Marcelo Claure, Town Hall Meetings, New Family Share Pack Plan, Unlimited Individual Plan, Discussion Thread

[JWMaloney]

No one ever said that White people shouldn't say "ghetto". I just feel like insulting a potential consumer based because of their economic status is not right for an advertisement that's suppose to get people to consider your service. And no, had it been middle class Asian, Black, etc, it still would be problematic. It's just worthy to not that they were white because the term ghetto often has implicit racial biases since most of the "ghettos" in the U.S. are inhabited by people of color. But that's going off track.

 

People also tend to overlook how many Irish, Italian, Sicilian, Jewish, and other "white" immigrants spent generations in the ghettos of major cities.

[Paynefanbro]

People also tend to overlook how many Irish, Italian, Sicilian, Jewish, and other "white" immigrants spent generations in the ghettos of major cities.

 

 

Very true!

[JWMaloney]

Sprint could run an entire positive-focused ad campaign based on "Yeah, we know we let you down in the past. But we're much better now with LTE Plus, and we're a better value than the competition. Give us a try for 30 days and see what you think for yourself".

 

People can relate to that, and it would work.

 

Remember these? I can't find the exact video, but there was one with mostly the same message in the 3G days.

 

[S4GRU]

The fact that these discussions became racial and politically tinged regarding the ad just illustrates the poor decision in creating and running that ad. Sprint marketing was trying to use Marcelo to beat Legere at his own game, but missed the mark.

It's not even a matter of PC. I'm not a politically correct kind of guy. I think some reasonable points were made from most of you on all sides of the issue. But our discussion of the issue proved that the use of the term ghetto, conjuring up a connection to race and socio-economic status, was a bad idea. Marketing inspires as many people as possible to your brand, not alienate. This was marketing napalm.

It's just a bad idea. The jist of the same message could be delivered by accentuating the positive of yourself. You can insult your competitors problems. But do not insult your competitors customers.

Also, at S4GRU, we avoid politics like the plague. Because good people with good ideas can disagree vehemently politically. Even on reasonable issues. It alienates and angers people. Much like the Sprint ad in question. Here we had many long time members of this site who have gotten along so well for so long starting to take jabs at each other. Nothing good comes from it.

Please, please be civil to one another. Please remove as much political rhetoric as possible when relevant political discussion arises. S4GRU wants to be a reasonable wireless telecom discussion center to everyone, regardless of their political views...left, right, center...even Libertarian.

Thank you to all of you who make S4GRU a wonderful place to spend your time.

Using Tapatalk on Note 8.0

[RedSpark]

Remember these? I can't find the exact video, but there was one with mostly the same message in the 3G days.

 

 

Yup. Great suggestion. Have Marcelo be the new "Man on the Street".

 

This one too:

 

[RedSpark]

Sprint marketing was trying to use Marcelo to beat Legere at his own game, but missed the mark.

 

I'll go one further.... Not only did they miss the mark, but they shouldn't have been aiming for anything anywhere near this. And there goes all the goodwill and positive PR from the "Listening Tour", undone in a single moment.

 

Marcelo isn't John Legere, nor should he try to be, or listen to anyone who says he needs to be.

[bigmachine]

Although I think listening in general is a great idea, was a "listening tour" really necessary?

 

Most consumers barely have any loyalty to what has basically become a commodity service.  What consumers do have are memories of bad experiences of network performance, poor customer service or both.  You don't need to talk to customers to figure that out.

 

Instead, how about a "getting things done tour."

[red_dog007]

Its a figure of speech.  Just poor oversight Marcelo shouldn't get any blame for really.  He didn't say it, Im pretty sure he didn't edit or post that video, shoot maybe didn't even review the video before it was posted.  Heck, maybe he was the one to ask to take it down. 

 

In a position like that, doing this tour, it isn't a good idea to lecture someone over a comment. Would be a great way to upset everyone at the table and make them not feel like they can say whatever they want.  Just a good idea to listen, continue with the process (unless someone is getting really into their feels), and just edit stuff out. 

 

John compared high bills to rape a little while back during an uncarrier.  Though what is said is a figure of speech that is often used. IMO with that or this YT video, there really is nothing wrong.  Just when you are representing a company and are high in the organization tree, you do have to be careful because someone will complain and it'll be LOUD.  Marketing too has to be careful.  You wouldn't want to put an ad like "Pick Sprint cause TMo is ghetto" just like you wouldn't want to use "Pick TMo cause ATT/VZW rape you".  

