Dan Hesse, the captain and CEO of the Sprint Nextel ship, has taken the helm amidst a troubled economic sea, but just as Sprint has bled away another 1.3 million customers last quarter, Mr. Hesse bleeds optimism about his company's future. Ryan Kim of SFGate.com had an opportunity to interview with Mr. Hesse and get some insight as to how Sprint will recover in troubled times.
In efforts to make Sprint more seaworthy, Mr. Hesse describes their focus on customer service and matching "action with our rhetoric." Retail employees are incentivized to assist customers with their concerns in the store, whether it's about finding the right phone or fixing a problem with their bill. He has made headway in making sure that stores have the tools and systems they need to create a better customer experience, focusing on "measuring customer satisfaction in the store experience" versus a focus on sales only.
It's just about impossible, though, to talk about Sprint Nextel improving their service and sales and ignore the 800 pound gorilla in the room - Sprint's retail exclusivity on the Palm Pre. When asked about the importance of the Pre to Sprint and the competitive edge it may give Sprint in the smartphone market, Mr. Hesse replied:
In today's market, iconic devices, no question, they move the needle, they grab attention. And we're very excited about the Palm Pre. I will give (BlackBerry manufacturer) Research In Motion credit for creating a great business phone and the iPhone, I give it credit for being a great consumer device. This is the first one I belive that really crosses both. It's an outstanding business device and it's also a whole life consumer device. It's a combination of a superb touch screen with a physical keypad, which is, for a heavy e-mailer and texter, a must. We think it's going to be a very successful device.
We also believe that the Palm Pre is going to make huge waves for Sprint, and hopefully for them, those waves will be just what they need, along with their improved customer experience, to move their ship full steam ahead. For all you Sprint customers out there, do you agree with an improved customer experience? How successful do you think the Pre will be for Sprint?
Comments
It used to be long waits for calls to customer service and then transfer city so that was dreadful. I'm happy to say that the experience is much better with immediate answers and no transfers. Better yet I've not been answered by some overseas call center that really I felt had no ownership in helping me out.
I can haz Pre now!!!!!
I thin their service and support is terrific! I had a keyboard issue with my Mogul months back. Took it to the store to talk to a rep about my issues. He sat down and listened to what I had to say and said that I should probably get a new phone. 5 min later he gets up, walks in the back of the store and just seconds later he comes out with a brand new phone. He setup it up in about 10 min and I was out the door. I have had no issues with the people in the store, on the phone or even with my phone. I really think people need to give Sprint a chance. They are not the pirates of the sea anymore. People need to stop saying they suck and actually give them a try. Plus from what I am hearing, their plans are pretty darn good! So please take one from a customer of 6 years. They really have shown that they are changing how business gets done.
Sprint does not recognize time spent as a Nextel customer prior to the merger. Because of this, I do not qualify for "Premier customer" status. My email on this issue was returned with a canned phone message as to why I don't qualify. I have over 10 years combined with Nextel/Sprint, but not 10 years with Sprint. My monthly bill for my 3 lines is under the $99.00 cap. It is unfortunate to me, when a new program like this comes out, but manages to piss off long term customers like me. Yes, I very badly want a new Pre to replace my 755p, but if I really have to wait inline until after the "premier customers" get theirs, I may just wait longer until another carrier has it. Dan Hesse can talk all he wants about customer service, but he has really pissed me off with this one. Note: I am not currently under contract.
I have been back and forth with sprint. There cell-phone service as far has connection, and dropped calls has always been above par compared to other companies.
Where they lost me was customer service and 3rd party affliations. 6 months into my contract, I went to a 3rd party sprint store to pay a bill, and the store messed up the transaction and my card was billed but my phone number account was not credited. I was on the phone and going to between this 3rd party sprint store back and forth for 2 or 3 months, and not getting credited my money. I was extremely frustrated calling during mid-day to have to speak to a foreigner sales rep who did not understand english and english slang.
