February 26, 2025 • 52 mins
In CXOTalk episode 870, we present an exclusive interview with Jenifer Robertson, the Executive Vice President of Mass Markets at AT&T. With oversight of $100 billion in revenue and 60,000 employees, Jenifer recounts her journey from systems analytics and coding to her current leadership position. The discussion emphasizes AT&T's customer-centric strategies, advancements in AI, and the company's response to disruptions in telecom.
Jenifer also discusses the significance of convergence between fiber and wireless technologies, the customer demands shaping the telecom industry, and how to balance technological innovation with customer needs. Additionally, the episode offers insights into female leadership in technology and the philosophy of 'humble confidence' in leadership roles.🔔 Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share for more thought-provoking conversations with top industry leaders.🔷 Newsletter: www.cxotalk.com/subscribe🔷 Read the summary and key points: https://www.cxotalk.com/episode/at-t-consumer-chief-leading-a-90b-business-through-market-disruption🔷 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/cxotalk🔷 Twitter: twitter.com/cxotalk00:00 Introduction to Episode 87000:23 Jenifer Robertson's Career Journey00:44 Managing a Large Organization02:13 Customer-Centric Disruptions in Telecom05:22 Leveraging AI for Customer Service06:55 Driving Internal Change09:24 Customer and Internal Relationships13:04 Innovations and Market Impact16:38 Balancing Technology and Customer Needs22:55 The Converged Network Strategy24:09 Challenges of Customer Focus26:13 Investing in New Technology27:45 Data-Driven Customer Insights45:36 Women in Leadership48:19 Conclusion and Final Thoughts#customerexperience #telecom #womenintech #cxotalk
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
We're exploring telecom today onCXO Talk Episode 870 in a
special conversation with Jennifer Robertson, AT&T's
Executive Vice President of MassMarkets.
She has P&L responsibility for $100 billion in revenue and
(00:20):
60,000 employees report to her. I actually started in systems
analytics. I started coding in mainframe
software and found my way into telecom and found my way through
sales, service and frontline install and repair all the way
up through the ranks and have the opportunity now to lead an
(00:43):
amazing, amazing group of people.
What's it like to manage such a large organization and to have
responsibility for literally $100 billion in revenue?
It's a very rewarding position to be in.
You get to represent the voices of customers and the people who
(01:04):
serve them. And we get to go talk to
customers, take their feedback and turn it into products and
services that meet their needs. And we get to take the the
people who serve those customersand listen to their feedback of
what makes their jobs difficult.Build tools, build processes
(01:25):
that simplify it and then turn that into easier ways, more
efficient ways to serve customers and pull costs out of
the business, expanding margins for share owners.
So it really turns into a job about how do we serve customers,
how do we serve employees and then how do we serve our share
owners. And that leads into the P&L
(01:45):
returns that we're able to put on the books that you keep
talking about. I just want to remind everybody
that as always, there is a tweetchat or we could say now I guess
an X chat on Twitter X. So if you have questions, use
the hashtag CXO talk. And if you are watching on
(02:06):
LinkedIn, just pop your questions into the chat.
I hope you guys take advantage of this because what a great
opportunity to ask Jennifer Robertson pretty much whatever
you want. Jennifer, there's so much
disruption that is going on withtelecom right now.
Can you describe some of those disruptions?
(02:28):
It all comes back to starting with the customer.
And when we look at the journey we've been on for a little over
four years, we looked four yearsago and said we need to reorient
ourselves around the customer. Customers know and expect what
they want from their connectivity provider.
(02:49):
And candidly at AT&T, we weren'tmeeting those needs.
And so we did the research, we listened and we knew that the
biggest pain point was our very strong and loyal customer base
was not feeling valued and appreciated.
And that led to the fact that wehad the highest churn rate in
the industry and we wanted to solve for that.
(03:12):
We needed to grow and we were not doing that for a a period of
time. We knew we needed to grow.
We knew the most efficient way to grow is to keep the customers
you have, especially when you have such valuable customers.
And so at that point in time, itwas a complete reorganization, a
reshift of focus to our customers and we launched a
(03:34):
series of plays, the most visible of which was our launch
of best deals for everyone. That was a construct that said
we will we will treat our existing customers the same as
new customers. It was a differentiated play.
It's now copied in some form or fashion across the industry.
(03:54):
At the time. It was very unique.
And then we continued to build on that with a series of offers,
pricing constructs and new products, new distribution plays
that met customers where they were, met unmet needs and solved
for pain points and repositionedAT&T in a way to serve its
(04:15):
customer base and attract new ones.
And we've seen over the last four years customers demanding
more and more from their connectivity providers.
And that's the disruption I think we're seeing in the
industry. As technology advances, as
connectivity demands increase, customers want more and more
from the providers who are bringing it to them.
(04:37):
What I find fascinating is when you talk about disruption, it
stems from the point of view of the customer rather than
technology driven disruptions. I speak with a lot of people in
technology. And so when we talk about
disruption or they talk about disruption, it begins with,
(05:00):
well, we have a new technology. Technology absolutely enables
disruption and so when we reshift and we take it from the
customer's lens into how do we meet their need, we have found a
different type of unlock. And that is where we are finding
our way through continuing to advance our product Rd. maps,
(05:21):
our network build and network Rd. maps, and bringing all of
our customer service advancements we've talked about
to bear. An example is bring AI
technology advancement into our customer service environment.
We have taken the last several years, invested nearly $750
(05:41):
million a little over that to our call center operations to
bring personalized AI where our call center representatives
talking to customers have more personalized recommendations
that they can make to customers.They have guided experiences
that they're being walked through as they talk to a
(06:03):
customer so they can better respond to and solve for a need.
Customers calling in have an ability to have a more guided
experience and self solve a problem to resolution without
having to talk to an expert and they are more satisfied with
that resolution. AI enables that and it's a more
(06:26):
satisfied customer on the on theend of that interaction than it
was previously. When it results, when it results
in a more satisfied customer andtheir problem is resolved, the
pain points resolved, then technology enabled it, but
technology didn't drive that, itenabled it.
And so we're trying to solve it from the customer lens and
(06:47):
that's a reorientation internally of how we think about
these problems and build our Rd.maps.
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Check out cxotalkcom we have amazing shows coming U subscribe
and join our community. How do you drive that internal
(07:07):
reorientation, looking at the business through that lens of
what matters to the customer as opposed to, oh, we have all
these new technologies that are available to us that will change
the world. So what's the difference between
these points of view and how do you shape that culture and push
(07:30):
that culture through? It starts from the top with a
very strong and aligned message of we are going to be a customer
centered company. And it starts with research that
helps us understand what do customers want and need and
where are we going to start solving for pain points first.
(07:54):
But I'll, I'll start with, we had a very good set of research
and an excellent exercise and reorienting ourselves around
what is our purpose as a company.
How does our purpose align to our strategy of being a
converged company that is going to focus and simplify our focus
(08:14):
on being the leading connectivity provider and we're
going to focus on 5G wireless connectivity and fiber, converge
those in a way only we can do, get connectivity to Americans
and then bring that to bear witha customer centricity and
products and services that matter to consumers and
(08:35):
businesses. And do that in a way that is
simple and demonstrates the expertise that we have from
doing this for for over 145 years and do it in a way that
inspires people. And then we have the research to
bear that says, here is the customer pain point that we can
solve for. And we have a list of them.
(08:56):
And then we have technology Rd. maps that are taking advantage
of all of the technology advancement.
That's that's a multi year set of projects we can go work
through and technology experts to do that.
And we have networks to build and that's multi year and
experts to build that. And then we Orient our product
(09:17):
teams around the customer pain points.
So there's a lot of activity that happens in parallel that
has to get coordinated. But when you're all aligned on
those very clear goals, you're able to work those in parallel
and start bringing things to market that matter to customers.
We have an interesting question coming in from Twitter from
(09:40):
Arslan Khan, who's a regular listener.
And Arsalan, I always appreciatethat you join us and ask such
great questions. And he says this, what is the
relationship between external customers versus internal
customers? Who defines what is a customer
(10:00):
and how do you make this consistent across the
organization? The framework that I have used
is relations, relational steps from the customer.
So I mentioned I, I started my career as a, as a first line
frontline manager and a in a call center and had my very
(10:21):
early lessons. And the people you learn from
are those who are talking to thecustomer.
Because I walked in brand new and those 12 customer facing
experts taught me and they had alot that they had to teach me.
