SoftBank is lighting a fire under Sprint

[Terrell352]

Im with you on this 100% but i have worked for Sprint before and know one thing from that experience. People don't want to have to go through so much research just to get a phone. They expect all of there questions to be answered at a Sprint store by reps. They use coverage maps to determine when which carrier they will go to. They expect to have 4g data off the back if they have a 4g phone and they expect to get what you pay for. Spooning and feeding the customer is a big reality and is not going anywhere anytime soon. Point is I was once one of those customers and a lot of others here also. 1. Carriers coverage maps are to exaggerated confusing the customer. 2. Customers want what there phone is capable of aka 4g without having to wait with no estimated time of completion. 3 Get what you pay for which means if your paying 160 a month you should be able to do a google search with 4 full bars of service and service shouldn't be better when you first got service then a year later it goes to the can. 4. Reps should know what they are talking about and if not they should not be working there. I left Sprint retail because how do you sell a device when you can't load a web page and competitor's could. The only thing most people have a good idea about is what kind of phone they want and that's it. Iphone for example. Do you really think they would care or know if it is single band or not? Do you think they even care if it was 4g lte or not? They sell millions regardless because customers are uniformed and don't care as long as fb, instagram and twitter works. Truth is most customers don't know and don't care how the carrier works if its going to be complicated for them to understand they just want a carrier that works.

 

If a customer is going to lock into a 2 year contract with a company for a service, it is the customer's responsibility to research and find the info needed to make an informed decision. That is what I did back in August when I joined here. I've been with Sprint for a good number of years. I knew there was a good chance I'd stay a Sprint customer, but I still did my due diligence of Googling for relevant info on the competition and on how Sprint was fairing with their NV upgrades. I quickly found links to the NV network thread here and began reading. Within days I had a good grasp on how the wireless network industry was and where it was going in the next two years. I understand that it is important for a company to keep info available to the public and allow us to see what is important to know. I feel that Sprint does a fair job between their website, Newsroom site, various interviews and a dose of tech site articles. But, there comes a point where Sprint as a company shouldn't have to hold your hand and spoon feed you. As customers, we have to take responsibility to understand for ourselves what we are getting ourselves into when we decide on a product or service. This is why I have a Denon system at home instead of a Pioneer, a Panasonic V series plasma tv instead of a Vizio and why I have a Sprint phone instead of a Verizon phone. Heck, this is why I have a G2 instead of a single band S4. I researched and found out where I should put my money to achieve the best customer experience.

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

[tommym65]

. . . source of such cutting edge journalism as "president caught in gay sex orgy with dachshunds" and "Queen dead for years, operated by team of puppeteers". Got to love those supermarket tabloids for keeping us up to date with the news not even Fox will run.

 

OBAMA DID WHAT???!!!???!!!

[lafester]

Im with you on this 100% but i have worked for Sprint before and know one thing from that experience. People don't want to have to go through so much research just to get a phone. They expect all of there questions to be answered at a Sprint store by reps. They use coverage maps to determine when which carrier they will go to. They expect to have 4g data off the back if they have a 4g phone and they expect to get what you pay for. Spooning and feeding the customer is a big reality and is not going anywhere anytime soon. Point is I was once one of those customers and a lot of others here also. 1. Carriers coverage maps are to exaggerated confusing the customer. 2. Customers want what there phone is capable of aka 4g without having to wait with no estimated time of completion. 3 Get what you pay for which means if your paying 160 a month you should be able to do a google search with 4 full bars of service and service shouldn't be better when you first got service then a year later it goes to the can. 4. Reps should know what they are talking about and if not they should not be working there. I left Sprint retail because how do you sell a device when you can't load a web page and competitor's could. The only thing most people have a good idea about is what kind of phone they want and that's it. Iphone for example. Do you really think they would care or know if it is single band or not? Do you think they even care if it was 4g lte or not? They sell millions regardless because customers are uniformed and don't care as long as fb, instagram and twitter works. Truth is most customers don't know and don't care how the carrier works if its going to be complicated for them to understand they just want a carrier that works.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

Like the dave said if people don't want to do their research its on them. Never ask the salesman which product is the best.... you should know the answer before walking in to the store.

