It\u2019s official. After two years of working on the deal between Charter and Time Warner Cable, Inc., Charter officially owns the most hated brand in cable provider brands, for $55.1 billion. Charter will phase out the Time Warner Cable brand, as well as Bright House Networks LLC, over time.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the thing:<\/p>\n
Changing the name doesn\u2019t change the service.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Changing the name doesn\u2019t change the leadership or the customer centricity of an organization. So changing the name will have no effect. It\u2019s like \u2018putting lipstick on a pig\u2019. It will still be the same leaders, people and poor culture that has led Time Warner to have this unenviable reputation.
\n<\/p>\nCharter\u2019s CEO Tom Rutledge agrees<\/a> that changing the name isn\u2019t enough to change the problem. In a recent interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, he said, \u201cObviously, just changing the name of a company\u2026it\u2019s not a solution. You\u2019ve got to run a good service operation. And we do at Charter, and we are getting better every day.\u201d So here\u2019s my challenge, did the previous people know this? Sure they did, they just didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n
This merger will not be good for the customers. Why? In the short term, the two companies will become more internally focused than they already are. People worried about their jobs, management will be obsessed with cost cutting, eliminating the duplication of departments and switching out all those service van logos! In addition, the merger reduces the competitive field, which is never a great thing for customers.<\/p>\n
Being better, however, is what this brand needs to be. Time Warner has performed badly<\/a>on the American Customer Satisfaction Index for years, scoring just 51 out of 100, representing the worst overall rank of any industry. \u00a0I am a \u00a0customer of Bright House<\/a>. After 18 months of attempts to fix my service, I finally demanded compensation for all my lost time and productivity due to shoddy broadband service. In their estimation, my loyalty came to a fat total of $23.29. Needless to say, they failed to address my frustration at feeling undervalued by them as a customer. They are not a customer-focused operation.<\/p>\n
It isn\u2019t just cable companies. Telecoms continue to fail to focus on the customer. I have both worked for and consulted with Telecom companies for over 20 years. In my experience, customers come a distant second to what is good for the organization.<\/p>\n
Two specific examples of the lack of customer centricity in Telecoms come to mind. The first occurred when I worked at a major UK Telecom company. I remember complaining at a meeting that no-one did anything anything about the appalling Customer Satisfaction we provided despite it being measured in regular surveys. There solution? Stop measuring it, it was a waste of money as they weren\u2019t going to do anything about it anyway! The second happened at the end of my tenure when I saw the budget for the next year. Not one initiative on the budget was focused on improving the Customer Experience<\/a>. Everything was focussed on cost cutting.<\/p>\n
As Customer Experience consultants, we see this kind of behavior all the time, in many different industries. When an organization focuses on internal issues\u2014like cost-cutting and improving profitability\u2014instead of the customer, the demonstrated lack of customer focus from the leadership spills over into the behavior of the rest of the employees. I\u2019ll bet most of you can guess what that means for the Customer Experience.<\/p>\n
If Charter Spectrum wants to effect real change, they have to change the way they view their customers. Instead of looking for ways to get more margin in their interaction with them, they need to look for ways to get more delight from their interaction with them. Moreover, they should do this anytime between 8 and 5 p.m.!<\/p>\n
A leopard doesn’t change its spots. Nor does a cable company change its operationally-focused ways. Renaming your company with a bad reputation doesn\u2019t fix it; it just hides it. Now it\u2019s simply a wolf in sheep\u2019s clothing.<\/p>\n
What do you think? Will the merger fix the experience for Time Warner Cable and Bright House customers? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.<\/b><\/p>\n
If you enjoyed this post, you might be interested in the following blogs:<\/em><\/p>\n
Hypocrisy Revealed of Major US Company<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n
Comcast Needs a Culture Shock Not More People<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n
Why are Telecoms So Bad at Customer Experience?<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n
Read positive accounts of how companies improved their Customer Experience in<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0our latest ebook: Unlocking the Hidden Experience<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
LinkedIn followers receive 50% discount with promo code Hidden50.<\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n
Colin Shaw<\/em><\/a> is the founder and CEO of<\/em> Beyond Philosophy<\/em><\/a>, one of the world’s leading Customer experience consultancy & training organizations. Colin is an international author of<\/em> five bestselling books<\/em><\/a> and an engaging keynote speaker.<\/em><\/p>\n