LAS VEGAS – The default mode for small cable operators is often to apologize for their lack of size said Midcontinent Communications VP Tom Simmons in a session at The Cable Show this week on future-proofing small and rural cable systems.
That type of thinking should be turned on its head he said. Small operators shouldn’t have to apologize for being small, because that often means being nimble and able to respond to their community needs at the drop of a hat. Plus, the owners and employees are generally local folks. Small cable operators live in the communities they work and see customers eye-to-eye, face-to-face all the time.
This is a good thing, said Simmons, whose company has about 250,000 subscribers primarily in North and South Dakota.
Towards the end of a session that covered different sorts of technology and strategy to help small ops hold their own and grow in the face of DirecTV and DishNetwork, Simmons cautioned: “We may be taking for granted our most important selling advantage – that we are in the community,” he said, “Don’t apologize for being small.”
Instead, celebrate the community and earn their loyalty by getting involved and getting employees involved. It’s good for the community, good for your spirits and good, in the long run, for business, said the independent operators on the panel.
Robert Ormberg of CGI in Alaska (142,000 subs) said his company has gone even a step further by offering employees two paid work days in order to volunteer.
The company also keeps a scorecard of its employees’ philanthropic and other community involvement which is posted in the office where customers come to pay their bills (which many still do in rural settings) so that employees and customers “can track and measure the success and talk about the contributions you are making in the community.”
Other notes from the operators – which also included Suddenlink EVP Dave Rozelle (1.4 million subs) and Steve Brookstein (300,000 subs)
• Pursue business contracts but do it with a separate sales team. “We’re very bullish on commercial but it’s fundamental to have dedicated resources. The needs and language and timing for business is different,” said Brookstein. “It`s a different business and you have to approach it with the professionals and the terms they`re used to,” added Rozelle. “This is one of the great opportunities we have over the next several years.”
• Of course, serving the business market assumes you already have telephony and all of the above companies are signing up phone customers as fast as physically possible.
• High definition is “close to reaching a tipping point or has already reached it,” in terms of being an absolute must-have, said Brookstein.
• If you have a phone service or will launch one, print your own phone book. “Having your own phone book is key. You can touch the customer in another way and sell advertising and promote your own bundle,” said Ormberg. “There are huge opportunities with the yellow pages.”
