wireless sales consultant

sales representative

sales consultant

sales manager

retail sales associate

UScellular

My short experience with this organization was strange. If I had not experienced it for myself, I would not have believed it. I read all the posts about USC before I accepted a position with them and assumed all of the posts were likely disgruntled (ex) employees. I couldn't have been more wrong.

After a couple of weeks, a few people were "no longer with the organization." Nothing more was said and it was as though they never existed.

There is a steady stream of meetings and conference calls daily where the topic of conversation is the "DO" and the behaviors - Common Purpose, Flexibility, and Values - Customer Focus, Empowerment, Diversity. Let me translate a few - Flexibility - this means you must work any time you are asked, take on extra projects or special assignments regardless of how much work you currently have or you are not being "flexible" or working towards the "common purpose."

Recognition is important. "I want to thank XYZ for showing "common purpose.", I want to thank XYZ for her "flexibility" I want to recognize XYZ for "embracing change."This is important to show that you are a "good fit with the DO culture." Leaders are encouraged to use the same language for consistency and sending the same message. This is where and why people liken this organization to a religious cult, as you are constantly being bombarded with their ideology.

Meanwhile, actual WORK is secondary to all things "culture" related. As a New Hire, don't ask a lot of questions.. Like, why do we do this, in this way? Wouldn't it be more efficient if we.., or have we tried to .." This is not welcome. Verbally you will hear that USC wants to hear differing opinions and ideas as we all have varied backgrounds and experience. Don't fall into the same trap that I fell into and actually believe that.

Another word you will hear often is "feedback." What this translates to - your boss will reach out to people that you work with to find out what they think of you. Like a normal person, you will probably not see this as an issue. After all, you stand by your work and welcome constructive criticism. Right? Casual conversations with peers are taken out of context. Everyone (associates and leaders) are encouraged to "tattle" on each other. This is especially true of New Hires as they are still trying to determine if you will fit in with the culture. So what normal people would consider casual conversation or simply venting frustrations to a peer, or questioning the reasoning behind a decision, is viewed as negative and generally not accepted.

Conference calls and meetings quickly eat up half your day - it is not uncommon to have 3-5 conference calls back to back. Yes, there is work to be done and yes, there are deadlines, but you can always take it home or do it during the weekend. So work/life balance? A figment of someone's overactive imagination.

As a professional, it is no mystery that USC is a not a "big player" in the wireless arena. I highly doubt it will ever be. After all, while other carriers are busy (GASP) working, innovating, and growing, USC is sadly on a conference call talking about how wonderful it is to work for such a truly dynamic organization.

I went in believing that perhaps there was something truly special about all of the smiling faces and employees who loved working at USC. Don't fall for the hype; employees must appear this way to keep their job. They are absolutely motivated by fear and will not say anything to you because after all, you might "report" them.

An offer with this organization is simply an opportunity to "see if you will be a good fit" with the DO and if you are found wanting, as I was, you will be terminated. Many told me to "drink the kool aid" and just "fake" it and I would be left alone.

Frankly, I don't like kool aid and I won't drink it. If you are "open to change" into their version of a drone, with little time for family, long hours, lots of travel, average pay - choose US Cellular. If you have other options - Take them. This experience was a stressful one and was straight out of the pages of the "The Twilight Zone."

