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Standing on the Edge of Success [Business People (IN)](Business People (IN) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Eric Barie, vice president of marketing for the central region of Frontier Communications, wants people to know one thing: "You have a team in Fort Wayne ready to provide you with the best products and services in the industry. Not just the best in Fort Wayne; the best in the industry." The landscape, however, looked a bit different when Frontier bought the business from Verizon in 2010. After the acquisition, Frontier took some time to evaluate the product and the market. To many outside the company, things may have seemed to move slowly. In reality, the company was putting together a plan for success. Building a Winning Team Frontier pulled its top people together to form a fast-moving, dynamic team. They brought Greg Stephens, senior vice president, from Tennessee to direct operations for Indiana. Then Barie, with plenty of industry experience outside Frontier, moved from New York and joined the company to handle the region's marketing efforts. "We've got the best team here," says Stephens. "This team was built for the sole purpose of driving groth and improving customer service - and to measure the increases." And the team has done exactly that. "Since the acquisition, Frontier has revamped everything," says Stephens. Frontier has made significant investments in all areas, starting with infrastructure. According to Stephens, "When we came in, properties had been ignored." Since then, Frontier has invested more than $244 million in its Indiana network, which includes Fort Wayne's FiOS (fiber-optic) service. "We're continuing to build out FiOS," says Barie, "and it's scalable." Indeed, the headend for FiOS service for the whole country is now located in Fort Wayne. Tackling Technology Redundancy plays a significant role in Frontier's investment, too. Stephens is proud that Frontier does not simply look for the best deal. "We buy for the long term," he says. "We buy state-of-the-art equipment, and we backup everything we do." Even during last winter's severe storms, network redundancy meant that Frontier customers experienced virtually no downtime. "Weather is unpredictable," says Stephens, "Frontier's Indiana network proved resilient even through this past winter's unprecedented level of snow and ice." Improving the Customer Experience The driving force behind these changes is the customer. According to Stephens and Barie, everything revolves around improving the customer experience. However, equipment and infrastructure are only part of the equation. Frontier also places a strong focus on local management, believing that local engagement is the key to better understanding and serving its markets. Every market has a general manager, and decisions are made at a state, and often local, level. That intensifies the focus on the people served, rather than the products sold. "We've made some pretty large changes," says Barie. "We've brought marketing from a corporate level to a regional level." All of this effort is the result of Frontier placing the customer squarely in the center of its decision-making. Besides its more than 20 performance metrics that relate-in some way to customer experience, the company listens to its clients. For example, Fort Wayne functions as a national focus group test bed, allowing Frontier to receive live customer feedback on products, ideas and issues. In addition, dispatchers are assigned to specific technicians, giving Frontier the ability to build teams that provide specific services to specific types of customers. This type of regular engagement gives the company feedback on specific successes and failures. Frontier has also made call centers state-specific and as local as possible. With 450+ call center employees located at the Jefferson Boulevard location, that means calls from Fort Wayne are answered in Fort Wayne. And calls or service are never handled offshore; Frontier's workforce is entirely U.S.-based. All of these measures allow Frontier to hear what customers are saying on a local level, and then respond to their needs accordingly. The changes Frontier has put in place over the past two years have resulted in a tenfold increase in customer satisfaction. "We're gaining momentum," says Stephens, "but we're not done." Edge-ing out the Competition One of the main things Frontier has learned from customers is that specific-customers have specific needs. Accordingly, Frontier has placed renewed focus on its business offering. Frontier Business EdgeTM launched in April, comprised of a full portfolio of commercial products that includes networking, cloud-based solutions, VOIP technology, phone equipment and more. Where Frontier formerly took a broad-brush approach to its commercial services, the company now matches account representatives to specific products and accounts, taking into consideration the size of the business, the number of lines, and its enterprise needs. "It's not one-size-fits-all now," says Stephens. "We have subject matter experts trained on specific business needs." Everything is starting to click, agree Stephens and Barie. The customer experience has improved dramatically, allowing Frontier to take considerable share from its competition in this market. Sales are going up, churn is going down and Frontier is keeping its customers longer. "We're being rewarded for our investment," says Stephens. It's making a difference on a larger scale, too. Last year, Frontier relocated its central region headquarters to Fort Wayne, which continues to have outstanding sales results with the FiOS product. In fact, 1,050 of the company's 13,650 employees work in Fort Wayne, and the call center here has become one of Frontier's best performing in the nation. "We're making Fort Wayne a major part of our company," says Stephens. Stephens and Barie are proud of what Frontier has accomplished in this city. "We came in three years ago and outlined our plan, based on changing the level of service. We executed and continue to execute. Now we're enjoying the benefits of success - and so are our customers." FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS 8001 West Jefferson Boulevard Fort Wayne, Indiana 46804 (877) 462-8188 frontier.com [email protected] Senior Vice President: Greg Stephens Number of employees: Approx. 1050 in Fort Wayne Years in business: 79, Incorporated in 1935 Products and Services: Frontier Communications offers voice, broadband, satellite video, wireless Internet data access, data security solutions, bundled offerings, specialized bundles for small businesses and home offices, and advanced business communications for medium and large businesses in 27 states and with approximately 13,650 employees based entirely in the United States. (c) 2014 Michiana Business Publications, Inc. |