Xplore Staff Go Beyond

March 23, 2023

In celebration of the launch of our new brand, and tagline, “Go Beyond,” Xplore will highlight key members of the team who consistently “Go Beyond” for our customers. This series will give you a glimpse into the team members that serve you – our customers – each day.

The people behind Xplore are what sets us apart. We put our customers at the heart of everything we do:

• We continue implementing new self-serve features so that our customers can manage their accounts where, and how, they want to. Our technical support teams are also available 24/7/365 for those who prefer to connect with a human.

• We are delivering gigabit speeds with Xplore Fibre and speeds up to 100 Mbs with 5G Home Internet.
• We have made significant investments in our fixed wireless network to increase performance and reliability.
• We’re also getting ready to roll out 100 Mbps speed satellite service on J3, the world’s largest commercial communications satellite.

And, our customers are happier than ever. We finished 2022 with a record-high NPS (Net Promoter Score) indicating that our customers are more likely than ever to recommend Xplore to their friends and family. Our Google Review rating has doubled and we saw the greatest decrease in CCTS complaints – more than any other provider. The CCTS, which stands for Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services, is an industry barometer for customer satisfaction.

Our focus on our customers is relentless and these “Top Xplorers” are just a few examples of the outstanding customer service you can expect from Xplore.

Matt, IT Infrastructure Support Specialist

Matt just celebrated a decade with Xplore. He started in tech support and is now an IT Infrastructure Support Specialist. He’s responsible for designing, planning and building the information technology systems for business functions and making sure they remain operational.

“I also take the lead on any of our cyber security investigations as it relates to IT including cyber security risks and general prevention,” he said.

In his 10 years, Matt has seen tremendous growth in the company.

"The growth we’ve seen in our processes around cybersecurity have been huge,” he said.

But, the most significant change he’s experienced was the recent rebranding.

He played a big role in it, owning the complex task of planning and deploying a complete domain cutover for all of Xplore’s email communication mail flows and tools in an overnight period of approximately 6 hours.

This entailed not only altering every business email address, but also ensuring all employees would be able to effectively sign in the next day, and that all of our security systems would recognize the changes.

“To accomplish something that many industry peers would deem impossible to do in a single short maintenance window, has to be my proudest accomplishment to date,” he said.

Matt studied Information Technology at New Brunswick Community College’s St. Andrews campus but it wasn’t a straight IT career path to Xplore. He actually spent some time working in another interesting field.

He worked as a Peace Officer for the SPCA investigating abuse of domestic animals.

Although he did end up pursuing a career in IT as planned, Matt remains a dedicated volunteer of local emergency services, training canine officers and assisting with search and rescue missions.

He was one of 550 volunteers who spend 7500 hours searching for a missing 75-year-old in Nova Scotia.

Outside of this, Matt says that learning new things is what gets him out of bed in the morning and that’s what he loves about working at Xplore.

“What I love the most is no two days are the same. There’s always something new that comes up, be it a project you’re invited to be a part of, to improving things for customers ... Every day there’s something new I'm going to learn,” he said.

Improving the customer experience is a big part of his role as IT Infrastructure Support Specialist.

Every day he works hard to keep the systems online and make sure customers can access support while at the same time ensuring systems are advancing.

“It’s making sure customers have the most fluid experience that they can,” he explained.

Matt says what sets Xplore apart is the staff’s dedication to the company’s values.

“In my 10 years, I’ve been hard-pressed to find an employee who isn’t working toward those values in everything that they do. In my experience, you don’t have core values that are so designed to support both employees and customers.”

Lori, Customer Care Loyalty Specialist

Lori, one of Xplore’s dedicated Customer Care Loyalty Specialists, has been with the team since May of 2012.

As a member of the Loyalty Team, Lori’s role is to ensure Xplore’s current customers are happy. A day in her life could be anything from reaching out to customers to let them know that there is an upgrade available, or responding to incoming calls and solving problems for customers.

“It is my passion to be on the Loyalty Team,” she said, “It’s a very effective program because when they’ve left an unhappy survey and we call, they are very happy. They say, you really listen to us”.

Jackie Kerr, Senior Manager, Customer Success & Quality, told us Lori is the epitome of Customer Focus.

“She gives her heart and soul with every customer interaction. Her ability to connect with the customer is second to none. She truly is the expert in giving her customer a voice. Then she represents that voice back into our organization for change and improvements. There isn't a rock that Lori won't turn over to find a solution for our customers,” Jackie said.

Lori has a long career fulfilling various customer service roles and she says what sets Xplore apart is dedication to the customer.

