Verizon customers may soon wish their carrier followed T-Mobile’s lead and shifted more heavily towards a digital-first approach. Verizon has long faced criticism over its customer service, despite the presence of many honest representatives, and the direction the wider industry is taking has raised questions about whether an app-led model might suit its user base better.
A recent reader poll explored why some Verizon representatives are perceived as dishonest. More than 55 per cent of respondents said this was because certain representatives simply did not care about customers. Almost 42 per cent believed that support staff were more focused on their commissions than on assisting users. Fewer than 3 per cent felt the issues stemmed from representatives failing to understand the problem a customer was facing, leaving them unable to help even when willing.
Should Verizon go all in on digital?
Those responses raise the question of whether Verizon customers would actually prefer their carrier to commit fully to a digital model, as T-Mobile has done. T-Mobile has moved most of its operations to its T-Life app, while also carrying out large-scale redundancies and closing stores. Verizon has similarly reduced its workforce.
Notably, a significant portion of T-Mobile’s user base has recently begun to favour the T-Life app over speaking with human representatives. Should Verizon customers continue to feel they are being misled by staff, they may prove more receptive to an all-digital shift than might otherwise be expected.
What a T-Life for Verizon might look like
Verizon already allows customers to complete many tasks independently through its My Verizon app, which is comparable to T-Life. However, the carrier has not yet made a wholesale move to a “digital everything” model in the way T-Mobile has.
Such a change would require Verizon to insist that customers use My Verizon for all tasks rather than relying on human staff, including at physical store locations. Employees would be closely monitored to ensure that customers used the app, effectively guiding the user base towards self-service in a manner that could eventually reduce staffing needs.
The move to the T-Life app is clearly gaining traction. If it proves successful, and current indications suggest it will, both Verizon and AT&T may follow suit to further reduce operational costs. Should Verizon staff continue to prioritise commissions over honest service, any objection to a reduced workforce may be more muted than the response seen with T-Mobile’s redundancies.
In the reader poll on dishonest representatives, over 55 per cent attributed the behaviour to a lack of care for customers, while almost 42 per cent pointed to a focus on commissions.
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Image: phonearena.com
