Recently, The Mobile Report received a great deal of feedback about the challenges employees face working for T-Mobile third-party authorized retailers (TPRs).
Arch Telecom was identified as a particular offender, where questionable sales practices and toxic leadership culture were forcing employees into compromising situations, particularly in shady upselling tactics with their customers. Sales leaders were threatening jobs after pushing performance standards to unsustainable levels.
Nothing about the job was about a right-fit for the customer – it was only about the numbers crunch. Employees were even forced to call district managers on demeaning “money calls” to discuss ways to exploit an interaction.
It was felt on all levels, including the customer. Insiders even reported being forced to stand outside to only let customers purchasing things into the store location (so they don’t impact conversion metrics, as “door swings” are actually counted by a physical counter at the door).
Once the post went live, Arch Telecom responded. The company used GroupMe, a chat app, for inter-company communications. Those chats had all of their logs wiped clean; the shady sales conversations and any evidence of alleged misbehavior was erased.
The company also put out an employee-wide email to set the record straight about doing things right, a copy of which is shown above. At the time, however, employees were still proactively giving The Mobile Report anonymous tips about the current state of the TPR.
Since our last article, we have received even more feedback. It appears, at least at a glance, Arch Telecom is making potentially positive changes. The company might be starting to move in the right direction.
Have a tip for us? Want to report issues at your TPR or even Corporate store? Submit a tip here!
Big changes (maybe) for Arch Telecom
On July 24th, Arch Telecom hosted a quick all-hands employee call to reiterate its commitment to doing business the right way. After the call, a “Reinforce our commitment” document was sent for review to all employees. The intent is “providing a great customer experience and stopping bad sales practices.” Stopping is a unique way of putting it, as it implies they are admitting it was indeed happening.
In the one-pager, Arch Telecom makes a number of things clear. No one is to turn a customer away for any reason. No more requiring customers to purchase “extras” like Protection360, accessories, and “Beyond the Smartphone” lines. These are tablets, watches, and other connected devices.
Employees are not to undermine T-Mobile’s Home Internet eligibility guidelines (which will inevitably lead to deactivation anyway). Nor are they to activate devices “SIM-only”: a line on the account with no device attached to it. Finally, Arch Telecom sets the record straight that accounts are only to be accessed with customers in the store.
The Mobile Report has not received tips about unauthorized account access. We hope this is precautionary and not a response to other feedback beyond what we were tipped on. Anecdotally, however, we have heard claims from customers of account changes being made after the customer has left a store, which is obviously not ok.
Overall, for customers, this is a major step in the right direction. If an Arch Telecom store is following these practices to a T, it could be a better experience than before.
Sources have also told The Mobile Report that employee goals are softening. Employees feel positive change is a focus, and customer survey data will now be a part of the payout structure. Keeping people happy is a great way to stay in business. It can also be a great way to ensure your teams are getting paid all at the same time. It aligns a salesperson’s financial gain with a customer’s positive feedback.
The infamous “Q” is no more
In a prior article, The Mobile Report received leads on a particular higher-up sales leader at Arch Telecom with the nickname “Q”. Job threats over blisteringly high sales targets were common for “Q”, and a major contributor to toxic sales culture. The same day of the all-hands call, an inside source informed us that “Q” was no longer with Arch Telecom. We were able to confirm this via their LinkedIn page becoming #opentowork. They also posted about looking for their next opportunity. We will, of course, not share the person’s name for privacy reasons.
An Arch Telecom VP also sent employee-wide communication about the recent T-Mobile Tuesday pickleball set giveaway. In short – the day was a mulligan to conversion data, so employees could be ready to serve the customer first and foremost. This was a welcomed message showing a big swing commitment to customers by Arch Telecom.
Looking ahead for T-Mobile stores
The changes Arch Telecom is making proves accountability in the mobile industry can drive positive outcomes. Blogs and tech sites (like us) posting about these ignored shady practices should absolutely be a last resort for companies like T-Mobile, but in this case, it was a necessary intervention.
We are still receiving anonymous tips from other TPR employees and even corporate stores about shady sales practices. In the world of sales, there are undeniable performance standards based on your ability to ‘sell’. Perhaps the amount of autonomy TPRs have to achieve that performance is the issue. This is where T-Mobile could potentially make a big difference going forward.
For a company who prides itself on firsts via “Un-Carrier moves”, T-Mobile shows it has influence. They aren’t afraid to be David against a Goliath. The steady creep of sales expectations on the sales teams that support their brand is showing to be a new formidable foe. The chips were down about Arch Telecom, and real change happened fast. It is clear Arch Telecom took a major slap on the wrist to right the ship, and the first steps look promising.
That being said, is it time for T-Mobile to invest further? Could they implement a more major shakeup to reinforce customer satisfaction over chasing the bottom dollar for all of their retailers? TPRs play a major role for T-Mobile’s overall business strategy, and T-Mobile is successful for it. However, there are other TPRs other than Arch Telecom out there who are potentially also overdue for a sales culture audit.
T-Mobile has the power to prevent the next TPR issue that comes at the expense of its own customer base. Don’t let a third party company keep biting the hand that feeds you. Accountability works, right?
