Written for dealers. This post shares our view as an independent multi-carrier retailer. Looking for help with your own phone? Visit our help center.
So yesterday (09/27), I logged into my portal to check something, only to see that Total Wireless is no longer part of the activation options. I reached out to my master dealer and was told that Total Wireless can no longer be activated by multi-carrier stores, only by big box retailers and Total by Verizon exclusive stores.
With this happening, I was thinking about what will happen next. Of course, these are only my thoughts and not backed by any facts, so take them for what they are.
I believe that once the Simple Mobile migration is complete, Verizon (the new parent of the Tracfone family) will slowly phase out the Simple Mobile name and start introducing the Total brand to its current customers (kind of like when Cingular was bought out by AT&T).
The reason they’re not changing the name already is that customers are comfortable with the Simple Mobile brand and won’t be too sure about “switching over” to a totally new brand, especially knowing it’s going to be on a whole new network. So to make the transition as smooth as possible, Verizon is starting off with a SIM card switch, which seems harmless, and of course it is, unless your phone is not unlocked or not compatible with the Verizon Wireless network.
Once the migration is complete, or at least almost complete, I believe Verizon will slowly start phasing in the Total Wireless name for their current Simple Mobile customers. In time the name will change and the Simple Mobile brand (and its sisters like GoSmart and Net10) will be phased out.
Some dealers think I’m crazy to think this since Simple Mobile is such a big brand, and maybe I am, but look what happened to Cingular when AT&T bought them out, and Nextel when Sprint bought them out… the name will phase out.
Right now Verizon is marketing Total by Verizon heavily, and with tons of capital going into this launch, they don’t care about the other brands. Total by Verizon will be to Verizon what Cricket Wireless is to AT&T and Metro is to T-Mobile.
As for the multi-carrier dealers, just don’t put all your eggs in the Simple Mobile basket, because I believe it will disappear and everything will go to the exclusive Total stores. Perhaps after all is said and done, they will once again allow multi-carrier stores to activate Total by Verizon.
But until then, I believe Verizon is focusing heavily on making this happen and will do what’s in their best interest, not ours as multi-carriers, since they are putting a lot of money into this.
The names GoSmart, Net10, Simple Mobile and Tracfone will be brands of the past, even Straight Talk (Walmart). As for Page Plus, I’m not even sure how they’re still around and what they’ll do with that brand. Maybe they’ll keep that brand name for the sake of it, but they’ll most likely phase it out as well into Total.
So dealers, don’t focus too much on Simple Mobile right now. Watch out for yourself, because the big carriers aren’t watching out for you. (Look what happened to us when Cingular got bought out by AT&T: we lost our code. And look what happened to all the Cingular master dealers in the tri-state area except for a few: AT&T cut them out.)
As for what I’m doing right now: I’m porting as many Simple Mobile, Net10 and GoSmart customers as I can to Ultra Mobile, T-Mobile Prepaid, AT&T Prepaid and Cricket Wireless. And if customers want the Verizon network, I’m porting them directly to Verizon Prepaid.
I wish all the dealers much success in this industry. It’s been getting tougher, but remember that your customers come to you and not the big box stores because of your service and friendly atmosphere, because we treat them as people, not just another sale.
Provide service and value, go the extra mile, and they will come back again, with their friends and family.
