Bill Stemper is in a rather unique position as the president of Comcast Business Services.
On one hand, he is a part of a cable and Internet service giant with more than 100,000 employees and $34 billion in 2008 revenue. Comcast Corp.’s brand recognition is extremely high throughout the country.
On the other hand, Stemper is trying to sell a lesser known array of products in the Comcast cache. The company is primarily known for residential cable and Internet service. Stemper’s job is to build its business customer base by connecting with the needs of businesses.
“We have a great brand that is known for our residential services,” Stemper says. “The challenge has been to build the same brand awareness and understanding with businesses.”
Stemper has responded to the challenge by leveraging Comcast’s ground-level presence in the markets the company serves. In other words, he is relying heavily on local-level employees to build relationships with potential customers and keep corporate management in touch with the wants and needs of businesses in the company’s footprint.
“We have a lot of employees out in the markets we serve, people who are citizens of the areas we serve,” he says. “We really stretch hard and spend time in the field, and do it all the time. We’re always getting information on what is going on in the markets, what is working, what do these customers want and how can we offer them the best services. It’s listening, it’s probing, it’s seeking to understand how to come up with the best ideas.”
The lesson has been reinforced to Stemper time and again: If you want to grow your business and your brand, stay close to your customers by building relationships at the interface point. You do that by enabling employees to build those relationships and by getting out of the office and personally visiting your markets. If you use what you learn from your customers, it all adds up to a company that is more nimble and responsive to customer needs.
