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Intro:
The following program is brought to you by the Tennessee
Broadband Association.

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Lead Tennessee Radio, conversations with the leaders moving our
state forward.

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We look at the issues shaping Tennessee's future: rural
development, public policy, broadband, health

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care and other topics impacting our communities.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Hello, I'm Carrie Huckeby, the executive director of the
Tennessee Broadband Association.

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In 2022, Loretta Telecom created a brand new mission statement,
and the purpose was to help the employees and the

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company focus on their operational goals so that as they
operated daily, they were thinking about the culture

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of excellence and how they would deliver innovative, dependable
and affordable communications to their

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customers. Kristin Burdette is my guest today on Lead Tennessee
Radio, and she is the customer experience supervisor

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at Loretto Telecom.

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She oversees sales, customer service, marketing and public
relations, which means she's a busy lady.

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But she agreed to spend a little time with me talking about her
new role and the focus on a culture of excellence.

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So happy New Year, Kristin, and thank you for joining me.

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Kristin Burdette:
Happy New Year to you, and thank you so much for having me.

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It's an honor.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Thank you. You started at Loretto in June of last year.

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So tell us a little bit about your background, the experiences
you brought with you that are going to help you in this

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CX role.

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Kristin Burdette:
Yeah. My background is a little bit different.

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I studied at a leadership college, an international leadership
college actually, located in Sydney, Australia, for

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about three years, which threw me into the creative world for a
short time before returning home to

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Tennessee and working for local government in the County
Executive's Office.

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There is where I had my experience in PR and marketing for about
two years, and I really loved that role.

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Through that I gained, I feel like, a new perspective of
Lawrence County and honestly invaluable connections that I feel

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like will guide me into my role here at Loretto Telecom.

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Carrie Huckeby:
I bet that it was exciting to study in Sydney, Australia.

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I've always wanted to go there.

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Kristin Burdette:
Yes, ma'am, it was. It was a wonderful time.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Well, in the past, when we talk about customer experiences,
companies have sometimes been guilty of thinking that only, you

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know, the customer service or the front line is responsible for
customer experience.

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But we've learned that it's every single interaction that goes
into that customer experience bucket.

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It's your online billing system, your website, your
conversations with your GM, your installers.

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It could be a conversation at the ballpark or the grocery store.

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When your company created this new mission statement and this
culture of excellence operationally, what are some of

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the ways that you ensured everyone in the company can stay
focused on the customer experience?

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How did you talk about it and introduce it to the company?

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Kristin Burdette:
Well, you're exactly right that the customer experience was
spread all across the company.

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Number one, we have a very close leadership team, and we meet
weekly to review our progress.

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We look for opportunities for growth.

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And then to ensure that our culture of our teams is in good
health.

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We believe that when we have healthy teams, people are
performing at a higher level and are also driven to protect the

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company's mission. We're also looking to refocus our branding
this year.

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So we're hoping to make sure that our marketing, the website and
all features are in line with our overarching goal, which is just

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to ensure that each customer feels well taken care of and
receives the highest quality services.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Fantastic. And I'm sure your leadership training in Australia has
been valuable with

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these weekly meetings and just discussing how to lead your team
there at Loretto, right?

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Kristin Burdette:
Yes ma'am, absolutely.

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I mean, I'm only 27, so I came into a team that has a large
collective wealth of knowledge

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and, you know, me being on the backside of that, what I did feel
that I could bring to the team was my leadership

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background and just our team building skills.

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Morale is everything.

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You can have the skills, and you can have the day-to-day, but
without that extra push in the right direction and kind of

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centering us around the right things, I just felt like I may not
know everything about telecoms just yet.

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I'm still learning, but there are some things that I could bring
to the table with that.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Yes. Excellent.

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They contribute to the whole picture, you know, whether you have
that telecom experience, that keeping

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morale up and keeping everyone focused on this excellent
customer experience, it takes

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everyone. So part of the customer experience is understanding
what your customer wants.

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What are you learning that your customers there want?

