Cable customer service is more important than a new brand

One of the ways cable operators in recent years have attempted to improve the industry's reputation for providing lackluster customer service has been to come up with new brands. Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) markets its digital cable service as Xfinity TV, Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) has Optimum, and Bob Miron's Advance/ Newhouse systems--which used to have names such as Cable Vision and Paragon Cable--are now called Bright House Networks.

Rather than come up with a new brand for its digital cable service, Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) has focused on improving its existing brand with new technology and revamping its customer service and field operations. The nation's second largest cable provider recently began testing the idea of offering subscribers exact appointment times for new installations and service calls.

Time Warner Cable COO Bob Marcus revealed the appointment time tests Wednesday on the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. While the disclosure generated little publicity, the move is a big deal for Time Warner Cable and the cable industry. For many years, cable operators have offered subscribers four-hour appointment windows and some operators have even offered six-hour or eight-hour appointment windows.

Forcing a subscriber to spend half of his day waiting for a cable technician to show up was a tactic that the industry was able to get away with before it faced competition from DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV), Dish (Nasdaq: DISH), Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T). As more competitors have entered the pay TV business in the last decade, appointment windows have narrowed from four hours to two hours. And Comcast recently began offering one-hour appointment windows in Boston.

Time Warner Cable is raising the bar by offering specific appointment times in some cities. The logistics of getting a cable technician to arrive at a specific time are surely complicated. But in an industry that has fought for years to shake its reputation of offering poor customer service, Time Warner's effort is a smart investment, especially considering the new competition it faces from satellite providers and telcos.

Like other MSOs, Time Warner Cable focuses heavily on new products like its wideband Internet service and 500 GB digital video recorders in its ad campaigns. But the MSO is also starting to use customer service as an acquisition tool, touting the 24-hour "white glove" customer service that it offers subscribers who order its premium Signature Home service.

Using customer service as a marketing tool is another new strategy for a cable company. Time Warner Cable's offer would be even more effective if it offered that personal level of customer service to any subscriber, not just those that spend more than $200 monthly for cable TV, high-speed Internet and phone service.--Steve