Last week, I had the opportunity to interview Sprint Nextel’s new CEO Dan Hesse for about 20 minutes for my story “Sprint’s Wake-Up Call.” Hesse, an industry veteran who most recently ran the local phone company Embarq, has vowed to make customer service the top priority of the company. That in itself is a huge philosophical shift at Sprint Nextel that should bear fruit. Another major shift: “We are shifting investment from customer acquisition to retention,” says Hesse.
But Hesse must make sure that his message is heard, from the top layers of management all the way down in the call center trenches. Part of the problem of Sprint Nextel is that there’s been a huge disconnect between management and the field over customer service strategy and execution. One result of that dropped call: Even though Sprint Nextel maintained policies barring contract extensions without customer consent, government officials and lawyers have alleged that many Sprint Nextel customers still had their contract extended unknowingly. Here is an edited transcript of the interview in which Hesse speaks in detail about customer service for the first time since taking over the helm at Sprint Nextel last December.
What went wrong? Why did it get so bad?
I don’t have a history here. I came and took a look at customer satisfaction scores and churn. And I have just focused on improving it.
What did you learn?
The churn numbers were way too high and the customer satisfaction numbers were way too low.
How are you changing the way you run the business to improve customer service?
It is cultural. We have an operations review every week. When I walked into my first meeting customer service was not on the agenda. We weren’t talking about the customer when I first joined. The first team meeting agenda was already set. The second meeting after January 1 was reordered.
It’s also symbolic to the entire senior team. Every meeting starts with that. We started the practice at second ops team meeting. Also, my first visit outside of the headquarters was to a call center in Charlotte. I spent a day jacking in to calls.
How did that go?
It was eye-opening to me. You get to listen to the kinds of issues are reps deal with.
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What else are you doing to turn around the company?
I have to simplify our business. There’s an opportunity to improve our systems, with fewer rate plans and options.
How important is customer service now at Sprint Nextel?
The most important economic driver is churn. Customer service plays such an enormous role in maximizing the customer life. It was very apparent it was the most singular issue. It was very apparent that job one was to improve customer service and reduce churn.
How long will it take to turnaround?
We are beginning to improve customer service already. There’s always a perception lag. We did have problems last summer. There will be a lag when it improves and when the world knows that Sprint’s customer service has improved. First call resolution and average speed of answer are measured. That’s improving right now.
How hard is it going to be?
The customer experience is much more than customer service. It’s retail. Network quality, ease of use of phone. Experience with care reps. There are a lot of things we are focusing on to improve customer service. You will see progress and regular progress. It is very doable. We have the right people in place. We will get it done. I am holding an all-employee Webcast to talk about this tomorrow.
Customer service is job one. This is the number one priority of the company.
What’s working? What’s not working?
We have instituted self-managed teams. We’re focused on customer lifetime value as a company. I am making investments in customer care. We already have increased investment in customer service. Added more seats in call centers. We put service people in our retail stores. It is a significant investment. We are shifting investment from customer acquisition to retention.
Creating a great experience is very positive from a shareholder point of view. That’s how you create a great brand. We don’t look at this as a cost anymore. Great customer service drives profitability.
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Tags: call centers, churn, customer service, Dan Hesse, first call resolution, Sprint Nextel
February 26, 2008 at 7:29 pm |
My girlfriend was with sprint 2 years ago. Her phones hinge wore out and she was looking to get another phone with the same rate plan she had. It was $30 a month + $5 for unlimited web access. She was flatly refused at the retail store in zip 14623 on Jefferson rd. Then she called customer support who again refused to let her keep her same plan. She was being forced to change to a plan that was $35 + $15 for a “vision pack”. We then asked if I was to switch to sprint and we took a family if we could at least get the wireless web for the same rate she was currently paying. No, we had to pay $15 per line. We told the rep we were going to switch to Cingular. She didnt care. Later that day she switch to cingular, porting her phone number so there was no impact on her life. We are no re-evaluating our wireless carrier but because of the lack of regard for a current customer sprint is not on our list.
March 3, 2008 at 6:55 pm |
I like how every article posted about sprint’s customer service has readers responding with negative anecdotes… Look forward, not back.
April 24, 2008 at 1:26 pm |
I have ins. with sprint-I have been on the phone for a week trying to get a replacement phone/the one they sent has no back, and no charger–this happened two yrs. ago, phone stolen, they sent a phone with a charger that is no longer in service/had to wait another week-we pay ins. for what??I call it blantant FRAUD!