But there are jobs where you arein a customer facing role and
organizations where you do that and you are you are that first
(10:43):
layer to customer facing. And then there's organizations
that I would say are one more layer removed that that tend to
be more corporate functions. Each layer across the customer
is the one that is closer, the organization that's closer to
the external customer, either a consumer or business.
That's one way to think about itor we can think about it as
partners internally. Language gets used both ways.
(11:08):
At the end of the day, all of usare serving that external
customer. And so I, we focused a lot at
first kind of using that customer oriented language of
depending on where you are in that layer that I'm that I
talked about you are serving an internal customer and and that
(11:28):
can help shift mindsets when needed.
But really what I have noticed over the last probably 18 months
is everybody orienting to we're serving that external customer.
And so I think that's an evolution and maturity of us
advancing through this customer centric mode, maturing in our
operating model that we know howwe work together better.
(11:52):
It's always a journey, but we know better how we work together
and we are knowing we are measuring ourselves on how we
serve those customers externallyand how we build the brand for
those customers. So your operating model then
begins with the reference point of what that external customer
needs based on the combination of your research and the
(12:17):
feedback that you're getting from your frontline employees
who are who are actually workingwith these folks.
So that operating model then thethe anchor point is what is that
external customer need and want and the technology road map then
supports that. Is that an accurate way of
saying it? I don't mean to put words in
(12:38):
your mouth. It's accurate with one input and
then we use other inputs that that the frontline input, the
input from our experts is one input to what do customers need.
We have strong research coming in from other sources and a good
(12:59):
marketing research team that is helping us there.
And we have very strong technology and network teams
that are building their Rd. mapsand building those platforms
that we can then put our products and services on top of.
And so I would, I would say yes,the the customer facing experts
(13:20):
are a critical part of the feedback loop into what we build
and then we use additional sources of research to augment
that. We have another question from
LinkedIn, and this is from Greg Walters, who's also a regular
listener. And Greg, thank you for always
watching. And he says, how do you see
(13:42):
Starlink or others impacting theoverall telecom market?
So what's the what's the impact of these new players?
We'll run the play we just did. And so customers want
connectivity and they want reliable connectivity
everywhere. And that is exactly what we
(14:05):
intend to do. We recently launched the AT&T
guarantee. One of the the pillars of that
is an acknowledgement that customers want connectivity
everywhere and they want it to be reliable, dependable.
So what you're calling out in that question is they want to
have that connectivity no matterwhere they are.
(14:26):
AT&T announced its relationship with AST providing satellite
services. As we do that work and, and work
with them to launch satellite services and, and there are
spots where their connectivity is challenged, satellite will
provide that coverage in those remote locations.
(14:48):
And so it has a play in ensuringthat those few white spaces
available are covered with satellite.
And there are areas today that that's already covered.
Depending on devices you carry and what type of messaging you
want to do, we have you covered already.
And so AST fills that in as we continue to expand our network
(15:11):
coverage, it'll it'll be a critical role.
Your perspective is from the point of view of the consumer.
Consumers want coverage. It's a pretty simple equation
from that standpoint. AT&T provides the largest
wireless network in the United States.
(15:33):
And so if we think about your wireless coverage in the United
States, you're able to use your wireless phone in the in the
largest space and then you have the fiber network as the largest
fiber builder and provider in the country.
And we offer the converged experience on top of that.
(15:53):
And then we say, OK, that coversat home and on the go and at the
place you work, live play, work and everywhere in between.
And then you think about where are you in venues as an example.
And we would bring in our AT&T Turbo product, which we
announced also launching recently.
(16:15):
And so you look at AT&T Turbo and that's a unique
differentiated product that allows customer to have a
performance boost and have a heightened experience for those
where that matters, enhancing video like you and I are doing
right now, that may be a productthat matters to you
individually. And so customers can add that on
to their plan. And so ensuring that in your
(16:38):
particular case you have the right coverage speed and
reliability for your use. Customers who cruise and want
coverage at sea. And we launched recently a
cruise pass that allows you to have the coverage at sea,
international roaming and a verystrong International Day pass
(17:00):
plan that's competitive as you go internationally, you have
coverage there And continuing toadd to that type of reliable
network that adds to our guarantee is what is how we look
at that for customers. The technology is what helps
(17:20):
make that happen, and we continue to make it more and
more robust. Here's a question from Twitter
and it is from Naya Raghav who says what innovations can
customers expect in the coming years from the telecom industry
to complement the automotive andother sectors, particularly with
(17:42):
advancements and artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence offers really such a wide open space
for several industries. That's a great one to point out.
Where I look at, at AI, we really are looking at the
opportunity to improve productivity.
(18:03):
And I mentioned where we can go in and help with service our
operations there. But I bring it back to why does
it improve productivity because it helps us personalize for
customers and what what do we dowhen we can personalize for
customers? We also then have an ability to
(18:23):
match products and services on top of that for customers.
And so there is this virtuous cycle of we are able to better
match and personalize. There's a revenue generating
opportunity there. We do that more efficiently,
which increases productivity andexpands the margins associated
with it. So there is this virtuous cycle
(18:45):
that comes from establishing AI,I specifically as we go hyper
personal for customers. That's the benefit that I see
when I look at it. And then we can apply it in our
our customer service operations.We can apply it more broadly
across how we install and repairservices.
We can do it in our marketing programs.
(19:05):
Those are three areas that we are looking at certainly as we
take it across the various aspects of marketing, think
products, think pricing, think promotions.
And so that's that's broadly thinking how I do it.
And then you can apply it withinthe verticals automotive and and
(19:25):
connected cars was brought up, but I broadly that's the
framework I would use. We have another question.
Arsalan Khan comes back and he'sasking about the impact of AI on
your organization. And he's also asking how do you
(19:46):
balance looking at technology and not succumbing to shiny
object syndrome where you're chasing the technology?
Because it's, you know, that's what we technologists like to do
is chase technology. And also any, any thoughts on
the, the governance of all of this again to ensure that you're
(20:09):
staying focused on, on your coremandate?
That's why it's so critical to start with the customer.
So I'm sure there are different models out there that work for
companies and for leaders. What I would tell you the unlock
has been for us to keep an organization focused, to keep us
(20:30):
true to our priorities and to really gut check has been, does
this start with the customer period.
And if we can say yes and tie itto a solve or a value creation
moment for the customer, then wesay it's worth exploring.
(20:50):
Some of those might have more risk associated with them.
Some may have more certainty andsay yes, this is an immediate
need. It might have some immediate
value that it generates. Others might be a bigger bet.
And so then that gets into capital allocation and resource
allocation of how much of A bet do we want to make and and
balancing the allocation across.And we've been very deliberate
(21:16):
about our discussions on how much do we want to place in each
bucket of investing for future and potential versus investing
on the known. We've got to run the business
and deliver today. But there's an acknowledgement
of you have to do both and that's the the job of leadership
to go ensure we are doing both and not over rotating one way or
(21:39):
the other. But when you at least have to
have the agreement that what we are doing is aligning to how do
we go deliver on customer needs with the most advanced
technology that we believe we dowhat we need.
And in our space, we have a strategy that says it's a
(22:00):
converged network that is our unique asset that we have.
We're the only carrier in the United States they can provide a
fiber asset and a 5G wireless asset that's differentiated with
owners economics on those two assets, we bring them to bear.
And so kind of having those fundamentals in place keeps us
(22:21):
very, very focused and and that's been key over the last
four years for us. You're really talking about the
balance between running the business as it needs to run
without disruption to your customers versus the investment
(22:44):
in innovation that you need to make and how you how you balance
between these two, right? The only thing I tweaking what
you said Michael is it's not a versus it's, it's a because of
we do both and our our technology partners sit at the
table as a part of the team. We are on the same team and and
(23:08):
we're aligned on the goal of we invest in the technology because
we are serving customers and solving for pain points
together. And we'll bring the, here's the
business problem, business outcome we want to drive because
of this customer pain point. And then we work to solve and
they'll look at here's the best technical solution or here's the
(23:33):
next advancement that's come forward that we can do within
the constraints we've set. And here's things we can trade
off and we'll have that conversation.
But we, we have technology help experts that help us through
that process. And so there's a a speed of
trust that has built up as we'vealigned on common, common goals.
(23:56):
You've mentioned convergence, the converged network a number
of times. Can you tell us about that and
why is that so valuable to you and to your customers?
It's important to customers. Nearly 80% of customers tell us
that they want fiber and wireless from one provider and
(24:18):
and look, that's a long standingindustry play.
And so early on, there were cynics.
