How DISH is using insights to set the stage for post-merger success

DISH is entering an ambitious new chapter as a business, equipped with exciting technology and market opportunities and fueled by meaningful insight into customers and employees. DISH’s commitment to providing superior experiences is why the company is the 2024 winner of the Breakthrough Artist Awards for XM.

In the midst of a business transformation catalyzed by its recent merger with EchoStar, DISH has built a nationwide 5G Open RAN network with the goal of propelling the company into the top tier of wireless service providers. That’s in addition to expanding its existing offerings through satellite TV and Sling TV.

Englewood, Colorado-based DISH is putting Experience Management (XM) at the center of these expansion plans by investing in what customers value most and fostering a workplace where employees are excited and invested in their work.

Building a business around customer insights

DISH has long excelled at delighting customers, ranking #1 in customer satisfaction by J.D. Power among Cable and Satellite TV Providers six years running. Still, DISH knew there was a lingering disconnect between its frontline, customer-facing employees and the company’s decision-makers. Too often, its leaders were operating with an incomplete picture of customer sentiment, including what they valued about DISH’s offerings and what they wanted to see the company provide.

To fill the gap, DISH worked with Qualtrics to implement a comprehensive CX program measuring feedback at key touch points across the customer journey for all of their brands, from installation and setup to call center interactions, and triggering follow-up action to improve customer satisfaction. The company’s average NPS score rose by 10 points in a single year, while also reducing the rate of customer churn.

To create an even more complete picture of what customers were thinking and feeling, DISH launched opportunities for video-based feedback and began distributing a monthly video with curated customer responses to leaders throughout the company. Adding that personal, qualitative component to DISH’s process helped spark new ideas for improvement.

Then, DISH became an early adopter of Qualtrics^® generative AI tools to accelerate and automate the process of analyzing those video interviews. As a result, DISH is able to reach insights faster, respond more quickly to customer issues, and streamline the process of sharing results with the rest of the business.

Driving satisfaction and loyalty among employees

In addition to building on its growing strength in Customer Experience (CX), DISH wanted to shore up a perceived weakness: the quality of its employee experience (EX). DISH adjusted its approach by implementing Qualtrics’ EX25 XM Solution, which measures employee experience across a broad range of categories and drives continuous improvement.

The feedback gained through EX25^TM led to widespread changes. An overhaul of DISH’s onboarding process included fundamentally redesigning its new-hire orientation and first-day experience. Additional changes included more flexibility for frontline staff as well as the creation of new employee resource groups. Employee feedback also helped DISH’s leaders zero in on trouble spots, like instances where managers were contributing to employee churn.

Now DISH is planning to take its XM game to the next level: investing further in AI and tying CX and EX insights together.