I worked for U.S. Cellular for 5 years and things started off great. I then moved up to a Sales Manager position and lead a great team that had a great amount of success as far as sales go. The organization preached it's values and stood by them for the first few years then they set their sights on becoming like Verizon and AT&T and they began to twist the definition of their values and behaviors to suit their own wants and needs. It seriously became a bad religion where if the Area Sales Manager and above didn't feel you belonged they would do everything they could to push you out, even if you were doing everything within the confines of the values and behaviors they claim to hold so sacred. I heard my ASM's say several times that our store was one of the best in Wisconsin and yet I would constantly hear "You're doing great but I still think you have a lot of people here who don't belong" no specific examples as to why I would just get "they seem to be entitled". I was pressured to get rid of people who were great sales people and did nothing but the right thing for their customers day in and day out. U.S. Cellular has some of the best sales people in the industry and they love their customers no doubt about it, unfortunately leadership is becoming more and more out of touch with what customers actually need. If you want to forcefully make your associates use a book to keep notes on a customer and show how much they "care" this is the job for you. If you recognize that asking akward questions, taking notes, and trying to juice as much money out of the customer as possible for products they don't need is now the organizations goal then this might not be the job for you. Basically U.S. Cellular has been losing customers over the past several years and now they are beginning to panic and forcing procedures onto it's associates in hopes of remaining competitive. Obviously that is the goal to remain competitive but walking over your foundation of frontline associates is not the way to do it. Forcing unreasonable hours, never acknowledging outstanding performance, and only asking what could have done better will destroy moral in no time folks. I learned that as much as a company can preach it's values and behaviors if the company is losing money as a whole your individual store accomplishments mean nothing. Rather than ask the question "what makes that store successful?" (I don't know maybe the associates) then take what they are doing and incorporate it into a "try this training". They would rather dump non-sense trainings on associates, force them to do things that don't work, and destroy their moral. Finally I was fired because I reported my boss for doing things that were immoral, swearing at me about my associates, and spewing a racial slur at a store meeting. I was fired because I didn't report it right away, reason being I feared I would lose my job as the ASM was buddy buddy with my store manager. I was fired after never being written up and never getting in any sort of trouble whatsoever. The worst part of this being the store manager was not even fired they ended up resigning. There is now a joke going around the area that my old store is the store you go to if you want you career with US Cellular to end as several managers have been terminated or left in the last 5 years. I put up with all of this and then found out that my position at Verizon and AT&T paid 15-20% more than I made with US Cellular I should have went to one of them to stress myself out and take years off of my life at least I would have been compensated for it. If you can put up with all of this you are a better person than I.

To sum up my experience: 

To get a management job you have to either be friends with a current manager or HAVE to agree with every single thing they say.  If you question anything you will not get a promotion.  Anything you question they record on a “doc log” on a computer for any manager to see.

To hit numbers as a RWC you have to, as a manager told me, “push the boundaries of what is ethical”.  Also if you try talking to management about things that are unethical, they will tell you that you don’t know what ethics are.  Certain associates constantly setup fraud lines and then get praised for their numbers.  If the store is struggling for numbers some managers encourage you to do fraud lines (so they won’t get in trouble for numbers) and then they try to play it off like they didn’t realize it was fraud.

Management constantly gossips to each other about their associates (which goes back to them all being friends outside of work).

The money is decent but it is always decreasing.  It’s to the point that if you’ve been there a while you can predict how they are going to change the commission structure and try to explain to you how it’s “going to benefit you”.

Numbers are near impossible certain months or quarters, even your immediate management will tell you this.  The only way to come close to hitting numbers is to come in almost every day off to meet up with customers.  If you aren’t there and one of your customers comes in, even if they ask for you, you lose the sale.  Work life balance is near impossible between working retail hours and the need to come in almost every day off.

Managers constantly lie and hide things from their associates.  Certain stores make it mandatory for their associates to drive 45 minutes away to help other stores while other stores have the choice.

Managers are always in closed door meetings and sales managers at certain locations are rarely on the floor to help out.  When they are on the floor instead of helping out they are observing associates to tell them what they are doing wrong.  When associates ask managers for help they will tell them no because they are too busy observing another associate.

Area manager is friends outside of work with most of the managers so there is no accountability for the management team.

Be ready to make a lot of calls, especially if you are at a slower store.  You will have calling blitzes where you have to cold call a bunch of business and you won’t ever get anything out of it.  However the managers will lie to you and tell you that associates from other stores are getting lines (until you talk to the associates and they tell you that’s not true)

Like I said, in this area it’s just a very poor and crazy environment.   The pay is decent, an average associate will make $42,000 a year.  A good tenured employee will make $50,000 a year.  The only people that are making more than that are either the best employees in the company or people that are very unethical.

If a store has a great quarter or two number wise then the company doubles the quotas to balance out the extra money the associates made.  

There is a reason that despite the decent money you can make, there is constant turnover of associates and very few tenured employees in the company.  Between the 3 Peoria stores, the Pekin store and Canton store only 2 associates have been with the company over 5 years.  That should tell you all that you need to know.  I could go on all day about the nonsense that goes on everyday but the bottom line is that this is NOT a company, or atleast an area, you want to work for right now.

I worked for US Cellular for eight years. Overall, the experience was a positive one. The benefits are fantastic. The health insurance is good, and associates are given six sick days per year to use. In addition to this, employees are given two weeks of vacation at one year (it's prorated for the first year); three weeks at three years, and four weeks at 10 years. In addition to this, employees are given five personal days that are "use it or lose it" each year. These can be used the same as vacation time - essentially giving employees an additional week of vacation. The one draw back with benefit time (with the exception of sick) is that it can be difficult to take many consecutive days off at a time depending on the role and department. Associates are also given other benefits such as 401K with matching, tuition reimbursement, and discounts on services such as gym memberships. Employees are also given a free cell phone and service with steep discounts for lines added onto the employee's plan. 

