Leadership Strategy Interviews

An Interview with Megan Christ, T-Mobile Sprint

Megan Christ is a Group Manager at T-Mobile/Sprint.

Transcript

Bonnie: Here we are, thank you all very much for joining us for the next edition of our Strategy Leadership Series. We have Megan Christ from the new T-Mobile Sprint Group joining us. Thank you for joining us Megan. Megan: Yeah thanks for having me.

Bonnie: Of course, Megan has been with Sprint in various iterations in the new T-mobile group for 16 years and she is a part of the, leader of the group of Consumer Insights and Strategy and I am Bonnie Janzen with Decision Analyst. We are a marketing research consumer insights and strategy organization and we are very honored to have you taking some time with us and sharing some insights with us today. Let’s jump right into business if you don’t mind can you share a little bit about your organization and your industry and kind of some of the changes that you have made as an organization as COVID-19 has started and shelterin- place orders were established and kind of as the crisis began and has continued on at this point?

Megan: Yes, so obviously our role, you know, being a wireless communications company has kind of just become more prominent now you know it was important before, kids wanted their phones and all that, but now with many things going a remote it’s just even more important for us to make sure that we’re offering the consistent connection. You know, the network’s top-notch and the devices are available, and people have their phones and laptops and tablets and really being able to provide that connection to people right now when there’s is so much uncertainty. I think right some, you know, keep, sort of, what we can offer is, just helping people feel somewhat of a connection still, and making sure everyone has they need to do that. Bonnie: So tell us a little bit about some of your new product development plans and ideas. Many people have talked about how new product development has been invigorated in the COVID-19 era and new things have come to the forefront as consumer perceptions and behaviors have changed.

Megan: Yeah, I think for us it’s just again, just finding new ways to connect people, making sure that we are on the forefront of whatever technology is available, to keep people connected, you know, you see areas like health care, and people that can’t visit loved ones in the hospital right now, so, making sure we are able to give those devices and those technologies. And just thinking forward about what might be required and necessary for people and making that available. Same with education, making sure the teachers and the school districts have what they need, and the students have what they need. So, in terms of, you know, what we can offer, I think is just making sure we’re thinking of those things and kind of thinking forward about, and anticipate as best we can, right, what things might look like down the road and I’m making sure we’re able to stay on top of that and give everybody what they need to be connected.

Bonnie: That’s great. What about the impact on the labor force and I know you have various different groups within your organization in terms of labor and what they provide to your customers, but it has been very painful for labor force and many organizations if you can share a little bit with us about what T-Mobile has been able to do in that area that would be helpful?

Megan: Yeah, I think you know we’ve had to kind of get up to speed very quickly and pivot and adjust to the way we had been doing things, going through a merger, we’ve got T-Mobile stores and Sprint stores, so we were already trying to work together to kind of consolidate that and then COVID hit, so, we had to close down most of those retail stores. So trying to get that staff, you know, accommodated maybe moving them into different locations, or different positions for the time being, so we can maintain them and, you know, but still having a place where consumers can go and get what they need. So, moving a lot of things online making sure that is you know top-notch doing one-day shipping, overnight shipping, making sure we have devices in stock that people need. So, staff has been working you know really hard on that. And then care reps, you know, a lot of them were in call centers and, so, moving many, many of those folks remotely, and making sure they have the technology they need to do their job from home, or remotely and doing training to keep everyone up to speed. And then our network, and our IT folks working very hard to make sure the network is working for our consumers and then our IT group making sure it’s employees are all connected and able to maintain those connections, so yeah.

Bonnie: Yeah.

Megan: I had to adjust, but I think we’ve done good job with it.

Bonnie: Yeah, and I think a lot of organizations have given many kudos to the IT organization within or IT departments within their organizations about how they’ve been able to kind of help keep everybody afloat and keep all those, you know, all the commerce going as best could. So they’ve done a great job. Impact on pricing and promotion as it relates to your strategy and, of course, there’s T-Mobile and Sprint, and kind of the combination of those two things.