[richy]

Like the dave said if people don't want to do their research its on them. Never ask the salesman which product is the best.... you should know the answer before walking in to the store.

Caveat emptor  

 

Theres two sides to this, yes consumers are ultimately responsible for understanding their needs and ensuring they buy appropriately. A company shouldn't be held responsible for people making an inappropriate decision. However most companies wanting to serve the general populous (rather than say a company selling differential scanning calorimeters or gas chromatographs to the scientific community where usually the customer knows more than the company would like) need to understand we are part of the 'cant think won't think' generation. A lot of their customers simply wont bother to understand what they need vs what they want even if they could figure it out and frankly many people seem to be proud of being ignorant. They see shiny, they want shiny, they buy shiny for the cheapest they can. The sad fact is this is just a difference between how we would like it to be and how it actually is. Is the customer responsible for making the right choice? Yes. Is the company going to catch the flak when they don't. Yes. It isn't right, but its how it is. Decades of lawyers ensuring we aren't responsible for looking where we walk or thinking before we act.

 

Luckily customers are also fickle and a few discounts and a marketing campaign later and they are back in droves. but wait theres more, order now and we will send you a second set completely free even though we told you they will never break, just pay inflated shipping and handling charges etc etc. People just don't think. Companies would do well to remember that and remove the need for thinking   

[S4GRU]

I feel bad for people who make poor decisions because they were lied to. I really do. But it is never wise to trust commissioned sales people. In any industry.

 

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[The Dave]

I used to sell cars, commissioned sales is definitely soul crushing.

[tommym65]

I feel bad for people who make poor decisions because they were lied to. I really do. But it is never wise to trust commissioned sales people. In any industry.

 

I have been a commissioned salesperson for more than 30 years. I have left companies because the engineers lied about specifications. Not all salespeople are unethical.

[S4GRU]

I have been a commissioned salesperson for more than 30 years. I have left companies because the engineers lied about specifications. Not all salespeople are unethical.

 

I don't disagree.  I won't even say that most commissioned sales people are liars.  However, it is far too tempting to too many commissioned sales people to be less than honest to make more money.  It's just that when someone is dealing with a commissioned sales person, they need to do more research on their own and not just take their word.

 

Robert

[centermedic]

If a customer is going to lock into a 2 year contract with a company for a service, it is the customer's responsibility to research and find the info needed to make an informed decision. That is what I did back in August when I joined here. I've been with Sprint for a good number of years. I knew there was a good chance I'd stay a Sprint customer, but I still did my due diligence of Googling for relevant info on the competition and on how Sprint was fairing with their NV upgrades. I quickly found links to the NV network thread here and began reading. Within days I had a good grasp on how the wireless network industry was and where it was going in the next two years.

 

I understand that it is important for a company to keep info available to the public and allow us to see what is important to know. I feel that Sprint does a fair job between their website, Newsroom site, various interviews and a dose of tech site articles. But, there comes a point where Sprint as a company shouldn't have to hold your hand and spoon feed you. As customers, we have to take responsibility to understand for ourselves what we are getting ourselves into when we decide on a product or service. This is why I have a Denon system at home instead of a Pioneer, a Panasonic V series plasma tv instead of a Vizio and why I have a Sprint phone instead of a Verizon phone. Heck, this is why I have a G2 instead of a single band S4. I researched and found out where I should put my money to achieve the best customer experience.

Actually I dont blame Sprint or the individual customer. I blame the media. Not everybody is tech savy and those folk need to have things spoon fed to them. Most look to outfits like consumer reports or their favorite tech website to help guide them through the techno babel. We all know how reliable that can be sometimes.

