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Sprint wants to help make buying a new smartphone easier for its customers with a new Sprint Direct 2 You service that takes customer service to an extreme. Under Sprint Direct 2 You, a company employee personally drives your new phone to you, shows you how to set it up and use it, moves your contacts and other data from your old phone to the new one and helps with other questions about the device.
Existing and new customers can use the new service for phone upgrades, new phones, new tablets and more, as part of a plan to take the buying experience to the customer, according to the company.
The Sprint-trained worker will bring the new devices to a customer wherever they are, including at home or at work, and will transfer all of their content, including contacts, pictures, videos and apps from their old device to a new one.
The company said it is launching the new nationwide service on April 13 starting in its hometown of Kansas City for upgrade-eligible customers and that the idea for the new service came from customers who asked for such an offering. To make it all work, Sprint will obtain and locate some 5,000 Sprint Direct 2 You vehicles in major metropolitan areas of the United States by the end of 2015 as it rolls out the program,.
“With our new Sprint Direct 2 You fleet of cars, it’s as if we are adding 5,000 additional stores,” Marcelo Claure, Sprint CEO, said in a statement. “However, these mobile stores will be continuously on the move based on customer demand.”
Customer feedback received by the company showed that customers are often short of the time it takes to obtain new smartphones and tablets in a brick-and-mortar store, according to Sprint. Others told the company that they don’t want to order such devices online and have them delivered because they will likely need help with set-up and use once they receive them, and they’ll have no one to help them.
“We’re constantly listening to our customers, and we learn from them what they want in a great wireless phone experience so that we can remove their pain points,” said Claure. “As a result, we created Sprint Direct 2 You, a whole new way of buying wireless. With Direct 2 You, Sprint brings an amazing, convenient in-store experience directly to the customer—in the comfort of wherever they want to be. Customers will never have to worry about transferring their own data or being handed a device they do not know how to use.”
Starting on April 20, Sprint Direct 2 You will be available to customers in the Chicago and Miami metropolitan markets, with additional regional expansions coming on a regular basis, the company said.
Earlier in April, Sprint unveiled WiFi calling capabilities for customers who are using the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S smartphones, according to an earlier eWEEK report. Sprint Android customers have been able to make WiFi calls since February 2014. The expanded service for iPhone owners can be used anywhere there is a WiFi hotspot, according to the company.
The big four mobile carriers—Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile—are always jockeying in the marketplace to lure new customers by providing broadened services, more data and lower monthly service rates.