Frustrations with USCC
My company will be selling USCC for the next 9-12 months until Verizon comes into our local market. There is no problem with the network, it is a great network.
I have some frustrations with USCC, however that really make me wonder about them as a company. Keep in mind I worked for USCC for 4 years so I understand the company's culture.
1) The USCC stores treat us like competitors rather than partners. They badmouth us when customers we activated come into the USCC store for anything. The Verizon stores happily serve customers without trash talking the dealers.
2) We only see a rep when the promos change (every 3-4 months) Verizon reps come into our stores at least once per month and they help train our associates.
3) We never have a...
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I have some frustrations with USCC, however that really make me wonder about them as a company. Keep in mind I worked for USCC for 4 years so I understand the company's culture.
1) The USCC stores treat us like competitors rather than partners. They badmouth us when customers we activated come into the USCC store for anything. The Verizon stores happily serve customers without trash talking the dealers.
2) We only see a rep when the promos change (every 3-4 months) Verizon reps come into our stores at least once per month and they help train our associates.
3) We never have a...
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1. I agree on the retail stores- while they have gotten better here in Madison they still treat us like crap and trash talk. it brings the whole company down. Try to arrange a meeting with your AAE and the retail manager
2. WOW you really need to get ahold of your AAE's manager- ours stops by weekly and also emails us relevant information weekly. Only coming by every few months is completely unacceptable and I'm sure corporate USCC would like to hear about it!
3. did you invite your rep? Although it sounds like you have an incompetent one. I know how that is, we had a terrible on a few years ago around the CDMA launch
4. That could just be the company that you work for- my company also doesn't carry the whole USCC lineup, by the ...
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2. WOW you really need to get ahold of your AAE's manager- ours stops by weekly and also emails us relevant information weekly. Only coming by every few months is completely unacceptable and I'm sure corporate USCC would like to hear about it!
3. did you invite your rep? Although it sounds like you have an incompetent one. I know how that is, we had a terrible on a few years ago around the CDMA launch
4. That could just be the company that you work for- my company also doesn't carry the whole USCC lineup, by the ...
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i have been on both sides for uscc, agent and retail and I can concur on how the corporate reps feel about the agent side for whatever reason. the thing i don't understand though is that corp. management, at least in my case, really worked to create a positive line of communication between the two sides, but once again it was the sales associates that had the negative attitude.
as far as no representation from uscc, your aae is severely dropping the ball. i know ours spent a majority of his time developing business plans and relationships with the owners, as well as training and showing up for agent meetings. it doesn't sound like your aae is doing his/her job.
pay is completely up to your owner, which may be a result of what they ...
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as far as no representation from uscc, your aae is severely dropping the ball. i know ours spent a majority of his time developing business plans and relationships with the owners, as well as training and showing up for agent meetings. it doesn't sound like your aae is doing his/her job.
pay is completely up to your owner, which may be a result of what they ...
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The agreement our company has is that the spiff is paid over and above the activation commission. It works that way for Alltel, Sprint, Cingular, Verizon, Bluegrass and all others we deal with in various markets. USCC used to pay more than Verizon. But now they treat us like the red headed stepchild.
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The only thing I can really speak to in this post is the retail channel's feelings toward agents. I know in my area over half of the activation errors we see (no discount codes, charged activation when they shouldn't have, etc) are coming from the agent side. We also have a lot of customers who were grossly overcharged for used equipement. While it's generally one business with the problem, it has given the agent channel a bad rep. We try to have good communication and include the agents in our activities, but they rarely grace us with their presence at any of the events we hold.
I transfered into a new market, and when I came here, no one had a poor opinion of the agent locations. Most were excited to work with them. As time has gone ...
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I transfered into a new market, and when I came here, no one had a poor opinion of the agent locations. Most were excited to work with them. As time has gone ...
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I think the real issue is that since in time our company will not be an agent for USCC, USCC is giving us short shrift. That is an idiotic position to take because if it were me making those decisions I would look at the potential that this agent has for this year and do everything in my power to aid their efforts. It could only increase net adds and decrease churn.
All of the other carriers see it that way. USCC is the only carrier that treats us this way. You are correct when you mention the lack of training that is done. Other carriers handle this by sending the rep out to train new people. It can be a problem but it is not impossible.
