T-Mobile Releases Comparison Chart: Verizon’s New Shared Everything Plans vs T-Mobile’s Plans

Posted by David Cogen

@theunlockr

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012

You may have heard about Verizon’s new Shared Everything plans that allow users to share their data usage between everyone on the plan. Well, T-Mobile today released a chart comparing Verizon’s new Shared Everything plans with their own. Here is the chart they sent out. Anyone agree with the chart or did they leave something out?

Here’s the full release:

Verizon’s New Shared Everything Comparison

On June 28, Verizon is making changes to their rate plan lineup. All stores should understand how these new plans may impact customers and more importantly, how T-Mobile continues to maintain its competitive advantage

Verizon’s pending changes give us an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the value of our products and services. By using the Acknowledge, Respond, and Move on (ARM) process that you learned in the Perfecting Your Pitch training, you can help Verizon customers see the value in moving to T-Mobile.

Overview of New Verizon Plans

1. They’re costly – Verizon is charging more for what consumers really want – data, but promoting the value of services customers are using less of – unlimited talk & text.

• This is especially true for add a lines – now with Verizon adding a line costs $30/month and requires unlimited minutes whether customers want unlimited or not.

2. They’re complicated – Verizon is forcing customers to share data knowing that most customers don’t know how much they’re using, making it even harder for them to stay within their limit when trying to balance multiple users.
3. They’re inflexible – Verizon is making it harder for customers to manage their overage, while increasing overage rates from $10/GB to $15/GB. They’re also forcing customers who want a device subsidy into these new plans.

How T-Mobile Wins

• By setting the record straight!
• We will be aggressive in our promotion and advertising to:

• Expose Verizon’s plans – for being costly, complicated & inflexible.
• Demonstrate T-Mobile value – T-Mobile provides great value for both individuals & families with affordable monthly rates and overage-free data on both Value and Classic plans.
• Launch $5 Add a Line – T-Mobile’s Back to School promotion begins on July 1st and could not come at a better time. T-Mobile provides flexibility for customers to choose between a $5/500 minute AAL ($0 for Value customers) or an unlimited AAL.

Action Steps

• Use the following steps to prepare yourself to take advantage of this opportunity:
• Review the job aid for a summary of Verizon’s new plans and competitive comparison vs. T-Mobile. Details about how Verizon plans work are included so you can be prepared to answer customer questions. Use this information to demonstrate how T-Mobile plans are more flexible and a better value than Verizon.
• Familiarize yourself with the content and be prepared to compare T-Mobile to Verizon during sales conversations
• Review the links to posts and articles from independent media outlets such as USA Today about Verizon’s new plans.
• Use the ARM statements below as an illustration of how to explain the advantages that T-Mobile offers to Verizon customers. Then develop your own ARM statements that work in your individual market.

Additional Details

How T-Mobile Plans are a better value

• More choices: Customers can choose a limited or unlimited minute plan based on their needs instead of being forced to pay for unlimited minutes.
• Better add-a-line value: At T-Mobile we allow customers to choose if they need unlimited for their additional lines with add a line prices starting at $5 per month/line vs. $30 per month/line minimum with Verizon.
• No overage: Unlike Verizon, T-Mobile’s top selling data plans (Plus – 2GB, Premium -5GB, and Ultra-10GB) are overage free so customers don’t have to worry about incurring expensive overage charges.
• No worries: With T-Mobile customers don’t have to worry about someone else using up their data. We don’t think families want to keep track of each other’s data usage. Consumers want simple ways to share connectivity (not just data) and that’s our focus at T-Mobile.
• What can I tell customers who want to share data with other devices?

• T-Mobile customers are already able to share data service among multiple devices. With a capable T-Mobile smartphone and our Smartphone Mobile HotSpot feature – which is currently included for free with our Unlimited-Premium and Unlimited-Ultra data plans – customers can share fast, 4G data with up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices without incurring overage fees.

• Lower Upgrade Fees: Remember, Verizon recently raised their upgrade fee to $30. T-Mobile still remains at $18.

Customer Examples

Example 1: Costly

Concern: My family needs new phones so I’m shopping around to see who has the best deals. I know Verizon has been talking about their new plans that let families share everything, which sounds like it could be a good deal. How does T-Mobile compare?

• Acknowledge: I’m so glad you’ve come in today. At T-Mobile we love to take care of families and I’m sure that we have some Family Plans that will interest you.
• Respond: T-Mobile provides many affordable options for families, especially for families like yours with multiple phone lines on your account.  With T-Mobile you can add a line to your account for as low as $5/month, compared to Verizon which charges $30/month.
• Move on: Would you like to see which of T-Mobile’s Family plans would fit your family best?

Example 2: Complicated

Concern: I have a family plan and every once in a while we go over our data limit. I could usually figure out who was responsible by looking at my bill. Now Verizon is making us share our data which means I’ll have no way to track how much data each family member is using. How can I control my usage if I don’t know where the data is going?

• Acknowledge: I understand how you feel. Monitoring the family’s data usage is hard enough without the added complication of shared minutes.
• Respond: Unlike Verizon, T-Mobile’s top selling data plans are overage free. That means no extra fees and no monitoring your data usage. As an added bonus, you’ll save up to $60/month on each bill.
• Move on: Would you like to see which of T-Mobile’s plans would fit your family best?

Example 3: Inflexible

Concern: I’m a Verizon customer and I want a new phone. However, they won’t give me a discounted upgrade unless I sign up for a new plan that has unlimited minutes and shared data. I don’t need that stuff but I have no other choice. It seems like they’re punishing me for upgrading.

• Acknowledge: I can understand how you don’t want to be forced into a plan that doesn’t fit your needs. I can see why it feels inflexible to you.
• Respond: At T-Mobile, we want our customers to have more choices not fewer choices. We offer a variety of Classic and Value plans that offer the services that are most important to you – and we’ll never force you into a plan that you don’t want.
• Move on: What mobile services do you use the most?