T-Mobile Promises Better Customer Care With Team of Experts

T-Mobile is making wireless service more than personal. The company announced a new client service initiative called "Squad of Experts" designed to route support calls to tight groups of empowered staffers, rather than dividing teams past purpose or sending customers through the frustrating automated maze of using interactive voice response (IVR) systems.

"90 percent of customers say they don't desire to deal with an IVR, and they don't want to talk to a phone depository financial institution," T-Mobile COO Mike Sievert said.

The company's new arroyo volition not simply connect yous to staff who can supposedly really set your problem, just it'll do it on your terms. T-Mobile volition allow you asynchronously text bulletin with humans (equally opposed to being stuck in a 'live chat') and, rather than put you on hold, volition let customers set up a time to be called dorsum. Other companies have fabricated some of these innovations, for sure, simply T-Mobile is making a large deal out of being the commencement big wireless carrier to do and then.

The improved service approach is now available to T-Mobile postpaid customers, the company said, by calling 611 or using the T-Mobile app. T-Mobile execs said support staff will be graded on whether they solved client problems, not how chop-chop they can get rid of callers.

"This is the terminate of the call middle runaround," T-Mobile'south EVP of customer service, Callie Field said.

T-Mobile used to be known for its customer service. Co-ordinate to an annual study washed past the University of Michigan, betwixt 2008-2010, the pre-Uncarrier placed second or tied for first in terms of customer satisfaction before plummeting during its sick-blighted effort to merge with AT&T.

In this year'due south JD Power Wireless Customer Intendance Study, T-Mobile came out on top. While the carrier has recovered in recent years, information technology can be very hard for a visitor to shake a reputation built during a downturn.

The visitor also sent the states a actually goofy board game to promote the news.

T-Mobile sent me a Board GAME to promote its new "Team of Experts" #UncarrierNEXT @TMobile customer service program. Permit'due south see what's in there! pic.twitter.com/az1CLQdOt4
— saschasegan (@saschasegan) August 15, 2022

The Urge to Merge

Mobile Earth Live reporter Diana Goovaerts had a fascinating spin on the announcement: this is a way to help get T-Mobile's much-desired merger with Sprint approved. Hither's how that works.

Simply GUYS. Thought: is this just a style to spin promised task cosmos as a customer perk? Retrieve during the @sprint merger proclamation they said they were planning to add "thousands" of new workers to staff its telephone call centers.
— Diana Goovaerts (@DiaMariesbeat) August xv, 2022

Using human customer service staffers means hiring a lot more people than if you're using bots, and continuing to hire more than people every bit you gain customers.

T-Mobile has promised that the merger would create jobs, non destroy them.

But that goes against the history of mergers, which tend to find savings past firing duplicative staff. Hiring a ton of customer service agents and pitching information technology as a competitive advantage makes T-Mobile look like a real task creator every bit it goes up for authorities blessing of its merger.

Dart doesn't use Team of Experts, pregnant the carrier would likely have to staff up to friction match the new T-Mobile approach. T-Mobile probably knows exactly how many people Dart would need to rent to come up upward to par. That lets T-Mobile dangle physical job growth plans over the government'south head as a carrot. That'southward a smart political play.