Network Solutions
Company: Network Solutions, Herndon, Virginia
Company Description: Network Solutions is the pioneer of domain name registration and leading provider of Internet-related services. With a customer base of over 4 million, it is comprised of people committed to providing superior service and customer solutions. CEO Champ Mitchell and VP Shelley Rawlings created a customer service model that focuses on customer satisfaction, cost reduction and profit center growth.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Turnaround Executive
Nomination Title: W.G. Champion Mitchell, Chairman & CEO
1. Tell the story about what this nominee achieved in the past year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
When Champ Mitchell joined Network Solutions as CEO in 2001, he found three major problems:
1) A collapsing business that was bleeding cash,
2) A lack of focus on growing the business,
3) A poor record of customer service.Simply put, the company was broken.
From years of experience with previously turning around five companies, Champ Mitchell knew he could not fix bad attitudes and lack of focus, so he chose to cut 70 percent of the employees, rebuilt the senior leadership team, and created a customer centric staff.
In 2005, Champ Mitchell set the sights of the company on one clear vision—which had not existed at Network Solutions—to be the recognized leader in helping customers use the Internet to enrich and enhance their lives. To achieve his new vision, Mitchell implemented the following major action plans in 2005:
•Held a series of company “All Hands” meetings to communicate corporate objectives, celebrate team and individual successes and share the company progress
•Established an employee education program, Passport: Our Journey to a Customer First Focus, to engrain the ideals of “customer focus” across all departments
•Launched a completely redesigned Internet storefront, reflecting the “new” Network Solutions motto of “How can we help you today?”
•Positioned the new brand with a fully integrated public relations and advertising campaign in consumer, small business and technology media outlets
•Focused on developing a strong company-owned customer call care by hiring and training customer service consultants to support the needs of small businesses
•Acquired companies strategically aligned with the Network Solutions’ customer focus and enhanced and expanded product offerings of the company
•Initiated a corporate headquarters move to a physical plant that supports the 30 percent growth in employees
These significant strides lead to outstanding results across the company, with customers and within the Web Solutions market space:
•Provided recognition awards to employees who surpassed expectations in supporting the new company vision
•Achieving 90%+ employee participation in the Passport program
•Sustained double digit sales growth with the launch of the new storefront and new product offerings
•Increased customer satisfaction with the online storefront from 83% to 92% by using “every day” language to explain products and services
•Generated more than 73 media stories for 104M impressions through a national public relations campaign
•Launched first advertising campaign in four years, including national print, radio and online media outlets
•Received the 2006 J.D. Powers and Associates Call Center Certification Award for providing an “outstanding customer service experience
•Introduced 19 new products
•Increased sales of value added products by 55%
•Integrated two companies seamlessly into the Network Solutions organization, reducing costs by 40 percent
•Migrated 350+ employees to a new headquarter location exceeding 104,000 square feet
Despite the major challenges he faced, Champ Mitchell has turned a one-time monopoly into a company that is customer-centric, profitable and well positioned for continued growth in the upcoming years.
2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
Chief Executive Magazine http://www.chiefexecutive.net/ME2/dirmod.asp?
sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3Article&mid=8F
3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=0FB92071D6B54
686BB41C1BB4DD4454C
Washington Smart CEO:
http://washington.smartceo.com/images/archImages/DCEO.DEC.05.PDF
Network Solutions in the News:
http://about-networksolutions.com/netsol-press.php
Customer Success Stories:
http://about-networksolutions.com/customer-testimonials.php
Network Solutions Press Releases:
http://onlinepressroom.net/networksolutions/
3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the nominee:
W.G. Champion Mitchell is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Network Solutions, a leader in Web-based solutions for small businesses including: Web site hosting, Web site design services, online marketing, security services, e-mail and domain name registration.
Mitchell joined Network Solutions in 2001 and in less than three years, he took Network Solutions from a cash negative business with declining sales and market share to a growing, cash positive business with better than 25% EBITDA margin and almost 20% year-over-year growth in sales, while reducing expenses by more than 40%. Over this period, Mitchell created a customer-focused company that went from a majority of its customers being dissatisfied to a more than 86% customer satisfaction rate.