Beyond Speed: Key Takeaways from Calix ConneXions 2024

Want your broadband story to stand up to competition? Plan backwards, support outdoor community connections, focus on people over product and ask better questions.

Earlier this month, 3,000 broadband storytellers met in Las Vegas to try their luck with broadband marketing ideas at the Calix ConneXions Conference.

Calix CEO Michael Weening declared “the era of speed is over.” Broadband providers can’t compete on speed alone. With increasing competition, especially from wireless providers, successful broadband providers must focus on value-added services and enhanced subscriber experiences.

Plan Backwards

Author Michael Watkins challenged traditional 12-month planning cycles, suggesting they’re too slow for today’s quickly changing broadband and media landscape. Instead, he advocates for 90-day planning sprints and backcasting—working backward from goals to create actionable timelines.

“If we wait to plan every year, there’s so much that changes,” Andy says after attending the session. “Instead, break your planning up into 90-day sprints, then regroup to see how you’ve done and what you need to change to reach the finish line. Ask yourself, ‘If I want this done by Jan. 1, what do I need done by Dec. 1?’”

Start with the end goal and work backward. This approach helps teams adapt quickly to changing market conditions while maintaining focus on long-term objectives.

“Vision is where you want to go,” Andy says. “Strategic planning is how we get there.”

Want to try backcasting? Download Pioneer’s 2025 Content Planner to set your strategy, then work backwards throughout the year to stay on track. We added a handy midyear content goals check to help you stay focused throughout the year.

Create Outdoor Connections

Competition was a big topic at the conference. We talked to some providers facing up to nine competitors in one market. Finding ways to set your story apart and focus on service over speed is crucial.

We talked to two Utility Pioneers investing in outdoor broadband:

• Pea River Cooperative cheers on two high school football teams at local stadiums through its free Friday Night Wi-Fi program.
• Tri-CoGo built free Wi-Fi coverage for parks and recreation centers. Among other perks, this means food trucks can use online payment systems.

In future “StoryConnect” episodes, Utility Pioneers Brenda Overton and Greg Morris will share what works and what challenges they faced, including geography and accurately estimating crowd sizes to ensure strong signals.

“Find places where you can share your message while connecting your community,” Megan says. “The Utility Pioneers I spoke to said name recognition at these community events—especially when you’re in a competitive market and you’re serving a need—sets us apart.”

Focus on People, Not Product

Do your subscribers understand gigs? Probably not. That’s why a growing number of Utility Pioneers are changing the way they talk about broadband service, focusing on how subscribers want to use it.

We interviewed Wendy Crenner at SC Telecom about persona-based packages:

• Connected Family
• High Techies
• Home Tech Starter
• Simple and Secure

Connected Family and High Techies are 1-Gig plans with Wi-Fi roaming in town and cost the same amount. The Home Tech Starter and Simple and Secure plans both deliver 100 Mbps with built-in security and the same cost. Essentially, the telco has two core broadband plans for residential members but uses persona marketing and targeted storytelling to deliver four unique ways to use the service.

Now that every utility—big and small—is required to offer broadband labels, utilities are balancing the call for custom, needs-based service tiers with label overload.

To increase take rates, consider tailoring communication to how people use the service while maintaining consistent service offerings. This allows for persona marketing without endless service tiers.

Ask Better Questions

The Women in Telecom keynote by author Alex Carter delivered unexpected communication insights. As a negotiation coach, she shared a framework of questions to improve both internal and external conversations.

“Negotiating is steering relationships,” Alex told the audience. “Be intentional to gain trust.”

When entering a new situation, ask the best question first. There are two types of questions: mirrors and windows.

Mirror questions help leaders reflect on their goals:

• “What problem do I want to solve for others?”
• “What problem do I want to solve for my career?”
• “What happens if I solve the problem?”

Window questions are open-ended questions to open the lines of communication with others and build relationships:

• “Tell me about…”
• “What do you need?”
• “What are your goals?”
• “What matters to you?”
• “What are your concerns?”
• “How have you handled this successfully before?”

“People have feelings when they negotiate,” Alex says. Instead of asking for something, she challenged attendees to win people over. “Find the emotional and factual challenges to a deal. Don’t request. Recruit.”

“Even though I’m a trained journalist, I still find myself assuming things in the questions I ask,” Megan says. “This session was a great reminder to keep questions open and focus on how I can help someone share their story.”

Tune in for More

Like what you’re reading? We love partnering with Utility Pioneers. As a Calix Go to Market Agency, we can help you turn ideas from the conference into reality. See how we partner with Calix to support your story, and book time with us to brainstorm how to focus on experience over speed.