Cynics can fuel the fire. Sometimes it gets you really
convicted and aligned together. But there the data tells us
nearly 80%. It's 77% if we want to be
precise of customers tell us they want fiber and and wireless
(24:42):
together and when that when thatstat is there, the quickest way
to do that is to go out with a bundled discount and start
anchoring homes so you can get customers aligned and secure
your accounts. What we were clear on is if
that's the only play, this doesn't generate durable
(25:04):
customer relationships and revenue for the long run.
What really makes it unique is when we build products and
services that are converged for customers when their experience
is different. And what I would say is that's
really where the magic starts tohappen.
Why is this focus on the customer so difficult, whether
(25:26):
for AT&T or or other organizations?
Because on the surface, seems pretty straightforward, right?
You, you know, well, let's just pay attention to the what the
customer wants and that'll be our North Star, our reference
point, and we'll just do that. But it's not so simple.
So why is this so hard? It's just a matter of aligning
(25:48):
on a common business goal acrossa large, complex organization,
keeping people focused on one metric that's that's a common
leadership challenge. It's a common business
challenge, especially as companies scale and go through
(26:10):
various cycles. And so you test new growth
strategies, you test new business strategies.
And sometimes it's a view of let's simplify, get back to our,
our core and get and get back tothe basics.
And a little over four years ago, almost five now, it was a
(26:31):
get back to the basics moment. And I would just tell you it was
the right time to do so. We were shedding some of the
assets we had acquired. We refocused on fiber and and 5G
and a reorientation around the customer.
So it was a, it was a rally cry to the company and it was
(26:53):
candidly a get back to our rootsenergizing moment that made it
the right moment. But it's also I would say a
resurgence of consumers are theyhave access to more information,
they are more informed purchasers and they are more
(27:13):
demanding of the companies they are buying products from because
of that. And so it's not just about what
AT&T was doing. It is a recognition of the
market and the consumers changing around us and needing
to meet their needs. So both of those kind of, you
know, happened and we've just built up our skills.
(27:34):
It's, it's a journey. I would say we're, we're on the
front end of it. But I'm I'm proud of what the
team has done so far. We have another interesting
question from Twitter from Elizabeth Shaw, who asks how do
you manage investing in new technology versus the market
(27:54):
adoption risk, which is something that you alluded to
earlier. How do you make those decisions?
Yeah. I think that comes back to the
allocation between where do we go place bets on potentially new
disruptive or new innovations that we want to test the market
on versus what we know are the more near term, you know 12 to
(28:19):
18 months deliver in the near term and kind of a core product
management versus a new product innovation view on both.
We have that view of launch it and test penetration rates and
(28:41):
usage rates would be ways that we would look at that.
There's also a view that says can we make sure that we have
the distribution in place and the capacity to be able to
explain this to customers in a way that meets their needs, is
simple and is, you know, priced at a point, has a value
(29:07):
proposition and can be merchandised such that we can
launch it at scale if it's a scaled product or in a targeted
manner if it's a more niche product.
As an example, Turbo we launchedis more of a focused product,
found a broader market need and have scaled it since.
(29:28):
You've mentioned the role of data and research a number of
times. Can you talk a little about the
kinds of data and the analytics that you use to understand the
customer and how that shapes your your strategy and your
(29:48):
planning and response to the market?
That was one we found. We had disparate data and
research teams. We've been on a long journey to
build a strong data platform andand data office and certainly
have built our expertise there. It's a it's a great example of
where our technology teams are great partners.
(30:12):
We knew we needed to build worldclass marketing expertise and
have had a concerted effort to value the knowledge that we have
internally from a long history of of building networks.
But also acknowledging that there is external talent that we
needed to bring in to augment where where we don't have the
type of experience that today's customers demand and today's
(30:36):
marketplace demands. And this marketing space is 1,
where we have been able to bringin some really great talent.
And so taking disparate data andresearch functions and getting
those together into a research arm that we're able to tap into
(30:58):
has been very helpful. So I'd say we mentioned our
front, our customer facing experts are certainly a tool and
and part of the investment I mentioned earlier.
And our customer operations has led to us being able to better
mine from all of those interactions.
But we also have been able to get the research arm stood up
(31:19):
within our marketing organization such that we are
able to get research flowing through, position the questions,
but also consistently monitor market and industry trends,
customer trends and then go seeknew areas of growth and have
(31:39):
that feeding into our product organizations.
Sometimes that's a feed into andsometimes it's a request from
the product organizations as well.
And so building that muscle is awork in progress.
And how do you see the consumersevolving and what they want?
(32:00):
Have you, have you seen changes that then force you to drive
changes in the types of productsand services that you're
offering? Yes.
And then I'll say a little bit of a no, but yes, I would say
consumers demands are increasing.
What consumers, what our research tells us is consumers
want dependable connectivity andthat is on an increasing demand.
(32:26):
Our demand on our network and usage is continuing to increase
and we project that to continue to do so well into the future.
And so the connectivity space isa great place to be in.
People want to be more and more connected and they want that
connectivity to be dependable. Customers want, consumers want
(32:49):
prices, deals, offers that provide them a value exchange
that they see transparency and they can trust.
They want a good deal, they trust and then they want to know
they get the best deal for them and then they want to come
across and they want the serviceexperience they deserve.
(33:13):
I think that we could go back and say we could have this
conversation 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago and
probably the core tenants of that don't change much.
But the level of dependability, the level of transparency and
the level of I want what I deserve has increased
(33:36):
exponentially. And so the ability to meet those
demands. We mentioned hyper
personalization earlier. That's where the technology
advancements and the enablement of what technology can do is
what is increasing those demandsbut also allowing us to step up
to it. So it is this cycle of is it the
technology, it's like a chicken and an egg.
(33:57):
Did the technology drive it or is that why you can meet it?
Yes, but so it is that's what isthe pillar of our guarantee like
that. That is the research.
That's what told us we should launch the guarantee.
It's why we launched the guarantee in January.
That's that's what it is fundamentally built on network.
You can depend on the offers andthe deals that give you the
(34:21):
satisfaction. You know you're getting the best
for you and the service you deserve.
They also want to know that whenyou mess up, because all
companies are made of humans andso therefore you will mess up.
We just want to know you're going to make it right.
Just tell me you did it and makeit right so that I don't have to
worry about it. Don't make it my problem.
(34:43):
And so that that's the other piece of the guarantee.
We don't put that on there because we're trying to caveat
it. We're just giving you Peace of
Mind that if we can't meet thesethree things, we will make it
right. That was the last piece of that.
Proactively. We will come in and we will make
it right. This is a journey we're on with
you. We will get it and we will
continue to add to the guarantee.
(35:04):
It's not a A1 time splash. This is our promise to you.
This aspect of trust I find veryinteresting because you are
marketing and approaching the consumer in alignment with a
set, of course, psychological, fundamental, fundamental
(35:26):
psychological needs that we as people have as opposed to
pushing against. That's right.
And it's something that has to be done with actions.
It's something that I think over145 years of building
infrastructure positions you to do.
(35:48):
Our research says the AT&T brand.
And our level of commitment to the customer over the last four
years positions us as a brand tohave the most credibility here.
We know that customers are four times more likely to purchase
from a brand that will guaranteeits services.
(36:08):
And we know that they are 70% have a higher loyalty to a
customer to a brand that will have a guarantee.
So they're more likely to purchase and they are more
likely to stay. And we are unique in our ability
to come forward with that type of promise to customers.
(36:29):
We also know that it puts us outthere publicly.
We have to live up to it and we're so confident on the
journey we're on and our commitment to to continue it
that we're willing to say it andput it out there for customers
and say we're in it with you. It's not a marketing message of
one month or 1/4. It is a, this is a journey we're
on with you and here's the road maps we're going to commit to
(36:52):
going forward. And that I'll tell you the last
piece to it from an employee culture standpoint, it is
absolutely a rallying point focusing the the company on
connectivity and fiber and 5G, focusing the company on the
customers. This is that next step in the
(37:13):
journey and and making sure employees knew those customer
facing experts knew we all had their back because we're going
to go say publicly, this is whatwe're willing to step up to.
It's been the next level of rallying cry of energizing shot
in the arm of it's another commitment, another several
(37:36):
years. We're we're continuing on this
journey. You're not going to see us
diverge. It's been very, very exciting
internally too. What kind of changes did you
have to make in internally in order to have the operations
support that external customer facing guarantee that you've
(38:01):
been describing? This was a an effort that took
well over a year to build. It wasn't a quick, wasn't a
quick exercise. It was, it was a couple of years
in the making and we tested it several different ways.
