@jbtaylor on tech

I'm a spokesman for Sprint. This personal site is where I share news stories and my views about our company, our phones and other devices. I also write a bit about tech policy, the wireless industry and life in Washington, D.C.

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J.D. Power: Sprint is 1 of 40 "Customer Service Champions" in U.S.

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via flickr.com

Earlier today, we heard two bits of news from the folks at J.D. Power that I'm pretty proud of.

First, J.D. Power ranked the experience customers have when they visit the retails stores of the national wireless carriers. T-Mobile was ranked first, Sprint was ranked second, AT&T was ranked third and Verizon Wireless was ranked last. It's been a remarkable rise by Sprint. Just a year ago, we were last in this rating. Now were are 19 points higher.

Then, J.D. Power announced that Sprint was among 40 companies in the U.S. that they deemed "Customer Service Champions".

According to their news release:

"Brands that receive the J.D. Power Customer Service Champions designation are among the top 5 percent of more than 800 evaluated brands, based on their performance in five key areas identified as the J.D. Power 5 Ps: People, Presentation, Price, Product and Process. J.D. Power Customer Service Champions not only excel within their respective industries, but also stand out when evaluated across multiple industries."

In addition to Sprint, U.S. Cellular and T-Mobile were named to the list. Those consumer advocates and regulatory reporters who criticize the wireless industry perhaps need to stop painting with a broad brush when they make claims that the wireless industry isn't customer friendly.

This follows on the heels of the news last month from an independent wireless study which ranked Sprint customer satisfaction number one in terms of satisfaction with calls to Customer Care. According to the survey, Sprint leads all national competitors in both call satisfaction and first call resolution, two key metrics in the overall quality of customer service.

While our team is justifiably proud at our improvement, we recognize that we have more work to do. Our Chief Service Officer Bob Johnson put it best when describing our reaction to being named on of the country's 40 "Customer Service Champions." Bob said, “We are pleased to receive this distinguished honor and proud of the hard work of our employees in enhancing every customer experience. These important interactions take place in our stores, on our website or in calls to our care centers. What makes this honor especially gratifying is that we received this distinction directly from our own customers. They recognize the consistency and high quality of service we’re committed to providing. Our steadfast focus is on customer satisfaction and it will continue to be our top priority.”

New Survey: Customer Satisfaction Improves at Sprint, T-Mobile & AT&T, Drops at Verizon

A new survey of customer satisfaction with several industries is just out which shows more people are satisfied with the customer service from their cell phone company than last year this time. (The American Customer Service Index also looked at land line companies, cable companies, information service companies and hospitals.)

In fact, customers with Sprint, T-Mobile USA and AT&T are happier this year than last year. Only Verizon Wireless customers are less satisfied.

On an index scale from 1-100, here's how the carriers stack up:

  • T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless are tied for first at 73. (T-Mobile improved 3% and Verizon dropped 1%.)
  • Sprint is third at 70. (We improved 11% this year and 13% the year before -- this is the largest improvement of any carrier in the study.)
  • AT&T is fourth at 69. (They improved 3%.)

As the AP points out in their story about the study: "the differences between all four nationwide carriers are now with the margin or error for an individual company, at plus or minus 3 points."

At Sprint, our internal metrics of customer care satisfaction have improved for each of the last 9 quarters. While we certainly have had our problems in previous years, we have improved the customer service we offer substantially. If you left us because of poor customer service several years ago for another carrier, those days are gone. We'd love to have you back. 

To learn more, check out this table from the people who conducted the survey, ACSI, to see how the carriers have stacked up over time.