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What have you learned, and how are you learning that from your
customers?

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Kristin Burdette:
Well, I feel like I'm learning something new almost every single
day about our customer base.

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And even though this is my community, there's still so much that
I feel like I have not seen.

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So one thing that stands out is our customers' desire to follow
our plan for building out fiber in Lawrence County.

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We have so many current and potential customers that are just
waiting patiently for fiber to get to their area.

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And some feel like there's no end in sight.

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So people are really wanting to know the why behind the what to
kind of close that gap, and what's taking so

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long for us to build out these grant funded projects.

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And so my goal is to help our community understand and walk this
process with us.

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We want to make this process as easy for our customers as
possible.

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Carrie Huckeby:
What are some of the things that you are passing on to the
customers that keeps them following

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that process?

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Is it timelines?

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Is it the process of how construction works with how long it
takes to bury the drop, and then it takes

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the splicing the fiber and then it takes this?

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What are some of the things that you're communicating?

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Kristin Burdette:
Yes ma'am, timeline is a huge one.

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So kind of, the CSRs know that it's really difficult to kind of
say, "Hey, guess what?

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You're in this grant round, but we don't know exactly when we'll
get to you." So we try to be very upfront with the areas that we

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are working to build in that year.

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But we don't try to give close timelines for those because it's
really hard to meet those

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sometimes. Weather can change that.

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We might have to stop this process with a contractor and move to
another area for a short time and then come back, finish that

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build. So we try to give open ended timelines, but that's where
we start.

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We want people to know that, yes, you're in this timeframe, but
we're not 100% sure

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how long it's going to take to build out each individual area
that we have.

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So that's what we're trying to, I guess, focus on and kind of
clean up so that our expectations that

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we're placing out there for the customers to have are not
unrealistic, if that makes sense.

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Carrie Huckeby:
It does. And I can remember when I worked in marketing and was
involved with the fiber build, some of our territories were

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five years out.

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We, you know, we weren't going to build that area for five
years.

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And although it was disappointing to them, I found that as long
as they knew what the expectation was, you know, and you just

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kept sending them that information, they were okay with that as
long as they knew when it was, that it was five

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years. So good.

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Well, I come from a sales customer service and marketing
background, as I mentioned, a little bit.

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So I'm curious, as you oversee all these disciplines, how do you
communicate this in your marketing and PR

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messaging? In other words, if you've worked with a business, and
you've given them a great customer interaction,

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how do you communicate that?

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Are you doing testimonials, or how do you convey that in your
marketing messaging?

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Kristin Burdette:
Testimonials is a huge one that we do.

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We actually send out surveys and within that, we have
opportunity for our customers to leave comments

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or opportunities for growth for us.

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And in turn, we ask for their permission to actually share
those.

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And so that is where I feel like we have seen a lot of our
feedback that has been

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really positive and really encouraging, not just to our CSRs,
but to the field techs and to our inside techs

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and even to the accounting.

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People really have said to Loretto Telecom as a whole that we
are

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moving in the right direction, and we're really appreciated.

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So that has been super encouraging to see.

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But as I mentioned above, we're taking time to refocus our
marketing content to be more customer

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centered this year. And so I'm just hoping that the more
testimonials we have, that we can continue to weave

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that in a bit more than we have.

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I would love to see more individual interviews that we can do
with businesses or

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individual people that come up that might have a place in the
community that could be a really great voice for us moving into

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Lawrenceburg and other areas as we build this out.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Yes. We can say as member companies how good our service is and
that we are focused on a culture of

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excellence, but no one says that better than your own customers.

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So that works the best.

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Kristin Burdette:
Yes, ma'am.

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Carrie Huckeby:
In the recently announced Tennessee ECD broadband funding,
Loretto was awarded almost seven and a half million dollars to

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build there in Lawrence County.

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So congratulations to all of you.

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As we know, as you talked about, it takes time to expand these
areas and to build and in

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service. And you mentioned that it's very important to set those
expectations and communicate with the customers, and

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when they're so excited to get broadband.