[The Dave]

Actually I dont blame Sprint or the individual customer. I blame the media. Not everybody is tech savy and those folk need to have things spoon fed to them. Most look to outfits like consumer reports or their favorite tech website to help guide them through the techno babel. We all know how reliable that can be sometimes.

I blame this new generation. It could be poor parenting, poor schooling, poor media/cultural shifts, or something else that I just don't understand. Unfortunately, the era of people being responsible for themselves, putting in hard work and taking an initiative to better themselves and their understanding of what is around them seems to be at an end. It's not like I am an old dog set in his ways and pining for a better time of Leave it to Beaver, I am only 30. It just annoys and worries me that a person can't take a little time to make their self more aware of what they are doing/buying/experiencing.

[koiulpoi]

I feel bad for people who make poor decisions because they were lied to. I really do. But it is never wise to trust commissioned sales people. In any industry. Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

As someone who works with commissioned sales people, I completely agree.

 

Thankfully, our store (and our local company) takes a dim view of lying or shady business practices. In the past, people have been let go for it. And I in particular talk to them all the time about things that they say that aren't true at all...

[GinaDee]

I blame this new generation. It could be poor parenting, poor schooling, poor media/cultural shifts, or something else that I just don't understand. Unfortunately, the era of people being responsible for themselves, putting in hard work and taking an initiative to better themselves and their understanding of what is around them seems to be at an end. It's not like I am an old dog set in his ways and pining for a better time of Leave it to Beaver, I am only 30. It just annoys and worries me that a person can't take a little time to make their self more aware of what they are doing/buying/experiencing.

 

In business, especially retail, you need to think like the consumer.  Not everyone takes the high ground on ethics. 

 

As a business owner I'd be out of business if I relied on my customers being overly informed.  I make sure my staff understands customer pain points and recommends products and services based on intelligence.  I remind them to think like the customer. 

 

When both the customer and the sales staff are ill-informed you have a disaster waiting to happen.  

[hankbear]

As a very technical person who is called upon to help make buying decisions by friends, family, co-workers, and acquaintances all the time, I tend to see the perspective of the less technical person a lot.  Even those, like my husband, who are very technical in their own way about the products and services they support, defer to me on certain subjects.  I believe we've become overly complex in such a way that it takes far too long to gather enough information, determine the appropriate decision factors, and weigh them all to come up with the best choice.  Reliance on things like Consumer Reports, review sites, and people like me are a natural consequence.

 

Having too many choices with too many options for any product or service can make sifting through it all too time-consuming.  I have a harder and harder time making some purchases because of this.  Even in an area I know fair amount about, I had a lot of factors to consider in buying my latest cell phone:  micro sd slot, removeable battery, RAM, ROM, screen size, processor, physical construction, tri-band, rf performance, etc.

 

The average consumer has no hope of learning enough about every product they purchase to be certain they have picked the "best" product.

[centermedic]

As a very technical person who is called upon to help make buying decisions by friends, family, co-workers, and acquaintances all the time, I tend to see the perspective of the less technical person a lot.  Even those, like my husband, who are very technical in their own way about the products and services they support, defer to me on certain subjects.  I believe we've become overly complex in such a way that it takes far too long to gather enough information, determine the appropriate decision factors, and weigh them all to come up with the best choice.  Reliance on things like Consumer Reports, review sites, and people like me are a natural consequence.

 

Having too many choices with too many options for any product or service can make sifting through it all too time-consuming.  I have a harder and harder time making some purchases because of this.  Even in an area I know fair amount about, I had a lot of factors to consider in buying my latest cell phone:  micro sd slot, removeable battery, RAM, ROM, screen size, processor, physical construction, tri-band, rf performance, etc.

 

The average consumer has no hope of learning enough about every product they purchase to be certain they have picked the "best" product.

Exactly.

[JeffDTD]

It can also be impossibly frustrating to change the general public's perception on widely misunderstood concepts dealing with a network ,etc.  No matter how accurate you are, they either choose not to believe you or choose to hear something other than what was said.  I am never surprised that less informed employees end up lost in fact/fiction limbo.  

