11 Confessions of a T-Mobile Sales Rep
T-Mobile doesn't want to be left out of the fun! One of their sales reps has
generously and selflessly written down his innermost thoughts and sent them
to the Consumerist for your personal edification. Bask in the glory of
Confessions of a T-Mobile Sales Rep...
* T-Mobile price matches. "T-Mobile has a policy that they do not advertise
that is called a price match guarantee. This states that they can honor any
price that has been printed (advertisement), as long as the terms and
conditions are the same as T-Mobile's. It also states that you can get an
account credit if the price of the phone goes down within 30 days. "
* T-Mobile lets reps give away accessories. "Most reps have the ability to
give away accessories for free without checking with their managers. If we
give any bit of discount, we don't get paid out on the accessory so you
might as well ask for it for free. Things like waived activation or
discounts on phones can be done, but usually through the manager or senior
sales reps permission."
* Use features to get free stuff, avoid insurance. "As other reps have
stated, features are a big portion for reps. Any data feature nets the rep
some extra cash. Use that to your advantage and ask them to throw in some
accessories if you buy unlimited messaging or t-zones. The only thing that
does not earn us money is insurance, so stay away from that one."
* Shop at the end of the month. T-mobile has a quota system for reps.
They'll be more generous at the end of the month. "Go in to purchase service
during the last 5 days of the month. This is the time that is most crucial
for store reps and their managers. They need to make sure to get quota, and
everyone is more lenient during the end of the month." If it's not the end
of the month, you can still try to take advantage: "If you have already been
approved for service and you are not offered the deal that you want, give
the rep your phone number and tell them to call you when they can give you a
good deal. I had a customer do this and get what they want on the last day
of the month because we were 2 activations short of goal."
* Never get a 2 year contract. "As the VZW rep said, only sign a one year
contract. Yeah you have to pay 50 bucks more, but you can upgrade again in
11 months. "
* Your rate plan doesn't mean anything at T-Mobile. "At T-mobile, we don't
get paid very much on how high the rate plan is, so don't push that you are
going to spend a lot on the plan. We care about the accessories and the
features. "
* Get your rebate at the store and on-line. "As the cingy guy said, if you
ask and get an in-store instant rebate, you can still find the mail in
rebate at www.tmobilerebates.com. The rebate center will still honor it."
* Get free stuff by calling within 14 days and threatening to switch to
another carrier. "If you want to squeeze a bit more out of the deal and you
are within 14 days of new service, call the store and ask to speak to the
rep that helped you. Remind him/her who you are, and ask what you need to do
to cancel. This will set off alarms in the reps head since you are their
customer, and they will get a chargeback if you cancel. When they ask why
you want to know how to cancel, let them know that you have been offered a
deal for a similar type phone for the same price from a DIFFERENT carrier,
but with a couple free accessories and waived activation. Most likely the
rep will try to offer you a free accessory to stay with us, being as how
they worked hard at getting you to sign that initial contract and don't want
to lose the sale. You have to tell the rep it is a different carrier because
if you say its another Tmobile store, the rep will not lose the credit if
you cancel and sign back up with a different store. "
* Replace a broken T-mobile phone with a prepaid one."Go to Walmart and buy
a T-Mobile prepaid phone. Your contract sim card will work in the phone no
problem, and there is NO difference (software or hardware wise) between a
prepaid phone and one that is upgraded with contract. Then put the prepaid
activation code and sim card up on ebay, and make $10. (from what I hear,
this is the same with Cingular and Verizon)"
* Upgrade over the phone, not in a store. At T-Mobile, reps don't get paid
much for upgrades and don't care if you get a deal on a phone. Upgrade over
the phone to get the best deal.
"If you are out of contract, you have a bargaining chip with customer care
over the phone. Ask for a cheaper price on a phone, or a "preferred" rate
plan that's cheaper but gives you the same amount of minutes. If you have
been a good customer and made payments on time, you have a good chance of
getting a discount. T-Mobile corporate store reps cannot discount the
upgrade price at all in store. We don't make very much money off an upgrade,
and many will spend less time with you if its busy. Go in during a off-peak
time if you want an honest opinion or to chat about the phones. There is
nothing worse for us than to get an hour-long upgrade on a Saturday and
watch as our coworkers are getting new lines and getting paid."
* Unlock your phone. Immediately call into customer care and ask to have
your phone unlocked. Unlocking your phone allows your phone to be used with
any GSM carrier (Cingular is the only other national US carrier). T-mobile
will unlock your phone for free at anytime during or after you contract.
Once you unlock your phone, you can now use a cingular sim card or any sim
card in the world. Whether or not you plan on traveling, you have still
increased the resell value of your phone by quite a bit.
source:
www.consumerist.com/consumer/confessions/11-confessions-of-a-tmobile-
sales-rep-242720.php