 

 

At the end of the day John said he was sorry, Sprint took the video down, and if it mattered to you that is all that should matter now, its done.  If you are were and are still offended even after you get what you wanted, then give your money to someone else. 

[Overstew]

Although I think listening in general is a great idea, was a "listening tour" really necessary?

 

Most consumers barely have any loyalty to what has basically become a commodity service.  What consumers do have are memories of bad experiences of network performance, poor customer service or both.  You don't need to talk to customers to figure that out.

 

Instead, how about a "getting things done tour."

I feel like it'd be more effective for Marcelo to ask their churned customers these questions, or just listen in on the calls where customers complain/cancel Sprint.  Talking to people in select markets (where Sprint in most cases do well) for an unbiased opinion is just a waste of time.  Some people would probably be too shy to badmouth Sprint in front of their CEO as well.  With recorded calls, you'll hear everything you need to know regarding customer's thoughts and concerns.

[RedSpark]

Its a figure of speech.  Just poor oversight Marcelo shouldn't get any blame for really.  He didn't say it, Im pretty sure he didn't edit or post that video, shoot maybe didn't even review the video before it was posted.  Heck, maybe he was the one to ask to take it down. 

 

Someone else he trusted approved this video most likely. If we want to go all the way to the top, Roger Sole, Chief Marketing Officer might have had the final say on it for all we know.

[RedSpark]

Although I think listening in general is a great idea, was a "listening tour" really necessary?

 

Most consumers barely have any loyalty to what has basically become a commodity service.  What consumers do have are memories of bad experiences of network performance, poor customer service or both.  You don't need to talk to customers to figure that out.

 

Instead, how about a "getting things done tour."

 

I don't think Marcelo should be on a tower rig installing antennas. But he should be forced to use the Point of Sale terminals in a retail store to truly experience what the frontline reps do when making a sale. Have him do a TEP add-on too.

 

Heck, show him thanking the people in the field who upgrade Sprint towers across the country.

 

Even better. Show him going to one of the Top Ten Tower Sites that used be be on his "S*** list" and show before/after coverage and speed tests. Show him shaking the hands of the techs who did the upgrades. Then show him talking to nearby customers about how Sprint has improved and demonstrate the improved speeds/coverage.

 

Shortly after arriving, Claure began daily meetings about Sprint’s worst-performing cell sites—what the network team called the Top 10 S--- List. With about 20 executives around a table or dialing in, Claure brought up each site responsible for large numbers of dropped calls and asked how it would be fixed within 24 hours.

 

If a site was still on the list the next day, Claure would ask again: Should an antenna be tilted up or down or sideways, so it points toward more customers? Does Sprint need to add antennas, or use antennas with more bandwidth? “It was painful,” says John Saw, Sprint’s chief technology officer. “But it was good for getting the network fixed.”

[JThorson]

And then in most cases sprint is falsely advertising there lte plus network in cities where it is not present. Which, also leaves a bad taste in customers mouth and they will leave.

 

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All carriers do that to some aspect...

[jamesinclair]

I feel like it'd be more effective for Marcelo to ask their churned customers these questions, or just listen in on the calls where customers complain/cancel Sprint.  Talking to people in select markets (where Sprint in most cases do well) for an unbiased opinion is just a waste of time.  Some people would probably be too shy to badmouth Sprint in front of their CEO as well.  With recorded calls, you'll hear everything you need to know regarding customer's thoughts and concerns.

 

Yes this.

 

I would bet large sums of money that like Verizon, there is zero communication between what the call centers hear and HQ.

 

You can have 1,000 people on the same day call in about the same issue, but unless its a tech failing (network down) that stat never gets reported to HQ.

[WiWavelength]

I completely agree! And then in most cases sprint is falsely advertising there lte plus network in cities where it is not present. Which, also leaves a bad taste in customers mouth and they will leave.

 

Uh, no.  Those are called regional or even national advertising buys.

 

T-Mobile commercials run on OTA or satellite in the middle of nowhere -- where T-Mobile does not offer even non emergency roaming coverage.

 

I sometimes get subjected to Whataburger commercials.  Am I supposed to drive several hours to Oklahoma or Texas?  To get or to leave a bad taste in my mouth?

 

You need to understand mass marketing better.

 

AJ

[tyroned3222]

Uh, no. Those are called regional or even national advertising buys.

 

T-Mobile commercials run on OTA or satellite in the middle of nowhere -- where T-Mobile does not offer even non emergency roaming coverage.

 

I sometimes get subjected to Whataburger commercials. Am I supposed to drive several hours to Oklahoma or Texas? To get or to leave a bad taste in my mouth?

