Retention Deal

My contract expired and I've been a customer since '97. I just spoke with
CS and was very frustrated because they offerred me NOTHING in terms of a
new retention for signing a contract. I never use even HALF of my minutes
so I wanted a lower bill or earlier minutes or first minute incoming free...
they wouldn't budge.

What I have:

750 Anytime
3000 Weekend
8PM Nites
Free PCS to PCS
$40 for the above plus
$10 Vision

Are any of you out there doing better than that? Should I just shut up and
be happy with what I got or should they throw me a bone? Thanks for your
feedback!

---

› See More: Retention Deal

AJK wrote:
>
> My contract expired and I've been a customer since '97. I just spoke with
> CS and was very frustrated because they offerred me NOTHING in terms of a
> new retention for signing a contract. I never use even HALF of my minutes
> so I wanted a lower bill or earlier minutes or first minute incoming free...
> they wouldn't budge.
>
> What I have:
>
> 750 Anytime
> 3000 Weekend
> 8PM Nites
> Free PCS to PCS
> $40 for the above plus
> $10 Vision
>
> Are any of you out there doing better than that? Should I just shut up and
> be happy with what I got or should they throw me a bone? Thanks for your
> feedback!

Offhand, I'd say that's about as good as it's gonna get.

(If you don't even use half of your plan's minutes, what's
the point in "earlier minutes" or FIMF?)

Notan

"AJK" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> 750 Anytime
> 3000 Weekend
> 8PM Nites
> Free PCS to PCS
> $40 for the above plus

That's about as good as you can do for $40.
I have the same retention plan except unlimited N/W instead
of free PCS to PCS.

--
John Richards

In article <[email protected]>, Notan <[email protected]> wrote:

>> 750 Anytime
>> 3000 Weekend
>> 8PM Nites
>> Free PCS to PCS
>> $40 for the above plus
>> $10 Vision
>>
>> Are any of you out there doing better than that? Should I just shut up and
>> be happy with what I got or should they throw me a bone? Thanks for your
>> feedback!
>
>Offhand, I'd say that's about as good as it's gonna get.

Well they are offering $40/1000AT UNW8pm fairly freely, but as you say, it
wouldn't do you any good since you don't even use 750AT. They aren't going
to be inclined to offer much below $40 as they can't make any money on you.

In article <[email protected]>, ajk3000
@hotmail.com says...
> My contract expired and I've been a customer since '97. I just spoke with
> CS and was very frustrated because they offerred me NOTHING in terms of a
> new retention for signing a contract. I never use even HALF of my minutes
> so I wanted a lower bill or earlier minutes or first minute incoming free...
> they wouldn't budge.
>
> What I have:
>
> 750 Anytime
> 3000 Weekend
> 8PM Nites
> Free PCS to PCS
> $40 for the above plus
> $10 Vision
>
> Are any of you out there doing better than that? Should I just shut up and
> be happy with what I got or should they throw me a bone? Thanks for your
> feedback!
>

As Sprint began taking note of customers coming to places like this
newsgroup, and to web site forums, to exchange stories and what worked
and didn't work, they were becoming more selective in the type of
customer who gains these kinds of deals. In terms of monthly charge,
your plan is about as low as it gets.

Such condition inevitably reduces your "Value" to the company. I
capitalized and quoted that, because there is actually a mathematically
derived "property" of a customer called "Value." It arrives at a final
result looking at several things. How many times you've called in, how
much credit you've received, how many services you subscribe to, the
offers you've accepted in the past... and more.

Your usage/plan puts you at the low end of profitability, you state you
use the phone sparingly, you subscribe to only one service (two,
arguably, with the 8PM option, but still not many), and odds are your
record of contacting customer service is equally sparse.

No one likes to feel as if they are taken for granted, I understand, but
such a user, frankly, costs more to retain than they return to the
company. It hurts to be labelled that way (I am one such customer
myself). But that is, as far as I was trained when I worked there, the
blunt truth.

