CABL Forum - Hello Zoots...

...it is always nice to hear from you! This must be one heck of a crazy budget planning year for you! I do believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Here's my take on this thing:

The obvious short term advantage to layoffs is a much needed spike in stock prices. And, of course, there are lots of positives inherent in higher stock prices, not least of which is increased confidence from potential finance sources and less expensive new debt which could eventually be used to fund acquisitions, line extensions and rebuilds. This spike will not sustain, however, if savvy investors do not see and believe a commitment from top brass to improve the way the business has been traditionally run.

Since Cox took a proactive approach in addressing customer service satisfaction they have avoided the necessity of layoffs. But part of that approach definitely included the "buy in" of all employees, especially front line contact personnel. And those that choose not to participate are continually weeded out. It is certainly no accident that independent industry surveys continually rank Cox at the top of customer service satisfaction, and they have been remarkably successful in wooing lost subscribers back into the fold. Charter simply waited too long and did to little.

Competition from satellite competitors is a combination of Avis (we try harder because we are number two) and guerilla warfare. When you are the underdog you tend to exploit the weaknesses of your adversary by concentrating your strengths in their weakest areas. With infrequent exceptions (exclusive NFL and college football packages are examples) they never go head to head on product offerings, but always stress superior customer service and SATISFACTION (you never seem to require SERVICE from Disney World because everything in the package is expectedly exceptional from start to finish). Taking on the bigger MSOs in this arena has traditionally been like shooting ducks on a pond.

Depending on the particular evaluation processes which are implemented in determining "who goes and who stays" this could be Charter's grand opportunity to rapidly reinvent themselves as a company that truly cares. The fruits borne from this genesis could yield huge financial rewards, which would ultimately spawn corresponding successes in related ventures. Paul Allen's Wired World vision might just become a reality as the telecommunication blueprint for the new millennium. Or it could be just another reactionary knee jerk good old boy and good old girl sham to buy time, and short term confidence, on Wall Street and to streamline certain systems to make them more attractive to potential suitors on the sale block.

If the combined independent wisdom and knowledge of those who have been in or around this industry for two years or ten or twenty were tapped (no pun intended) then the choices would be far more obvious and effective. We have always known who is greasing who, who does not really care, who is sadly and woefully incompetent, who is blatantly dishonest, and where most of the easily avoidable problems really lie. Decades of misbehavior have resulted in closets packed full of skeletons and old bones, and those that originally stuffed them into there have continued to receive their ill gotten promotions and have moved on up. They know as well as we do who the good guys and the bad guys are. And the ultimate irony is that they are now at least partially in charge of who has to go.

What is fascinating in this particular scenario is how high the stakes are. Since many of these cuts will likely come from middle and upper level management they must, of necessity, choose from among their own ranks. It's like one of those gangster type movies where everyone has everyone else covered with their guns and, if the shooting ever actually commences, it's anyone's guess who might be left standing. This could be very interesting and if you do manage to shoot the others and remain standing then make sure that you shot 'em good because if they start to talk...

> Very interesting press, Magi. My concern is the impact on customer care that these sweeping layoffs are going to create. It's almost the classic "Right thing for the wrong reason" scenario. Trying to metric down the ratio of customer contact personnel to customers is really reaching for the stars. There are scientific/engineering statistics for both the engineering customer service sides for proficient deployment of field staff to accommodate various types of customers. For example, how many Network Technicians per customers on a full two-way 750MHz or greater plant via 500, 1,000 or whatever node size has a solution. Directly related are the inside customer contact personnel ratio to inbound calls, ASA's, and the sales quotient.
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> Some years ago, Cox shelved the conventional wisdom and invested greatly into customer care satisfaction. The tradeoff was obviously the margin. After years of support the payoff has enabled tremendous rewards i.e., DBS customers are going back to cable in droves via the upgraded networks, wait/on-hold times are typically less than 30 seconds, and most importantly are the competencies of the people actually providing service to these customers. It's improving every day.
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> Back to my original point, I just don't want to see a very good company like Charter go south for the wrong reasons.....
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> Just my opinion, I could be wrong. DM
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> > http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/newsurl.asp?doc_id=NR200212121180.3_643a0029f095e143&returnurl=fp.asp%3Flayout=displaynews%26doc_id=NR200212121180.3_643a0029f095e143%26ticker=CHTR%26l=ticker_news%26sym=CHTR%26s=1 > >

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Hello Zoots...