The StoryConnect Podcast

Business customers need reliability, flexibility and simple billing. Delivering and communicating about those value adds can lead to long-lasting customer relationships.

Creators and Guests

Host
Andy Johns
Vice President of Marketing

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.

Andy Johns:
What are some things you can do to reduce churn on the business
side of the operation?

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

My name is Andy Johns, your host with Pioneer, and I'm joined on
this episode by Shannon Stafslien, who is the marketing manager

at RTC Networks. Thank you so much for joining me.

Shannon Stafslien:
Yeah, absolutely. Andy, anytime.

Andy Johns:
We are here at the like some of the other episodes, we're at the
epicenter of rural broadband this week here in Las Vegas at the

Calix ConneXions 2024 Conference.

Has it been a good conference for you so far?

Shannon Stafslien:
Yeah, a lot of great content, a lot of great presenters.

Andy Johns:
Perfect. One of those great presenters, perfect segue, one of
those great presenters will be you coming up this afternoon.

Shannon Stafslien:
It is.

Andy Johns:
Talking about fighting churn, increasing ROI and, you know,
keeping folks, you know, retaining them.

But one of the interesting things we were talking about before
we pushed the record button is a lot of the words like "ROI" or

the acronyms and phrases, "RPO," all that.

Shannon Stafslien:
Yes.

Andy Johns:
Those are things that you said you generally try to avoid phrases
like that when you're talking about it.

Shannon Stafslien:
We do. We want our employees.

They are our best marketing tools.

Honestly, they're around the customers.

They're talking to them on the phone.

They're in their businesses. They're in their homes.

And we we want them to sell our products and upsell and talk to
our customers about what we offer.

But we don't want them to feel like they're salespeople.

This is just part of their job.

Andy Johns:
Right, and so getting some of that lingo out of there kind of
helps them be just normal humans.

Shannon Stafslien:
Yes, absolutely.

Andy Johns:
Good approach. All right.

So the big area that you're going to focus on in your your panel
later today is about retention on the business side.

Shannon Stafslien:
Correct.

Andy Johns:
So let's get into that a little bit.

I guess to start off with, this is not something necessarily
that y'all are seeing a ton of churn, but you all are being

proactive taking some steps, right?

Shannon Stafslien:
Yeah, correct. We've had a few businesses in our service area be
approached by cellular providers, offering phone systems and

internet. And really where we saw where we were missing is that
they didn't understand what we could offer to them.

So we were kind of missing that communication with them.

Andy Johns:
Sure. And that's eye opening, I guess.

And you were saying earlier that, you know, when somebody does
leave, you guys are making sure to take some steps to to ask them

a little bit, even if their answers are a little, a little
Midwest nice when they are leaving.

Shannon Stafslien:
Yeah, exactly.

So we asked them on the phone.

And actually, I didn't mention this earlier, but this summer, we
did start doing an email survey.

Andy Johns:
Oh, great.

Shannon Stafslien:
We simplified it to just like, 8 to 10 questions, depending on
what they're willing to offer.

And they tend to be a lot more honest when they're not talking
to us in person.

In person, they're very kind, and it's a little difficult to
pull any actual relevant information from

them.

Andy Johns:
Right. And then some of the things that you guys are doing, Let's
talk through the steps.

So a lot of it comes back to simplicity and simplifying things.

Right?

Shannon Stafslien:
Yes. Yep. We want our understand our customers, both residential
and business, to understand when they're purchasing from us, this

is the price. This is what you pay.

We want it to be simple.

We don't want to look like we're trying to pull something over
on them or nickel and dime them.

Andy Johns:
And then the other piece that you talked about, just making sure
they're aware of things, like an app and some of the other

services that you guys are offer.

Just that awareness, even if it's folks that are already working
with you.

Shannon Stafslien:
Absolutely. It's really hard to get people to read things.

Andy Johns:
So turns out.

Shannon Stafslien:
Yeah. So we do spend a lot of time focusing on the value and
showing them what value they get out of that app that comes with

their internet and how they can use that.

