The new Telecom
John Drinnan in the Herald looks at the new Telecom:
Telecommunications industry watchdog Ernie Newman likes the new, higher profile. He was especially impressed by a newspaper advertisement apologising to customers for disruptions to the broadband service Yahoo!Xtra in downtown Auckland on Friday night. It featured a signed photograph of Reynolds.
Yes a good move.
Telecom advertising had been as pervasive as ever but it had kept a low corporate profile since the Telecommunications Act 2006 when an overwhelming majority of MPs came down on Telecom.
“They hit Telecom hard and it really did not want to stick its head up very much.
“It had to retrench a little and show some humility. Before 2006 they were totally focused on the message and its marketing implications and honesty and integrity got lost in that.
“Paul Reynolds is a very good frontman who seriously believes in what he was doing and he is a very good look for Telecom.”
In fact it is almost impossible to find someone who will say a bad word about Reynolds. A rare feat in and industry or company, let alone the CEO of Telecom.
December 4th, 2008 at 7:21 am
Amazing what happens when the head person runs the show with honesty and integrity, anyone see the analogy between telecom and government?
December 4th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Hialrious david – right next to this post was an ad for TelstraClear.
A Telecom ad, full of wank, days after the event is no consolation to those who had no service, no explanation for loss of service and an overloaded call centre in a country far far away that could not be reached. Perhaps the money spent on that ad could have been better used to improve communication with customers at the time of failure, not days later.
What do words like “worked tirelessly” mean? That telecom workers don’t succumb to tiredness so can work around the clock and not compound mistakes? A “power failure” is not a satisfactory excuse. What caused it? Why did it take so long to rectify? And what will be done to mitgate any future power failure?
Good PR and spin does nat good management make.
I am no longer a Telecom customer. Some time back I exceeded my data cap and was dropped back to dial up speed. I rang Telecom and asked to buy some extra data. Can’t do it, all you can do is upgrade to a higher plan. I didn’t want a higher plan as my existing plan gave me all the data I needed, except on this one occasion when I needed extra, and was willing to pay. So, off to Telstra Clear I go. Exceed the data cap (10gig) there and they automaticcaly give me another 10g for 11.95. Now which company has the spin and which the customer focus?
Funnily enough, even though my internet was on Telecom copper wires, tesltraClear also managed to give me a 40% speed increase.
December 4th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Jack gives another good analogy – why NZ voters shifted to National. Thanks Jack!
December 4th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Jack
Anything that happened “some time back ” has nothing to do with the current topic, “The New Telecom”.
Under the last regime – Dr Roderick Dean’s tenure first as CEO then as Chairman – it is true that customers were treated as captives and wringing the last penny of profit out of them was the name of the game. When Paul Reynolds arrived at Telecom, the first thing he said to staff was “our customers must come first, second AND third in everything we do from now on”; I can personally attest he has lived that creed, and so have his new executive team.
First let’s look at your questions!
>What do words like “worked tirelessly” mean? That telecom workers don’t succumb to tiredness so can work around the clock and not compound mistakes?
NO. It means that teams of people left their friends and family over a weekend when most have plenty to do to prepare for the holiday season, and worked in shifts to process everything that needed to be done to get customers back on-line. I know many of these people. Yes they got tired. No they didn’t do stupid things like work without rest.
>
A “power failure” is not a satisfactory excuse. What caused it? Why did it take so long to rectify? And what will be done to mitigate any future power failure?
>
Well, you might just ask the power supplier “What caused it” and “why it took so long to rectify”. However, once power was restored it is likely there were several hundred computer applications that had to be re-booted (just like Ctrl/Alt/Delete in windows,) in the right sequence, then restored to their last live backup condition to ensure the data was clean and the right product mix was available for each customer, then synchronised before the public could use everything they were supposed to have available.
As far as mitigating future power failure – why don’t you write to Paul Reynolds and suggest Telecom become a power generator as well as a communications company – I’m sure he’ll be interested in your opinion.
NOW, let’s look at your rant.
>
A Telecom ad, full of wank, days after the event is no consolation to those who had no service, no explanation for loss of service and an overloaded call centre in a country far far away that could not be reached. Perhaps the money spent on that ad could have been better used to improve communication with customers at the time of failure, not days later.
>
I guess you did not have any service loss, being with Telstra and all, so wouldn’t know what information was provided over the weekend. Sadly, these folks did not have a phone-line and so could not call 123 and get the Christchurch Crisis centre help-line staff.
Now. Go back to your little Ozzie Owned toy and send another rant, they will enjoy making their profit out of you and adding it to our balance of payments deficit! (By the way, I have just asked a relative in Australia if they have EVER received an apology from Telstra for service loss – which happens quite a lot where he lives. The answer was a laugh accompanied by a loud laugh at the idea that Telstra would do such a thing as say ’sorry’ to a customer!)
DECLARATION
I work for Telecom – though I refused to all the time Roderick and his pseudo-daughter ran the comany and joined within a month of Paul Reynold’s arrival.
December 4th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Hit a nerve, did I Dave?
“Some time back” was stll during the time of Paul Reynolds, and I didn’t see me, the customer, coming first, second or third – I came a long way down their list of priorities, and for all i know, Telecom STILL won’t sell me extra data, just try to ratchet me up to the higher levels. Too bad if I am on the highest level and need extra data, eh?
…they will enjoy making their profit out of you and adding it to our balance of payments deficit!. And just how much of the Telcom dividend does the same? Not many NZ shareholders left it seems.
When you say “work for Telecom” I can only assume from your rant that you are obviously one of the paid flunkies responsible for writing ads rather than actually doing something concrete to have the customer “…must come first, second AND third in everything we do from now on”. Because there is no evidence of that in the market.
Now, why don’t you just crawl back into your cubicle, write some more meaningless mission statements and keep sucking up to the boss. Its easier than dealing with genuine customer needs, isn’t it?