Survey: Sprint Nextel scores customer service win
Pali Research finds carrier quickest in answering customer service calls
October 15 2008 - 1:20 pm ET | Allie Winter | RCR Wireless News
Sprint Nextel Corp.’s luck may be changing, at least in terms of customer service. According to recent survey results conducted by Pali Research, Sprint Nextel ranked first in response time — a significant statement for a carrier that has been raked over the coals in past customer service surveys.
The results showed Sprint Nextel answered more than 91% of calls in 30 seconds or less. Pali Research conducted the study by placing 2,500 calls to customer service during the third quarter of 2008. Pali Research conducted this same test during the first quarter and said the carrier answered 68% of calls in 30 seconds or less, with results falling to 52% of calls during the second quarter. Pali Research also found that the carrier answered 99% of calls in two minutes or less versus 84% during first quarter testing.
The lastest Pali Research testing also showed that Verizon Wireless answered 85% of calls, T-Mobile USA Inc. answered 43% of calls and AT&T Mobility answered 33% in less than 30 seconds.
“We believe Sprint is making tangible progress in improving churn, but Q3 gross additions in the CDMA business could be affected by the launch of the iPhone and a reduction in commissions,” the report said.
Sprint Nextel has also launched some in-store initiatives and other subscriber “rewards” to improve its customer service efforts (and its reputation).
However, Pali Research seems to be alone in its recent findings for Sprint Nextel. The latest customer care performance study by J.D. Power and Associates ranked Verizon Wireless on top and had Sprint Nextel as the only carrier to score below the industry average. Verizon Wireless also scored highest in another recent J.D. Power and Associates study on call quality.
October 29, 2008 08:09 am
Sprint is actually doing their best to improve Customer Satisfaction... and so far they have been successful.. notice when you call Sprint's Customer Service, rep's would really exhaust all their options to help you resolve your concerns. KUDOS to the management and staff of Sprint...
October 16, 2008 04:17 pm
This article really does make sense that Sprint answers calls faster than any other carrier. It's because if you are truly a Sprint Customer, you don't want to call because you know how horrific of an experience you will have and the fact that most of their reps english is well, ESL! So when no one calls, you have more people available to actually answer!
October 16, 2008 06:12 am
The amazing thing is no matter how hard Sprint attempts to rebound from their merger mistakes the media just keeps hitting them harder and harder hoping they fail. Let's mot all forget Sprint is a 100 yr plus fortune 100 company with success in thier roadmap. I read in a local publication that both republican and democratic parties are tied to Verizon and AT&T. This is the clear picture!!
October 16, 2008 06:11 am
This article did not point out that the Pali Research survey was conducted during 3Q 2008, while the J.D. Power survey responses were collected between February and June 2008, at a time when Sprint was in the process of implementing initiatives to improve the customer experience. Hence, the very positive Pali Research survey in 3Q. The phrase "Pali Research seems to be alone in its recent findings for Sprint Nextel" minimizes the Pali Survey results. Responsible journalism would have included the facts of the timing of the surveys rather than minimize the Pali Research survey as a way to explain the difference in results; but reporting the facts would have taken a little more effort.
October 16, 2008 06:11 am
If one was to give any credibility to this report, one would first need to look beyond the obvious. Sprint has the largest customer care staff in the industry. (God knows that they terminated a lot of sales reps in order to accomplish that!) However they do not have the largest customer base. So if a certan percentage of calls come in from your base, it stands to reason that the group with (by far) the smallest base out of the big three and with the largest customer care staff out of the big three would be the quickest to answer the phone. The J.D. Powers report is qualitative in regard to the entire customer care experience. The Pali report is quantitative in regard to how quickly does a call get answered.Considering that customer service reps performance metrics at Sprint are based upon how many calls they handle, it is obvious they are going to answer that call as quickly as possible. However since volume is king, (and has a direct result on the customer service rep compensation) it is obvious that they are going to transfer, disconnect or in some manner get rid of the caller that has an issue that will take more than a minimal amount of time to handle. The net result is that both reports (Powers and Pali) could be highly accurate from a logical standpoint. Either way at the end of the day Sprint needs to do a lot more than this if they are to even survive as a company. (Which a lot of smart money is betting that they won't!)
October 16, 2008 06:12 am
This is the best joke going around Kansas City…Hey did you hear Sprint Corp is losing a million subscribers per quarter on their two incompatible networks (CDMA, iDEN)?Yes, I heard that.Did you hear how they are going to fix the problem?No.They spent two years trying to launch a THIRD NETWORK (Xohm)!!This joke brings down the house every time among the locals who know how bad the mess is at Sprint Corp.
October 15, 2008 01:33 pm
Never had a reason to call Sprint Customer Care. I deal with a store in town that is owned by a local family. I go in to buy my phones, change rate plans and so on. If you want good service deal face to facewith someone that pays their bills by having you as a customer. From my point of veiw there is no need for a survey like this.
October 15, 2008 01:26 pm
Though it is real nice that they answer the phone quickly, it would be even better if they did ANYTHING productive once they answered it!! If the call is for anything other than the simplest transaction, you end up on hold, get passed around and finally you get hung up on. But hey at least they answered the phone in a hurry.
October 15, 2008 01:33 pm
Pali's research seems to be a study of an objective quantity, call response time. JD Powers' studies are subjective surveys. They are coming from different directions to determine similar things.JD Powers' surveys seem to generally address how customers felt about certain aspects of service from the carriers and depend upon poll results of self identified customers.Pali, on the other hand, appears to be looking at underlying direct measures of performance that could then be related to customer satisfaction.One would expect the results of the Pali study to lead the JD Powers by some timeframe. For instance, if a carrier made changes that degraded their call response time, then a study like the Pali one might show a decline in customer satisfaction as a potential outcome. It is likely that a JD Powers study over the same period would reflect the experience of the "base" of the customers that may not have had any negative impact from the current period changes.One of Sprint's problems is that negative impressions in the customer base are hard to change despite changes in actual performance since many customers do not have direct, regular, customer service experiences that could positively (or negatively) impact their impressions. Many customers' impressions are based on word of mouth and what they read of others' experiences. No great surprise here, we all know that a good reputation can be hard to make and easier to lose than to regain.
October 15, 2008 01:33 pm
What credibility does Pali Research have? Who are they, and what track record do they have in evaluating customer service? If call response time is a reasonable metric for evaluating customer service, then JD Power and Associates has it all wrong interviewing actual customers! I have no axe to grind over Pali, but thorough reporting should include a profile of the firm whose results are challenged or which are contrary to JD Power. I'm a fan of Sprint, so I'm looking for positive news there. JD Power probably benefits unfairly from public familiarity which may give unwarranted credibility to their findings as well, but not if they have the performance metrics right, reflected in the survey questions.Love the publication, and KEEP GOING. Thanks for a great resource for our industry.Chris