Andy Johns:
And that's been a big topic at this conference.

There's been a lot of talk about the value adds.

You know, some of the examples on the very first day talking
about those wireless companies that come in, who we won't name,

but you know that it's almost a race to the bottom where it's,
you know, you get this free and that free, and then this gift

card and all that kind of stuff.

What are you all seeing in terms of that competition?

You said that it's kind of both on the residential and the
business side.

It sounds like it's increasing for you all.

There are more more legit competitor than they used to be?

Shannon Stafslien:
Absolutely. That is a change in the market.

And you're right, it is a race to the bottom.

These cellular companies are just adding the service onto their
cell phone.

You know, you get a discount if you have their cell service, and
they're providing it through our fiber even, right?

So they're using our network.

Andy Johns:
As the backbone.

Shannon Stafslien:
Yes, absolutely.

So, it's an interesting twist, I guess, but we're definitely
trying to be proactive.

We don't want to be reactive.

We want to make sure that our customers know what we offer, and
that we provide the best experience.

Andy Johns:
That makes sense. Part of that is, I believe you guys call it the
"myRTCnetPRO" app.

Did I get the name right?

Shannon Stafslien:
Yes, correct.

Andy Johns:
So tell me a little bit about the app on the pro side.

Shannon Stafslien:
Absolutely. So that is with our business offering.

So for this year, actually, in January, we decided to go forward
with Calix's Smart Biz

program, and we rolled that right into our internet price for
our businesses.

Andy Johns:
Okay. So it's built in. It's not an add on.

Shannon Stafslien:
Correct. Yes, for the businesses that it fits.

So if they have extensive firewalls, or if it's a bank, they're
not a good fit for Smart Biz.

This is more for your smaller businesses.

Actually the businesses who already look at us like we are their
IT support.

When they have troubles with their internet, they call us.

They don't even try to figure it out.

Right. So this is a fit for those businesses, and it provides
value to that internet service that they get from us.

And we're hoping that that will help provide them a better
experience.

And they won't even consider taking that better offer to save
that 20 bucks.

Andy Johns:
Sure. And maybe I shouldn't say this too loud since we're here at
the conference, but that's not an app I am super familiar with

yet. The business side. What kind of things are they able to do,
or what kind of features and experience does that app help the

small business owners?

And, you know, imagine you're talking about.

Well, I mean, I'll let you say what kind of small businesses are
using it, and then what kind of things does that app allow them

to do?

Shannon Stafslien:
Yeah, absolutely. I'm glad you asked.

I'm very excited about these features.

So, honestly, the feature I thought that they were going to like
the most is there is a business customer portal

where when you go into a business, and you want to hook up to
their Wi-Fi, there's a landing page there.

You put your email in, and then you have there, you're on their
Wi-Fi network –

Andy Johns:
But then they have your information.

Shannon Stafslien:
Yes, exactly. So I thought they would be really excited about
that.

But what we're finding is they actually appreciate the security
side of it more so, the block threats and that

sort of thing. And then also what this software does is it
allows the business through their equipment to

have four separate networks.

So your point of sale network is different than that customer
portal, which is also different from your main network

and your employee network.

So you can have four different networks that all have separated
traffic.

So you can keep data safe.

And also open it up.

Andy Johns:
Nice. Yeah. I can see why that would be, why that would be an
advantage.

And when we're talking about the app, this is something I know
that a lot of the folks that we work with at Pioneer, maybe a lot

of the folks that listen, whether it's the CommandIQ app from
Calix, or whether it's any of the other great providers out there

that provide apps, there's always a struggle.

Do I use the name that the vendor has, or do I create my own
name like you guys did with myRTCnet?

Talk to me just a little bit through that thought process.

Has that been the right choice for you all, and why you decided
it needed to be named, have your own individual name?

Because there are some advantages, I would think, to sticking
with the name from the vendor.

Talk us through that thought process, and how it's been.