In the end I lost 200 dollars because I was too tired to deal with the company. 9 months later, I got a new phone, and they accidently took off my unlimited text message. When I got my next bill I had a bill of 150 dollars, I called to have it fixed. They said they did, and I next month, once again was billed 150 dollars. Thankfully I had it figured out and was credited. the money.
NOW: 7 months later, I called because I was having a problem with my phone, and it seems as tho the customer service has gone up 10 fold. They were very good to me. They even dropped my phone bill down by 15 dollars when they noticed I was paying double on something. They made the necessary changes (Something they should have done right the 1st time, but just thankful a customer service tech spoke up)...
I content with the phone service now. I'm not under contract. The Palm Pre, for me, is the last straw. Either I get this phone and its great. Or I walk away from sprint all together.
I too agree that Sprint really has improverd on their customer service side. However, the reputation of Sprint is good awful even though I find their service, plans and call quality to be better then the rest of the competiton in my area ( S Chicago).
However, in order for sprint to right the ship and make a big turn around, many things need to happen. They started with working on the customer service aspect, which is the best place to start. Now they added competitive plans and now the Palm Pre will be added soon. This phone will hopefully be a monster for the company.
The only thing they need to keep doing is drawing in customers with something new. This Sprint Premier thing is a good start, but ideas like this are things us as customers really like! Keep it up Sprint!!!!
I'm currently with Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T and all of them have average customer service. I have my share of good and bad dealings with the CS of each one. I suppose it depends on who you get and how he/she is doing that day, which pretty much goes for any line of work. Now, lets get down the real point on why Sprint has been losing customers. It's the phones and signal coverage. Sprint has been for the longest time falling way behind Verizon, AT&T, and even T-Mobile when it comes to the latest and greatest phones to come into the market. Cell phones, just like cars, is a status symbol. Plus, people love to have a lot of functions on their phones; even though, at the end they just use it to call and text. Now, the Pre and hopefully more to come will change the image of Sprint as a provider who is not falling behind the times. Second and which is probably more so important is the signal coverage of Sprint. CDMA, which Sprint and Verizon uses for their phones is by far superior to GSM (it's like comparing Blu-Ray to DVD); however, you need a lot of towers to cover vast areas. Verizon has made great strides to do so, but Sprint hasn't. Hence the bad coverage. When it comes to AT&T and T-Mobile which uses GSM, they don't and will not put a lot of towers. Their technology doesn't require it. If you read up on both of these technologies you will see why. Anyway, Sprint needs to strenghten their signal coverage. I see Sprint coming back with Pre and other phone in the near future. If they play their cards right, they might even go from third to second.
I've been a Sprint customer for only 3 years now and have had my fair share of rough patches with them. The area I live in gets spotty reception for some reason; my phone has never worked at my house or at the college I attend a few miles west of my home. In trying to fix these problems, we've dealt with some really lousy customer service policies and atrocious CS reps. We've also dealt with people who have been exceedingly helpful and friendly despite our obvious frustrations.
I've been ready to drop Sprint at a moment's notice for past problems but my mother's new job will require her to stick with Sprint and invest in a BlackBerry. Since I have no choice, I've given in to the fact that I must give Sprint a second chance and I'm prepared to do it with the Pre. Currently, no other phone in their lineup looks as enticing (except for perhaps the other Palm devices).
I think Sprint is getting better but they still have much to prove to me.
Every wireless company has dead spots and weak signal areas. That's not unique to Sprint. One of my work locations, in the metro Washington, DC area, has lousy Verizon coverage. So bad that I have to use PDANet and my Sprint phone to connect my laptop, because my Verizon Aircard is useless.
I live in a major metro area on the west coast, and Sprint has fairly decent coverage (now). With the roaming plan for another $5 bucks, it's damn near perfect for 95% of the traveling I do. Some of that roaming is on Verizon towers.
I'm apparently a "Premier" customer, from the descriptions provided. Qualify on both counts.