Compensation is competitive, if not superior, for call center work. From customer service representatives to leadership, there is fair compensation compared to other call centers in the area. Raises are given yearly based on a yearly review although there is a narrow margin of influence since raises are also based on a budget each department is given. 

The culture is also strong. It is based on a set of values and behaviors that are at the core of the company. While I was told that some departments did not adhere to them strictly, I worked in the call center as a leader, and we used our culture as a cornerstone of the performance expectations. The customer is also placed as the highest priority meaning that there was a high focus on quality although when I left there was a shift toward focusing on operational effectiveness. Numbers based performance was still not discussed with associates though I would not be surprised to see that shift since most call centers openly discuss metrics with associates. 

The two drawbacks of working here are work/life balance and areas for advancement. Associates can influence their ability to get new shifts through their performance. There are semi-regular shift bids (though I've heard they are less frequent than other call centers in the area) that allow associates the opportunity to bid for a new shift. The performance metrics are known upon entering the company. Competition for the best shifts can be stiff. Leadership is not afforded the same opportunity. They area placed with the teams and schedules were upper management sees fit. This can mean that some coaches spent years working subpar shifts such with middle of the week days off and/or night shifts without an opportunity to change. Coaches were not ranked with any transparent metrics. 

In addition to this, there are limited areas for one to advance. Considering that the Knoxville call center has about five hundred employees within the customer service organization, advancement depends on turn-over. A willingness to re-locate can mean greater opportunities for advancement.

I started in a retail store and it was great. Then I transitioned to the Telesales department in Bolingbrook because I needed a steady schedule. At first it was great, you learn the values and behaviors and what the DO is etc... But I found out that not everyone is held to the same standard. People are able to "steal" sales from you and get away with it. Others put in one wrong piece of information and get written up.
The leadership is interesting. If you need something done you know which leader will give you the answer you are looking for and then we would notate his/her name with it and we are covered. Leadership should be on the same page, but they are so far apart.
Things we are not allowed to do (set up a new line with customers own equipment) over the phone, we would just ask one of the leaders who is ok with just about anything and we would make some extra money. This wouldn’t hurt anyone at all...

"Ratting" people out is encouraged as they call this "peer-to-peer feedback".
Once we had a meeting to give feedback to a leader and that particular leader didn’t talk to us for the rest of the day after the feedback.
Then they changed our call structures. Now we need to really ask people a lot of personal and intrusive questions under the motto of "Getting to know your customer". But I don’t know how I would appreciate someone I don’t know asking me what my kids do after school, how many friends she has, what my kids' names are and what my spouse does for fun....
And I acquired more customers than anyone in that department, and I was told that I reached my cap. Sooo someone who barely makes quota can get a raise, but someone that typically doubles quota can’t get anything more.. Seems odd to me.
Then they started routing calls to a 3rd party vendor. So we ended up getting less sales calls and the 3rd party was taking more sales as they didn’t have to pay them commission. Same with internet orders. We couldn't touch those orders or honor the promo's. Not very Customer Focus (as this is one of their values/behaviors).
It felt a bit like being stabbed in the back.
The values and behaviors applied only when it was convenient for management.
I was let go because someone else changed something on an account and i didn't catch it when i placed the order.
The person who changed it is still there.
And there are so many inappropriate relations in that department. Leaders and associates and leaders and leaders.

Looking back at everything, I am glad I put all this behind me. I feel much better, less stress and not have to worry everyday if I word something wrong a leader needs to have a sit down conversation. We are all adults but we can’t go to the bathroom unless approved by a leader... we can’t go get a glass of water unless approved by a leader. I still work in the same industry just less stress and no leader’s micromanaging every little thing you do.
Some leaders will listen to your call with you and give you feedback. But with a lot of things it is just easier said after the facts then when you are in the middle of it. Hindsight is 20/20.
I feel a free person now!!

