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	<title>Comments on: 5 Business Lessons I learned from Sprint</title>
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	<link>http://www.inspiredstartup.com/5-business-lessons-i-learned-from-sprint/</link>
	<description>Taking your startup to the next level</description>
	<pubDate>Sun, 01 Aug 2010 07:38:32 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>By: zeek</title>
		<link>http://www.inspiredstartup.com/5-business-lessons-i-learned-from-sprint/comment-page-1/#comment-12163</link>
		<dc:creator>zeek</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:45:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=77#comment-12163</guid>
		<description>YOU are the exact reason that i hate my job.  What you don't understand about Zeek's is this; the dough, and the toppings can be very expensive, especially when we use fresh basil, cilantro, oregano, arugala, and many other things.  Our crust is probably the best delivery pizza crust there is, and i have been told by many of our customers that they appreciate the fact that we dont pile on cheese, pepperoni, etc. because for once their pizza  isnt covered in a half inch of grease when they go to take a bite. I hope you never come back to Zeeks, people like you who are so OCD that nothing you happy. BITE ME :)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>YOU are the exact reason that i hate my job.  What you don&#8217;t understand about Zeek&#8217;s is this; the dough, and the toppings can be very expensive, especially when we use fresh basil, cilantro, oregano, arugala, and many other things.  Our crust is probably the best delivery pizza crust there is, and i have been told by many of our customers that they appreciate the fact that we dont pile on cheese, pepperoni, etc. because for once their pizza  isnt covered in a half inch of grease when they go to take a bite. I hope you never come back to Zeeks, people like you who are so OCD that nothing you happy. BITE ME <img src='http://www.inspiredstartup.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>By: To iPhone or not to iPhone &#124; Insights into Startups and Entrepreneurship - nPost Blog</title>
		<link>http://www.inspiredstartup.com/5-business-lessons-i-learned-from-sprint/comment-page-1/#comment-8164</link>
		<dc:creator>To iPhone or not to iPhone &#124; Insights into Startups and Entrepreneurship - nPost Blog</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:55:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=77#comment-8164</guid>
		<description>[...] Sprint! If you’re curious as to why I’m leaving Sprint after 11+ years, you can read about it here. The all important question posed to you now, my blog readers, is should I give in and finally get [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] Sprint! If you’re curious as to why I’m leaving Sprint after 11+ years, you can read about it here. The all important question posed to you now, my blog readers, is should I give in and finally get [...]</p>
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		<title>By: Amex paying customers $300 to cancel</title>
		<link>http://www.inspiredstartup.com/5-business-lessons-i-learned-from-sprint/comment-page-1/#comment-6622</link>
		<dc:creator>Amex paying customers $300 to cancel</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:20:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=77#comment-6622</guid>
		<description>You are a very smart person!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You are a very smart person!</p>
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		<title>By: Valorie</title>
		<link>http://www.inspiredstartup.com/5-business-lessons-i-learned-from-sprint/comment-page-1/#comment-5219</link>
		<dc:creator>Valorie</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:21:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=77#comment-5219</guid>
		<description>Amen!

I was in management with Nextel (Pre Sprint buyout) for years.
And I always practiced "old school" customer service:

The customer is always right.
Always bend over backwards to help them.
Never bend over forwards, however.
Send them away with a smile and a sense of relief.
Ingrain in them that they can always come to you with an issue.
Word of mouth is your best advetisement...or your worst, you decide.

However, having said all that, Nextel's corporate customer service was exactly as you described...horrible.
You could come to my stores and get excellent customer service, but at the same time they had already been trampled by our telephone "customer "service" dept.

I see Sprint is no different! 

(I left the company at the onset of their nerge, which turned into a buyout and eliminated many jobs.)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Amen!</p>
<p>I was in management with Nextel (Pre Sprint buyout) for years.<br />
And I always practiced &#8220;old school&#8221; customer service:</p>
<p>The customer is always right.<br />
Always bend over backwards to help them.<br />
Never bend over forwards, however.<br />
Send them away with a smile and a sense of relief.<br />
Ingrain in them that they can always come to you with an issue.<br />
Word of mouth is your best advetisement&#8230;or your worst, you decide.</p>
<p>However, having said all that, Nextel&#8217;s corporate customer service was exactly as you described&#8230;horrible.<br />
You could come to my stores and get excellent customer service, but at the same time they had already been trampled by our telephone &#8220;customer &#8220;service&#8221; dept.</p>
<p>I see Sprint is no different! </p>
<p>(I left the company at the onset of their nerge, which turned into a buyout and eliminated many jobs.)</p>
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		<title>By: Harnish</title>
		<link>http://www.inspiredstartup.com/5-business-lessons-i-learned-from-sprint/comment-page-1/#comment-2412</link>
		<dc:creator>Harnish</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:22:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=77#comment-2412</guid>
		<description>Just as a good product or service is viral so is a bad one. And you are not the only disgruntled Sprint customer, I was too at one point and I just quit. And when other family and friends asked me for a referral I brought up my experience. They never bought their service or their phones.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Just as a good product or service is viral so is a bad one. And you are not the only disgruntled Sprint customer, I was too at one point and I just quit. And when other family and friends asked me for a referral I brought up my experience. They never bought their service or their phones.</p>
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		<title>By: Article Spinning</title>
		<link>http://www.inspiredstartup.com/5-business-lessons-i-learned-from-sprint/comment-page-1/#comment-1779</link>
		<dc:creator>Article Spinning</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Jan 2009 10:10:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=77#comment-1779</guid>
		<description>Thanks for sharing this, Andy. If people like spreading anything around, it's mostly negative experiences they had dealing with companies/services. That's why every company must do all they can to NOT allow customers to have negative experiences, as you did with Sprint. I hope someone important at Sprint finds this post and makes corrections, least they lose many more customers.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thanks for sharing this, Andy. If people like spreading anything around, it&#8217;s mostly negative experiences they had dealing with companies/services. That&#8217;s why every company must do all they can to NOT allow customers to have negative experiences, as you did with Sprint. I hope someone important at Sprint finds this post and makes corrections, least they lose many more customers.</p>
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		<title>By: Michael</title>
		<link>http://www.inspiredstartup.com/5-business-lessons-i-learned-from-sprint/comment-page-1/#comment-1677</link>
		<dc:creator>Michael</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Jan 2009 03:04:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=77#comment-1677</guid>
		<description>Reminds me of an interaction I had a few years ago with Zeek's Pizza: simple little matter about super-paltry toppings on $50 worth of pies. I sent a letter and never heard anything back. Anyways, not to rant, but I'm a teacher, and I've been using that letter as part of a letter-writing unit ever since. Students love knowing that they have a voice, that they can actually complain and campaign. And I get a quiet satisfaction knowing I might have turned a few souls away from Zeek's. Come to think of it, Kinko's customer service is pretty terrible too. 

