Sprint pay incentives aim to slow cancellations

By Reuters
Published: March 26, 2008 11:57 AM PDT

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Mobile phone company Sprint Nextel, fighting to retain customers, is changing employee bonus plans to double the importance of stopping cancellations, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed on Tuesday. A short-term incentive plan for company officers sets performance targets for the last three quarters of the year. Churn, or cancellations, counts for 40 percent of the target, while two measures of cash flow and earnings were weighted at 20 percent each and customer care calls were weighted at 20 percent.

In a February filing for the same incentive plan, the weighting of churn was 20 percent. In addition, 30 percent of the incentive was based on a measure of operating income, the number of calls for customer care was 30 percent, and a type of subscriber additions was 20 percent. Sprint Nextel posted a $29.45 billion fourth-quarter loss in February due to a huge goodwill write-off and forecast the loss of more its customers.

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41 comments (Page 1 of 2)

SO...
by igl00lgi March 26, 2008 7:33 PM PDT: Now customers will have to call three times to cancel instead of just once. What's new? I have become very familiar with this, somewhat government santioned, type of treatment from large corporations.; Reply to this comment View reply
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They got no iPhone.
by bobcode March 26, 2008 10:59 PM PDT: Too bad since AT&T did that thing with the NSA.; Reply to this comment View reply
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Service Is Too Expensive
by hc2008 March 27, 2008 7:23 AM PDT: One issue that is hurting Sprint/Nextel is the fact that if you have less than perfect credit, your getting shafted. When I signed up with Nextel about 5 years ago, I fortunately brought my own phone, but had less than perfect credit. With a less than perfect credit score; I had to pay $125 for a deposit, was charged an extra $15 per month and I couldn't buy insurance on the phone (even if I opted for a new phone when joining). I ended up paying a whopping $75 a month for 400 minutes and basic voice mail, no texting, no rollover minutes, just the basics. I'm with AT&T now (I bought an iPhone then later swapped to a Nokia). Where I get 400 min + rollover + texting + web access all for about $58 a month (and the people working customer service don't sound like they are in India). Call it Karma or what you wish, but Sprint/Nextel get what they deserve for shafting people that might be a little down on their credit score.; Reply to this comment View all 5 replies
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I don't understand.
by ReVeLaTeD March 27, 2008 9:44 AM PDT: Why is it so hard for certain carriers to realize that the reason for churn is due to internal problems that must be fixed? Now they turn it into a pressure sales model instead of just fixing the major malfunctions in the process? In Sprint's case it's absolutely (1) their monthly plan value-for-money, (2) limited phone selection and (3) poor customer service. So why not just fix the plan structure (sure Mr. CEO, it means you'll have to do without that extra million this year), better and more competitive phones, and get people who know how to offer customer service, and empower them to be able to do so? Am I missing something here?; Reply to this comment View all 2 replies
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Now that explains it...
by jamesreb March 27, 2008 12:08 PM PDT: My brother just got out of a messy relationship with Sprint. For a year and a half they kept messing up the bill, kept changing the terms of their contract (which they can't, it's a contract), and other classic Sprint bloopers. They FINALLY let him out this month and he switched as soon as he could. Won't use Sprint ever again.; Reply to this comment

down down baby
by crusadex March 28, 2008 12:06 AM PDT: Sprint is losing customers because they keep screwing them. They need to fire everyone.Hire people with extensive ethics training and change their name.Even then i wouldn't go back or suggest them to anyone.Ha ha i actually and gleeful if they are losing people after the 2 years of hell i had with them. CSR's will make you or break you,looks like it's breaking them!; Reply to this comment

Not the worse
by Yellow March 28, 2008 1:38 AM PDT: some of you people need to stop exaggerating your stories. Sprint is NOT the best, but it's also not the worse. The reality is, Verizon is the most expensive. The night and weekend minutes still start at 9pm while Sprint's start at 7pm. In my area, T-Mobile has the worse connections (my roommate has -T-mobile and he can only get a signal standing at the window). I can use Sprint anywhere. So the signal all depends on where U live. I rarely get a dropped call but when I do, i just call customer care, tell the answering service DROPPED CALL and i get a credit for 2 minutes instantly. A coupe of years ago i wanted 2 cancel Sprint to move to Verizon and not only did they offer me a great deal on a new phone, but they gave me a great new plan..700 anytime mins, unlimited night/ weekend, unlimited txt TO ANYONE and internet for $45 a month. Now I'm glad I didn't switch.; Reply to this comment View reply
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Sprint is a LIAR
by Pixelslave March 28, 2008 2:17 PM PDT: Want to share a horrible story with Sprint. Last Dec, I called to cancel my Sprint account. I had two lines. The lady I talked to tell me that one of my line will be charged an early termination fee if I cancelled before May 08, but another line will be fine. She then offered to give me a 20% discount for my next 5 months bill. I took her words in faith -- I was so naive. I didn't pay attention to my bill until last month. They NEVER gave me that 20% discount. Enough is enough, I told myself, so I called to cancel my account, fully aware that I will be charged an early termination fee for ONE of my line. Surprise! My last bill came. I was charged for both lines early termination fee. When I called them today, they said they only thing showed up in their system log is that I was "educated about the ETF". Not a word about the discount, nor the fact that I was told that only one line would incur an early termination fee. DO NOT USE SPRINT EVEN if they promise they would pay you because you can't trust their words.; Reply to this comment View reply
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Yeah sprint I should have thought of that......
by JCPayne March 28, 2008 6:41 PM PDT: If a customer tells you: "I'm sick of the service, I want to cut my losses and leave---" you'll now turn around and tell them "You don't really mean that! Thanks for calling Sprint"... HA! That's sure to put you at the top of customer ratings now... Don't you think???? Where does Sprint find these people?????? Geeez. It now sounds like canceling a Sprint account will be more difficult than succesfully canceling an AOL account......; Reply to this comment

Wasn't Earthlink's Helio planning to buy Sprint?.
by JCPayne March 28, 2008 6:43 PM PDT: And turn it into a worthwhile company?????; Reply to this comment