<i>&gt;As you all know, AT&amp;T made their sixth announcement about entering into the</i>
<i>&gt;dial-up business. Between this and David Kline's article, it appears that</i>
<i>&gt;all ISPs will be six feet under in no time ;-&gt;.</i>
<i>&gt;</i>
<i>&gt;Frankly I am beyond skeptical at AT&amp;T's ability to deliver a quality</i>
<i>&gt;service, particularly from a customer support perspective. They are</i>
<i>&gt;marvelous at marketing however.</i>
<i>&gt;</i>
<i>&gt;I'd like this group's advice, if you are an ISP as we are, which specializes</i>
<i>&gt;in dial-up, what sort of marketing response would you make?</i>
I'm not an ISP, but here's some wisdom. You do what all David's do when
faced with a Goliath; get into your customer's shorts. You need to get
to know your customers not only much better than AT&amp;T does, but better
than the customers know themselves.
Despite your confidence, I wouldn't bank on being able to provide better
quality than AT&amp;T. I know, they're going to have hiccups, perhaps major
hiccups. But I've worked with them before, and they zealously protect
their image of quality. They're not going to go into a business if it
will jeapordize their national image. And remember, they're not exactly
newbies to telecommunications technology or to customer service. They'll
do it right, or they'll get out (which is, by the way, one angle of
attack. A national consortium of independent ISP's could exploit any
problems AT&amp;T does have into a publicity campaign which bloodies AT&amp;T's
national image. That could conceivably encourage a pull-out.)
And another important point -- they don't necessarily HAVE to do it right
to cause you some severe economic damage. They have a HUGE reputation.
If you're an individual or company choosing an ISP, and all you know is
that the choices are AT&amp;T or Billy-Bob's Internet-o-rama, which are you
going to choose?
What they can't do, however, is get as up close and personal with the
customers as can you. Nor can they respond as quickly to the market's
changing needs. You need to identify a core profitable segment of
customers and burrow your butt into that niche. Become absolute experts
in those particular customers' needs. Understand their businesses.
Customize solutions for them. Know their kid's names. Call them
frequently just to shoot the s__t, seek feedback on the service and
collect tips on what future requirements are evolving. Let them know
that with your ISP, they can talk directly with the big cheese and get
pretty near instant responsiveness to new needs as they evolve. And take
advantage of every opportunity to demonstrate to them that they're
getting significant added value by going with a personalized ISP rather
than a MegaMassMarket ISP. These advantages have to be REAL.
Read Inc. Magazine. It's full of articles on how to tackle the big boys
and win. See Michael Tracy's "Here's how to figure out the strengths of
your big-company competitors -- and how you can beat them at their own
Game," April '95 p. 27. (I'm not affiliated with Inc.)
Good luck.
Hank LeMieux
NewsFax Corp.
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