Nice work, Andy.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Reminds me of an interaction I had a few years ago with Zeek&#8217;s Pizza: simple little matter about super-paltry toppings on $50 worth of pies. I sent a letter and never heard anything back. Anyways, not to rant, but I&#8217;m a teacher, and I&#8217;ve been using that letter as part of a letter-writing unit ever since. Students love knowing that they have a voice, that they can actually complain and campaign. And I get a quiet satisfaction knowing I might have turned a few souls away from Zeek&#8217;s. Come to think of it, Kinko&#8217;s customer service is pretty terrible too. </p>
<p>Nice work, Andy.</p>
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		<title>By: Tee</title>
		<link>http://www.inspiredstartup.com/5-business-lessons-i-learned-from-sprint/comment-page-1/#comment-882</link>
		<dc:creator>Tee</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:09:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=77#comment-882</guid>
		<description>Thanks Andy!  This was exactly what I needed at the moment!   If I may, I would add one (or make it a sub point?):  Make it personal.   I have always made it a point to have a personal relationships, to the extent that I could, with clients.   It makes my job much more fun and my clients truly appreciate the connection (most of the time!).</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thanks Andy!  This was exactly what I needed at the moment!   If I may, I would add one (or make it a sub point?):  Make it personal.   I have always made it a point to have a personal relationships, to the extent that I could, with clients.   It makes my job much more fun and my clients truly appreciate the connection (most of the time!).</p>
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		<title>By: Jun Loayza</title>
		<link>http://www.inspiredstartup.com/5-business-lessons-i-learned-from-sprint/comment-page-1/#comment-333</link>
		<dc:creator>Jun Loayza</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Jan 2009 00:43:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=77#comment-333</guid>
		<description>"Let Go" is the point that I feel is most powerful.  You always naturally seem to want more and more, but sometimes, you really have to control yourself to understand that it is quality, and not quantity, that makes a startup succeed.

&lt;a href="http://www.junloayza.com/careers/the-lessons-learned-of-an-entrepreneur-answer-to-a-reader/" rel="nofollow"&gt;Here are the lessons that I have learned as an entrepreneur.&lt;/a&gt;  I'd sure like to know what you think about them!

Great post and I look forward to staying in touch!

- &lt;a href="http://JunLoayza.com" rel="nofollow"&gt;Jun Loayza&lt;/a&gt;</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;Let Go&#8221; is the point that I feel is most powerful.  You always naturally seem to want more and more, but sometimes, you really have to control yourself to understand that it is quality, and not quantity, that makes a startup succeed.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.junloayza.com/careers/the-lessons-learned-of-an-entrepreneur-answer-to-a-reader/" rel="nofollow">Here are the lessons that I have learned as an entrepreneur.</a>  I&#8217;d sure like to know what you think about them!</p>
<p>Great post and I look forward to staying in touch!</p>
<p>- <a href="http://JunLoayza.com" rel="nofollow">Jun Loayza</a></p>
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		<title>By: Adam</title>
		<link>http://www.inspiredstartup.com/5-business-lessons-i-learned-from-sprint/comment-page-1/#comment-327</link>
		<dc:creator>Adam</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:14:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.inspiredstartup.com/?p=77#comment-327</guid>
		<description>Weird.  I have exact opposite experiences with Sprint.  I've been a member since mid 2005ish.  I jumped on the Sero plan 2 years ago.  They had to completely redo my account but eventually they had it set up.  On top of that, I get a 23% discount through my former employer and negotiated unlimited texts/data/picture mail.  The only thing limited on my plan is minutes (450) but with free sprint to sprint I never use them.  There was also a promo awhile ago for $5/month off your bill.

In the end, my bill is $24.  It has been as low as $18 before.  Including taxes ;-)  I want the iPhone bad, but paying $80/month for the same features just isnt worth it to me.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Weird.  I have exact opposite experiences with Sprint.  I&#8217;ve been a member since mid 2005ish.  I jumped on the Sero plan 2 years ago.  They had to completely redo my account but eventually they had it set up.  On top of that, I get a 23% discount through my former employer and negotiated unlimited texts/data/picture mail.  The only thing limited on my plan is minutes (450) but with free sprint to sprint I never use them.  There was also a promo awhile ago for $5/month off your bill.</p>
<p>In the end, my bill is $24.  It has been as low as $18 before.  Including taxes <img src='http://www.inspiredstartup.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';-)' class='wp-smiley' />  I want the iPhone bad, but paying $80/month for the same features just isnt worth it to me.</p>
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