June 26, 2008 at 6:27 am |
Lets see here where to start….lets start with internet….as years go bye internet gets a lot better, one would assume as internet gets better, faster, more equipped, that just maybe price would go up as well….from $5 to $15 a $10 difference….so you would rather pay $200 to cancel a line than to pay $10 extra dollars to experience the best internet service on a mobile phone….sometimes when you get new phones you have to get newer plans to go with the technology of the phone….hmmmm….and now apparently at&t is not good enough either….probably should take this $ your spending on phones and pay for a shrink….every phone company has advantages and disadvantages….sprint is turning the corner and coming on strong with a new leader….maybe should give them another try
June 26, 2008 at 6:33 am |
Now for the “Insurance Scam”….Maybe instead of trying to call in for a week you should get off your lazy potato couch butt and go into a corporate sprint store with a service center and get a freakin back and charger for your phone….we hand them out all day long….its a lot easier when you have a problem to go into a store and talk to a person face to face
July 18, 2008 at 7:10 pm |
Last week-end, we ordered the Instinct via phone. At the time they told us it was back-ordered so they would set up the order with a temporary number. Once the phone was received we would call and the number would be changed to reflect his present number. Imagine our surprise to find his cell phone turned off today when Sprint ported the number away from Alltel, even though the Instinct won’t be here for another week or two. This phone number not just a nice to have. We are not teenagers trying to stay in touch with friends. It is our WORK number. We are publishers and that number is printed on all our sales materials and business cards. Every hour that phone is off, we are losing potential customers and revenue.
I called customer service. The order was not given a temporary number so the number was ported over today. I was given two options -
1. Drive to a Sprint store (almost an hour away) and buy a phone, use it until the Instinct comes in (that means 2 phones on my credit card), then return it. That assumes that the Instinct comes in the next 30 day return window. That also requires us to set up the phone book temporarily and then again in the new phone.
2. Cancel the order, have the number moved back to Alltel and then reorder with a temporary number (like we thought we did already). This moves us back down to the bottom of the list and will take another hour of our time. You and I both know that once someone cancels the order, that is the end of that customer!
Neither of these solutions were desirable. I had already spent too much of my time trying to become your customer. I didn’t need to give up the rest of my day. I asked to speak to a supervisor. She was extremely rude and very unhelpful. When she wasn’t reading me her technical notes, and telling she couldn’t do anything, her method of dealing with me was to try to make me angry enough to hang up. Then I would be in someone else’s queue. It almost worked. She eventually “transferred” me to an escalation department, but it was really just back to the customer service queue. By this time 3 hours being on the phone had elapsed .
My husband gave up and called Alltel to transfer the number back. They couldn’t do it. The number was suspended because it had never been activated and Alltel can’t get it back. Now I was angry! I called back and eventually ended up with a service rep named Ben. He was very polite and helpful and tried his best to solve the problem. But he had no options but the ones already given me. I suggested he have a phone couriered to me from the store, but he didn’t have the authority. He did offer to overnight a temporary phone, but it here again we had the problem of temporary phone book issues.
By this time, I was done. I asked him to cancel the order and see if he could just clear the number. He called me numerous times to keep me posted on his progress. As it turned out there is a “glitch” and the number can’t be cleared. He escalated it to the manual migration department where it sits now. He said it will be tomorrow before anything will be done.
The bottom line is – I have a $246 charge on my credit card and no working phone. I don’t have access to our number and don’t know when or if I will get it. I have lost half a day’s work trying to fix this and missed a deadline with my printer. We have lost who knows how many sales calls. Alltel suggested we give up and just get a new number because we will never get it away from you now
Sprint has made it too hard for me to be a customer. You should work for me, not vice versa. No one has tried to make it worth my time to stay with your company. Ben offered my a 15% discount on my bill, and I had to ask for it. Now that I think about it though, customer service is more important than a discount. As soon as my husband’s line gets straightened out, I will be transferring my service and my daughter’s service also. All three are on the $99 everything plan. It will be worth paying the early termination fee to be with a company I can trust to handle requests and problems competently. Hey maybe we will all get the new IPhone 3G.
July 25, 2008 at 3:13 am |
Okay let me start off by saying what a mistake it would be to get at&t. The Iphone barely works as is and when it actually does work 50% dropped calls. Look every phone company has advantages and disadvantages. If you read the interview at the top of this page you would know Sprint and our new CEO Dan Hesse has addresed the problem with customer care. It is an ongoing process, this change cannot happen over night. I started with the company a year and a couple months ago. I see the change happening and it is very exciting. I am very sorry to hear about the poor service you have recieved. I would like to offer my # for you to reach me at, I believe I may be able to turn your awful sprint experience into a positive experience with the help of my team members and manager. Feel free to give me a call we have a meeting in the morning at 8 a.m. (eastern time) then I work all day tomorrow. I will do my best to turn this around. My name is Chad Campbell and our Store phone # is
(810)720-6800
August 6, 2008 at 2:23 pm |
Hey Chad, I like the way you insult people who have legitimate gripes with Sprint’s customer service, then offer your number for suckers to call you so you can make your quota. You’re a real chode, Chad.