Work this job for a few years.
The company talks a lot about pride, integrity and passion.
Everyone puts on a fake smile like any company but behind the scenes everyone in sales is super stressed about hitting their goals.
 This location was so busy that at one point they had 3 full time greeters. Now each rep takes turns greeting customers. This is kind of like having a cook come out of the kitchen each time someone comes into your restaurant. Very messy. Customer get skipped. The customer wait is so bad that its harder to make a sale. You will spend some days doing all technical support. It used to be easy to make 5 or 6k in a commission check.  This year the top reps wont even make 50k. The quota one month for accessories was just about the store record witch was set by me.  I know the goals should be high but either the company is really trying to cut cost by saving money or the people setting the goals have no idea and just out some crazy number.  The managers will say " you are going to hit quota and sell 10 home phones this month" when most reps don't even sell home phones anymore. 
 It pays fair if you are willing to drink the Koolaid but reps that have been there for a long time are sick of all the pay cuts.  The whole industry is cutting cost because most customers now do monthly installments on the phones instead of contracts.  Customers can say you did a bad job after the customer told you did a great job and you still get written up for it.  All the sales rep are scared and worry and complain a lot about pay cuts but the top selling reps get written up for it. They are now having you cold call to drum up business. 
It feels like how much can we squeeze every way out of you so that you can make us more money.
Rewards points have gone away and the quota on accessories double? The management are nice people but to move up you have to brown nose and focus on being the best customer service rep. And since the goals are so high you most likely wont make any money.  The hours are like any retail store. Have worked to almost 11pm some nights when the store closed at 8pm.  You cant expect all your long time reps not to look for new jobs when they are getting paid of third of what they used to make. I know Verizon and AT&T are also cutting cost but they are such big companies that the job security is better.  US CELLULAR in the past 10 years has lost customer every year besides last year.   They put in a new billing system.  It goes down about once a month on average. Customers orders get stuck in the system and you have to smile and say "You are not going able to talk on your phone for a day or two".   When they say a cut or a change is going to happy they say it with a smile and say "GREAT NEWS we are no longer paying on this anymore" and this is how we are going to "WIN".  Will really miss the people I worked with and most of the managers. 
Overall you can make decent money if you are really good at sales.   I would rather work a 9-5 and make a little less than to deal with all the issues you will run into working for this company.

A typical day at U.S. Cellular consisted of me printing login/logout reports, reviewing the forecasted service level report, listening/viewing screen shots to determine the strengths and 
opportunity areas of my twelve associates who reported directly to me, shadowing calls, weekly discovery sessions and weekly team huddles discussing how our I will implement a holistic approach and effective ways to improve their overall call performance, proactively creating projects to build team morale, how to become an effective team player, improve sales numbers, and future career opportunities within the company,corrective action up to separation from the company, and annual reviews.

I learned how to own my learning by holding myself accountable by proactively signing up and participating in the Learning Management courses offered by the company. The benefits of stepping outside of my comfort zone and establish relationships across the company and other call centers.

My management team constantly motivated and pushed me by facilitating weekly meeting regarding my performance as a Customer Service Coach.  During each meeting I would discuss my take aways during my previous meeting, and provided my manager with my approach on resolving any/all issues that needed to be fully addressed with my team.  My manager modeled the way on how to be a effective Customer Service Coach by consistently demonstrating the values and behaviors of the company and clearly communicating what she expected from me.

My peers and I were very positive individuals, and we had an open door policy regarding being ready and available to assist each other during our time of need.

Initially, the most challenging part of my job was separating associates from the company.  However I was able to overcome that challenge by realizing that I provided associates with effective tips on how to connect with our customers, grow our customer base, and provided timely feedback and placed them on a performance improvement plan. The Performance Improvement Plan also included a deadline stating when they will be separated from the company if they choose not to eliminate any/all negative behaviors that negatively impact our business. In doing so, I was able to acknowledge and accept that the associate actually terminated themselves if they did not complete the company's requirements by their deadline.

The most enjoyable part of my job at U.S. Cellular was the ongoing support for career growth and development coupled with the open door policy that was practiced on all corporate levels.

It took me a full month to make it successfully through the on-boarding process and actually get hired.  However, what this employer has to offer is well worth the stress and wait.  What you receive in turn is a clean, safe work space that is yours and yours alone.  No sharing your chair, cubicle or keyboard with anyone else.  You'll also enjoy great pay at a great rate, with benefits from day 1.  When working with customers please take your time and honestly solve their problem or complete thier request.  There are no maximum time limits on your calls.  One Call Resolution is more important.  Fix their problem the first time so that they don't have to call back.  U.S. Cellular offers 2 bonus periods every 6 mos. based on your performance such as upgrades to a customer's account.  Dress is business casual.  Phones and plans are provided to newly hired associates.  An extremely clean and safe workplace with nice amenities provide a stable environment allowing you to maximize your efforts of putting the customer first.  For lunch different food venders provide excellent in-house food throughout the week. 
 Continuous training is always an ongoing process.  Next to the customer, nothing is valued as much as their employees.  Again, great pay, great benefits, great environment with large diverse culture.  Always looking for ways to improve the experience, multiple shift times provide flexibility to those who need it.  Unlike many large companies your voice matters and you're given plenty of opportunities to let it be heard.  The one thing they're picky about is obviously, the customer and the customers information.  Never, never give out any details about the account without first verifying the correct identity of the person requesting the information.  Failure to do this will always result in the termination of your employment, even if it's the 1st time, it will be the last time. Not wanting employees to become stagnant, always doing the same thing, over and over they want to know where you would like to move up to?  Then they provide many, many opportunities to observe your possible next work assignment trying make sure it's a good fit.  Everyone is friendly helpful.  Atmosphere is casual and people are polite and respectful. I found it very satisfying to work at U.S. Cellular  