[richy]

As a very technical person who is called upon to help make buying decisions by friends, family, co-workers, and acquaintances all the time, I tend to see the perspective of the less technical person a lot.  Even those, like my husband, who are very technical in their own way about the products and services they support, defer to me on certain subjects.  I believe we've become overly complex in such a way that it takes far too long to gather enough information, determine the appropriate decision factors, and weigh them all to come up with the best choice.  Reliance on things like Consumer Reports, review sites, and people like me are a natural consequence.

 

Having too many choices with too many options for any product or service can make sifting through it all too time-consuming.  I have a harder and harder time making some purchases because of this.  Even in an area I know fair amount about, I had a lot of factors to consider in buying my latest cell phone:  micro sd slot, removeable battery, RAM, ROM, screen size, processor, physical construction, tri-band, rf performance, etc.

 

The average consumer has no hope of learning enough about every product they purchase to be certain they have picked the "best" product.

 

True to an extent, so it is to a companies advantage to ensure it's product requires the minimum amount of thought to achieve a satisfactory experience

 

Having said that we don't have to make THAT many choices in life, at least not big ticket items, and we have a lot of help choosing. Groceries, schooling, housing, car, cell phones, TV health insurance etc.Many of the choices we don't have to review often, most folks don't change house or car on a yearly basis. Schooling was a pretty difficult and expensive choice but its a one off choice. What I absolutely love about our society is we have choice and we have access to a wide range of information (of varying quality) to help make that choice. If you are motivated to read and put in a little mental effort you can understand most things and you can pay to outsource that effort. Can you imagine the Norks running a website like this? Robert would have been executed for 'dreaming different dreams' or whatever the current euphemism is over there for daring to think. Life shouldn't be deliberately difficult but nor should we wish it to be too easy lest we forget how to think. Many industries have also advanced to the point where there it is hard to make a bad choice, you make make a suboptimal choice but look at cars. There are less wonderful cars out there but barring going for some random import they're all pretty safe, pick one the right size that looks pretty. You might pay a bit extra in gas although even thats written pretty large on the window when you buy. Theres websites out there that you put in an address and it tells you all about the neighborhood, crime stats, house prices, schools etc.

 

Ask Robert, I am not a smart person but if I can do fine most people, unless they want to make a really specific choice, should be ok if they put a little effort in. Want to buy a tv? Walk into costco, theres not really a bad choice in there, none of them will explode or give you cancer. They even invented the wps button on routers so all you have to do is plug them in and whack the button and stuff can connect so you don't need to understand configuring it. The cell phone market is a little distorted in that respect as if you can benefit from learning a little more about the networks and the phones to avoid being disappointed, but again the information is out there and it is possible for an average person to understand.   

[centermedic]

True to an extent, so it is to a companies advantage to ensure it's product requires the minimum amount of thought to achieve a satisfactory experience

 

Having said that we don't have to make THAT many choices in life, at least not big ticket items, and we have a lot of help choosing. Groceries, schooling, housing, car, cell phones, TV health insurance etc.Many of the choices we don't have to review often, most folks don't change house or car on a yearly basis. Schooling was a pretty difficult and expensive choice but its a one off choice. What I absolutely love about our society is we have choice and we have access to a wide range of information (of varying quality) to help make that choice. If you are motivated to read and put in a little mental effort you can understand most things and you can pay to outsource that effort. Can you imagine the Norks running a website like this? Robert would have been executed for 'dreaming different dreams' or whatever the current euphemism is over there for daring to think. Life shouldn't be deliberately difficult but nor should we wish it to be too easy lest we forget how to think. Many industries have also advanced to the point where there it is hard to make a bad choice, you make make a suboptimal choice but look at cars. There are less wonderful cars out there but barring going for some random import they're all pretty safe, pick one the right size that looks pretty. You might pay a bit extra in gas although even thats written pretty large on the window when you buy. Theres websites out there that you put in an address and it tells you all about the neighborhood, crime stats, house prices, schools etc.

