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Mar. 5, 2010

T-Mobile USA ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction among major wireless carrier-owned retail stores for a second consecutive time with a score of 723.

The company performed particularly well with regard to quality of sales staff, price and promotions.

But on average, Verizon Wireless still trailed T-Mobile closely in the rankings by just one point.

Overall, about 40 percent of mobile users who visited a wireless retail store in the past 6 months was to replace or upgrade a wireless phone from a previous carrier, switch carriers or sign up for wireless service for the first time now own smartphones.

Satisfaction with the retail experience among smartphone owners averaged about 11 index points higher, on a 1,000-point scale, than that of traditional wireless handset owners, despite the fact that smartphones require additional service plan options and are more complex to operate.

Smartphone users are generally more satisfied than traditional wireless handset owners in most factors, particularly with regard to the sales staff and the general knowledge of the products they sell.

These findings were part of the first volume of the J.D. Power & Associates 2010 Wireless Retail Sales Satisfaction Study released today.

Now in its 7th year, the semi-annual study analyzes evaluations from mobile users who recently had an in-store wireless retail sales experience.

Overall customer satisfaction with major wireless carrier-branded stores is actually based on 4 factors. In order of importance, they are:

Sales staff, 49 percent

Price and promotion, 27 percent

Store facility, 14 percent

Display, 10 percent

J.D.'s report also reveals that owners of smartphones are 27 percent more likely to visit their wireless carrier's retail facility to inquire about a specific problem with their smartphone than are those with traditional mobile handsets.

Additionally, cell phone users are about 18 percent more likely to inquire about having their phone repaired compared with owners of traditional mobile phones.

Kirk Parsons, senior director of mobile services at J.D. Power & Assoc. says "the bump up in smartphone sales will have a long-lasting impact on how wireless carriers handle their customers' overall needs. These phones do require retailers to adapt by constantly training sales staff to keep pace with newer features and offerings, but carrying out simple tasks, such as explaining the phone's operation, provides salespeople with a great opportunity to optimize the customer's wireless experience."

Smartphone owners also spend an average of more than 67 minutes in the store during the sales experience, which is about six to eight minutes longer than owners of traditional phones.

Smartphones also require retailers to spend significantly more time carrying out tasks such as activating the phone. Sales representatives spend about one minute longer carrying out value-add tasks with smartphone owners, such as showing them how to operate the phone, than owners of traditional handsets.

"Generally speaking, mobile service carriers are succeeding in adapting to the quickly evolving landscape by ensuring their sales representatives are highly knowledgeable about newer offerings such as smartphones and the high-speed data plans they utilize on a daily basis," said Parsons.

"As wireless users continue to take advantage of the latest technology, it's rather crucial for sales staff to be knowledgeable about all phone models and service plans available and to continue to display a high level of courtesy during the sales process to ensure satisfaction levels do improve over time," added Parsons.

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Source: J.D. Power & Associates.