Dive Brief:
- Verizon’s recent investments in customer experience and operational efficiency, which have emphasized simplicity and reduced friction, led the company to strong financial results in its latest quarter, CEO Dan Schulman said on a Q1 2026 earnings call Monday.
- The wireless carrier reported 55,000 postpaid phone net adds during the quarter, up 340,000 from the first quarter of 2025, marking the first time Verizon achieved positive Q1 postpaid phone net adds in 13 years.
- The gains are "the early results of our transformation efforts on customer retention,” Schulman said during the call. They come alongside improvements to Verizon’s customer relationships.
Dive Insight:
Verizon sees lower customer churn as pivotal to its success. Building a more loyal customer base through better experiences reduces costs while improving retention, and Verizon is committed to earning long-term brand loyalty over quick wins.
“You put out a price plan, people can follow that,” Schulman said. “You put out a promotion, people can follow that. But the hard work of improving the customer experience — that comes day by day, one initiative after another, to make that happen.”
Consumer postpaid churn held steady at 0.9% in the first quarter of 2026, according to EVP and CFO Anthony Skiadas.
“While there is more work to be done with customer experience, which is the largest component of our transformation plan, we're pleased to see early signs of progress towards our goals,” Skiadas said during the call.
Customer service has a significant role in the wireless carrier’s battle against churn. In the first quarter, Verizon’s consumer customer service team achieved record high customer satisfaction driven by improved resolutions, fewer handoffs and faster response times, according to Schulman.
Other improvements include removing friction from the customer experience while stopping the practice of hiking prices without adding a corresponding amount of value, according to Schulman.
Prior to Schulman joining in October, Verizon had boosted its CX over time with a range of initiatives from improving personalization to breaking down data silos.
The company’s efforts have continued in its latest two quarters. The cost of customer acquisition and retention was down by about 35% in March compared to the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, according to Schulman.
Verizon’s operating revenue rose 2.9% year over year to $34.4 billion, according to an earnings report. A reduced emphasis on promotions helped drive the revenue growth.
Verizon’s work isn’t done, according to Schulman. The wireless carrier has assembled a dedicated cross-functional team with clear targets that will work within established governance processes to review progress, help overcome issues and reallocate resources as needed.
Schulman believes the program is changing how Verizon is run on a day-to-day basis, including its approach to CX.
“A central pillar of our upcoming new value proposition is the end-to-end redesign of our customer experiences to ensure we delight each customer in every interaction,” Schulman said. “Our commitment to customer value and trust is becoming part of our corporate DNA embedded in how we design offers, how we communicate with our customers and how we measure success internally.”
