Here's why T-Mobile reps should be nervous about the carrier's T-Life push
At the start of last year, T-Mobile introduced its T-Life app which you might call its all-in-one replacement for the T-Mobile app. Last November, the carrier pulled the T-Mobile app from the App Store and the Play Store which are the iOS and Android app storefronts respectively. Not only did the Un-carrier use the T-Life app to replace the T-Mobile app, it was also used as a replacement for the dedicated T-Mobile Tuesdays app where customers went to claim their weekly rewards.
T-Mobile reportedly seeks to move transactions online so they don't have to pay commissions
By replacing the individual apps with an all-in-one app, T-Mobile customers don't have to remember which one they need to have on their phones to handle certain issues. However, a veteran of the wireless industry says that the real purpose of the T-Life app is to get T-Mobile customers to upgrade using the app without requiring any help from in-store reps. This way, T-Mobile not only doesn't have to pay a commission to the rep who was involved in helping a customer upgrade his device, but in the larger picture T-Mobile won't have to keep as many stores open.
One veteran wireless employee says that T-Mobile wants to phase out in-store sales. | Image credit-T-Mobile
The author of the post is a wireless employee who works for a T-Mobile competitor. He said that Verizon tried to accomplish the same thing and push for more sales to be handled online by reducing the upgrade fee for online purchases to $20 and increasing the upgrade fee for in-store purchases to $40. AT&T offered special promotions for online purchases in order to generate more sales through the Internet. Neither Verizon nor AT&T was able to get its customers to stick to online purchases and all of these aforementioned changes were eventually dropped.
The rival wireless salesman also says that T-Mobile's goal for pushing the T-Life app is clear. "They are trying to reduce what they pay to you and their workforce," he writes. He also points out that T-Mobile reps are not just revenue generators and do have a "valuable skill and purpose." These employees help T-Mobile customers make informed decisions about which devices they should buy and also help customers make the changes to their accounts that they cannot do themselves.
This rival rep tells T-Mobile's in-store reps that they should consider unionizing with the CWA. Talking to the carrier's reps in his post, he cautions that "They are trying to get rid of you slowly, and we’ll all be worse off without you."
A T-Mobile rep notes that he can do things for customers that an app can't do
One T-Mobile rep explains why T-Mobile should keep its stores open and stop pushing for online sales. He says that he can do things that an app can't. Redditor Best-Consideration44 writes, "Someone who knows the wireless industry and how it works and has the customer's best interests at heart can do way more for the customer than an app." As an example, he says there have been multiple times that a customer came into his store, and by digging into the account, he found that the customer has been paying off Sprint leases and data packages for years.
He helps lower customers' bills and finds promos for them to take advantage of. "An app will not do that and can't do that," he says. The problem is that not all reps are willing to do the hard work it takes to land a customer and retain him.
This rep obviously doesn't mind doing the hard work and these are the ones that need to be rewarded instead of rewarding those that manage to meet ridiculous metrics created by the executive team. He says getting rid of the face-to-face interaction between a customer and a rep is stupid and believes that many customers that will leave T-Mobile if they shut the retail stores because they have no idea how to manage their own accounts online and require the help of a knowledgeable salesperson.
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