Dave Zatloukal, EVP at Hughes, Named Customer Experience Leader of the Year Finalist

With over a decade of experience reporting and following trends in digital and customer experiences, CMSWire hosted its Digital Experience (DX) Summit event on October 28-29. As part of the event, CMSWire recognized senior executives who have led significant customer experience improvements. Dave Zatloukal, executive vice president, Service Delivery and Global Information Systems at Hughes, was named one of five finalists for the 2021 Customer Experience Leader of the Year, as selected by a panel of editors from the publication.  

“I’m honored that the folks on my team felt strongly enough to nominate me for this award. I’m also surprised; I look at the customer experience as a core part of my corporate responsibilities. It’s an integral part of our operations at Hughes, not something I would be singled out or recognized for,” said Mr. Zatloukal.

Mr. Zatloukal was recognized for his leadership in establishing a company-wide customer experience organization at Hughes. The team assessed every aspect of the Hughesnet® customer journey, addressing areas like the installation processes and product usability testing. Zatloukal reinforced customer surveying by building targeted task teams equipped with data findings to inform improvement recommendations, resulting in a measurable increase in customer satisfaction scores. He also empowered and energized Hughes employees to contribute to the customer experience effort.

As part of the company’s ongoing efforts to enhance the experience of millions of Hughesnet Satellite Internet customers, Mr. Zatloukal applies a team-based approach to driving improvements. Soliciting input from employees is fundamental to the corporate culture. For example, a company program called “CX! Now” invites team members across every aspect of the business—operations, consumer and enterprise divisions, customer service and support functions like finance and HR—to offer suggestions to improve the customer experience.

“Without employee engagement, customer experience goals can’t be achieved,” he said. “We’d made significant strides in this area prior to Covid-19. When it hit and sent all of us home to work the challenge, we engaged even more people across the organization to maintain momentum.”

What’s next for the team when it comes to customer experience? As Mr. Zatloukal explained, 2022 will be an important year for Hughes with the launch of JUPITER™ 3—the largest commercial broadband satellite ever: “We are preparing for a significant uptick in customers and to ensure a positive experience with our new and enhanced systems. Until then, we’re eager to return to our offices and continue delivering a great experience to help our customers stay connected.”