 

You need to understand mass marketing better.

 

AJ

Ya, but if the posters are all over the stores showing that you have it and you go in thinking its there and the sales person doesn't tell you other wise your still left with a bad taste in your mouth!

 

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[JWMaloney]

I feel like it'd be more effective for Marcelo to ask their churned customers these questions, or just listen in on the calls where customers complain/cancel Sprint.  Talking to people in select markets (where Sprint in most cases do well) for an unbiased opinion is just a waste of time.  Some people would probably be too shy to badmouth Sprint in front of their CEO as well.  With recorded calls, you'll hear everything you need to know regarding customer's thoughts and concerns.

 

He already does that. In fact, he's been doing it since his first 90 days in the position.

 

http://fortune.com/2015/08/07/sprint-pegasystems-customer-service/

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2014/11/12/sprint-ceo-claure-former-customer-research.html

 

Claure digs through ex-customers' comments to rebuild Sprint

 

"One of the things I've been doing a lot now is when I'm staying late in the office is listening to conversations of why customers are leaving," Claure said Wednesday at Wells Fargo Securities' Technology, Media & Telecom conference in New York City. "I haven't had a single customer say 'I'm leaving you because you didn't have 35 megabits per second data speeds. I'm leaving you because you dropped my calls. I'm leaving you because I couldn't establish a data connection.' We're going to focus on fixing the basics."

 

Consumers, what research tells us, don't care about LTE, or gigabytes of data. 'I want to have my phone and I want it to work.' I'm committed to making sure Sprint becomes the easiest brand to do business with."

[RedSpark]

Thoughts on what Marcelo should do at this point?: Keep the "Listening Tour" going, or pull the plug?

[Houston_Texas]

Thoughts on what Marcelo should do at this point?: Keep the "Listening Tour" going, or pull the plug?

Well, you have to figure out what is the true purpose of the Listening Tour.

 

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[NYC126]

Yup. Great suggestion. Have Marcelo be the new "Man on the Street".

 

This one too:

 

 

That man has always been classy, it just the management team and board messed his vision.

 

When Legere went into a 12 months rant against Sprint Hesse never bothered to respond to him.

[NYC126]

Thoughts on what Marcelo should do at this point?: Keep the "Listening Tour" going, or pull the plug?

Get out of the spotlight, you will never be Legere with the clean cut professional look. Spend your time and energy on the Sprint native footprint network.

 

If my network is fast in Las Vegas, why is so mediocre in El Paso Texas. Regardless Sprint is handicapped with that 32 billions debt. That is why they can't do expansions, faster deployments, acquisitions, better marketing tools etc.

[RedSpark]

Well, you have to figure out what is the true purpose of the Listening Tour.

 

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After this well-publicized blow-up (and I mean, it's everywhere now), I don't think anyone is going to want to share their true thoughts with Marcelo on Sprint or other carriers because of the blow back risk.

 

In my honest opinion, it's time to wrap it up.

[greenbastard]

Get out of the spotlight, you will never be Legere with the clean cut professional look. Spend your time and energy on the Sprint native footprint network.

 

If my network is fast in Las Vegas, why is so mediocre in El Paso Texas. Regardless Sprint is handicapped with that 32 billions debt. That is why they can't do expansions, faster deployments, acquisitions, better marketing tools etc.

To be fair, Sprint has been in debt for the longest. So I'm sure that's not the reason why they won't expand considering they are moving forward with densifying the network.

[NYC126]

To be fair, Sprint has been in debt for the longest. So I'm sure that's not the reason why they won't expand considering they are moving forward with densifying the network.

But the bills weren't due, but now are coming especially with the first one by year's end with a whopping 3 billions amount due.

[Houston_Texas]

After this well-publicized blow-up (and I mean, it's everywhere now), I don't think anyone is going to want to share their true thoughts with Marcelo on Sprint or other carriers because of the blow back risk.

 

In my honest opinion, it's time to wrap it up.

Couldn't he or his employees scour the internet to find out what the issues are?

 

Network

Customer service

VoLTE

Etc

 

Secondly, what can realistically be done to fix the problems?

 

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Edited April 13, 2016 by Houston_Texas

[RedSpark]

But the bills weren't due, but now are coming especially with the first one by year's end with a whopping 3 billions amount due.

 

Sprint has sufficient liquidity from Network LeaseCo to pay the first round of its upcoming debts that are due.

 

More "Network LeaseCo/Handset LeaseCo" transactions will occur in the future as needed.