“My passion was always to help the customer as much as we can. Xplore really got to me because I had worked at a lot of other companies and no one cared about the customers as much as Xplore,” she said.

It’s that dedication that keeps her loving what she does.

"I am always happy to come to work because I believe in Xplore and what I’m doing. I believe in what they’re doing to bring Internet to rural Canada, people who never would have had Internet. Our customers aren’t numbers; they are people that we are really trying to find the best solutions for,” she said.

One customer she spoke to had started a business from her home in a very rural area.

“She said I would never have made my business, been able to do it and live where I am if it had not been for Xplore. They gave me my start,” Lori said.

Sue, another Xplore customer, reached out to upgrade her package because her granddaughter who has health issues had recently moved in with her. Due to requirements such as online schooling, their current Internet package would not meet their needs.

Lori took the time to have a conversation to understand exactly what the customer’s needs were and to customize a solution that meet them.

Sue was completely overwhelmed and extremely appreciative. She said that Xplore "made my day. Well, actually, made my year."

"I always loved and appreciated Xplore and now I REALLY love Xplore. You really cannot know how much this means to me and my family," Sue said.

Lori has a unique way that she relates to customers – she has lived in four different provinces including New Brunswick, PEI, Manitoba and British Columbia!

Although she grew up in New Brunswick, she said that the people she met in Manitoba were some of the nicest she’s met in her life.

“It really helps because there's been times when I can relate to people from places I’ve lived and it builds that relationship,” she said.

Other than commitment to the customer, Lori mentioned that the management at Xplore sets us apart from the other places where she’s worked.

She has felt consistently supported throughout her career.

“They help you with your decisions, help you grow, help the company grow. They are invested. The management makes a big difference in the job. I feel that I always have management behind me,” she said.

Having the courage to work in a technology related field was a big point of pride for her and she said she couldn’t have done it without the support of her team.

“I’ll tell you, there were some scary moments on the phone where I thought, I can’t do this. I didn’t know what a gigabyte was when I started. But I persevered and I feel that I’m technically competent now. I will say there was great support,” she said.

Being named a Top Xplorer was another very proud moment.

“It blew me away because I had no clue and it tells me that Xplore appreciates the work of its people.”

Outside of work, Lori loves swimming, cross stitch and she is an avid reader. She just finished an autobiography of maritime county singer, George Canyon. She’s starting a true crime book now but her favourite genre is mystery. She’s read all of John Grisham. You might even catch her reading the occasional Danielle Steel.

Tara, Human Resources Manager

As HR Manager, Tara’s role is to partner with leaders and employees across the organization on all types of HR matters. This includes things like understanding policies, assessing risks, or increasing knowledge of programs and benefits available. Tara also oversees national programs such as compensation, leaves of absence and Xplore’s annual employee engagement survey.

Tara started her career at Xplore in 2010 as a recruiter, which was her field of expertise at the time.

From there she moved into an HR generalist role and then the manager position she holds today.

For Tara, the best thing about her job is the constant change.

"There's never a dull moment. I like the pace that comes with that and that we're always looking at how to improve the service for customers,” she said.

One of the reason’s Karen Dade, Xplore’s Director of Human Resources nominated Tara is because of this innovative spirit.

“Whether it relates to a large HR process or policy, or how someone is thinking about a problem, Tara makes suggestions, is open to change and is a leader on the HR team when it comes to testing new ideas and concepts,” she said.

Tara says she also really loves the people she gets to work with.

"We have so many amazing and passionate employees across the organization. It's great to work with people who share that,” she said.

As an employee herself, Tara says she truly looks forward to coming to work every day.

“It’s getting one on one time with coworkers, those daily interactions and really liking the work that I do,” she said.

When she’s not working, you can find Tara enjoying all that rural New Brunswick has to offer.

An avid reader and outdoors person, you might find her hiking, canoeing, cycling, and camping in the summer or enjoying a pint of craft beer.

These are just a few of the stories we've heard as we celebrate the outstanding service and dedication of our Top Xplorers.

There are so many more stories hidden in our work, from daily challenges at the front line of Customer Care to the innovators working tirelessly on developing our network. That’s why we will be highlighting team members quarterly and sharing their stories here on our blog.

We can’t say thank you enough to our incredible team members for their tireless efforts, which have made all the difference for our customers. We are so grateful for all of you, who keep Xplore running smoothly and make us feel proud every day!

If you’re interested in joining the team and delivering the best broadband experiences for our customers, check out open job postings here.