Consumers ranked wireless carriers as providing a less useful and enjoyable customer experience than retailers and credit-card companies, but better than TV service providers and medical insurance providers, according to a recent survey of nearly 5,000 consumers by Forrester Research.
Among companies in nine industries, cellphone service providers were ranked No. 5 in terms of being useful, easy to use and enjoyable for consumers. Wireless providers trailed retailers, investment firms, insurance companies and credit-card providers, but came in ahead of banks, Internet service providers, TV service providers and medical insurance providers.
A Virgin shall lead the way
Pay-as-you-go wireless provider Virgin Mobile USA Inc. received the top ranking among wireless carriers from consumers in all three areas, while the Sprint and Nextel brands languished at the bottom-despite the fact that Virgin Mobile USA’s service runs on Sprint Nextel Corp.’s CDMA network.
The survey included the four national carriers-including separate data on the Sprint and Nextel brands-plus Alltel Corp., Virgin Mobile USA and prepaid provider Tracfone Wireless Inc.
Virgin Mobile USA led the industry with the only “excellent” rating for ease of use; the company also was ranked highest by consumers for its usefulness and whether or not their experience with the company was enjoyable. In fact, Forrester noted, taking Virgin Mobile USA out of the mix of wireless service providers and “the industry would fall near the bottom of the list of industries.”
Faint praise
But even for Virgin Mobile USA, the “enjoyable” part was a challenge, and an area in which Forrester noted that “none of the carriers distinguished themselves.” Still, consumers at least considered most wireless providers to be “useful,” with almost all of the companies earning either an “excellent” or “good” rating-except Sprint and Nextel, which were considered merely “OK.”
Overall, Forrester found that wireless customers ranked Alltel second among service providers, followed by T-Mobile USA Inc. Verizon Wireless came in at No. 4, followed by Tracfone, AT&T Mobility, the Nextel brand, and the Sprint brand.
Sprint Nextel singled out
Despite statistics from Sprint Nextel that its CDMA and iDEN networks are both performing at historical-best levels, that they’ve hired several thousand more customer care representatives to improve the customer experience and that calls are being answered faster and resolved quicker, the carrier may find it hard to gain market momentum when it is consistently earning thumbs-down from various consumer surveys.
Sprint Nextel received a dismal review in Consumer Reports’ recent evaluation of wireless providers, with the magazine concluding it would not recommend service from the carrier unless a customer specifically wanted push-to-talk service. Sprint Nextel has consistently ranked near the bottom of customer satisfaction surveys by J.D. Power and Associates, and now Forrester has concluded that “Sprint should invest in a radical overhaul of its customer experience efforts. This type of initiative requires commitment from the CEO, and a dedicated senior executive to help drive and facilitate all of the necessary process and culture changes.”
During a recent analyst conference, Sprint Nextel CFO and acting CEO Paul Saleh said that the company plans to launch loyalty-based incentive programs, similar to programs by airlines and hotels, and increase its focus on retaining subscribers rather than trying to bring in new ones. Sprint Nextel is also in the midst of transitioning to a single customer-care and billing platform.