Shannon Stafslien:
Absolutely. So where we are, we want to make sure that our
customers are our customers.

We want to be branded fully all the way through.

So even our web page is myRTCnetworks.

So our app for both the business and the residential and our TV
product as well, all are myRTC.

So myRTCnet, myRTCnetPRO, myRTCvoice.

So we've really branded, taken that all the way.

And we feel like that helps us too with our advertising, and it
helps our employees, and they feel very a part of the

offerings, part of the team I guess.

And as a cooperative, we want our members to also feel like this
is your company.

It's not just mine, it's yours as well.

Andy Johns:
Perfect. And I think that goes too a long way as well when you're
talking about that churn factor and keeping local businesses.

Because beyond the app, beyond the simplified billing, which I
guess we haven't really talked about that much.

But beyond that, you guys are doing so much in the local
community.

There's kind of that, you know, the wireless companies, probably
not at the Chamber of Commerce meetings, that kind of thing.

Shannon Stafslien:
Exactly.

Andy Johns:
So there's a lot beyond that, too, that you guys are doing as
well to kind of be a part of the community and for the community.

Shannon Stafslien:
Yeah, absolutely. We think that is crucial.

One of the big concerns that we all hear about today is
cybersecurity.

And so we make a point.

And it's not just me. It's my team, and it's our techs, and
it's the other managers, and it's even our utility techs who

are on the plow crew, will show up in events for us, and they
will talk about their job, what they do, how things connect.

As far as how we make things work, and we always tie it back to
cybersecurity as well.

That we do this.

We built you fiber, but we're not just bringing the pipe to you.

We're also protecting you.

So we think that is really important.

And so we do that all over our communities.

Andy Johns:
Perfect. We don't talk about billing a whole lot on a podcast.

You know, it's an audio medium first, and to get into billing
too much gets a little, you know, there may be people driving.

We don't want them to fall asleep immediately.

Shannon Stafslien:
No. Absolutely not.

Andy Johns:
But part of what you guys are doing with the churn is, or to
fight the churn on the business side in particular, is simplified

billing. Let's talk just a minute about that, if you don't mind,
because you guys are kind of streamlining?

Shannon Stafslien:
Yeah, absolutely.

We found that based on a lot of feedback from our customers and
surveys is that, and we also asked them about what they thought

about other companies, but hidden fees, being nickeled and
dimed, all these added features.

Well, I want this.

Oh well, that's an extra $10, you know.

So what we've done for both our business and our residential
offerings is we've tied all of that together.

So the price that you get for your internet is the price that
includes everything.

It has, absolutely.

It's your security.

It's your Wi-Fi, and it's the pipe, and the experience, the
support that comes along with that.

Andy Johns:
Perfect. Yeah. That sounds like a good approach.

Last question I have for you as we're wrapping up here.

What advice do you have for somebody?

Maybe they already have pretty strong wireless competition in
the area.

Maybe they don't. But if they're just looking at their business
customer base saying, you know, what can I do to shore up a few

things? What advice do you have for those folks, either
strategically or, you know, as they're executing on some of those

ideas?

Shannon Stafslien:
Absolutely. I think, my first piece of advice is always be
proactive.

Reactive is so much harder on the PR side of things.

So be proactive.

Be a part of your communities.

That goes a long way, especially in our rural communities.

Andy Johns:
It sounds like even when you think you've communicated it all,
keep communicating.

Keep getting the word out because there's still stuff that
they're not going to know.

Shannon Stafslien:
Yeah. And we're constantly evolving and changing with
innovations and maybe not sharing that as we go along on our

journey.

Andy Johns:
Perfect. Well, I'm looking forward to the session.

And I know everybody else at this conference looking for the
session, so.

Shannon Stafslien:
I hope so.

Andy Johns:
Thank you for taking the time to share with us today.

Shannon Stafslien:
Absolutely. Thank you, Andy.

Andy Johns:
She is Shannon Stafslien.

She is the marketing manager at RTC Networks.

I'm Andy Johns, your host with Pioneer.

And 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.