Time Warner's Gonier Leaves to Run Consulting Firm
By Cesca Antonelli, Bloomberg, 2-27-06
Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) — Time Warner Inc.'s Dennis Gonier, who rejuvenated the America Online Internet unit's customer-service division, left to run consulting company TARP Worldwide.
Gonier, 45, an executive vice president at AOL, spearheaded the plan to give away anti-virus software to staunch defections. He said in an interview that he stepped down in December to be chief executive officer at TARP, which helps clients figure out how to improve customer service.
At AOL, the largest U.S. Internet access provider, Gonier ran a division with 13,000 workers answering 325,000 customer phone calls a day. The Dulles, Virginia-based division lost subscribers since 2002 as users switched to high-speed connections and last month started teaming with phone companies such as AT&T Inc. to offer service at the faster speeds.
"There are still way too many companies out there like AOL was three years ago,'' Gonier said. They regard customer service as "a cost to control, not an opportunity to maximize.''
Gonier improved call center training programs and said he generated savings of $1 billion in three years. Many AOL customer complaints stemmed from problems caused by viruses, leading to the idea to give away security software. The decision saved money that had been spent fixing problems over the phone.
Shares of New York-based Time Warner, the world's largest media company, rose 4 cents to $17.31 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading and are little changed this year.
TARP has 45 employees in Arlington, Virginia, and London. The company has 50 customers including Neiman Marcus Group Inc. in Dallas, Tokyo's Honda Motor Co. and San Antonio-based United Services Automobile Association that pay an average of $1 million a year for customer-satisfaction tracking surveys and advice.
The company competes with Westlake Village, California-based JD Power & Associates, New York-based McKinsey & Co. and Hamilton, Bermuda-based Accenture Ltd.
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