Great customer care and customer service is a winning strategy for any company. All the great companies have a strong focus on this area. Seeing this as a way to strengthen their own customer relationships, T-Mobile saw this as an opportunity. So, their most recent “uncarrier” move, is to focus on improving their customer experience.
So many companies in every industry have moved away from focusing on personal customer care? They focus on letting technology do the heavy lifting. While if done right, this can work for many companies, many others don’t do a great job. This leaves them in a weak competitive position.
I think this is a great idea for T-Mobile. Historically, their customer care has not been the best. This will help them strengthen the relationship with their customers and along with other things like competitive prices, could have a positive impact on their bottom line.
History of T-Mobile shows company near death to successful once again
T-Mobile is an interesting story over the last decade. Before CEO John Legere entered the picture, the company was breathing its last breaths. Everything was terrible from customer care to quality of the call to speed of the connection to being connected at all. When you had a problem, you were pretty much on your own.
T-Mobile was a 2G carrier as the rest of the industry moved to 3G. They struggled for years because they didn’t see the future coming on strong and fast like a freight train coming right at them.
By the time they finally woke up, every other competitor was solidly 3G, leaving them behind in the dust of the fast-changing wireless industry.
That’s when they made the bold decision to bypass 3G to move straight to 4G with the rest of the industry. That means they struggled for years as a 2G player as the entire industry was rapidly growing in the 3G world.
The move to 4G was just what T-Mobile needed. However, they needed a marketing Midas man. Someone who could turn the T-Mobile dust into gold. When they brought in John Legere, the ball finally started rolling.
T-Mobile focusing on the customer is a good thing
I knew John a decade ago when he was running Global Crossing. He was a firecracker back then but turned into a flame thrower with T-Mobile. His caustic comments tried to burn every competitor around him including Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility and Sprint. He has not slowed down focusing his attention today on new competitors like Comcast Xfinity Mobile.
His strategy was both to build T-Mobile up and to try and tear the competitors down. This helped punch T-Mobile back onto the map once again. Since that time, he has been working hard to build the company.
A few years ago, they launched the “uncarrier” idea. This was his way of trying to separate T-Mobile from the other wireless competitors. While I think they try and take credit for many things that are already happening in the industry, I have to admit that their “uncarrier” focus is good for both them and for the entire industry.
While T-Mobile didn’t create changes in industry, they do focus on change
The uncarrier strategy finds and focuses on all the sour spots in the industry. Spots that are already being addressed by other industry players. So, T-Mobile is not alone in their efforts to continually improve and gain market share.
While they didn’t create the changes the wireless industry is going through, they are riding the same growth wave and change wave as other wireless competitors.
However, they’re keeping this uncarrier strategy in the headlines keeps users aware of the industry transformation. All the soft spots that are being strengthened, so it can improve for the customer and ultimately reward the investor.
So, keep up the good work T-Mobile. Congratulations on improving your customer care. And thanks for helping us all keep our eyes on the changing and improving wireless industry for customers, investors and wireless workers.
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