Smartsheet Helps CTC Build Internet and Community Connections

Consolidated Telecommunications Company (CTC) was established as a co-operative in 1950 by Minnesota farmers who needed telephone service in the sparsely populated Brainerd Lakes area. Today CTC connects rural communities in north central and northeastern Minnesota with telephone and fiber-optic internet service. But what sets them apart in their industry is the connections they make with their customers personally, through direct engagement and exemplary service. Kristi Westbrock, CEO and general manager of CTC, is determined to fight the popular image of telecoms by making every interaction with CTC members as positive and helpful as possible. Smartsheet helps CTC identify and share outstanding service experiences among employees to build a more member-focused culture.

“We’re really praised for the service that we provide in an industry that doesn’t have a great reputation,” Westbrock says. “I’ve asked the question: Who likes to call their internet company, or their cell phone company, or their phone company? And nobody ever wants to do that. We want our customers’ experience to be different.”

A 2018 Federal Communications Commission report found that only 68.6% of rural Americans had access to both high-speed terrestrial and mobile LTE internet service, compared with 97.9% of urban Americans. Extending fiber optic cable to sparsely populated areas can be prohibitively expensive for a traditional internet provider, but as Westbrock points out, internet connectivity is increasingly important to daily life and will only become more so in the coming years. The quality of connectivity matters too; while some providers economize by offering lower speeds for upload than download, CTC recognizes that teleconferencing, video calling, online learning, and more depend on robust upload capabilities.

“It’s a huge policy focus at both the federal level and the state level; there’s just a continual demand for increased broadband,” Westbrock says. “It used to be that download was most important to people, but think about upload: Upload is economic development. Upload is profits when you’re pushing a product out. With our network, people who live in a very small town in our service area can get gigabit speeds in both directions.”

To connect more closely with its members and break away from the popular image of the faceless telecom giant, CTC is transforming the customer experience. Working with a consultancy, the co-op is pursuing an initiative to map the customer journey and identify ways to make processes and practices more member-focused and efficient. CTC also empowers its technicians and member service representatives to be creative about solving problems and identifying process and system improvements. Smartsheet helps employees share their most outstanding ideas with leadership and create streamlined processes that result in better service.

Westbrock knew that even with a recognition and rewards program, employees might not make the effort to share their ideas and experiences if the process was complicated and time-consuming. Smartsheet makes it easy with a simple form that’s quick to fill out and submit, even from a phone. Westbrock can easily find and review the information without having to search through email folders to get the complete picture.

“For me, it’s about fast and easy accessibility and mobile accessibility,” Westbrock says. “I’m able to do any work I need to do with Smartsheet, no matter where I am or what time of day it is. If I had to access our billing system and the notes in the customer account to see what the service rep did for a member, I’d have to block a lot of time at my desk, but Smartsheet is really efficient and simple to use.”

Michael Moroni, project and product specialist at CTC, helped choose Smartsheet for the co-op’s member-focused initiatives. He says it increases visibility across teams and departments so that everyone can see and be inspired by their colleagues’ outstanding work.

“It breaks down the silos,” Moroni says. “When you have individuals or departments working on specific projects, having it in Smartsheet gives everybody a central repository to see where everybody is with their specific items.”

With a clearer view of member interactions and issues, Westbrock and her colleagues can offer praise for outstanding member service. One representative helped calm down a member who needed to find a way to save money on his bill; he had just learned he was going to be a father and was as panicked about his new future as his internet costs. The representative set up electronic billing and auto-payment with discounts to meet his financial target, and also sent him diapers and a congratulatory gift card for the expectant couple’s favorite restaurant.

“Our representatives are competitive about who can be the most creative in what they’re doing for their members,” Westbrock says. “That’s really fun to see. But I think employees also understand that there’s a sincere effort to change the way we service our membership, and that it’s not just something the executive management team said we’re going to do; it’s something they’re participating in.”

Another call came from a business customer who learned he wasn’t on automatic payment when he got a disconnect notice; Westbrock and the member service team realized the disconnection process needed additional steps to alert customers who might be working under similar assumptions. Smartsheet helps CTC review and evolve its processes with the flexibility and customer focus that guide the co-op’s mission.

“What’s great about CTC is that we work for our membership,” Westbrock says. “Our number one driver is that our membership has access to the services they need. As a co-op we’re able to do that because we’re in it for the long haul, and that’s our mission.”

CTC is continuing to explore what it can accomplish with Smartsheet. Moroni and his team are developing ways to improve board reporting and create dashboards to more effectively surface key strategic data for long-term planning. And as the demand for broadband internet grows in the region’s rural communities, the CTC staff will share their ideas and achievements to maintain a high standard for serving them.

“Rural America provides 40% of all of the men and women in our military,” Westbrock says. “There’s a lot to be said about the people who live and work in the smaller communities. There’s so much that people don’t understand about what rural communities do for our country’s economics, but it’s something we’re super passionate about.”

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