And I would say the best part about it was it was born from
(38:24):
workshops internally on how do we differentiate with customers?
How do we go out and differentiate ourselves in the
marketplace? What's the best thing we could
do for customers? So this was a a grassroots idea
that then we handed into, into the leaders in the organizations
and said, how would you make this better?
(38:46):
And so it's one that had buy in from our teams early and they
helped shape it. Now to go take it across, as you
mentioned, a a wide set of employees who need to implement
and execute. Obviously there's a lot of
training, there's a lot of tooling that takes place.
(39:07):
It's it's all of the things thatyou would do to roll it across a
large scaled operations, get your people ready,
communications training processes changed, all of the
tools updated. And then there's some
fundamental basics of make sure you have the metrics and the
scorecards in place. And there's some interesting
(39:28):
things that that ideas popped upfrom leaders across the company
that are probably unexpected. Our technology and network
organizations said, let's shift how we do this in our
operational KPI scorecards will start with an AT&T guarantee
scorecard. And that sounds fairly basic,
(39:51):
but it's a, it changes the mindset, it changes how you
think about allocating resourcesand funds.
And so that's been a, a shot in the arm as well.
I'll keep using that analogy. It it makes people pause and
think differently and it sparks the culture change.
(40:11):
Well, everything you're doing isat such a large scale that I can
only imagine all the pieces and the how the the tentacles must
flow through the organization inorder to align all of these
many, many, many different pieces that you were just
describing. It's a tops down effort.
(40:33):
Our senior leaders are bought inand so it, it really is an
effort of get that it, it startswith this idea and the teams
build it. And so you buy in with our
leadership teams, but then socialize the idea upward and
get the buy in at the top. And so our our senior leadership
(40:55):
team is all in with it and communicated it across.
So it becomes a company wide brand and employee effort and
then it rolls through all organizations.
That's that's the difference maker and then it's consistency
from here. The difference maker over the
(41:16):
last four years has been consistency and our offers and
our execution and our messaging to customers.
The difference maker with the guarantee will be the same.
So establishing that baseline that that you believe and you
know works and then the processes to repeat that
execution or put that into practice across the company in a
(41:39):
in a consistent way as you were just saying.
Correct. That's right.
Having the scorecarding in place, the messaging in place,
the accountability, having our products and our Rd. maps ladder
into the promises and making sure we are consistently
delivering against that for customers and then ensuring that
(42:01):
we adjust as needed. Not all of those are going to
land perfectly. You got to learn as you go and
adjust, make it right, so to speak.
We'll make it right for customers and when we have
internally some of the ideas land, some don't learn from the
data we get and adjust quickly. You must look at the very
closely at the competitive market.
(42:26):
How does the nature of competition in telecom inform
what you do and the mandate thatyou've been describing being so
customer focused? We study the technology
landscape, we study the industrylandscape.
We study our consumers and and the business customers for my
(42:47):
counterpart that that leads our business organization and and so
if you're a just a voracious student of the industry and then
take those applications from other industries that are best
in class and bring them in and try to innovate against that.
We try to be very astute on thatand have tried to increase our
(43:11):
external outside in skills over this time period as well.
And what I would tell you is we do that so that we can stay very
current and that we can understand if trends are
shifting. But we do it also to test
against our strategy and to ensure we're not missing
(43:34):
something. But we haven't let it veerous
away from staying focused on ourgame in the near term.
So I would I would tell you it'sit's not for a sense of saying
we don't test our convictions, we don't scenario plan that's
important. But we also don't let quarterly
play or a competitive splash distract from what the long term
(44:00):
strategy is. So there's a difference between
you know long term strategy, three-year planning and an in
quarter play. That's a response and and we try
to be very specific with the teams about that and keep our
teams focused on execute our gameplay, understand that
(44:21):
there's something that needs a near term response and be
disciplined about it. And we've been very clear over
the last several years, we're going to go after and compete
for profitable growth. We will compete for that and but
we aren't going to chase empty calorie growth.
We are going to measure our our profitable growth by service
revenue in the industry and we will do that and we aren't going
(44:48):
to lay down on that. However, we're going to stay
focused on our game of driving converged households and driving
disciplined durable revenue growth.
It's a very interesting phrase. You're not seeking empty calorie
growth and also maintaining thatdiscipline of being clear on
(45:13):
what your actual long term goalsand being distinct and
differentiated from blips that are coming up in the market,
maybe your competitors are offering or what have you that
are less important in the long run.
Very quickly, because we're going to run out of time.
And, and I want to talk with youabout women in in technology and
(45:35):
leadership, but we have another question from Twitter.
How do you ensure that the customer remains the North Star
even after you as a leader have moved on?
Or just broadly speaking, as your leadership within AT&T mass
market changes, how do you ensure the continuity of the
(45:58):
focus that you've been describing?
One of the best attributes of a leader, and I was taught this by
leaders who came before me, certainly is the the aspects or
the qualities you're trying to build for the culture and the
organization should outlast you.It's, it's not about you as the
individual, It's not what you'retrying to build for, for the
(46:19):
share owner, for the customer and for the employees that are
there. And So what, what I would tell
you is a lot of what we have built is from expertise within
the organizations and, and what we continue to try to build.
A lot of the work that we've done around the customers is
coming from some of the the organizations that we have built
(46:46):
up over the last four years and continue to try to find talent
to augment. And, and So what gives me
confidence there is continuing to build the talent.
So whether I'm in this position or not, and whether other
leaders are in their position, the organizations and the talent
is there such that we have the rhythm and the muscle and the
(47:11):
the the muscle memory really to keep this going.
And if you build enough of a groundswell, the organization
isn't going to let that die quickly.
No matter what leaders swap out.It's very hard to overcome.
Hence, you know, we're still on the journey of reorienting
around the customer. To your question earlier of why
(47:34):
is this so hard? Well, it's ingrained over a long
period of time, but we've been there before, focused on the
customer. And so we've just got to get
back. So I, I think like what gives me
confidence is this isn't a tops down.
You must, it starts there, but then it's a bottoms up build.
(47:55):
And the bottoms up build is whatgives it durability.
And and I see the two meeting inthe middle and coming closer and
closer together. Yeah, it's a very interesting
point about the the muscle memory and coming at it from
both directions giving providingthe the ongoing durability that
(48:20):
enables the consistency independent of who happens to be
occupying a particular leadership slot at a particular
moment in time. Right.
It's a slower process. So if there's anything more
painful or more frustrating about, it's just the speed with
what should happens over the larger or more complex
organizations. We'd all like to speed it up so
(48:43):
that you get to that durability faster.
But it happens and that's what keeps it there and that's what
is very encouraging to come intoevery single day.
I think it's very important to discuss the role of female
leadership. You're a female leader in one of
the largest organizations in theworld and and also a technology
based organization. Do you think that women have
(49:09):
unique challenges as they try tobecome leaders and senior
executives? I look around tables and
sometimes I'm the only female inthe room and sometimes I'm one
of many and it's I I look aroundrooms and think maybe I have
(49:30):
unique challenges become of thatbecause of that.
But often I more often these days I look around the room and
I'm apartment to think about. Other people at those tables
have their own unique challengestoo.
But I tend to find if I can havethat frame of mind, the rest of
it becomes easier. And then I get focused on how do
(49:51):
we find some commonalities for the business outcome, for the
customer, for the share owner and and that helps Past that,
it's how do I help others who might be facing challenges that
I can recognize for my younger self and help them navigate
through that more quickly. You don't see it about as being
(50:12):
about you personally. Right.
It's not something I ignore. I think you can't ignore it, but
I very much try to separate. It's not me personally, I it's
too easy to see others have their own.
So it's a, it's a broader piece in the, the more we can help
(50:34):
each other through that, the more we help everyone that's
facing the unique challenges andthen the more we can help the
business grow, the customers grow.
If customers grow, I think we solve broader problems.
What advice do you have for women who aspire to senior
leadership roles? Everyone should give them self
(50:56):
the grace of humble confidence. And so that's a leadership
attribute, regardless of gender that I hold up as the most
important. Humble confidence is simply
having the confidence to go out,set the vision, take the risk,
step out into the limelight or into the arena and be willing to
take that, the shots that come with it.
(51:17):
But also have the humility to understand you're not the only
one with the ideas and the knowledge and take risks in
front of people and fail and show them it's OK to learn and
keep going. And Jennifer in 10 seconds.
What can men do to help women inleadership roles?
