Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) is a "very, very different" company from a year ago, according to Chief Executive Dan Hesse.
While the Overland Park, Kan., wireless carrier continues to improve its customer service, Hesse acknowledged at a conference on Friday that there remains a gap between perception and reality.
Hesse noted that customer care resolution has improved for 15 straight months. Existing customers talk about the better experience, although people who haven't been on Sprint's network for a while continue to have a negative view of the company.
Hesse was speaking at a conference ahead of the launch of the Palm Inc. (PALM) Pre on Saturday. The device is touted as the toughest competitor to Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone. But one of the knocks on the Pre has been whether Sprint's reputation may affect sales.
Tim Donahue, a marketing executive for Sprint, said he believes the "positive momentum" at the company will offset any customer service concerns. The company has eliminated 60% to 70% of the negative perception, he said.
Hesse was adamant in touting the company's improvement, citing its "Most Dependable" claim three times during his speech.
The event was held to discuss the Pre's fit in the business world. Hesse said the Pre has been the only device that he has used in the past six weeks.
One of the early criticisms of the Pre has been the lack of applications. Dave Whalen, senior vice president of global sales for Palm, said he was aware of the issue, and noted that older Palm applications would work on the device through its "Classic" program.
Sprint executives expect "thousands" of programs to become available. The carrier's open network and ease of the WebOS operating system will mean a short development time for programs, Donahue said.
Sprint's stock has also outperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 index, he said.
Looking ahead, Hesse said he expects to have four markets with 4G WiMax technology, and 10 markets by the end of the year.
[Originally Posted at money.cnn.com]
Saturday, June 6, 2009
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