--
RØß
O/Siris
~+~
A thing moderately good
is not so good as it ought to be.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue,
but moderation in principle is always a vice.
-Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792-

"O/Siris" <0siris@mywây.com> wrote in message news:1103668265.9185299195d5a8a3b4f19c003000eccb@teranews...
> In article <[email protected]>, ajk3000
> @hotmail.com says...
>>
>> 750 Anytime
>> 3000 Weekend
>> 8PM Nites
>> Free PCS to PCS
>> $40 for the above plus
>> $10 Vision
>>
>> Are any of you out there doing better than that? Should I just shut up and
>> be happy with what I got or should they throw me a bone? Thanks for your
>> feedback!
>>
>
> As Sprint began taking note of customers coming to places like this
> newsgroup, and to web site forums, to exchange stories and what worked
> and didn't work, they were becoming more selective in the type of
> customer who gains these kinds of deals. In terms of monthly charge,
> your plan is about as low as it gets.
>
> Such condition inevitably reduces your "Value" to the company. I
> capitalized and quoted that, because there is actually a mathematically
> derived "property" of a customer called "Value." It arrives at a final
> result looking at several things. How many times you've called in, how
> much credit you've received, how many services you subscribe to, the
> offers you've accepted in the past... and more.
>
> Your usage/plan puts you at the low end of profitability, you state you
> use the phone sparingly, you subscribe to only one service (two,
> arguably, with the 8PM option, but still not many), and odds are your
> record of contacting customer service is equally sparse.
>
> No one likes to feel as if they are taken for granted, I understand, but
> such a user, frankly, costs more to retain than they return to the
> company. It hurts to be labelled that way (I am one such customer
> myself). But that is, as far as I was trained when I worked there, the
> blunt truth.

Wouldn't his sparse record of contacting customer service be a plus
in the Value equation? I call SPCS customer service an average of once
every two years. If most customers were that self-reliant it would be
a huge savings to Sprint in terms of customer service costs.
As far as not using all (or even a large fraction of) one's AT minutes,
that would be a plus also, because it makes the load on Sprint's
network that much less, allowing them to accommodate more customers
with fewer infrastructure improvement costs.

--
John Richards

"John Richards" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

>
> Wouldn't his sparse record of contacting customer service be a plus
> in the Value equation? I call SPCS customer service an average of once
> every two years. If most customers were that self-reliant it would be
> a huge savings to Sprint in terms of customer service costs.
> As far as not using all (or even a large fraction of) one's AT minutes,
> that would be a plus also, because it makes the load on Sprint's
> network that much less, allowing them to accommodate more customers
> with fewer infrastructure improvement costs.
>

Not using all of the AT minutes indicates that the revenue the customer can
generate has pretty much peaked. If the plan is in the $30-40 range, it
really doesn't pay to aggressively pursue a lower-end customer (in revenue
terms) with a fantastic deal to stay. The ROI is minimal at best.

On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 16:49:57 -0700, "Scott Stephenson"
<[email protected]> wrote:


>>
>
>Not using all of the AT minutes indicates that the revenue the customer can
>generate has pretty much peaked. If the plan is in the $30-40 range, it
>really doesn't pay to aggressively pursue a lower-end customer (in revenue
>terms) with a fantastic deal to stay. The ROI is minimal at best.
>

You know this is something I have never really understood. I've
always heard that it costs a great deal to acquire a customer, so
there should be some value to keeping an existing one, even a $40 per
month one. After all, if that customer leaves, Sprint loses $480 per
year, while their costs haven't gone down 1 cent. Well actually they
save the cost of mailing out 12 bills, but that's it. How is this a
good idea?

Having said that, I realize that $40 per month is generally about the
lowest amount you'd pay for any company's service with a decent amount
of anytime minutes, so maybe they figure you won't actually leave.