They can do the exact same thingas they have the leadership role
(51:37):
of show humble confidence and demonstrate it for all.
And if they do what a lot of menhave done in my career, which is
demonstrate that for themselves and for the leaders around them,
including people like me, they're advocating for the right
leaders. I love that show humble
(51:58):
confidence and help the people around you.
And with that, we're out of time.
A huge thank you to Jennifer Robertson.
She is AT&T's executive vice president of mass markets.
Jennifer, thank you so much for taking your time to be with us
today. I really, really appreciate it.
I enjoyed it, Michael. Thank you.
(52:18):
And thank you to everybody who watched.
Now before you go, please subscribe to our newsletter.
Check out cxotalk.com. We have amazing shows coming up.
Subscribe and join our community.
Everybody have a great day and we'll see you again next time.
Take care.
We're exploring telecom today onCXO Talk Episode 870 in a
special conversation with Jennifer Robertson, AT&T's
Executive Vice President of MassMarkets.
She has P&L responsibility for $100 billion in revenue and
(00:20):
60,000 employees report to her. I actually started in systems
analytics. I started coding in mainframe
software and found my way into telecom and found my way through
sales, service and frontline install and repair all the way
up through the ranks and have the opportunity now to lead an
(00:43):
amazing, amazing group of people.
What's it like to manage such a large organization and to have
responsibility for literally $100 billion in revenue?
It's a very rewarding position to be in.
You get to represent the voices of customers and the people who
(01:04):
serve them. And we get to go talk to
customers, take their feedback and turn it into products and
services that meet their needs. And we get to take the the
people who serve those customersand listen to their feedback of
what makes their jobs difficult.Build tools, build processes
(01:25):
that simplify it and then turn that into easier ways, more
efficient ways to serve customers and pull costs out of
the business, expanding margins for share owners.
So it really turns into a job about how do we serve customers,
how do we serve employees and then how do we serve our share
owners. And that leads into the P&L
(01:45):
returns that we're able to put on the books that you keep
talking about. I just want to remind everybody
that as always, there is a tweetchat or we could say now I guess
an X chat on Twitter X. So if you have questions, use
the hashtag CXO talk. And if you are watching on
(02:06):
LinkedIn, just pop your questions into the chat.
I hope you guys take advantage of this because what a great
opportunity to ask Jennifer Robertson pretty much whatever
you want. Jennifer, there's so much
disruption that is going on withtelecom right now.
Can you describe some of those disruptions?
(02:28):
It all comes back to starting with the customer.
And when we look at the journey we've been on for a little over
four years, we looked four yearsago and said we need to reorient
ourselves around the customer. Customers know and expect what
they want from their connectivity provider.
(02:49):
And candidly at AT&T, we weren'tmeeting those needs.
And so we did the research, we listened and we knew that the
biggest pain point was our very strong and loyal customer base
was not feeling valued and appreciated.
And that led to the fact that wehad the highest churn rate in
the industry and we wanted to solve for that.
(03:12):
We needed to grow and we were not doing that for a a period of
time. We knew we needed to grow.
We knew the most efficient way to grow is to keep the customers
you have, especially when you have such valuable customers.
And so at that point in time, itwas a complete reorganization, a
reshift of focus to our customers and we launched a
(03:34):
series of plays, the most visible of which was our launch
of best deals for everyone. That was a construct that said
we will we will treat our existing customers the same as
new customers. It was a differentiated play.
It's now copied in some form or fashion across the industry.
(03:54):
At the time. It was very unique.
And then we continued to build on that with a series of offers,
pricing constructs and new products, new distribution plays
that met customers where they were, met unmet needs and solved
for pain points and repositionedAT&T in a way to serve its
(04:15):
customer base and attract new ones.
And we've seen over the last four years customers demanding
more and more from their connectivity providers.
And that's the disruption I think we're seeing in the
industry. As technology advances, as
connectivity demands increase, customers want more and more
from the providers who are bringing it to them.
(04:37):
What I find fascinating is when you talk about disruption, it
stems from the point of view of the customer rather than
technology driven disruptions. I speak with a lot of people in
technology. And so when we talk about
disruption or they talk about disruption, it begins with,
(05:00):
well, we have a new technology. Technology absolutely enables
disruption and so when we reshift and we take it from the
customer's lens into how do we meet their need, we have found a
different type of unlock. And that is where we are finding
our way through continuing to advance our product Rd. maps,
(05:21):
our network build and network Rd. maps, and bringing all of
our customer service advancements we've talked about
to bear. An example is bring AI
technology advancement into our customer service environment.
We have taken the last several years, invested nearly $750
(05:41):
million a little over that to our call center operations to
bring personalized AI where our call center representatives
talking to customers have more personalized recommendations
that they can make to customers.They have guided experiences
that they're being walked through as they talk to a
(06:03):
customer so they can better respond to and solve for a need.
Customers calling in have an ability to have a more guided
experience and self solve a problem to resolution without
having to talk to an expert and they are more satisfied with
that resolution. AI enables that and it's a more
(06:26):
satisfied customer on the on theend of that interaction than it
was previously. When it results, when it results
in a more satisfied customer andtheir problem is resolved, the
pain points resolved, then technology enabled it, but
technology didn't drive that, itenabled it.
And so we're trying to solve it from the customer lens and
(06:47):
that's a reorientation internally of how we think about
these problems and build our Rd.maps.
Please subscribe to our newsletter.
Check out cxotalkcom we have amazing shows coming U subscribe
and join our community. How do you drive that internal
(07:07):
reorientation, looking at the business through that lens of
what matters to the customer as opposed to, oh, we have all
these new technologies that are available to us that will change
the world. So what's the difference between
these points of view and how do you shape that culture and push
(07:30):
that culture through? It starts from the top with a
very strong and aligned message of we are going to be a customer
centered company. And it starts with research that
helps us understand what do customers want and need and
where are we going to start solving for pain points first.
(07:54):
But I'll, I'll start with, we had a very good set of research
and an excellent exercise and reorienting ourselves around
what is our purpose as a company.
How does our purpose align to our strategy of being a
converged company that is going to focus and simplify our focus
(08:14):
on being the leading connectivity provider and we're
going to focus on 5G wireless connectivity and fiber, converge
those in a way only we can do, get connectivity to Americans
and then bring that to bear witha customer centricity and
products and services that matter to consumers and
(08:35):
businesses. And do that in a way that is
simple and demonstrates the expertise that we have from
doing this for for over 145 years and do it in a way that
inspires people. And then we have the research to
bear that says, here is the customer pain point that we can
solve for. And we have a list of them.
(08:56):
And then we have technology Rd. maps that are taking advantage
of all of the technology advancement.
That's that's a multi year set of projects we can go work
through and technology experts to do that.
And we have networks to build and that's multi year and
experts to build that. And then we Orient our product
(09:17):
teams around the customer pain points.
So there's a lot of activity that happens in parallel that
has to get coordinated. But when you're all aligned on
those very clear goals, you're able to work those in parallel
and start bringing things to market that matter to customers.
We have an interesting question coming in from Twitter from
(09:40):
Arslan Khan, who's a regular listener.
And Arsalan, I always appreciatethat you join us and ask such
great questions. And he says this, what is the
relationship between external customers versus internal
customers? Who defines what is a customer
(10:00):
and how do you make this consistent across the
organization? The framework that I have used
is relations, relational steps from the customer.
So I mentioned I, I started my career as a, as a first line
frontline manager and a in a call center and had my very
(10:21):
early lessons. And the people you learn from
are those who are talking to thecustomer.
Because I walked in brand new and those 12 customer facing
experts taught me and they had alot that they had to teach me.
But there are jobs where you arein a customer facing role and
organizations where you do that and you are you are that first
(10:43):
layer to customer facing. And then there's organizations
that I would say are one more layer removed that that tend to
be more corporate functions. Each layer across the customer
is the one that is closer, the organization that's closer to
the external customer, either a consumer or business.
That's one way to think about itor we can think about it as
partners internally. Language gets used both ways.
(11:08):
At the end of the day, all of usare serving that external
customer. And so I, we focused a lot at
first kind of using that customer oriented language of
depending on where you are in that layer that I'm that I
talked about you are serving an internal customer and and that
(11:28):
can help shift mindsets when needed.
But really what I have noticed over the last probably 18 months
is everybody orienting to we're serving that external customer.
And so I think that's an evolution and maturity of us
advancing through this customer centric mode, maturing in our
operating model that we know howwe work together better.