I worked remote in Telesales, when I was hired I was told it was a fully remote position. Less than 3 months in they required us to go in 2 times a month. 

Commission structure is okay.. However the systems I would use to do my job and track my performance was extremely clunky. This will cost you sales as the direct fulfilment inventory systems they use are not accurate. Which causes many orders to get cancelled due to availability.

Even in Telesales you will take customer service calls, even when your departments call volume is higher than the customer service departments which makes absolutely no sense. Again bad systems.


Shift bids are terrible for new hires.. Not even  one year in my position there was a shift bid. Which is based on performance with no way to average/estimate performance over 12 months for new hires. Due to their training program being very long and had only been out of the ramp up period for a few months I was at the back of the line to bid on shifts. I had to bid on over 50 shifts which is nearly impossible to do with their terrible software. Even though my performance was at the Top of my team and I exceeded 200% of quota for nearly every month after ramp up. Yet still I was in the back of the line for shift bid..  My Team Manager led me to believe that I would probably get one of my top ten shifts I bid on. (I BID ON OVER 50) About a month goes by and what do you know I got the last and WORST shift I bid on which definitely did not work for me. The only thing my Manager could tell me was if a shift opens up I could bid on it.  


So many Managers in each department I am honestly not sure what most of them are doing for most of the day. In the Telesales department their team of managers seemed to take a lot of time off.

There is another fun one! Taking time off.. They give you 3 weeks of PTO(WOW! Right?) and Healthcare on day one! The healthcare premiums are fair and offer great coverage. Taking the 3 weeks of paid time off is way more complicated than it should be.(Even if you're only looking to take 3 or 4 days) If you're planning a vacation or a trip god bless you because you will more than likely not be able to take all the days you want.. The last quarter of the year is basically blocked off.

Overall it is an okay company to work for with moderate pay for a call center. You'll talk to crazy people multiple times day and in Telesales you will sell your butt off and barely 3/4 of your sales will ship. One day you'll get blind sighted with a terrible shift. 
 

US Cellular has a great notion of what their core values are, but when it comes down to daily operations those values have just become a nice idea on a poster hanging on the wall.  Over the years, as managers come and go, what's expected, allowed and acceptable is not consistent. So you get used to the "rules" and then another manager comes along and we start from scratch again. Even with store managers and sales managers that work together, there is a lack of consistency that makes it very frustrating. There is HEAVY pressure to meet and exceed sales quotas, with plenty of micromanaging on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to ensure it happens. A blind eye is given to those who use shady or questionable practices to earn commission. The amount of responsibilities and expectations kept increasing over the years while commission structure changed several times for the worse. It began as a very pleasant, fulfilling job where I felt good about what I could achieve, to one that left me mentally exhausted most days and felt as though there weren't enough hours in the day to possibly do all that was expected. Customers are horribly rude, demanding and sometimes verbally abusive. You may be told during interviewing that you'll only have to work a couple weekends a month, which is very untrue. 3 weekends mandatory every month. You will be expected to stay as late as needed after your shift if you are still with a customer or if there are customers in the store after closing time. This can be anywhere from 15 min to 1, 2 or more hours. There is no break schedule and managers don't cover breaks, so it's up in the air as to when or if you'll get your breaks and highly depends on store traffic and when your co-workers decide to take theirs. I do have to say that I appreciate how US Cellular handled Covid. Despite hours being greatly reduced, they still paid their employees their full week's pay plus a base average commission. Kudos to them on that. Work/life balance is not good, however, they are fairly flexible if something comes up and you need to leave work for an appointment or family matter. There is good comraderie among co-workers, in store and among different locations. The pay is VERY decent and they really do care about providing excellent customer experience. 

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