Ep. 235: Jon Freier | From Near Death to NPS Disrupter: T-Mobile’s Journey to Customer Leadership

Customer Confidential: Untold Stories of Earned Growth

Episode 235: In 2012, T-Mobile lost nearly two million customers. Its revenue fell precipitously. Its situation seemed hopeless. Then came a new CEO with an audacious plan and a penchant for F-bombs.

Jon Freier, president of T-Mobile’s US Consumer Group, joins host Rob Markey to share his firsthand account of the remarkable corporate turnaround. Jon describes the “Un-carrier” strategy, from its risky beginnings to its industry-reshaping impact. He shares how T-Mobile broke the mold, challenged conventions, and ultimately won over customers by putting their needs first.

According to Jon, “The whole premise of the Un-carrier movement was about fixing a stupid, broken, arrogant industry.”

Under the leadership of new CEO John Legere, T-Mobile used data-driven insights to uncover the “bad profits” that dominated the mobile telecom industry in the US at the time. Determined to not only turn the company around but to change the industry, T-Mobile made a huge bet on customer value and what we at Bain now call Earned Growth: the idea that forgoing bad profits to deliver more value to customers would not only reduce churn but ultimately attract new customers through word of mouth.

Jon shares some of T-Mobile’s biggest game-changing innovations. He lays out bets on dramatic changes to handset pricing and contract renewal terms, a daring move from high-priced “buckets” of limited data to unlimited plans, repricing international roaming, and the innovative T-Mobile Tuesdays rewards program. He also highlights the impact of the “Team of Experts” customer service model.

The results have been eye-popping. T-Mobile reestablished customer growth, received the highest ranking in the telecommunications & media Internet sector regarding NPS rankings (as measured by Bain’s NPS Prism telecom benchmarking), and has outperformed the stock market by many multiples.

Guest: Jon Freier, President, T-Mobile US Consumer Group

Host: Rob Markey, Partner, Bain & Company

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Want to get in touch? Send a note to host Rob Markey: https://www.robmarkey.com/contact-rob

Additional resources:

T-Mobile’s CEO on Winning Market Share by Trash-Talking Rivals

Reinventing Customer Service: How T-Mobile achieved record levels of quality and productivity

Un-carrier History

Learn about Bain’s NPS Prism

Time-stamped list of topics covered:

[2:29] The dire state of T-Mobile in 2012

[6:00] John Legere’s arrival and the birth of the “Un-carrier” strategy

[10:36] Breaking down the old telecom model: from contracts to transparency

[16:28] Early signs of success and the importance of leading indicators

[19:17] Overcoming internal skepticism and building organizational buy-in

[21:51] T-Mobile’s unique approach to customer service and the “Team of Experts”

[24:27] Using data to anticipate customer needs and personalize experiences

[28:14] Frontline Connect: Immersing leaders in the customer experience

[30:12] T-Mobile’s winning loyalty plays: unlimited data, T-Mobile Tuesdays, and Simple Global

[33:27] Lessons learned and the future of customer loyalty in telecom

Time-stamped list of notable quotes:

[3:14] “We were losing two million customers a year … Revenues were going down, costs were going up, and earnings were plummeting.”

[3:40] “Hopeless, that would be the word I would use in 2012. We’re just stuck.”

[5:59] “In walks a new CEO named John Legere ... dropping F-bombs in a very large all-employee meeting, and you’re like, ‘Did he just say what I thought he just said?’”

[12:21] “If you treat customers great and you treat them better than your competitors, guess what? They’ll stay.”

[14:31] “The biggest risk is doing exactly the same [thing]. Where our business was, it needed a bold shakeup.”

[15:28] “You might not have to be perfect right out of the gate, but you have to be absolutely committed to steering decisions … That’s where the visibility of metrics and the overall management system is critical to be able to steer to the outcomes you’re looking for.”

[16:07] “We just decided to have customers win first. Our employees win second, and then our shareholders ultimately winning after that.”

[29:19] “I have the saying, at T-Mobile, that there’s two types of people. One, those who serve customers. And two, those who serve those who serve customers. And you’re in one of those two buckets. And if you don’t buy into the culture, you’ll never find the time to do it.”