(11:52):
It's always a journey, but we know better how we work together
and we are knowing we are measuring ourselves on how we
serve those customers externallyand how we build the brand for
those customers. So your operating model then
begins with the reference point of what that external customer
needs based on the combination of your research and the
(12:17):
feedback that you're getting from your frontline employees
who are who are actually workingwith these folks.
So that operating model then thethe anchor point is what is that
external customer need and want and the technology road map then
supports that. Is that an accurate way of
saying it? I don't mean to put words in
(12:38):
your mouth. It's accurate with one input and
then we use other inputs that that the frontline input, the
input from our experts is one input to what do customers need.
We have strong research coming in from other sources and a good
(12:59):
marketing research team that is helping us there.
And we have very strong technology and network teams
that are building their Rd. mapsand building those platforms
that we can then put our products and services on top of.
And so I would, I would say yes,the the customer facing experts
(13:20):
are a critical part of the feedback loop into what we build
and then we use additional sources of research to augment
that. We have another question from
LinkedIn, and this is from Greg Walters, who's also a regular
listener. And Greg, thank you for always
watching. And he says, how do you see
(13:42):
Starlink or others impacting theoverall telecom market?
So what's the what's the impact of these new players?
We'll run the play we just did. And so customers want
connectivity and they want reliable connectivity
everywhere. And that is exactly what we
(14:05):
intend to do. We recently launched the AT&T
guarantee. One of the the pillars of that
is an acknowledgement that customers want connectivity
everywhere and they want it to be reliable, dependable.
So what you're calling out in that question is they want to
have that connectivity no matterwhere they are.
(14:26):
AT&T announced its relationship with AST providing satellite
services. As we do that work and, and work
with them to launch satellite services and, and there are
spots where their connectivity is challenged, satellite will
provide that coverage in those remote locations.
(14:48):
And so it has a play in ensuringthat those few white spaces
available are covered with satellite.
And there are areas today that that's already covered.
Depending on devices you carry and what type of messaging you
want to do, we have you covered already.
And so AST fills that in as we continue to expand our network
(15:11):
coverage, it'll it'll be a critical role.
Your perspective is from the point of view of the consumer.
Consumers want coverage. It's a pretty simple equation
from that standpoint. AT&T provides the largest
wireless network in the United States.
(15:33):
And so if we think about your wireless coverage in the United
States, you're able to use your wireless phone in the in the
largest space and then you have the fiber network as the largest
fiber builder and provider in the country.
And we offer the converged experience on top of that.
(15:53):
And then we say, OK, that coversat home and on the go and at the
place you work, live play, work and everywhere in between.
And then you think about where are you in venues as an example.
And we would bring in our AT&T Turbo product, which we
announced also launching recently.
(16:15):
And so you look at AT&T Turbo and that's a unique
differentiated product that allows customer to have a
performance boost and have a heightened experience for those
where that matters, enhancing video like you and I are doing
right now, that may be a productthat matters to you
individually. And so customers can add that on
to their plan. And so ensuring that in your
(16:38):
particular case you have the right coverage speed and
reliability for your use. Customers who cruise and want
coverage at sea. And we launched recently a
cruise pass that allows you to have the coverage at sea,
international roaming and a verystrong International Day pass
(17:00):
plan that's competitive as you go internationally, you have
coverage there And continuing toadd to that type of reliable
network that adds to our guarantee is what is how we look
at that for customers. The technology is what helps
(17:20):
make that happen, and we continue to make it more and
more robust. Here's a question from Twitter
and it is from Naya Raghav who says what innovations can
customers expect in the coming years from the telecom industry
to complement the automotive andother sectors, particularly with
(17:42):
advancements and artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence offers really such a wide open space
for several industries. That's a great one to point out.
Where I look at, at AI, we really are looking at the
opportunity to improve productivity.
(18:03):
And I mentioned where we can go in and help with service our
operations there. But I bring it back to why does
it improve productivity because it helps us personalize for
customers and what what do we dowhen we can personalize for
customers? We also then have an ability to
(18:23):
match products and services on top of that for customers.
And so there is this virtuous cycle of we are able to better
match and personalize. There's a revenue generating
opportunity there. We do that more efficiently,
which increases productivity andexpands the margins associated
with it. So there is this virtuous cycle
(18:45):
that comes from establishing AI,I specifically as we go hyper
personal for customers. That's the benefit that I see
when I look at it. And then we can apply it in our
our customer service operations.We can apply it more broadly
across how we install and repairservices.
We can do it in our marketing programs.
(19:05):
Those are three areas that we are looking at certainly as we
take it across the various aspects of marketing, think
products, think pricing, think promotions.
And so that's that's broadly thinking how I do it.
And then you can apply it withinthe verticals automotive and and
(19:25):
connected cars was brought up, but I broadly that's the
framework I would use. We have another question.
Arsalan Khan comes back and he'sasking about the impact of AI on
your organization. And he's also asking how do you
(19:46):
balance looking at technology and not succumbing to shiny
object syndrome where you're chasing the technology?
Because it's, you know, that's what we technologists like to do
is chase technology. And also any, any thoughts on
the, the governance of all of this again to ensure that you're
(20:09):
staying focused on, on your coremandate?
That's why it's so critical to start with the customer.
So I'm sure there are different models out there that work for
companies and for leaders. What I would tell you the unlock
has been for us to keep an organization focused, to keep us
(20:30):
true to our priorities and to really gut check has been, does
this start with the customer period.
And if we can say yes and tie itto a solve or a value creation
moment for the customer, then wesay it's worth exploring.
(20:50):
Some of those might have more risk associated with them.
Some may have more certainty andsay yes, this is an immediate
need. It might have some immediate
value that it generates. Others might be a bigger bet.
And so then that gets into capital allocation and resource
allocation of how much of A bet do we want to make and and
balancing the allocation across.And we've been very deliberate
(21:16):
about our discussions on how much do we want to place in each
bucket of investing for future and potential versus investing
on the known. We've got to run the business
and deliver today. But there's an acknowledgement
of you have to do both and that's the the job of leadership
to go ensure we are doing both and not over rotating one way or
(21:39):
the other. But when you at least have to
have the agreement that what we are doing is aligning to how do
we go deliver on customer needs with the most advanced
technology that we believe we dowhat we need.
And in our space, we have a strategy that says it's a
(22:00):
converged network that is our unique asset that we have.
We're the only carrier in the United States they can provide a
fiber asset and a 5G wireless asset that's differentiated with
owners economics on those two assets, we bring them to bear.
And so kind of having those fundamentals in place keeps us
(22:21):
very, very focused and and that's been key over the last
four years for us. You're really talking about the
balance between running the business as it needs to run
without disruption to your customers versus the investment
(22:44):
in innovation that you need to make and how you how you balance
between these two, right? The only thing I tweaking what
you said Michael is it's not a versus it's, it's a because of
we do both and our our technology partners sit at the
table as a part of the team. We are on the same team and and
(23:08):
we're aligned on the goal of we invest in the technology because
we are serving customers and solving for pain points
together. And we'll bring the, here's the
business problem, business outcome we want to drive because
of this customer pain point. And then we work to solve and
they'll look at here's the best technical solution or here's the
(23:33):
next advancement that's come forward that we can do within
the constraints we've set. And here's things we can trade
off and we'll have that conversation.
But we, we have technology help experts that help us through
that process. And so there's a a speed of
trust that has built up as we'vealigned on common, common goals.
(23:56):
You've mentioned convergence, the converged network a number
of times. Can you tell us about that and
why is that so valuable to you and to your customers?
It's important to customers. Nearly 80% of customers tell us
that they want fiber and wireless from one provider and
(24:18):
and look, that's a long standingindustry play.
And so early on, there were cynics.
Cynics can fuel the fire. Sometimes it gets you really
convicted and aligned together. But there the data tells us
nearly 80%. It's 77% if we want to be
precise of customers tell us they want fiber and and wireless
(24:42):
together and when that when thatstat is there, the quickest way
to do that is to go out with a bundled discount and start
anchoring homes so you can get customers aligned and secure
your accounts. What we were clear on is if
that's the only play, this doesn't generate durable
(25:04):
customer relationships and revenue for the long run.
What really makes it unique is when we build products and
services that are converged for customers when their experience
is different. And what I would say is that's
really where the magic starts tohappen.
Why is this focus on the customer so difficult, whether
(25:26):
for AT&T or or other organizations?
Because on the surface, seems pretty straightforward, right?
You, you know, well, let's just pay attention to the what the
customer wants and that'll be our North Star, our reference
point, and we'll just do that. But it's not so simple.
