My T-Mobile saga began a few weeks ago. It’s still unresolved, but a good example of the kinds of things smaller businesses do MUCH better than their larger counterparts.
Here’s what happened…
A year ago December, I moved most of SMR’s cell phones to a T-Mobile business plan. Not only did that give us new phones for five people, but it also included AppleCare+, an add-on service that covers loss, damage, and theft.
A few weeks ago, our engineer Edwin’s phone was damaged.So we got in touch with T-Mobile for a replacement. But it turns out T-Mobile had changed our plan, and AppleCare+ had expired without anyone letting us know.
It got messier from there. Even though our bill still listed AppleCare+, T-Mobile couldn’t simply reactivate the coverage. They explained it now had to be part of something called Apple Business Essentials (ABE), a subscription service that, among other things, will provide the AppleCare+ for all of our phones.
To accomplish that, T-Mobile created a new Apple Business Manager (ABM) portal — but it conflicted with our existing ABM portal!
They don’t recognize each other, and they can’t be merged.
In essence, T-Mobile’s attempt to fix the issue ended up making things worse. Their standard process of provisioning a new ABM portal can’t handle a situation in which an account already exists. I’ve spent hours on multiple calls, talking to supervisors, and waiting on hold.
I have since gotten T-Mobile to move the ABE to our existing ABM portal. Unfortunately, as of this writing, it appears the ABE is still not active.
And this is just one example — I bet you have some of your own — of how large companies often struggle to quickly and effectively solve problems.
More specifically, there are at least four areas where smaller companies shine…
#1. Large companies struggle with exceptions.
The bigger a company gets, the more reliant it becomes on establishing standardized, cookie-cutter solutions. In nationwide companies in particular, profitability is closely tied to scale. Solutions that require thinking (let alone implementing) outside the norm slow things down and cost more money.
My T-Mobile experience was exactly that: our existing Apple Business Essentials account was an unexpected complication and their system just couldn’t handle it. We are the exception, and T-Mobile has no way to deal with it.
Smaller businesses, on the other hand, thrive on flexibility,adjusting quickly to unique situations and treating each customer individually.
#2. Large companies are metric-driven.
Even as a smaller company, SMR still tracks and measures a wide range of things to make sure our customers are well served and our business remains profitable. But that’s not the only thing I look at in running the company.
Our smaller size means our entire staff, from myself on down, remains close to customer needs and day-to-day concerns. We have the freedom to make commonsense decisions above and beyond what the metrics may suggest.
Big companies often lose that perspective and flexibility. The further management gets from the customer, the more metrics — regarding productivity, costs, service, and everything else — become the primary means of analysis and management.
The less you can see with your own eyes, the more metrics become the lens through which the business is viewed and decisions are made.
#3. Large companies are fragmented and bureaucratic.
The larger the company, the more likely you are to be stepped through a phone tree (or several); put on hold; given a generic, scripted response to any problem; and transferred from one person to another (often in another country). All of this, hopefully, without getting disconnected along the way.
All of these tactics are better for the company in question. None of them are better for you, the customer.
Smaller companies aren’t perfect. But our size lends itself naturally to providing more direct interactions, clearer communication, and genuine empathy.
#4. Large companies rarely go the extra mile.
Technically, SMR does not provide support to the home networks of our clients’ employees. It says so right there in our client contracts. But, on occasion, when somebody runs into a problem … we do it anyway at no charge.
That’s the kind of thing a large company would certainly bill for — assuming they would do it at all.
Smaller businesses can make one-off decisions based on the situation at hand and the people involved. Most times, these things are not written in a procedural manual or specified in a contract. It’s just part of how business is done at this scale.
A Competitive Advantage
There’s nothing inherently wrong with big companies. But size often comes at the expense of agility, personal interaction, and genuine customer care. It’s a reminder of how valuable responsiveness and personal attention can be.
As frustrating as my T-Mobile saga has been, it also highlights the powerful advantage smaller businesses have in making customer experiences better. For those of us in that world, it’s a competitive advantage we need to remember.