Sprint's major failing over the years has been customer service. In the 10+ years I've endured them, I've endured:
1) A multiple thousand dollar "mistake" by their warehouse that resulted in a surprise call from their credit collection department threatening to shut down all my phones the next day if I didn't pony up $2000.00 (I did not owe them) that instant.
2) Promises made of certain rates and discounts when I signed up for "Agreements," which have always turned out to have problems (in Sprint's favor) that take months or years to fix.
3) They will NEVER put their "Agreement" into writing, except summarized in a very generic and vague sense (on your bills). Even when they sincerely "promise" to email it, and/or even put the details into the notes - they won't. You will spend the next two years with other Sprint reps swearing up and down about the plan details that were agreed to, and they'll threaten to bill you $200 per phone if you don't keep YOUR end of the agreement. Mysteriously, the "notes" and "email" the salesdweeb promised are nowhere to be found, and reps will call you a liar (between the lines) and tell you that you are "lucky" to have such a plan with them.
4) Everyone from duck pond through escalations will use Sprint's errors and omissions within the plan you are on to upsell you into a more expensive contract with less features. Had you known that Sprint would screw up so badly that you'd be investing well over 40 actual hours AFTER the agreement was "signed" to get them to honor it, you might have been better off with a more expensive plan. But, once you've been screwed that badly, I make it my personal mission to ensure Sprint will get as little extra money as possible out of me - they've already stolen my time.
Under Hesse, they seem to at least be giving Customer Service lip service, but many of the problems I've had with Sprint have *still* been happening in the past year. I do give their local store credit for FINALLY stocking replacement phones so I don't have to wait a week for the insurance replacement.
They seem to be jacking up their rates in the meantime, and I'm really beginning to wonder if the Pre offers much else of importance that I can't get with my well stocked (and paid for) Treo 755, and maybe takes away too much (removable flash, battery life, etc.).
I haven't experienced bad customer service with the 4+ years I've been with Sprint, so I have no complaints there. I'm sticking with Sprint just because I haven't had any major coverage issues or any problems for that matter. Their prices are so far unmatched to this day!
--James
I gotta say... I was close to dropping Sprint too... until my most recent experience in one of their stores. I was in the market for a new smartphone. Ultimately, I tried 3 of them and wasn't thrilled with any of them. (...And I'm glad I wasn't, since just a few days later, I heard about the Pre.) Anyway... The reps were very helpful. They swapped phones, helped me out, answered a ton of questions, and were really friendly to me as I was shopping, and even after I returned the last phone and went back to my old phone. And, when I had questions on my plan, I called their customer service, and the person was very helpful and got me into a plan similar to what I had before, but for a less money. I was really happy.
On top of all that, with all the research that I did on smartphone data/voice plans, Sprint hands-down has the best options for less $$$ than any of the other guys. As far as plans and service go, they're definitely my first choice. I think the Pre will do a significant job in helping others feel the same way.
Absolutely, the stores have been getting a fire lit under their a**es. One need only visit the lunacy farm that is AT&T's store to understand why Sprint has an advantage.
I've actually experienced Tmobile's customer service to be the best (both consumer as well as corporate), however, their cell service is absolutely terrible in my area of the States compared to Sprint. Walk inside a building in the middle of a major metro area and you can't make or receive a call. Great company if you visit countries where they're tier 1 providers.
If Sprint wants to get serious, they really need to do a complete website redesign. I've been comparing the phones/plans of all the major carriers lately, and Sprint's is by far the worst. Many times I don't get where I want to go, the page design is horrendous and it all feels tacked together. It looks like a website from 2001, which it likely is.
Actually, Sprint has done significant improvement to it lately, especially addressing this new word of "security" that someone over there finally figured out was important. Their previous software apparently exposed your Social Security number and all other ID theft data to any schlub at Sprint who might have need for supplemental income from his Russian friends.