Megan: Yeah, I mean one thing just thinking of the impact of COVID is with some of our consumers maybe struggling to pay the bills right now, so we kind of took a pledge where we’re helping people through that, we’re giving bill deferrals, were, you know, we’re deferring payments, we’re removing payment due dates, or reducing amounts that are due for a certain amount of time that folks need and to get back on their feet. So, that’s one thing, that we’re doing and then, we’ve always, T-Mobile and Sprint have always kind of been a value player in terms of pricing, so making sure we’re giving the best network at the best price, with all of the best elements that you need in that plan. So, that’s been key to both companies for quite a while, so bringing that together is, you know, it’s fairly seamless. And again just making sure we can offer that affordable plan, affordable device for families, for businesses, you know, like I said especially now during COVID to make sure we’re giving that affordability.

Bonnie: And what about the values as a society we’ve seen a lot of changes and people have said having all this time to ourselves to kind of slow down and look at what’s important is sort of changing what we feel is important, more family time, and how we interrelate to one another, how do you see this changing things for your organization, or for your industry going forward?

Megan: Yeah, I mean being in the Research Group, the Insights Group we’ve obviously reached out to our customers, and to folks in the marketplace, and done lot of our own research just to understand how people are feeling right now, you know, how COVID is impacting them and how they’re feeling towards it. There is definitely, it’s getting a bit better, or very concerned early on, and then we’re seeing that easeup just a little bit. But, I think when we asked them about technology and devices and connections that’s still hugely important and even more so, and like you said it’s tough, you want to disconnect, but at the same time you need to stay connected right. So, I think people are realizing ways to stay connected with grandparents, who maybe can’t go anywhere or like I said people that are in the hospital, and things like that, and friends trying to stay connected when they’re not in a school setting and seeing each other in person. So that just seems to be even more important to folks right now is just maintaining those connections, and however, we can help do that.

Bonnie: And what else would you like to share about the new T-Mobile in terms of your organization now that you kind of merged together with Sprint and T-Mobile?

Megan: Yeah, it’s definitely an interesting and challenging time we kind of started all this pre-COVID, and so we were getting into the steps of understanding each other, and our roles and what everyone was doing. We were having meetings on site, we have two different headquarters, and so we had people coming and going, and then when that all stopped, and travel was kind of put on hold, we had to readjust a little bit and figure out how do we get to know each other remotely. And, so we’ve been able to do that and still stay connected and understand synergies and how we’re doing things, and so we’ve been able to maintain that. And then, I think T-Mobile has done a good job, we’ve got COVID, we’ve got the merger, but we’ve also got protests, and things like race relations, and so bringing that to the forefront, not shying away from it, talking about it, giving employees a place to feel open, and honest and be able to share their experiences, and have us learn from each other. I know I’ve learned a lot just by listening and hearing other people’s experiences, and sometimes you feel helpless, and what can you do, but I think they’ve been good about offering up, if you do want to get involved here’s some things that you can do. And as a company, we want to maintain diversity, and so they’ve done a really good job I think about just making sure that that’s in the forefront and, again, not shying away from it.

Bonnie: That’s great, so it’s definitely as many of us have said 2020s been challenging in many ways, both personally, professionally, and as the business was merging already, so there’s been a lot of challenges, but it sounds like very exciting times for the new T-Mobile and lots of exciting things to come as they take on the merger and the rest of the year of 2020. Yeah, like you said definitely a lot going on but it is an exciting time, so with new technology, and merging groups together and trying to learn from each other, yeah definitely challenging, but I think good things to come for sure. That sounds great. Well, is there anything else that you wanted to share with us today?

Megan: [I think] we covered everything, I think one thing we had talked about before, was just how our industry and research can just make sure that we’re staying creative, we’re staying open to new ideas, we’re staying flexible because it does change a little bit the way we’re used to doing some things and whereas, we might not be able to do some of those in-person research techniques, just making sure we can still get that human connection and get that insight, while being flexible with new technologies. Bonnie: Yeah, very good, very good. Well all really great ideas, and we really appreciate your time. I’m sure you’re incredibly busy with the merger and everything else going on, so we appreciate your time, I wish you great success through the rest of the year and thank you for joining us. Have a great afternoon.

Megan: Great thanks, so much.

Bonnie: All right. You too. Bye bye.