September 1, 2010

Why Offer A Lifetime Price Guarantee?

By Ron Proleika

We all are searching for relief. We’re clipping coupons and carpooling. We’re cutting back on the daily designer coffee. We’re opting for movie rentals instead of visiting the theater. We think twice about making that big purchase, reviewing our monthly expenses and asking, “what can we live without?”

Some people have decided to live without the certainty of rising cable rates. According to a January 2010 article on CNNmoney.com, cable customers see an average annual price hike of 5 percent. It’s the same news every year, and there simply is no end in sight to the frustration of hefty and mounting cable bills.

“The triple-play Lifetime Price Guarantee went live in mid-June. Early results are encouraging.”

At Windstream, we heard this message loud and clear from our customers during routine customer research. They said they dislike introductory pricing, short-term deals and annual rate hikes. They want to pay a fair price in exchange for high-quality service.

So we developed a unique and aggressive alternative. We’re doing what’s right by our customers and eliminating their Number One irritation: ongoing rate increases. Enter Windstream’s Lifetime Price Guarantee – a locked-in price for life for high-speed Internet, a home phone and digital TV from DISH Network.

The Lifetime Price Guarantee is just that – a guarantee. It's a promise that the price is never, ever going up. It is free of annual commitments. It’s a value proposition during precarious times. The Lifetime Price Guarantee addresses a long-term issue and fulfills an immediate desire: helping customers save money while delivering the bundled communications and entertainment services they rely on every day at a fair price.

Windstream found much success with its original, double-play version of the Lifetime Price Guarantee launched in the fall of 2009, which includes high-speed Internet coupled with unlimited local and long-distance calling. It resonated so well with customers that it actually minimized access-line loss and, in the first quarter of 2010, contributed to Windstream’s lowest churn since the company was formed in 2006. That’s pretty awesome when considering the competitive landscape of the telecommunications industry and the fact we’re fighting tooth and nail to retain our customers (and gain new ones) in every residential market we serve throughout Windstream's 23-state territory.

The impact of that original Lifetime Price Guarantee solidified the findings of our earlier research. That's when Windstream decided to add even more value to this guarantee and, working with our partners at DISH Network, we developed a triple-play offer under our Lifetime Price Guarantee umbrella. An exclusive-to-Windstream, all-HD channel lineup with video on demand and local channels where available highlights this triple-play package along with high-speed Internet and unlimited local and long-distance calling – for one low price locked in for life.

The triple-play Lifetime Price Guarantee went live in mid-June, and early results are encouraging. The Lifetime Price Guarantee pricepoint varies throughout Windstream’s 1,100 residential exchanges. Customers will pay between $85 and $95 for the triple play and from $49 to $59 for the double play - both before taxes and fees.

The Lifetime Price Guarantee is about more than the price customers pay. It's a commitment to customers and the communities Windstream serves. It's also about the money they save over the years.

Ron Proleika is vice president/Marketing Communications for Windstream Corp. Contact him at talk2win@windstream.com.