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J.D. Power and Associates has published their first volume of the 2008 US Wireless Retail Sales Satisfaction Study. And guess who came out on top? As if the post’s title wasn’t obvious enough, T-Mobile has been awarded the first place spot in Retail Sales Satisfaction, achieving an overall score of 716 in customer satisfaction. Alltel and Verizon claim the number 2 and 3 spot with a score of 714 and 706 respectively. Likewise, T-Mobile also received top honors in January for #1 Customer Care in the J.D. Power and Associates’ 2008 Wireless Customer Care Performance Study. With T-Mobile’s 3G roll-out plans this year, the wireless company has never looked better. Now, if only they offered the iPhone, I’d actually switch. But in the meantime, I’m stuck with the non-ranking AT&T.

Based from 6,634 wireless customer responses (from September 2007 to January 2008), the semi-annual study measures customer satisfaction through four factors: sales staff (51%), store display (17%), store facility (16%), and price/promotion (16%). Interestingly, the study found that wireless sales have reached its lowest point since 2005, falling 10 points from the last study in October 2007. Overall, the store display and price/promotion factors were found to suffer the most decrease. Customers were found to be unhappy with the rebates and accessories offered with phones, as well as product availability.

Other interesting finds from the survey include:

• The average wireless retail sales transaction takes approximately 56 minutes to complete from the time the customer enters the store to the time the final paperwork is finished and the cell phone is received—down nearly four minutes from the last reporting period.
• Among customers who visited a retail store in the past six months, more than 60 percent did so to purchase a new cell phone, while 65 percent upgraded or replaced an existing phone. Additionally, 11 percent of customers visited a wireless retail store to sign up for new service for the first time, marking a 4 percent decline from six months ago.
• Retail satisfaction is 15 percent lower among customers who report they were pressured during the sales process. The average overall satisfaction rating among customers who report experiencing no sales pressure is 721, compared with an average of just 610 among those who say they were pressured.

Read [PRNewswire]

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