T-Mobile is now reportedly pressuring reps to push a new product to enough customers...or else
T-Mobile MEs in the bottom 25% for three priority metrics will need to find a new job says one rep,
According to a T-Mobile employee, it appears that the Un-carrier plans to push its reps hard to get customers to sign up for the T-Mobile Visa Card backed by Capitol One. Unfortunately for reps, credit card applications submitted by T-Mobile postpaid customers in a specific store or region will become the next metric that Mobile Experts need to worry about.
A couple of T-Mobile customers wrote that they were sad to see this happen to T-Mobile MEs. Both said that no sales technique could make them buy an accessory they don't need nor force them to apply for a credit card they don't want.
T-Mobile reps have a new monthly goal they must meet
As you might recall, we've told you in the past that T-Mobile reps have monthly goals that they have to meet each month or else they could lose their jobs. This explains why we kept hearing about customers being unable to buy a new iPhone without adding a new case, a charger, screen protector. and insurance. Some customers would later discover that some or all of these items were added to their purchases without their consent.
On Reddit, the aforementioned T-Mobile rep, who uses the username Willing-Reply-829 on the platform, wrote that he has "never seen his District Manager (DM) so spooked." The reason? "Basically, if you bottom 25% from here on out, See ya later." In other words, those reps who get a smaller number of clients to apply for the card than the bottom 25% of reps could end up getting laid off.
T-Mobile wants its reps to be more successful than the bottom 25% of MEs when it comes to any of the carrier's three biggest priorities at the moment: Visa, P360 Insurance & Premium rate plans. Any rep whose success rate for any of these three priorities puts him in the bottom 25% could be looking for a new job.
Managers are showing more interest in Visa applications submitted than phone and phone line activatons
Another T-Mobile ME with the Reddit username OfficeTemporary5053 says that since the credit card was launched, his bosses seemed to show more interest in the number of credit card applications he generated than the number of phones and lines he activated.
"T-Mobile makes a stupid company decision and now reps have to pay for it. My manager didn’t even care about activations...only thing he cares about is premium plans and CC (credit card) as well as P360. He told us 'if a customer wants essentials let them walk'"
-Redditor Grouchy_Actuary_9335
T-Mobile really doesn't seem to care what it asks its reps to do. As one points out, the company expects reps to get customers to add P360 insurance and accessories to orders. But T-Mobile also wants MEs and customers to order through the T-Life app. However, as one rep says, "most T-life pickups are empty upgrades, and you hurt your metrics every time you ring one out…."
T-Mobile COR stores are turning into TPR stores warns a T-Mobile salesman
With T-Mobile busy transitioning to digital, eventually most MEs will be gone anyway. Most retail stores will close, and T-Mobile will see its profit margins explode since there will be a huge reduction in lease payments made and commission checks written. In theory, this should lead to rising profits, and a rising stock price.
Here's the real problem. As a rep for the carrier says, when it comes to the credit card, he doesn't see how it would make sense for a client to want the new Visa. However, he is still going to sell the card to customers. Why? Well, as he writes, "I’ve got a job to do that provides for my family. I’m gonna do it with morals, but also with intent." He suggests that other reps stop whining, figure out a way to meet the metrics, or leave. He correctly points out that no one is forcing any of T-Mobile's sales staff to stay.
A final warning from another member of the wireless provider's sales team. He says that the culture inside T-Mobile's corporate-owned stores is about to get worse than the culture inside its third-party owned stores. If you remember the articles we wrote last year about some of T-Mobile's third-party stores, almost anything goes. It would be a shame if, as this T-Mobile employee suggests, corporate stores will drop to or below the standards of the third-party locations.
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