All of the other carriers see it that way. USCC is the only carrier that treats us this way. You are correct when you mention the lack of training that is done. Other carriers handle this by sending the rep out to train new people. It can be a problem but it is not impossible.
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Froggirl,
I completely agree. We ( The Retail Stores ) in my area are working hard to build a solid relationship with the agents. The agents ( 21st Century in particular ) in our area, are also working very hard to build this relationship. We have seen some great results. Our locations work together, and hopefully this makes the difference between corp and agent locations seemless to our customers.
One bad apple, can sour the lot though. Luckily... the poor agents have gone to another carrier ( The V Word ). So, we are left with agents who have the same attitude as us, and care for our customers.
----- Love Portland.. will be back to visit soon 🙂
I completely agree. We ( The Retail Stores ) in my area are working hard to build a solid relationship with the agents. The agents ( 21st Century in particular ) in our area, are also working very hard to build this relationship. We have seen some great results. Our locations work together, and hopefully this makes the difference between corp and agent locations seemless to our customers.
One bad apple, can sour the lot though. Luckily... the poor agents have gone to another carrier ( The V Word ). So, we are left with agents who have the same attitude as us, and care for our customers.
----- Love Portland.. will be back to visit soon 🙂
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What attitude is that?
I know which agent you refer to and they often did more new adds than your retail stores. They were underinformed and neglected by the dealer rep. With their capabilities and market penetration you should have done more to foster the relationship. But of course your attitude is that they are inferior. Funny, that particular retailer is the number one seller of wireless phones at retail. Yes they went to Verizon and now they are your competitor. The other carriers courted them and they chose Verizon.
They are about customer service also. The only problem is that USCC doesn't inform their dealer channel and then badmouths them for being uninformed. Imagine that. All the other carriers treat their agents as partners n...
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I know which agent you refer to and they often did more new adds than your retail stores. They were underinformed and neglected by the dealer rep. With their capabilities and market penetration you should have done more to foster the relationship. But of course your attitude is that they are inferior. Funny, that particular retailer is the number one seller of wireless phones at retail. Yes they went to Verizon and now they are your competitor. The other carriers courted them and they chose Verizon.
They are about customer service also. The only problem is that USCC doesn't inform their dealer channel and then badmouths them for being uninformed. Imagine that. All the other carriers treat their agents as partners n...
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I do not treat our agents as the competitor. They are a wonderful asset to our company. The only thing I see that bothers me (which probably is the same thing you see) are the mistakes made by agents. Then the unhappy customer comes to me, and I get to fix it. I will say this, it has been much better lately. But I would/will never bad mouth any agent. So please do not put all stores, or reps in that catagory.
If you are in the K falls area then the reason I can think of why you do not see a rep that often is becuase the nearest rep is 2 hours away in Medford. Not that that is an excuse.
Your handsets that you sell may be a result in the owner not purchasing the the new models for USCC. I do think that USCC is slow to launch ne...
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If you are in the K falls area then the reason I can think of why you do not see a rep that often is becuase the nearest rep is 2 hours away in Medford. Not that that is an excuse.
Your handsets that you sell may be a result in the owner not purchasing the the new models for USCC. I do think that USCC is slow to launch ne...
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I don't think you see the issue. The contract we had with all carriers is that they pay X amount of commission to the agent and x amount of spiff to the sales associate. EVERY other carrier we sell pays at least $10 per activation for the associate EXCEPT USCC.
Our rep comes from Bend and not Medford. (Medford people are afraid of the snow) You talk of "bad agents" I'm talking about a bad relationship. Why do we not have the same problems with Cingular, Bluegrass, Alltel, Unicel, Sprint, Alamosa, Ubiquitel and Verizon? Those dealer reps are in our stores at least monthly to help train our people and to confirm understanding of product and promos. Of course a dealer who is not in your communication channels will become a loose cannon. The a...
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Our rep comes from Bend and not Medford. (Medford people are afraid of the snow) You talk of "bad agents" I'm talking about a bad relationship. Why do we not have the same problems with Cingular, Bluegrass, Alltel, Unicel, Sprint, Alamosa, Ubiquitel and Verizon? Those dealer reps are in our stores at least monthly to help train our people and to confirm understanding of product and promos. Of course a dealer who is not in your communication channels will become a loose cannon. The a...
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You have answered your own question. With USCC as one of NINE carriers for you to sell, you would expect less involvement from corporate. USCC is not worth any extra effort from your owner, so you get the same in return.