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How do you ensure that everyone in the company, the installers,
the engineering, customer service sales, how do you

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ensure that all of them stay on the same page?

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Is that where those weekly meetings come in to play, or have you
found other ways to to keep everybody singing from the

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same songbook there at Loretto?

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Kristin Burdette:
Well, getting everyone on the same page is never easy, as we all
know.

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But yes, our weekly meetings play a huge part in that.

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So as a leadership team we meet on Fridays, and that is an
awesome time for us just to kind of regroup, figure out

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where we're at, look at the things that we want to do and
implement and change, and also bring new information to the

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forefront. So after that, on a Wednesday following, we meet with
our individual teams.

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That's when we're able to input that top down information.

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And our goal is that everything at the top is the same thing at
the bottom.

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So it's widespread.

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There's nothing being hidden there.

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Or, you know, everyone is aware of what's taking place and what
we're working towards, you know.

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And so communication is just our absolute number one priority
here at Loretto Telecom.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Kristin, how many employees do you have there at Loretto, and how
many are in your management team?

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Kristin Burdette:
So we have a total of 23 total employees, and there are six of
us.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Good. Do you think that makes it easier with a smaller company,
or do you think those same weekly meetings, and then Wednesday

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meetings would work no matter how large your company is?

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Kristin Burdette:
I really do feel that we have a slight advantage because there's
not as many months that we have to

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capture and kind of get our message into and make sure that
information is going out.

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But I really do believe that when you have these data practices
like we have of meeting each week, coming together and hashing

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out these conversations and getting out the new information, I
feel like it would work just as well in a larger company.

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And I hope as we grow, we're going to see that actually takes
place.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Well, you're definitely setting a good foundation for, as you
grow, to continue that good work.

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And I love that mind's to capture.

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That's so true. So beyond the day to day interaction with
customers, you're doing some really great work

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providing an experience to senior citizens with your digital
literacy educational program.

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And as part of the funding for the state and federal digital
literacy, which includes adoption, equity and

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affordability, is key of ensuring all Tennesseans are connected.

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Tell us how the program got started, and what does it mean to
Loretto and more importantly, to those seniors, that show up for

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the class?

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Kristin Burdette:
Well, this class is birthed out of a need that the Lawrence
County Public Library discovered.

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We were asked to partner with them and provide a bit of insight
and instruction to the questions that seniors might have about

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technology. And honestly, we very quickly realized that this was
a large need in our community, that there were

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lots of seniors that were basically being left behind in this
world of technology.

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They had the devices.

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They had some knowledge, but they were basic functions on their
cell phones and on their laptops or tablets that they would

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use that they weren't quite sure about.

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And so coming in and creating a space was very important for us,
for not just for us as a team or

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as the company, but for us to see that need and respond to it.

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We're hoping that this is going to be something that's going to
continue to grow, continue to evolve, and hopefully be

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something that will continue on and have a huge impact in our
community.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Do you see being able to offer it to other age groups besides
senior citizens?

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Do you do you feel like as we in the state of Tennessee study
digital literacy and see who's getting

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left behind, that you'll be able to adapt that class to other
age groups?

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Kristin Burdette:
Yes, ma'am. Absolutely.

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This specific class is very beginner based.

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I feel like we might could even offer different levels for
people to choose and different age groups or

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even, it wouldn't necessarily be age group based, but need
based.

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What are you looking for in that class and kind of cater to that
information?

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The one that we'll be actually hosting in January is kind of
question based.

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So we've asked people that will be attending to submit their
questions, and hopefully we'll be able to bring content and

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information to help them with that.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Good. Well, it's certainly a fantastic program, and I always
enjoy reading what's happening with that.

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So I commend you guys for starting it and doing it.

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And I know it's helping your community because you did mention,
I think, we did mention in our newsletter article that it's not

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just your customers that's coming to that; it's the people in
the community, and you are answering a need

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for consumers outside of Loretto Telecom.

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Kristin Burdette:
We actually don't have very many customers that are attending our
class because it's in Lawrenceburg.

