July 1, 2010

2010 Top OPS Awards: Regional Executive of the Year: Paul Cronin

Paul Cronin, SVP/GM

Cox (New England)

How deserving is Cox New England’s Paul Cronin of our Regional Exec of the Year award? While mere mortals have been known to freak out at the prospect of facing either AT&T’s U-verse TV or Verizon’s FiOS TV, our honoree runs a division that’s battling both major telcos throughout most of its footprint.

Yet instead of paranoia Cronin’s become known for his region’s success and the sound advice he dispenses to Cox GMs across the country. "There’s a tremendous amount of sharing between our systems," he tells us.

Indeed, Cox SVP of Eastern Operations Jill Campbell notes Cronin and his team have helped other divisions prepare for the competition. And in typical Cox fashion, nothing is left to chance. "We were very diligent in our effort to document what worked and what didn’t in New England," Campbell says.

Cronin’s advice to GMs is anchored in the Cox ethos. "I think this market is reflective of what you find overall at Cox – a very customer-focused operation (see page 20), and a company committed to growing and evolving," he says.

New England was the first market where Verizon challenged Cox’s cable business. "Paul and his team were totally ready for Verizon," Campbell says. "They began to develop their competitive strategy several years before" Verizon arrived in New England, she adds.

Cronin’s been on the cable scene long before that. His first job, back in 1982, was selling door-to-door for Island Cable TV in Massachusetts. Nearly 30 years later, he hasn’t forgotten his roots. He relies on Cox’s door-to-door sales teams in Rhode Island and Connecticut to not only grow video, high-speed Internet and telephone customers, but to help the New England division keep its 400,000 customers.

Cronin’s door-to-door squads are more than salespeople. These brand ambassadors also respond to customer service issues raised by subscribers they visit. "It’s not only sales – they’re talking about what customers want. They’ve become an important part of our growth strategy and our overall customer service strategy."

Like other Cox divisions, New England heavily markets the triple play. Cox is looking to add more value to the bundle with new services such as a multi-room DVR and additional HD content, he says.

"The market has responded to our bundling strategy, and we continue to bundle up more customers every day as we drive more value into the bundle," Cronin says. "Customers keep taking additional services because we keep driving the value equation." That’s good strategy and good advice.

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