The Reserve Bank famously coined ‘the 2degrees effect’ as the impact our company had on the telecommunications industry.
Until the arrival of 2degrees, the telco market was dominated by a cosy duopoly of providers who dominated the market and contributed to New Zealand having some of the most expensive mobile phone plans globally.
We have been on a mission to stay competitive and challenge the market ever since.
Our latest financial results showed that we continue to nab share from our competitors across every key segment and we’re fully committed to ensuring that continues in the coming years.
While there’s no secret formula to growth, I have made a few observations along the way.
Question the status quo
As 2degrees has grown from an idea to a $1 billion enterprise, many have questioned whether we can still legitimately be called a challenger brand. To me, this has always seemed reductionist, an over-simplification of what the word ‘challenger’ actually means.
A challenger mindset that naturally questions the status quo places you in a better position to find those small advantages while your competitors are resting on their laurels. You can do this no matter the size of the business.
Remember what you stand for
There’s a familiar adage in business that your brand is simply a promise to your customers.
For 2degrees, this promise has always been about Fighting for Fair.
The premise behind that was about offering New Zealanders fairer prices, but today we are also fighting in other ways. We are fighting to create a fairer online experience for young New Zealanders, we are fighting for better business experiences for Kiwi enterprises, and we are fighting for fairer representation in sport.
Respect your customers
Customer feedback is a gift. You can always learn something from it, and I firmly believe that people who give us their money deserve our respect.
Technology should always serve to make life a little easier. It’s about removing pain points and smoothing the path to an experience that the customer actually wants. As a business, we need to deliver this.
Never accept the first draft
I never want to see a presentation that is 100 per cent complete. That might sound counter-intuitive, but we have adopted a concept called the ‘80 per cent draft’.
At other businesses, there’s this idea that everything has to be perfect when it’s presented to the executive so that you can move onto the next task.
The problem with that is two-fold. Firstly, it overlooks the fact that the process of honing and editing can often take as long as producing the product in the first place. In fact, the last 20 per cent of polishing can take even longer than putting your initial thoughts onto the page.
Hire carefully
You need to be quite deliberate in hiring team members who add to the culture rather than detracting from it.
If you hire the right people, the right culture and enthusiasm becomes prolific, spreading from desk to desk throughout the organisation.
Culture may start at the top, but it’s sustained by the people who do the hard work that keeps the organisation moving.
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