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And Lawrenceburg is not currently one of our ILEC serving areas.

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So that will actually be a CLEC for us.

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So, it is very fascinating to see people want our service so bad
in those areas, and we're definitely working

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to serve them. But it's just neat to see that a lot of them are
not our own customers.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Well, you've been doing this about seven months, and we've just
kicked off a new year.

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Are there customer experience initiatives that you plan to put
in place this year or things you want to try?

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Kristin Burdette:
Yes, ma'am, There are. I have to say right off that I stepped
into a really great team.

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As I mentioned before, there is a wealth of knowledge between
these ladies.

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They've been here for quite some time, and they're awesome at
what they do, but my focus for 2023 is to challenge them to lean

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more into more of a sales initiative without compromising our
customer service, obviously.

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I would love to see us focus on some of our lower penetration
areas that have had some for some time, but

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our hope is with the extra focus and concentration that we'll
begin to see higher take rates and growth.

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And I think it will just be great to challenge these ladies into
something that is outside of their comfort zone.

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I'm all about let's do something that feels uncomfortable, and
let's do something that gets us out of the norm, that might

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create or generate new opportunities and ideas.

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So I'm very excited to see all the will happen in 2023.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Well, I'll ask you to expand on that a little bit, because you
know that switching from

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customer service, answering, being reactive instead of proactive
in customer service,

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that's something we've been talking about for years.

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What do you think some of the challenges are?

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Is it sales, the word "sales" that kind of scares everyone, or
just not being comfortable

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being proactive in that conversation?

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How are you going to tackle that?

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Kristin Burdette:
I think it is definitely the case that when I say sales, or I'm
encouraging the ladies to

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maybe lean more into that area of this role, they tend to lean
back.

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And I think it is because it comes with this used car salesman
mentality where they

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just feel uncomfortable because the people that they're talking
to are their aunts, their uncles or their cousin or they have

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some relationship because we are in such a small area.

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And so something that I'm really trying to refocus our minds on
are we're helping people

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by also having a sales mentality.

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We're giving them the opportunity to make the decision on their
own without making it for them.

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And with customer service and wanting to, I guess, bring the
best offering to someone, that's

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also, I guess, our perspective of them and what they might want.

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Rather than laying out the suppliers, laying out all the options
and saying, this is what we have.

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This is what I recommend based off of my professional
experience, but I would like you to know top down what we offer

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and what we have accessible to you.

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So that that's switching that mindset from a used car salesman
to customer service and sales

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really go hand-in-hand because we are creating a service that is
going to be the foundation for Lawerance County.

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Broadband is the way of the future.

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So us moving in this direction and allowing people to take part
in it, isn't doing something that should go bad.

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It should actually feel wonderful.

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So I'm just trying to switch that mentality a little bit.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Yes. And I completely understand that.

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And we used to talk about in training, too, that if you don't
know what your customer needs, and we talked about this earlier

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in the podcast, finding out what your customer wants, finding
out what they need, you are their solution

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provider.

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Kristin Burdette:
Absolutely.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Yeah. And you have to start that conversation somewhere.

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Well, I look forward to talking to you again this time next year
and see how that goes and the progress you've made and some

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of the things that you've done to make that happen.

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So I'm excited for you, and I look forward to talking to you
again next year.

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So anything that you want to add before we wrap up?

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Kristin Burdette:
I just want to say thank you so much and thank you for all that
you've done to make this possible.

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And what the Tennessee Broadband Association is actually doing
for Lawrence County.

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It's a wonderful thing.

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So thank you so much.

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Carrie Huckeby:
Well, I appreciate that.

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So thank you, Kristin, for your time.

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I hope this year is fantastic for you, your team and Loretto
Telecom.

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My guest has been Kristin Burdette, customer experience
supervisor at Loretto Telecom.

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You've been listening to Lead Tennessee Radio, produced by the
Tennessee Broadband Association, cooperative and independent

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companies connecting our state's rural communities and beyond
with world class broadband.