Wi-Fi extender.

On paper it seems easy, but now you got to track that and
inventory and everything else.

So, that is where the awareness for those folks probably needs to
be built more to get to that desire.

Like, okay, I get it. So yeah, I don't know if that answered it
appropriately,

but.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Every answer is appropriate on The StoryConnect Podcast.

No, that's really, really helpful.

And I love, you know, we talk about finding champions for your
story in the cooperative,

but I love finding champions for change.

Ty Houglum:
Yeah, for sure.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
And having change managers. That makes so much sense.

So are you also to help them building that desire to embrace the
change?

Are you telling them stories of how the data is helping not just
your company get better and build more revenue,

which is important, but also the difference that it's making and
the experience?

Ty Houglum:
For sure. We can directly correlate getting stories just like
you're getting here from our members to help share

with them. And it just reinforces that that change is working.

Plenty of stories that are great marketing department pulls in.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Oh, I met Kimberly earlier which was wonderful.

Ty Houglum:
Yeah. So, they pull in these stories,
and then we share those internally to all employees,

especially the ones that have been in the change and help them
understand that,

okay, it's making an impact, and it makes them feel pretty good.

Right. So it's a yeah, I would say that's probably the best way
that we were doing it at ECE.

There's some other things we do and try to do that externally
too,

to that's another marketing, you know,
tactic for them.

So yeah, for sure.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
But I like that you're sharing those stories internally because
shifting from static data to data that everyone is

using and really embracing to help them strategically move
forward and build momentum for your

utility, it's huge. So it's exciting because a lot of folks,
they freeze up when they hear data strategy,

or they just it can be overwhelming.

Ty Houglum:
Yeah, they think of how's that going to impact me and my work and
everything?

I already have a full plate, how do I?

Yeah, exactly.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
So if you had to pick for a utility that's looking at this and
they're thinking,

okay, so I like the idea of the,
you know, breaking everything down with my take rate by these

different programs and, you know,
packages.

That's great. What other piece of data do you think is key for
them to start tracking?

Ty Houglum:
So you're like an entry somebody,
getting into it?

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Yeah. They have data, but they haven't really harnessed it.

Where should they start?

Ty Houglum:
I think out of the gate, what we did,
and I think we probably could have focused on it even more is,

we had our take rate, right, but we had pre-registrations.

And then, so we have our actual orders and then,
we have the, if they come to the site,

and they back off. Okay, how do we track them,
and we capture them?

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Yeah.

Ty Houglum:
So our e-commerce site that we use has that,
so that was a big one in the beginning.

I think.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Capture might be harsh.

Ty Houglum:
Yeah.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Cordially invite them to come back.

Ty Houglum:
There you go.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Please rejoin us.

Ty Houglum:
That's the right way to say it. Yeah,
you can tell I'm not a communicator, marketer, right.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
No, no, it's making me giggle.

Ty Houglum:
Yeah. Yeah. I'd say, obviously,
you're going to be so heavy into that take rate for your

distribution areas. And for us,
we had, you know, some distribution areas right now that are at

60% take rate or higher, but we have some that are at ten.

Well, we've got competition in those areas.

So defining and setting your goals in those areas,
and then tracking that as you move along to make sure,

hey, we need to slow down and market here or shift,
you know, to something different because it's not working.

Probably the biggest ones I think the experience side for us,
and this is always,

we're trying to improve it. We're in this growth phase I talked
about.

So to go from an order to an install,
right now we're like 4 to 6 weeks.

Well, that's because we're getting 30 orders a day.

We're doing 35 to 40 installs a day,
like just trying to keep that up.

Right. So, I think that's a big one on the experience side,
because we focus so much on getting the orders,

and now we need to transition to like retention and keeping them
and what are the members asking for,

you know, using Calix tools and different things. And the AI
piece will be awesome because they'll tell us what they want,

right. That's the little agents will hopefully do that.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
That's the dream.

Ty Houglum:
That is the dream. Yeah. So I think those are a couple out of the
gate.

And most consultants or contractors are going to help you.

I mean, we're an electric co-op. We've done that for,
you know, 90+ years.

We know how to sell power, and we know how,
but this is just enters you into a whole different world,

and you have to learn and understand how to be competitive. So,
yeah,

those those are probably the ones that come top of mind.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
I love that. Well, thank you so much for taking time.

I know it's a busy conference, but I appreciate you taking time
to share your story with utility pioneers.

He is Ty Houglum at ECE Fiber, and I'm your host,
Megan McKoy-Noe at Pioneer Utility Resources.

Ty Houglum:
Thanks for having me.

Megan McKoy-Noe:
Until we talk again, keep telling your story.

Outro:
StoryConnect is produced by Pioneer Utility Resources,
a communications cooperative that is built to share your story.