Verizon CEO discusses the self-inflicted wounds that drove customers away
Verizon has acknowledged its mistakes.
A Verizon location. | Image Credit - Fierce Wireless
Verizon's new CEO, Daniel Schulman, discussed the reasons for laying off 13,000 employees and outlined the next steps during a virtual meeting on Friday, Barron’s reports.
During the webcast, Schulman acknowledged the various missteps that led to a decline. Over the last five years, the company's market share has dropped by 5 to 7 percent, affecting its revenue. To make up for that, the company hiked rates, but that backfired, increasing the churn rate (the rate at which customers leave) to around 0.25 percent.
Verizon holds itself responsible
During the webcast, Schulman acknowledged the various missteps that led to a decline. Over the last five years, the company's market share has dropped by 5 to 7 percent, affecting its revenue. To make up for that, the company hiked rates, but that backfired, increasing the churn rate (the rate at which customers leave) to around 0.25 percent.
We’ve lost like 500 to 700 basis points of market share in the last five years. And by the way, that puts pressure on a lot of things. It puts pressure on our revenue. It means we have to compete harder. We start raising rates and when we start raising rates, you start irritating customers big time. They start churning. Like our churn is up like 20, 25 basis points since we started raising rates.
Daniel Schulman, Verizon CEO, December 2025
Schulman also revealed that Verizon's customers are less satisfied compared to other carriers, and attributed this to employees not having enough resources to get complete tasks.
The CEO said that massive layoffs were inevitable to divert resources to value creation for customers. Without the layoffs, the company's market share might have shrunk further. Minor steps wouldn't have been enough.
Schulman's efforts appear to be working, with the exec revealing that the company performed well during the Thanksgiving holiday. He finished the meeting with a holiday greeting and encouraged employees to finish the final quarter strong.
A lot of it is self-inflicted wounds. A lot of it.
Daniel Schulman, Verizon CEO, December 2025
Schulman might have started steering Verizon in the right direction
A lot is riding on Schulman's shoulders, who has an excellent track record of improving company performance, though not all of his decisions paid off.
Strong performance during the Thanksgiving period suggests the tide may have started turning for the company, but with no hard data available, any conclusion would be conjecture at this point.
Schulman is also trying to grow the business unit, and mentioned during the meeting that the company wants to provide service to large cloud service providers.
The CEO didn't provide details about his new strategy for the company, but AI is going to be a centrepiece of the transformation to cut down on costs and simplify operations. Schulman has previously identified friction as a problem due to the complexity that arises from having too many promotions. Customer service is also a top priority.
Exciting times
While only time will tell if Verizon will be able to reclaim its lead, what's promising is that the carrier isn't shying away from admitting its mistakes. There is chatter that Verizon is losing money on its latest deals. Thus, even without outright price reductions, the carrier is committed to providing customer value. This is proof that the company's vow to delight customers wasn't just fluff, and it's serious about getting back in the customer's good graces.
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