Case Study
How Eric Williams at SDWISP Succeeds in the Highly Competitive San Diego Market with VISP
“VISP has been a game-changer. I don’t stress about billing and revenue management. It’s absolutely accurate, and I’d rate it 12/10 for its precision and the flexibility it provides in collecting payments.“
Eric Williams
Founder and CEO, SDWISP
SDWISP San Diego Wireless Internet Service Provider
Community Fixed Wireless Internet Service Provider connected to a local fiber optic network, offering high-speed, quality internet to rural communities in Southeast San Diego.
Key Stats: Serving subscribers for 16 years across 6 different ZIP codes.
Established: Founded in 2007 by Eric Williams, a native San Diegan with a background in telecommunications.
Customer Praise: Known for exceptional service, reliability, and satisfied customers, with a 4.2-star rating on Yelp.
Highlights
Challenges
- Navigating the complexities of ISP management for subscriber, invoicing, payments, collections, communication, along with ticketing, inventory, and network asset tracking.
- Managing the previous complex solutions with high learning curves was challenging for SDWISP, whose core competence is hardware.
- Retaining subscribers despite encroaching competition by providing excellent service and support.
Solution
- VISP’s fast and seamless integration for simplified ISP management.
- VISP eliminated steep learning curves, allowing SDWISP to focus on its core strengths.
- VISP’s Client Success Team provided timely assistance and issue resolution, helping to ensure high uptime and subscriber retention.
Results
- SDWISP excelled in its small but competitive rural market.
- Eric and his team could focus on delivering reliable internet services free from common ISP management headaches.
- Partnering with VISP reduced the need for more staff as it grew, allowing SDWISP to scale and grow its profit.
Introduction
In the heart of Southeast San Diego, where rural communities thrive, Eric Williams had a vision. As a native of San Diegan and a telecommunications veteran, Eric understood the need for fast, quality internet service for rural families in Southeast San Diego.
With a deep sense of community and a passion for service, he founded SDWISP (San Diego Wireless Internet Service Provider).
Challenges
Eric was committed to deliver top-notch internet services, but he faced several daunting challenges:
SDWISP needed to navigate the complexities of managing subscribers, quite outside his core competence.
Handling bulk invoicing, payments, and collections, subscriber support and mass communication, equipment asset tracking and management, all proved to be significant challenges as they grew.
As a company focused on hardware, SDWISP struggled with the learning curve associated with their first trials of other ISP management solutions, often leading to inefficiencies and even more overhead.
In SDWISP’s early stages, they encountered two significant challenges. First, upon their initial launch, they relied on only QuickBooks for payments, lacking the capability to automatically suspend users and direct them to a payment portal. That added a lot of unnecessary subscriber interaction and overhead. Later, as they transitioned to a new billing system, they grappled with a difficult learning curve that added even more challenges for Eric and his team.
Eric’s vision extended beyond just providing internet access; when faced with encroaching competition he strategically kept his subscribers happy and sticky with one of the best tricks in the book: excellent client support.
Solution
Eric knew that to overcome these challenges, he needed the right partner.
Enter VISP, an all-in-one billing and automation software provider, designed from the ground-up for ISPs. VISP’s comprehensive solution addressed SDWISP’s pain points:
Eric was concerned about the pain of transitioning from SDWISP’s old billing system to the new one. However, the VISP team surprised him with how easy they made it. The setup was quick, and it immediately eased subscriber management – even when there were issues.
Results
Client Retention, Seamless Software Management, and Scalable Cost Savings
Eric doesn’t aspire to own the world. He’s quite happy with SDWISP’s little piece of the internet frontier. The transformation that followed Eric’s partnership with VISP was nothing short of remarkable in the way it simplified Eric’s life to help him meet his unique goals:
SDWISP has successfully maintained excellent client retention, despite the growing competition. Just a small improvement in subscriber satisfaction can double profit, according to a Harvard study. Eric has first-hand experience with this.
The seamless billing solutions helped ensure subscribers remained loyal when the competition could have put him out of business. With streamlined billing, automation, and excellent support when he needed it, SDWISP kept subscribers and won the churners back. Eric’s strategies to choose the right partners and deliver quality customer service has paid off.
Eric’s decision to partner with VISP reduced the need for more staff. This cost-saving strategy allowed SDWISP to scale as needed with more automation, fewer people, and extraordinary service which all helps maintain profitability.
Conclusion
Eric Williams, a visionary, champion, and model for rural connectivity, turned SDWISP into a success story. His determination to provide reliable internet services to his nearby underserved communities, coupled with the strategic partnership with VISP, empowered rural residents with the gift of reliable connectivity. Eric’s journey is a testament to the transformative power of determination, strategic decision-making, and solid commitment to customers.
Eric’s story is not just about SDWISP; it’s about ISP heroes across America and their strategies that make connectivity possible for those who need it most.
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