Leaders Lens: What true partnership means for mobile carriers and retailers

In a market full of single-point solutions, Assurant leaders share what it means to show up across the entire customer journey.

The mobile and connected device industry doesn't lack vendors. Protection plans, repair networks, tech support, trade-in programs: There's no shortage of companies ready to handle a piece of the puzzle. But pieces aren't what carriers, retailers, and OEMs need right now. They need partners who understand how all those pieces connect and can deliver a seamless experience from the moment a customer says yes to a device, through every twist and turn that follows. 

That's the difference between vendor-ship and partnership. A vendor solves a problem. A partner anticipates what's coming next. 

In this Leaders Lens series, three Assurant executives share their perspectives on what it takes to support customers and partners across the full lifecycle. Not only at a single touch point, but also before, during, and beyond every interaction.

Before: seeing around corners

True partnership starts long before a product hits the market. It starts with understanding where the market is headed and helping clients navigate complexity before it arrives. 

Paul Meggs, Senior Vice President of Global Connected Living Product & Strategy, describes how Assurant builds that foresight: dozens of proprietary consumer research studies each year, dedicated teams monitoring earnings calls across hundreds of companies, active AI pilots, and a venture capital team evaluating emerging startups. All of it feeds into a strategic picture that clients can't easily build on their own. 

"Our clients are trying to navigate a stormy set of factors within their own environments," Meggs explains. "We can help them because we see not just what they're going through, but a lot of what their peers are going through." 

That visibility matters. When you're a carrier, provider, or retailer trying to make bets on device protection, trade-in programs, or connected home offerings, having a partner who aggregates market intelligence and translates it into actionable product strategy changes the conversation entirely.

During: when quality performance counts

Strategy sets the stage, but execution is where trust gets built or broken. When a customer's device fails, everything else fades into the background. What matters is: Can you fix it? How fast? And will the experience feel coherent, or like being bounced between disconnected systems?

Shelley Binkley, Vice President of Service Delivery, oversees Assurant's repair network, which spans more than 925 locations across the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada. But scale alone isn't the point. 

"When we talk about bigger, better, and trusted," Binkley says, "we're talking about a customer who has an appointment at a location that we know has the part when they get there." 

That coordination extends across channels. Whether a customer starts on the web, calls in, or walks into a store, Assurant's omnichannel approach ensures everyone is working from the same information. No handoff gaps. No repeated explanations. The result is an experience that builds confidence in the brands Assurant supports. 

The "trusted" piece comes from deep OEM relationships. All Assurant technicians are WISE certified, with tight partnerships across Samsung, Apple, Google, and Motorola. For partners, that means repairs done right and customers who stay loyal.

Beyond: from reactive to proactive

Historically, tech support has been reactive. Wait for something to break, then fix it. But the proliferation of connected devices and advances in AI have opened a new possibility: reaching customers before problems occur. 

Craig Thole, Senior Vice President of Emerging Products, is leading that shift. "Based on our own knowledge of devices, which is vast and deep, we might see data that says in month 12 of this device, there's typically an issue that starts happening," Thole explains. 

"The opportunity exists for us to reach out in advance and say, 'Here's what you can do to prevent that.'" 

It's a fundamental reframe: tech support as a value-add, not just a cost center. And the results speak for themselves. Resolution rates above 97%. CSAT scores above 97%. NPS above 85. 

Assurant is also rethinking how AI fits into the equation. Rather than using it to replace human agents, they're using it to enhance training and performance. AI-powered "customers" help agents practice scenarios and receive real-time feedback on empathy, knowledge, and skill. When real customers call, the experience is consistently excellent. 

"There's no happier customer than a customer who just had a problem solved," Thole says. "And we are really, really good at solving customer problems."

The full picture

Single-point solutions have their place. But in an industry where customer experience is the differentiator and the journey from purchase to trade-in spans years rather than transactions, the partners who can show up at every stage are the ones worth investing in. 

Assurant's end-to-end approach isn't about doing more things. It's about connecting the things that matter: strategic foresight, operational excellence, and proactive care that keeps customers confident and partners competitive.