- -

To reply via e-mail, remove the "x" at the beginning of my e-mail address

"Michaels" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 16:49:57 -0700, "Scott Stephenson"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> >>
> >
> >Not using all of the AT minutes indicates that the revenue the customer
can
> >generate has pretty much peaked. If the plan is in the $30-40 range, it
> >really doesn't pay to aggressively pursue a lower-end customer (in
revenue
> >terms) with a fantastic deal to stay. The ROI is minimal at best.
> >
>
> You know this is something I have never really understood. I've
> always heard that it costs a great deal to acquire a customer, so
> there should be some value to keeping an existing one, even a $40 per
> month one. After all, if that customer leaves, Sprint loses $480 per
> year, while their costs haven't gone down 1 cent. Well actually they
> save the cost of mailing out 12 bills, but that's it. How is this a
> good idea?

But what they look at is whether the $30 plan is going to pay the bills or
the $80 one. If the margin is too low on the cheap plan, they put
themselves in a position where they are pretty much giving away the service,
and if the user is always well within minutes, offering more minutes at a
bargain (but more than current) price is not going to be a deal maker.
Having 100 million subscribers that earn you a profit of $1 apiece is not as
good as having 10 million earning you $10 each.

>
> Having said that, I realize that $40 per month is generally about the
> lowest amount you'd pay for any company's service with a decent amount
> of anytime minutes, so maybe they figure you won't actually leave.
>
> - -
>

I think that last statement might be pretty accurate and close to the reason
for the lack of incentive to stay.

"Scott Stephenson" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> "John Richards" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>
>> Wouldn't his sparse record of contacting customer service be a plus
>> in the Value equation? I call SPCS customer service an average of once
>> every two years. If most customers were that self-reliant it would be
>> a huge savings to Sprint in terms of customer service costs.
>> As far as not using all (or even a large fraction of) one's AT minutes,
>> that would be a plus also, because it makes the load on Sprint's
>> network that much less, allowing them to accommodate more customers
>> with fewer infrastructure improvement costs.
>>
>
> Not using all of the AT minutes indicates that the revenue the customer can
> generate has pretty much peaked. If the plan is in the $30-40 range, it
> really doesn't pay to aggressively pursue a lower-end customer (in revenue
> terms) with a fantastic deal to stay. The ROI is minimal at best.

I tend to agree when getting down to the $30-35 level, but the $40 and up
level should be profitable for Sprint. Also, customer usage level can change
quickly. For example, a family whose kids reach the teenage years can have
a sudden increase in wireless phone usage. My own usage has slowly
ramped up over the years, as more and more of formerly landline toll calls
made from the house are replaced by cellular calls.

--
John Richards

"John Richards" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

>
> I tend to agree when getting down to the $30-35 level, but the $40 and up
> level should be profitable for Sprint.

You would think so, but when you compare ARPU and profits/losses on a
quarterly basis, you see that profitablilty came at much higher than $40.

>Also, customer usage level can change
> quickly.

Agreed, but the OP stated that he never comes close to using all of his
minutes on his current plan.

>For example, a family whose kids reach the teenage years can have
> a sudden increase in wireless phone usage. My own usage has slowly
> ramped up over the years, as more and more of formerly landline toll calls
> made from the house are replaced by cellular calls.
>
> --

And you would probably be an excellent candidate for a retention deal, if
the situation arose. Remember- I pointed out price plan as one of a number
of factors that could affect whether or not a retention deal is offered.

In article <[email protected]>, jr70
@blackhole.invalid says...
> Wouldn't his sparse record of contacting customer service be a plus
> in the Value equation?
>

You would think so, wouldn't you? I would be totally speculating,
because our training did *not* go over all these factors and how they
affect the Value rating. I think it's more accurate to say that such
sparse contact doesn't affect the rating. And then it gets complicated
from there.

--
RØß
O/Siris
~+~
A thing moderately good
is not so good as it ought to be.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue,
but moderation in principle is always a vice.
-Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man", 1792-