 

Ask Robert, I am not a smart person but if I can do fine most people, unless they want to make a really specific choice, should be ok if they put a little effort in. Want to buy a tv? Walk into costco, theres not really a bad choice in there, none of them will explode or give you cancer. They even invented the wps button on routers so all you have to do is plug them in and whack the button and stuff can connect so you don't need to understand configuring it. The cell phone market is a little distorted in that respect as if you can benefit from learning a little more about the networks and the phones to avoid being disappointed, but again the information is out there and it is possible for an average person to understand.   

You are assuming that the source of information chosen is accurate.

[Destroyallcubes]

Yeah I think the research to find the right product, such as Wireless phone service, it is up to the person to Research the phone, and plan they Need, and the sales person to make sure They are aware of  The services, and not Lie. I bet if people used voice recorders during the process of starting a new line, then maybe they would have to get More Honest Sales agents. Most companies have a ton of misinformed workers, and then people get confused, and trust the person working at the Store, just because they work there. So companies need more Informed employees,and People need to Stick to their Gut, and Not believe everything the Employees say.

[WiWavelength]

So companies need more Informed employees...

 

Agreed.  Currently, many in wireless retail are just a notch above fast food worker or supermarket clerk.  So, how much more are you willing to pay for wireless operators to hire better educated employees and/or provide significantly greater training?  That is the $64,000 question.

 

AJ

[S4GRU]

 

 

Ask Robert, I am not a smart person

Ouch! I'd never say such a thing. My intelligence, if any, is just an amalgamation of recollections of events/comments from people who are much smarter than I am.

Robert via Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 

[Destroyallcubes]

Agreed.  Currently, many in wireless retail are just a notch above fast food worker or supermarket clerk.  So, how much more are you willing to pay for wireless operators to hire better educated employees and/or provide significantly greater training?  That is the $64,000 question.

 

AJ

Well With the internet growing as it is, Maybe the people can be replaced with Video chat people, that aren't in store? I think that would be a cool idea. But some people want person to person still. But I bet they could still train them to be better than they are, without needing a huge degree. They just don't have the right info to tell. 

 But I wouldn't mind a slight increase if they had Customer service with some Idea of what they were talking about.

[Rocket87]

Agreed. Currently, many in wireless retail are just a notch above fast food worker or supermarket clerk. So, how much more are you willing to pay for wireless operators to hire better educated employees and/or provide significantly greater training? That is the $64,000 question.

 

AJ

I can't speak for all carriers but reps in sprint stores make 20-25k in hourly wages a year and have a target commission of 13200 a year. With overtime and going over my sales goals i and most i know are pulling in 40-45k a year and i dont work in the busiest of stores but its ranked in the top 3rd by traffic out of the about 1100 corperate stores. So im sure many lowly sales reps make more at busier stores. Previously i worked at 2 different 3rd party companies and reps at both made aboyt half what sprint corperate pays snd tge benifets are not as good.

 

Anyways my point is i wouldnt call it a notch above burger flipping, they pay well enough and provide good benefits that its not a bad career to get into for a while. The technical training is just a joke and the bottom line when it comes to training is getting sales and making a profit.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

[xjr2amt]

I think it's hard to inform customers if the company doesn't even inform the managers. . . .just saying. I currently work at Sprint. Most of our workforce is educated. There's a difference from being smart and not informed just saying . . .

[The Dave]

I think it's hard to inform customers if the company doesn't even inform the managers. . . .just saying. I currently work at Sprint. Most of our workforce is educated. There's a difference from being smart and not informed just saying . . .

When I sold cars, we were expected to not only complete all the training courses with Chrysler, but we had access to computers and were expected to research for ourselves to improve our knowledge and sell more cars.

[xjr2amt]

When I sold cars, we were expected to not only complete all the training courses with Chrysler, but we had access to computers and were expected to research for ourselves to improve our knowledge and sell more cars.

it's kind of apples and oranges from a car dealership and a telecommunications corporation.