Are you more satisfied with your unlimited prepaid plan?

Metro PCS and Cricket wireless, and the major carriers finally decided to jump in. All four set theirs at $99/month, though T-Mobile added unlimited texting and Sprint added unlimited everything. A few prepaid carriers jumped on the bandwagon, with Virgin Mobile adding its own unlimited calling package, as well as Net10. And what do you know? A survey later in the year revealed that unlimited subscribers were more satisfied with their service than those on per-minute or per-month limits. The question we’re always trying to answer is, why?

Survey says…

According to the survey, a number of factors contributed to this positive rating. However, clearly pushing up the ranking are the ease of purchase and ease of activation.

The study also finds that satisfaction ratings for the initial activation process also vary greatly between customers that subscribe to, flat-rate prepaid plans with unlimited minutes and subscribers of traditional, per-minute plans. Specifically, customer satisfaction scores with plans that have unlimited minutes average 862, compared with only 756 among traditional prepaid calling plans. The ease of initially subscribing to the plan and activating the phone are the two areas driving the gap in satisfaction.

These figures are based on a 1,000-point scale. The total satisfaction rating for unlimited users averaged to 764, so the 862 in subscribing and activating certainly helped the cause. The overall traditional prepaid satisfaction rating checked in at 717, which was also brought up by a 756 in these two areas. So it’s not like traditional pay as you go cell phone plans are outperforming unlimited plans in other areas. This is pretty clearly the strongest reason why people are satisfied with their unlimited plan. I have to wonder, though, if satisfaction goes deeper than the instant gratification of subscribing and activating. Sure, those are important processes (as we note in our activation guides). However, there is plenty more that goes into overall customer satisfaction.

Not enough weight in customer service

Here’s the rub of these J.D. Power and Associates satisfaction surveys: They only count customer service at six percent. This compared to call quality (24%), company image (19%), cost of service (17%), account management (15%), initial activation (11%), and service plan options (8%). How in the world is “company image” more important in your satisfaction than customer service? Something tells me that had customer service been weighed more heavily, the results of the survey would have turned out differently. The survey doesn’t make available the customer service numbers, probably because they’re poor across the board. Intuitively this makes sense, especially for unlimited carriers. While carriers like Virgin Mobile might have an ARPU of under $20, prices for unlimited plans start much higher. To me, this signals that an unlimited prepaid carrier should focus more on customer service, since they have so much more to lose. Unfortunately, the expensive, unsubsidized handsets often act as incentive for consumers to stick around, even when treated poorly. Certainly, call quality counts for a lot in customer satisfaction. In fact, as J.D. Power and Associates argues, it might be the most important aspect. After that, however, customer service should be a clear second. If I were to weigh the categories, I’d go like this: Call quality Customer service Cost of service Service plan options Account management Initial activation Company image (though I’d probably toss this out completely) The top two have the most long-reaching effects. After that, cost of service and service plan options can be bundled together. Initial activation and account management can be interchanged, mainly because one is an initial concern, while the other is ongoing. Since ongoing lasts a whole lot longer than initial, I’d rank account management higher. Finally, company image? Does that really even have an effect on how satisfied you are? Isn’t it all about the service?

Cell-only lifestyle

One reason prepaid unlimited customers might see a greater degree of satisfaction is due to the savings they realize with their new plans. Unlimited means unlimited, meaning any time of the day and from any location within the coverage area. The effect for consumers is an avenue with which to disconnect their traditional landline service. With a company like MetroPCS, which ranked highest in the survey, this can mean spending just $50 per month on phone service, period. Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates, notes the frequency with which people who sign up for an unlimited plan are ditching their landline: “In fact, 46 percent of unlimited plan customers have completely replaced their traditional landline phone with wireless service, compared with only 13 percent of traditional pay-as-you-go customers.” So while a traditional prepaid customer will spend less per month than an unlimited user, if they have a landline the net different might be a lot less. This could certainly play into the satisfaction of an unlimited user, though it wouldn’t show up in this survey. So unlimited customers might be even happier than the survey indicates because of this. Then again, because of the de-emphasis on customer service, it might be a wash.

Are you getting an unlimited plan?

2008 might have been the year of the unlimited plan, but the craze could take off in 2009. We’re going through some strange economic times right now, and people are looking to cut costs wherever they can. Subscribing to an unlimited plan might cost more than you can eke out of a traditional prepaid plan, but when you combine that with the savings you realize by ditching your landline, unlimited customers might just come out ahead.]]>