So why is this so hard? It's just a matter of aligning
(25:48):
on a common business goal acrossa large, complex organization,
keeping people focused on one metric that's that's a common
leadership challenge. It's a common business
challenge, especially as companies scale and go through
(26:10):
various cycles. And so you test new growth
strategies, you test new business strategies.
And sometimes it's a view of let's simplify, get back to our,
our core and get and get back tothe basics.
And a little over four years ago, almost five now, it was a
(26:31):
get back to the basics moment. And I would just tell you it was
the right time to do so. We were shedding some of the
assets we had acquired. We refocused on fiber and and 5G
and a reorientation around the customer.
So it was a, it was a rally cry to the company and it was
(26:53):
candidly a get back to our rootsenergizing moment that made it
the right moment. But it's also I would say a
resurgence of consumers are theyhave access to more information,
they are more informed purchasers and they are more
(27:13):
demanding of the companies they are buying products from because
of that. And so it's not just about what
AT&T was doing. It is a recognition of the
market and the consumers changing around us and needing
to meet their needs. So both of those kind of, you
know, happened and we've just built up our skills.
(27:34):
It's, it's a journey. I would say we're, we're on the
front end of it. But I'm I'm proud of what the
team has done so far. We have another interesting
question from Twitter from Elizabeth Shaw, who asks how do
you manage investing in new technology versus the market
(27:54):
adoption risk, which is something that you alluded to
earlier. How do you make those decisions?
Yeah. I think that comes back to the
allocation between where do we go place bets on potentially new
disruptive or new innovations that we want to test the market
on versus what we know are the more near term, you know 12 to
(28:19):
18 months deliver in the near term and kind of a core product
management versus a new product innovation view on both.
We have that view of launch it and test penetration rates and
(28:41):
usage rates would be ways that we would look at that.
There's also a view that says can we make sure that we have
the distribution in place and the capacity to be able to
explain this to customers in a way that meets their needs, is
simple and is, you know, priced at a point, has a value
(29:07):
proposition and can be merchandised such that we can
launch it at scale if it's a scaled product or in a targeted
manner if it's a more niche product.
As an example, Turbo we launchedis more of a focused product,
found a broader market need and have scaled it since.
(29:28):
You've mentioned the role of data and research a number of
times. Can you talk a little about the
kinds of data and the analytics that you use to understand the
customer and how that shapes your your strategy and your
(29:48):
planning and response to the market?
That was one we found. We had disparate data and
research teams. We've been on a long journey to
build a strong data platform andand data office and certainly
have built our expertise there. It's a it's a great example of
where our technology teams are great partners.
(30:12):
We knew we needed to build worldclass marketing expertise and
have had a concerted effort to value the knowledge that we have
internally from a long history of of building networks.
But also acknowledging that there is external talent that we
needed to bring in to augment where where we don't have the
type of experience that today's customers demand and today's
(30:36):
marketplace demands. And this marketing space is 1,
where we have been able to bringin some really great talent.
And so taking disparate data andresearch functions and getting
those together into a research arm that we're able to tap into
(30:58):
has been very helpful. So I'd say we mentioned our
front, our customer facing experts are certainly a tool and
and part of the investment I mentioned earlier.
And our customer operations has led to us being able to better
mine from all of those interactions.
But we also have been able to get the research arm stood up
(31:19):
within our marketing organization such that we are
able to get research flowing through, position the questions,
but also consistently monitor market and industry trends,
customer trends and then go seeknew areas of growth and have
(31:39):
that feeding into our product organizations.
Sometimes that's a feed into andsometimes it's a request from
the product organizations as well.
And so building that muscle is awork in progress.
And how do you see the consumersevolving and what they want?
(32:00):
Have you, have you seen changes that then force you to drive
changes in the types of productsand services that you're
offering? Yes.
And then I'll say a little bit of a no, but yes, I would say
consumers demands are increasing.
What consumers, what our research tells us is consumers
want dependable connectivity andthat is on an increasing demand.
(32:26):
Our demand on our network and usage is continuing to increase
and we project that to continue to do so well into the future.
And so the connectivity space isa great place to be in.
People want to be more and more connected and they want that
connectivity to be dependable. Customers want, consumers want
(32:49):
prices, deals, offers that provide them a value exchange
that they see transparency and they can trust.
They want a good deal, they trust and then they want to know
they get the best deal for them and then they want to come
across and they want the serviceexperience they deserve.
(33:13):
I think that we could go back and say we could have this
conversation 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago and
probably the core tenants of that don't change much.
But the level of dependability, the level of transparency and
the level of I want what I deserve has increased
(33:36):
exponentially. And so the ability to meet those
demands. We mentioned hyper
personalization earlier. That's where the technology
advancements and the enablement of what technology can do is
what is increasing those demandsbut also allowing us to step up
to it. So it is this cycle of is it the
technology, it's like a chicken and an egg.
(33:57):
Did the technology drive it or is that why you can meet it?
Yes, but so it is that's what isthe pillar of our guarantee like
that. That is the research.
That's what told us we should launch the guarantee.
It's why we launched the guarantee in January.
That's that's what it is fundamentally built on network.
You can depend on the offers andthe deals that give you the
(34:21):
satisfaction. You know you're getting the best
for you and the service you deserve.
They also want to know that whenyou mess up, because all
companies are made of humans andso therefore you will mess up.
We just want to know you're going to make it right.
Just tell me you did it and makeit right so that I don't have to
worry about it. Don't make it my problem.
(34:43):
And so that that's the other piece of the guarantee.
We don't put that on there because we're trying to caveat
it. We're just giving you Peace of
Mind that if we can't meet thesethree things, we will make it
right. That was the last piece of that.
Proactively. We will come in and we will make
it right. This is a journey we're on with
you. We will get it and we will
continue to add to the guarantee.
(35:04):
It's not a A1 time splash. This is our promise to you.
This aspect of trust I find veryinteresting because you are
marketing and approaching the consumer in alignment with a
set, of course, psychological, fundamental, fundamental
(35:26):
psychological needs that we as people have as opposed to
pushing against. That's right.
And it's something that has to be done with actions.
It's something that I think over145 years of building
infrastructure positions you to do.
(35:48):
Our research says the AT&T brand.
And our level of commitment to the customer over the last four
years positions us as a brand tohave the most credibility here.
We know that customers are four times more likely to purchase
from a brand that will guaranteeits services.
(36:08):
And we know that they are 70% have a higher loyalty to a
customer to a brand that will have a guarantee.
So they're more likely to purchase and they are more
likely to stay. And we are unique in our ability
to come forward with that type of promise to customers.
(36:29):
We also know that it puts us outthere publicly.
We have to live up to it and we're so confident on the
journey we're on and our commitment to to continue it
that we're willing to say it andput it out there for customers
and say we're in it with you. It's not a marketing message of
one month or 1/4. It is a, this is a journey we're
on with you and here's the road maps we're going to commit to
(36:52):
going forward. And that I'll tell you the last
piece to it from an employee culture standpoint, it is
absolutely a rallying point focusing the the company on
connectivity and fiber and 5G, focusing the company on the
customers. This is that next step in the
(37:13):
journey and and making sure employees knew those customer
facing experts knew we all had their back because we're going
to go say publicly, this is whatwe're willing to step up to.
It's been the next level of rallying cry of energizing shot
in the arm of it's another commitment, another several
(37:36):
years. We're we're continuing on this
journey. You're not going to see us
diverge. It's been very, very exciting
internally too. What kind of changes did you
have to make in internally in order to have the operations
support that external customer facing guarantee that you've
(38:01):
been describing? This was a an effort that took
well over a year to build. It wasn't a quick, wasn't a
quick exercise. It was, it was a couple of years
in the making and we tested it several different ways.
And I would say the best part about it was it was born from
(38:24):
workshops internally on how do we differentiate with customers?
How do we go out and differentiate ourselves in the
marketplace? What's the best thing we could
do for customers? So this was a a grassroots idea
that then we handed into, into the leaders in the organizations
and said, how would you make this better?
(38:46):
And so it's one that had buy in from our teams early and they
helped shape it. Now to go take it across, as you
mentioned, a a wide set of employees who need to implement
and execute. Obviously there's a lot of
training, there's a lot of tooling that takes place.
