Sprint Engages Customers in Effort to Turn Ship Around
I ran into Sprint CEO Dan Hesse at the Lyric Opera Ball last night and congratulated him on taking the bold move of publishing his personal e-mail address (dan@sprint.com) at the tag end of the new television campaign promoting Sprint’s new “Simply Everything” plan, which offers a broad range of services for $99.99 per month.
(I had previously met Mr. Hesse when he was head of Embarq and that company had been named winner of the 2007 Kansas City Business Ethics Award.) Good guy.
I asked him how using his own e-mail was working and he said that he’s getting about 500 e-mails a day from a wide range of folks. Some commenting on how Sprint’s new all-in-one service should work; others to wish him well; still others to express their overall displeasure with the company and its services.
I imagine there are a number of e-mails he receives that are unprintable.
Sprint’s customer service (or lack thereof) is well-documented, including the time they “fired” a customer for complaining too much. By publishing their CEO’s e-mail address, Sprint is at least making an effort to engage their customers.
I myself haven’t e-mailed Mr. Hesse, but I hope that those who have do indeed receive a response that at least looks and feels as though it’s coming from The Man himself. Receiving a personal response fom a corporate big wig means a lot to Average Joe. And Sprint’s reputation could certainly use the help.
It’s similar to the steps Dell computer took a few years back after the “Dell Sucks” movement took hold. After ignoring its critics, the company finally learned how to embrace its critics through the blogosphere and ultimately created an envrionment where its detractors were inside the tent urinating out, rather than outside urinating in. Michael Dell launched his own blog and Dell’s product reviews and customer service ratings have both dramatically improved.
Coincidence? I think not.
Based on his on-camera performance, I doubt Mr. Hesse would make it in Hollywood should things not work out for him at the Sprint Minimum Security Penitentiary (aka World Headquarters). But seeing as his predecessor parachuted out with $40 million, I’m sure he’ll land on his feet one way or the other.
I, for one, am hoping that he succeeds. Engaging custoemrs one-on-one is a nice first step.
Good luck, Mr. H.
Bill Patterson
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Reader Comments (2)
Bill - hobnobbing at the lyric with the jet set as fodder for the blog! Very impressive.
Great point though, they have to do something to pull out of the tailspin (or finally actually hit the ground and explode...).
The biggest problem I've seen historically is the unwillingness to acknowledge the problem (those customers are just difficult, the whole industry is like this, etc.). You can't solve a problem until you admit that you have one.
Hopefully your right that this first small step of outreach is because they've admitted the problem and they're ready to do something about it.
Hesse made a very smart move--he's humanizing the brand. The knock on Sprint is that it's a "faceless corporation that doesn't care." Hesse takes that perception on and does well. If the recent stock performance of Sprint is any indication (up about $3 in the past three months), Hesse is on the right track.