June 18, 2020 CATEGORY: PREPAID
Big Changes Happening for 3 Big Brands will directly affect their loyal dealers
There are big things happening in the PREPAID world. Metro by T-Mobile (formerly Metro PCS) Mobile announced in early April that they are terminating ALL their non-exclusive dealers contracts, estimated to be as many as 750 dealers. Then, just a few weeks later, the buzz is that they will be terminating as many as 2,000 of their exclusive dealers too, forcing some to rebrand to T-Mobile or simply withdraw from dealership entirely (see sources below)
AND recently AT&T announced the imminent closure of an "unspecified" number of Cricket Wireless stores. (see sources below)
There are also rumors of Boost Mobile streamlining it's store footprint in the near future. Boost is already becoming unstable as it is being used as a pawn in the giant Sprint/T-Mobile merger, where Dish Network is supposed to buy them - as per the SEC deal specifications - and who knows what Dish's plans will be for Boost? Dish has their own spectrum of bandwidth to utilize, so that's all good, but Dish has never been in the PPW game before. Will they run their acquired Boost brand into
the ground or be able to plan successful strategy growth in these very unstable times? There's also the attention that has to be paid by Dish to fulfilling their promises of building their 5G out by 2023 or else they will get hit with a hefty fine. That's a lot of pressure for a company that's new to the business.
Speculators are still not even certain the deal will be made by the cutoff date of July 1, as Dish continues to contest the original selling price, saying that since COVID-19 crisis, Boost has lost value. Meanwhile, Boost dealers are suffering from product inventory shortfalls because Boost (now essentially owned by T-Mo) doesn't want to put the money into purchasing branded handsets. So ultimately their own dealers are suffering the consequences of this indecision. That can surely mean one thing - that the Boost brand will not come out intact through this pandemic OR acquisition. I guess Pitbull should be advised to get his payments in cash and upfront moving forward.
But thanks to the robust competition in the Prepaid world, there are options for disenfranchised dealers. Dealers will no doubt want to try and lure their existing clientelle over to their new brand so they can keep their customer base and not have to build from scratch. But how will they do that if they choose a new brand that represents another carrier network entirely? Can you say "does not compute?"
If you are a Cricket, Metro by T-Mobile (formerly PCS), or Boost dealer, a smart choice would be to rep a family of brands that cover all your bases and carriers. Enter, the TRACFONE family of brands. Dealers will find the Tracfone family of products easy to sell because of their many plans and coverage over all 4 networks, and the fact that they pay the HIGH SPIFFs in the industry doesn’t hurt either. Easily converting loyal customers over to a new brand that will offer competitive benefits and prices without having to purchase a new phone in most every case.
Tracfone Master Agents like Cellucom will welcome you with open arms and support you with full training and marketing support to make the transition.
Call or just fill out a quick inquiry form and one of the team will reach out to you with information and answer any questions you have.
(source: https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/report-metro-by-t-mobile-puts-non-exclusive-dealers-notice ; https://www.fiercewireless.com/operators/t-mobile-closing-hundreds-more-metro-stores-reports )
(source: https://www.fiercewireless.com/operators/at-t-closing-some-cricket-stores)