(39:07):
It's it's all of the things thatyou would do to roll it across a
large scaled operations, get your people ready,
communications training processes changed, all of the
tools updated. And then there's some
fundamental basics of make sure you have the metrics and the
scorecards in place. And there's some interesting
(39:28):
things that that ideas popped upfrom leaders across the company
that are probably unexpected. Our technology and network
organizations said, let's shift how we do this in our
operational KPI scorecards will start with an AT&T guarantee
scorecard. And that sounds fairly basic,
(39:51):
but it's a, it changes the mindset, it changes how you
think about allocating resourcesand funds.
And so that's been a, a shot in the arm as well.
I'll keep using that analogy. It it makes people pause and
think differently and it sparks the culture change.
(40:11):
Well, everything you're doing isat such a large scale that I can
only imagine all the pieces and the how the the tentacles must
flow through the organization inorder to align all of these
many, many, many different pieces that you were just
describing. It's a tops down effort.
(40:33):
Our senior leaders are bought inand so it, it really is an
effort of get that it, it startswith this idea and the teams
build it. And so you buy in with our
leadership teams, but then socialize the idea upward and
get the buy in at the top. And so our our senior leadership
(40:55):
team is all in with it and communicated it across.
So it becomes a company wide brand and employee effort and
then it rolls through all organizations.
That's that's the difference maker and then it's consistency
from here. The difference maker over the
(41:16):
last four years has been consistency and our offers and
our execution and our messaging to customers.
The difference maker with the guarantee will be the same.
So establishing that baseline that that you believe and you
know works and then the processes to repeat that
execution or put that into practice across the company in a
(41:39):
in a consistent way as you were just saying.
Correct. That's right.
Having the scorecarding in place, the messaging in place,
the accountability, having our products and our Rd. maps ladder
into the promises and making sure we are consistently
delivering against that for customers and then ensuring that
(42:01):
we adjust as needed. Not all of those are going to
land perfectly. You got to learn as you go and
adjust, make it right, so to speak.
We'll make it right for customers and when we have
internally some of the ideas land, some don't learn from the
data we get and adjust quickly. You must look at the very
closely at the competitive market.
(42:26):
How does the nature of competition in telecom inform
what you do and the mandate thatyou've been describing being so
customer focused? We study the technology
landscape, we study the industrylandscape.
We study our consumers and and the business customers for my
(42:47):
counterpart that that leads our business organization and and so
if you're a just a voracious student of the industry and then
take those applications from other industries that are best
in class and bring them in and try to innovate against that.
We try to be very astute on thatand have tried to increase our
(43:11):
external outside in skills over this time period as well.
And what I would tell you is we do that so that we can stay very
current and that we can understand if trends are
shifting. But we do it also to test
against our strategy and to ensure we're not missing
(43:34):
something. But we haven't let it veerous
away from staying focused on ourgame in the near term.
So I would I would tell you it'sit's not for a sense of saying
we don't test our convictions, we don't scenario plan that's
important. But we also don't let quarterly
play or a competitive splash distract from what the long term
(44:00):
strategy is. So there's a difference between
you know long term strategy, three-year planning and an in
quarter play. That's a response and and we try
to be very specific with the teams about that and keep our
teams focused on execute our gameplay, understand that
(44:21):
there's something that needs a near term response and be
disciplined about it. And we've been very clear over
the last several years, we're going to go after and compete
for profitable growth. We will compete for that and but
we aren't going to chase empty calorie growth.
We are going to measure our our profitable growth by service
revenue in the industry and we will do that and we aren't going
(44:48):
to lay down on that. However, we're going to stay
focused on our game of driving converged households and driving
disciplined durable revenue growth.
It's a very interesting phrase. You're not seeking empty calorie
growth and also maintaining thatdiscipline of being clear on
(45:13):
what your actual long term goalsand being distinct and
differentiated from blips that are coming up in the market,
maybe your competitors are offering or what have you that
are less important in the long run.
Very quickly, because we're going to run out of time.
And, and I want to talk with youabout women in in technology and
(45:35):
leadership, but we have another question from Twitter.
How do you ensure that the customer remains the North Star
even after you as a leader have moved on?
Or just broadly speaking, as your leadership within AT&T mass
market changes, how do you ensure the continuity of the
(45:58):
focus that you've been describing?
One of the best attributes of a leader, and I was taught this by
leaders who came before me, certainly is the the aspects or
the qualities you're trying to build for the culture and the
organization should outlast you.It's, it's not about you as the
individual, It's not what you'retrying to build for, for the
(46:19):
share owner, for the customer and for the employees that are
there. And So what, what I would tell
you is a lot of what we have built is from expertise within
the organizations and, and what we continue to try to build.
A lot of the work that we've done around the customers is
coming from some of the the organizations that we have built
(46:46):
up over the last four years and continue to try to find talent
to augment. And, and So what gives me
confidence there is continuing to build the talent.
So whether I'm in this position or not, and whether other
leaders are in their position, the organizations and the talent
is there such that we have the rhythm and the muscle and the
(47:11):
the the muscle memory really to keep this going.
And if you build enough of a groundswell, the organization
isn't going to let that die quickly.
No matter what leaders swap out.It's very hard to overcome.
Hence, you know, we're still on the journey of reorienting
around the customer. To your question earlier of why
(47:34):
is this so hard? Well, it's ingrained over a long
period of time, but we've been there before, focused on the
customer. And so we've just got to get
back. So I, I think like what gives me
confidence is this isn't a tops down.
You must, it starts there, but then it's a bottoms up build.
(47:55):
And the bottoms up build is whatgives it durability.
And and I see the two meeting inthe middle and coming closer and
closer together. Yeah, it's a very interesting
point about the the muscle memory and coming at it from
both directions giving providingthe the ongoing durability that
(48:20):
enables the consistency independent of who happens to be
occupying a particular leadership slot at a particular
moment in time. Right.
It's a slower process. So if there's anything more
painful or more frustrating about, it's just the speed with
what should happens over the larger or more complex
organizations. We'd all like to speed it up so
(48:43):
that you get to that durability faster.
But it happens and that's what keeps it there and that's what
is very encouraging to come intoevery single day.
I think it's very important to discuss the role of female
leadership. You're a female leader in one of
the largest organizations in theworld and and also a technology
based organization. Do you think that women have
(49:09):
unique challenges as they try tobecome leaders and senior
executives? I look around tables and
sometimes I'm the only female inthe room and sometimes I'm one
of many and it's I I look aroundrooms and think maybe I have
(49:30):
unique challenges become of thatbecause of that.
But often I more often these days I look around the room and
I'm apartment to think about. Other people at those tables
have their own unique challengestoo.
But I tend to find if I can havethat frame of mind, the rest of
it becomes easier. And then I get focused on how do
(49:51):
we find some commonalities for the business outcome, for the
customer, for the share owner and and that helps Past that,
it's how do I help others who might be facing challenges that
I can recognize for my younger self and help them navigate
through that more quickly. You don't see it about as being
(50:12):
about you personally. Right.
It's not something I ignore. I think you can't ignore it, but
I very much try to separate. It's not me personally, I it's
too easy to see others have their own.
So it's a, it's a broader piece in the, the more we can help
(50:34):
each other through that, the more we help everyone that's
facing the unique challenges andthen the more we can help the
business grow, the customers grow.
If customers grow, I think we solve broader problems.
What advice do you have for women who aspire to senior
leadership roles? Everyone should give them self
(50:56):
the grace of humble confidence. And so that's a leadership
attribute, regardless of gender that I hold up as the most
important. Humble confidence is simply
having the confidence to go out,set the vision, take the risk,
step out into the limelight or into the arena and be willing to
take that, the shots that come with it.
(51:17):
But also have the humility to understand you're not the only
one with the ideas and the knowledge and take risks in
front of people and fail and show them it's OK to learn and
keep going. And Jennifer in 10 seconds.
What can men do to help women inleadership roles?
They can do the exact same thingas they have the leadership role
(51:37):
of show humble confidence and demonstrate it for all.
And if they do what a lot of menhave done in my career, which is
demonstrate that for themselves and for the leaders around them,
including people like me, they're advocating for the right
leaders. I love that show humble
(51:58):
confidence and help the people around you.
And with that, we're out of time.
A huge thank you to Jennifer Robertson.
She is AT&T's executive vice president of mass markets.
Jennifer, thank you so much for taking your time to be with us
today. I really, really appreciate it.
I enjoyed it, Michael. Thank you.
(52:18):
And thank you to everybody who watched.
Now before you go, please subscribe to our newsletter.
Check out cxotalk.com. We have amazing shows coming up.
Subscribe and join our community.
Everybody have a great day and we'll see you again next time.
Take care.
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