Just because other carriers pay spiffs directly to the agent salespeople doesn't mean USCC should. Keep USCC out of the agents business, let the agent run his business as he sees fit. USCC has their fingers in enough of the agents business the way it is.
I've worked both for USCC (4 years) and now for two different agents, when customers come directly from the agent location to the USCC store and ask questions after just signing up, is that agent doing his job? NO! As an agent salesperson, I use my knowledge to make sure...
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Just because other carriers pay spiffs directly to the agent salespeople doesn't mean USCC should. Keep USCC out of the agents business, let the agent run his business as he sees fit. USCC has their fingers in enough of the agents business the way it is.
I've worked both for USCC (4 years) and now for two different agents, when customers come directly from the agent location to the USCC store and ask questions after just signing up, is that agent doing his job? NO! As an agent salesperson, I use my knowledge to make sure...
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I don't know what agent you work for but it sounds terrible. I also work for an agent for uscc and I get paid twice as much as you do for activations, sometimes more depending on other things I get paid for besides the actual handset. Also, our agent reps do a good job training us and they are here at least once or twice a month depending on promo changes and sales. I do understand however your statement about the relationships between corporate stores and agents, but from my own personal experience, that seems to only be the case with certain individuals from both sides, not everyone. I have experienced lots of times where the corporate employees were very nice and helpful to me during whatever the situation was. As far as uscc holding trai...
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My USCC rep told me it was because my company would not sign a long term contract with USCC. I also have heard that USCC pays more if you are an exclusive USCC agent. We are not.
In our market we may have decided to focus on the other carriers we represent and only offer USCC when we have to. It's a shame because I would rate USCC's network quality up there with Verizon. Definitely better than the rest of the market. Our challenge is that we have a national contract with a tier 1 carrier and when they roll out new markets we switch to them as our carrier of choice. This means we really can't sign a long term deal with anyone else.
I don't want it to appear that I am dissing USCC, they have a lot to offer. I am only stating some things we ...
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In our market we may have decided to focus on the other carriers we represent and only offer USCC when we have to. It's a shame because I would rate USCC's network quality up there with Verizon. Definitely better than the rest of the market. Our challenge is that we have a national contract with a tier 1 carrier and when they roll out new markets we switch to them as our carrier of choice. This means we really can't sign a long term deal with anyone else.
I don't want it to appear that I am dissing USCC, they have a lot to offer. I am only stating some things we ...
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I understand...that does suck that the non-exclusive agents get paid less, but I guess it is a little understandable. But, I think your company just has a bad relationship with uscc, for whatever reason, whether its the contract issue or something that the "higher ups" in your company would know about. Hey look at the bright side...at least you are getting paid from other carriers as well! 😁 Sorry for the frustration. If you worked for an exclusive agent, I think you would think a little different. 🙂
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What is the big deal here? It sounds as if you will not be selling USCC for that long, and you most likly not be selling much of it? As a sales rep, its all about the $$$. My company used to sell all the carriers around us, 5 of them. Most of the reps just sold one, Suncom as we got paid the most, and it was the best to sell. We never saw the other agent reps because we never sold there phone. Did we care, no. As for the USCC store, let them be that way. Our retail store here sucks as there bad mouth us all the time. Do we care much, no. Does not effect us. Our customers know who to call and when to call us. We have tons of customers that come in and tell us they talk trash about us, but strangly, there all buy from us! 😁
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I shouldn't be surprised after working for USCC, but after having the level of cooperation that we have for other carriers, one in particular (not sold in our market) I was surprised. In our very rural market USCC is the best choice for many of our customers. We have all but given up on the upgrade business because we have to charge the customer $30.00 more for the phone because of the commissions USCC pays us for upgrades. We are forced to be the highest price for upgrades in the market. Not a good thing when a customer can go a few blocks away and get the phone for the new customer price. We do some upgrades due to the loyalty of some of our customers even though they know it is cheaper elsewhere.
It is tough for my people, because in ou...
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It is tough for my people, because in ou...
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I still don't understand how your company works. 😕 I don't know of any agent for uscc that charges $30 more per phone for an upgrade. The company I work for does not do that and neither do any of the other agents in our region that I am aware of. If anything, agents usually tend to have promotion where we can charge less for certain phones. Its all up to the head of the company.
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