Customer service is better but I do hope Sprint really starts connecting with the customer. For so long now their commercials just been horribllllllle. Heck man give me the head job in marketing and I will show them what a peon can do.
Mr. Hesse please the first BW commercial was nice but now let the devices/network/technology sell itself. Be more explicit and direct to the consumer.
Sprint has a bad rep, well deserved by past CS and network issues.
Now, they have done a great job fixing them. I've been with Sprint for almost 2 years and have been impressed with the coverage. My Treo 700p and billing have been problem free (knock on wood).
What Sprint needs to do for its TV ads is get regular Sprint customers and have them talk about their quality experience with CS or the network.
Public perception is the key thing and if Sprint could show average customers it would be more effective advertising than a bunch of roadies, firefighters or the CEO.
I've been with Sprint, continuously, for the last 10 years. I've had great signal, compared to my brother, who switched to AT&T. Even in good coverage, my internet is faster, and I swear that CDMA sounds better. GSM just sounds tinny to me.
Anyhow, I don't understand all the complaints. I have ALWAYS thought Sprint CS was fine. They've always had amazing policies, like being able to return in 30 days, no questions asked, no strings attached. I can go try out phones, and if I don't like them, keep my old one, no penalty.
Yes, you find spots that have no coverage, but that's with all carriers. 99% of the time, I have great signal, with 3G even. Something that my brother cannot say on AT&T. There are plenty of times where I have to tether my Sprint phone and share my internet connection with my laptop--just so he can get online.
I've heard horror stories from all carriers... It comes down to the phones, and if the service works where YOU NEED IT. I love how people bash a company when they know the exact coverage area, and complain when it doesn't work in a non-coverage area.
Especially with the Pre, I see myself going another 10 years, continuously.
Agreed that coverage area is totally dependent on location. On the west coast I have no complaints, but visit Cambridge with Sprint and you might as well just set your phone to "roaming only."
Though it seems that with the v1.08 "update" my 755 is dropping calls a little more frequently than it did. Hardware seems to be a major wildcard regarding coverage quality.
They're fixing customer service? How about fixing their website? I live in the Peoria, Illinois area and here we can't even shop on Sprint.com without using a Chicago zip code (Peoria is 3 hours south). 300,000 people can't even shop online without a work-around. Do they really think more people browse the stores than online? It's a bit of a turn off when you're told "Service is available in your area, however, please call our 800 number for assistance." How many people are going to search for a zip code that works before heading over to Verizonwireless.com?
I think they say that has something to do with their local contracts or some other ridiculous reason. Zip codes are pretty easy to do a lookup, seems a better company would not make their prospective customers do so much work to try giving them money...
Been with Sprint for years upon years. For a long time, their customer service was just average. It was never anything too bothersome and I like their rates and coverage in my area (Chicago burbs). There was about a one or two year stretch that it was a little rough with CS, though. I had to call a couple of times. Long waits. Overseas call centers. A phone disconnect. I started just going to the nearest store where service was at least more persistent.
But then this year when I've called to ask some simple questions, service has been remarkably better. Domestic call centers, fast answers and informed/honest CSRs. I've even used their chat service on occasion and realized that this also seems to be all domestic and not 24/7 anymore. (I mean no disrespect to the overseas CSRs, but native communication skills are very comforting when you're trying to iron out matters of slim personal finance.)
On the note of chat, I was actually pleasantly startled to be interrupted by a Sprint account rep while browsing and reviewing my account. "Hello. Did you have any questions I could help you with today?" At the time I didn't, and the rep textually nodded and wished me a good day, reminding me the chat was available if I got stuck. Caught me totally by surprise, but I thought it was a very nice touch!
Anyways. Overall, there was a little down turn a few years back. But without a doubt they're vastly improved these days! I've never had any problems with Sprint that didn't seem par for the cellular course. Nowadays I'd actually say I feel like they have my back. Barring catastrophe, I'm set to be a Sprint lifer.
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Good site, admin.
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