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Troubled Sprint Woos Angry Subscribers

New CEO tries personal approach with customers, staff

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 8, 2008 9:52 AM CDT

(Newser) – Facing upset customers, merger fallout, and peeved execs, Sprint’s new CEO started the job with his work cut out for him. The company has the sector's highest rate of customer dissatisfaction. But by getting personal with patrons and employees, new boss Daniel Hesse is fighting to save the company, the New York Times reports.

In new commercials, Hesse himself suggests subscribers email him. “We needed to put a face on the company,” he says. He's put customer service in the hands of every executive. Meanwhile, rather than immediately replace the old regime, he spoke to midlevel managers to figure out who had earned a raise. The hurdles are significant, he says: “It’s like trying to drink out of a fire hose.”

Sprint Nextel president and CEO Dan Hesse delivers a keynote speech during the NXTcomm08 telecommunications show in Las Vegas on Wednesday, June 18, 2008.
Sprint Nextel president and CEO Dan Hesse delivers a keynote speech during the NXTcomm08 telecommunications show in Las Vegas on Wednesday, June 18, 2008.   (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)
A Feb. 28, 2008 file photo shows a Sprint store in Los Angeles.
A Feb. 28, 2008 file photo shows a Sprint store in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse unveils the new Instinct mobile device during a keynote at the CTIA wireless show in Las Vegas on Monday, April 1, 2008.
Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse unveils the new Instinct mobile device during a keynote at the CTIA wireless show in Las Vegas on Monday, April 1, 2008.   (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)
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