WOW! ’Em
Schena Takes a Tailored Approach to Customer Service
By Noah Ziegler
“Make it personal” is a mantra many companies strive for, but often find difficult to put into action. But it’s one that WOW!’s EVP/Chief Customer Experience Officer Don Schena has held high over the course of his career, and he encourages that mentality to each of his colleagues whenever they interact with a customer.
Over the course of his over 25-year career in telecommunications leadership, Schena absorbs as much as possible. He’s constantly listening to his colleagues and customers to pick up on trends so he can best strategize a plan to match a company’s trajectory with the customers’ interests at heart. His keen eyes and ears are what’s helped him notice even the most minuscule of details, which is how he’s established himself as a trusted leader.
“In the old days, …all we could do was set up all of the different platforms and services as best we could. And that’s where customers had to get any service requirements, fulfillment, whatever they may need,” Schena says. “I think that has evolved so significantly with the customer at the front of that train. Whether it is how they interact with us in the call center, self-help tools, the way that we are able to do fulfillment with things like self-install kits to keep it as convenient as possible for the customers. It’s just almost flipped over the years.”
Schena has seen quite a lot since arriving at WOW! in 2018. Global pandemic aside, he joined a company with a vision to grow, which meant having to find the delicate balance between maintaining legacy customers and ensuring new customers were satisfied with their services. But through all that was his mission to empower customers and position WOW! to reflect the aforementioned “flip” in customer care.
It started with taking out what Schena calls “bad volume,” which he defines as simply removing anything that’s unnecessary such as if a customer has to call support multiple times regarding the same issue. He would simply pose to employees how they’d want their provider to treat them and respect their personal time.
Under Schena’s guidance, WOW! has reduced the ratio of sending a technician or support agent to a customer to solve an issue by nearly 40% over the last four years, and has gotten it to an all-time record low in 2023. That has helped save WOW! millions in reduced truck roll costs annually.
In 2020 WOW! launched self-installation options for customers. Three years later, over 80% of the company’s residential HSD-only installs are handled through self-installation, which has helped WOW! save millions in reduced install costs annually—on top of giving customers more flexibility.
“Being a good leader isn’t about doing items to check them off the list, but rather doing things at a high quality and expecting your team to work at a higher level, providing a fantastic customer experience. Don does precisely this,” WOW! VP, Business Sales & Advertising Misty Jensen says. “He keeps me focused on the big picture and allows me to adjust our sails to ensure we are as successful as possible. Don truly cares and provides feedback that genuinely helps us win.”
Even when reminiscing on his accomplishments, Schena defaults to praising the employees he’s worked alongside over the years. While he may be the facilitator, he knows the importance of having an aligned group working toward a specific goal. For Schena, that goal is to make everyone feel empowered.