I had Nextel (2 lines), transferred to Sprint, and just received two In-stinks. I’ll be switching to iPhones, thanks.
Chad – don’t bother badmouthing iPhones, you hack.
August 11, 2008 at 5:22 am |
MY M OO SAMSUNG PHONE WILL NOT KEEP THE CHARGE TO THE BATTERY.
I WENT TO THE SPRINT REPAIR STORE, I’VE BEEN WAITNG FOR A RE-PLACEMENT PHONE ALMOST THREE WEEKS. MY JOB IS VERY DEMANDING -SO I NEED MY PHONE.
THE STORE IS LOCATED IN MANCHESTER, CT ON TOLLAND TURNPIKE
August 11, 2008 at 5:22 am |
BAD SERVICE
December 3, 2008 at 12:25 am |
It is interesting to read that Sprint Nextel will be cutting employees and stores under Dan Hesse listing loss of customers as a source. I would think that Mr. Hesse might consider a much better investigation of his store staffs and the general ‘rules’ for subscribers. The required 2-year contract plan with few options is getting a little old. And quite frankly, the store staff I deal with are for the most part completely uninterested in the customer’s needs (unless they fall within very restrictive guidelines). Rather than list my own rather shabby experiences, suffice it to say that I have spent hours in a store trying to resolve problems over the past 2 years and have been met with dismissive attitudes, incompetence, and a general disinterest.
I hear from former customers who have switched another carrier and most list the above mentioned staff issues as some of their reasons for switching.
This is a very competitive market Mr. Hesse. You might want to look more closely at local causes for customer loss even if you are going to close stores.
Oh, if you’re going to lay off workers, could you please be sure it is the incompetent employees? They’re giving your company a bad name.
December 16, 2008 at 4:00 pm |
Hi Linda and thanks for sharing your tale. When I wrote my big story on Sprint earlier this year, I spoke to several store managers and they all complained about the poor hiring practices of the company.
Why don’t you just switch carriers?
January 10, 2009 at 11:42 am |
Being CEO at Sprint maybe a daunting task but customer service representatives making customers happy shouldn’t be; at Sprint it seems to be… I’m extremely unhappy with Sprint but I’m on the Friends & Family plan which is great as far as what I pay so I’m stuck. If I made more money then I could afford to be with a different cell phone service provider and I’d be gone in a heartbeat. I thought the apathetic attitude towards me as a customer was a function of their representatives realizing that I only pay $15 a month for my service but then I read the horror stories and now I know Sprint’s customer service issues are systemic. Their Instinct rebate program is administered so poorly that after being denied my rebate I had my friend (who works in billing at Sprint) resubmit my rebate paperwork and I was denied again. If she didn’t work there then I would have been screwed. After contacting her superiors my account has been credited but if a customer didn’t grow up in Kansas City what recourse would they have had? No wonder Consumer Affairs is investigating them for their suspect operating procedures. Another “for instance” is my recent experience at one of their retail outlets. I brought my Instinct in because for the third time almost all of my text messages just vanished. It couldn’t be a user error because a few of the veratable plethora of messages that I used to have remained and I had only filled up 20% of the handsets memory capacity. In statisitics they teach you that anything can happen once and they have a word if a situation replicates itself (coincidence) but if something happens 3 times or more then you have a pattern. Bringing my phone into the aforementioned Sprint store I expressed my issues to a disinterested representative who had me leave my phone with them for one of their technicians to check it out. I wouldn’t have had a problem with paying the $35 when I returned except that they wouldn’t allow me to speak with the technician who worked on my phone nor could the manager explain to me what steps were taken to fix this mess. The messages that self-deleted are lost forever; they won’t let me speak to the individual who worked on my phone or give me any explanation regarding what was done “that will be $35 please”. I took my phone out of her hand, turned and left. On the way out of the Sprint store the security guard looked like he wanted to physically stop me from leaving. I told him he was going to have to shoot me over the $35 to stop me. In hindsight I’m surprised that he didn’t draw his weapon, aim and fire at me. Considering that he works for Sprint I’m confident that he’s feeble and would have missed. I don’t see the Verizon or AT&T CEO’s in their company’s commercials either. A little more time working on the cornicopia of customer service complaints and a little less face time in front of the camera please…
April 11, 2009 at 8:50 pm |
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May 6, 2009 at 1:46 pm |
Liars and cheats at Sprint. They will say anything to end the call. Now their game is to transfer you to voice mail and then they never return the call.
June 25, 2009 at 12:03 pm |
SPRINT SUCKS…Straight up!!!