I sold 3 Surfaces in the past week.

[baileystein]

The title says it all.

1st Person: Was interested in the iPad, but I steered them clear. They say they would much rather be able to use Office.
2nd Person: Was very interested in the touch cover, and the ability to use it as a computer as well, besides the lack of legacy apps.
3rd Person: Also was about to buy the iPad, but said they really wanted Office.

And to be clear, this was all during Christmas parties.

 

[Jazmac]

Awesome. They will be pleased with their decision.

 

[theteerex]

My mom was looking for a new laptop and I got her the surface for Christmas. End of search, nuff said!

 

[socialcarpet]

Hmm.. I'm not a big proponent of selling people on stuff, even when its stuff I happen to like. Have you used the Surface much? Did you ask these people if they want to use anything OTHER than Office? Because if they want lots of apps and games like an iPad or Android tablet they are going to be VERY disappointed.

If people ask about my phone I'm happy to tell them why I like it. But I learned that evangelizing is a bad idea a long time ago. When people buy the stuff you raved about and there is something they don't like and there ALWAYS is and it'll be your fault. Plus, if you steer someone towards a product they aren't quite ready for or that isn't quite ready for THEM, thou may sour them on the whole brand/platform. They buy a Surface tablet, find out there are no apps for it and abandon it bin frustration. Then they will forever tell everyone they meet "oh, don't buy one of those Microsoft tablets! They have no apps!"

Good on you for trying to help the platform but I'd think carefully about how you evangelize, just my 2 cents based on experience.

 

[baileystein]

Hmm.. I'm not a big proponent of selling people on stuff, even when its stuff I happen to like. Have you used the Surface much? Did you ask these people if they want to use anything OTHER than Office? Because if they want lots of apps and games like an iPad or Android tablet they are going to be VERY disappointed.

If people ask about my phone I'm happy to tell them why I like it. But I learned that evangelizing is a bad idea a long time ago. When people buy the stuff you raved about and there is something they don't like and there ALWAYS is and it'll be your fault. Plus, if you steer someone towards a product they aren't quite ready for or that isn't quite ready for THEM, thou may sour them on the whole brand/platform. They buy a Surface tablet, find out there are no apps for it and abandon it bin frustration. Then they will forever tell everyone they meet "oh, don't buy one of those Microsoft tablets! They have no apps!"

Good on you for trying to help the platform but I'd think carefully about how you evangelize, just my 2 cents based on experience.

Well, I've had the Surface since launch so I'm pretty educated on it-and I pointed out the strengths and also the weaknesses.

I make sure that they like it first-I mean I do sell phones all the time (not to my family).

And I'm careful, it's not like I'm going to tell them there's 100,000 apps. I did notify them that there is only 20,000 apps, but there will be more soon, as the platform is growing.

 

[Coreldan]

It's hard to "sell" the Surface to people in Finland cos it's not sold officially yet. Not many will go through the hassle of buying from Germany with a "wrong kind" of keyboard. But when they start selling them here I will tell of the pros and cons. My mom was pretty sold when she saw my Surface My fiancee loves my Surface, but I doubt she'll buy her own

People at university also often say something like "that looks really handy", and I tell em abit about that, but usually dont really go indepth cos they cant even buy one yet.

 

[johninsj]

Because if they want lots of apps and games like an iPad or Android tablet they are going to be VERY disappointed.

I don't think they'd be VERY disappointed There are a over a hundred thousand apps and games available, after all.

 

[mlm1950]

You take Surface tablets to parties so that you can sell them? Or are you saying that you might have convinced 3 drunk people to maybe buy a Surface tablet, on the off chance that they remember the conversation the next day?

 

[aniym]

I was about to ask whether you worked at a Microsoft Store or Best Buy and sold them during an in-store Christmas party!

What you mean is that you maybe convinced some people at a Christmas party to buy the Surface RT. You should check in with them in the new year to see how they're liking it. I'd be interested to hear about whether they think the lack of apps is as big a problem as the tech blogs make it out to be.

Personally, 'selling' people on devices has never ended well for me. I did it once in 2005 with a Toshiba Gigabeat (for someone considering a Video iPod) and once in 2008 where I convinced someone to get a WM6 Samsung Blackjack II over a Blackberry Bold 9000. Both came back to bite me in the butt....the usability of both products was simply not up to par for regular people, but being something of a tech-head, I've personally never been undeterred by a mediocre UI, unless of course the entire product was bad.

 

[stephen_az]

Hmm.. I'm not a big proponent of selling people on stuff, even when its stuff I happen to like. Have you used the Surface much? Did you ask these people if they want to use anything OTHER than Office? Because if they want lots of apps and games like an iPad or Android tablet they are going to be VERY disappointed.

If people ask about my phone I'm happy to tell them why I like it. But I learned that evangelizing is a bad idea a long time ago. When people buy the stuff you raved about and there is something they don't like and there ALWAYS is and it'll be your fault. Plus, if you steer someone towards a product they aren't quite ready for or that isn't quite ready for THEM, thou may sour them on the whole brand/platform. They buy a Surface tablet, find out there are no apps for it and abandon it bin frustration. Then they will forever tell everyone they meet "oh, don't buy one of those Microsoft tablets! They have no apps!"

Good on you for trying to help the platform but I'd think carefully about how you evangelize, just my 2 cents based on experience.

I entirely agree. I have no problem telling people why I like my Surface tablet and am happy to explain its capabilities. With that said though, I am always troubled when I read someone say they steered someone clear of X or Y. If someone is steering a person away from a known defective product, or they know that a product just will not meet an essential need, that is great. To just evangelize for a product presupposes knowledge of all of someone's needs. Just my opinion but I consider it to be irresponsible to shift from informed user to unpaid sales person and/or evangelizer.

 

[Gken]

Maybe Microsoft should ask people on these forums to work contracted at best buy to promote the surface. At least they would sell more, or engage customers better. Nice job, I do the same thing everytime people ask me about it.

 

[lippidp]

Maybe Microsoft should ask people on these forums to work contracted at best buy to promote the surface. At least they would sell more, or engage customers better. Nice job, I do the same thing everytime people ask me about it.

I was at Best Buy last night and they definitely could have used some help. My daughter started toying with the Surface and my other daughter an HP all-in-one right next to it. We were there for at least 10 minutes and drew a small crowd of curious on-lookers, but no one from Best Buy approached us to try to sell either of them. Also, the 8x and 920 on display were both powered off. If I was the local MS rep I would be furious!

 

[jmerrey]

Yeah I sold my sister on the Lumia 900 when it first came out; what a mistake! "Where is Instagram? Where are all the seasonal levels for Angry Birds? Where is Words With Friends? etc. etc. etc."

Never again.

 

[socialcarpet]

I don't think they'd be VERY disappointed There are a over a hundred thousand apps and games available, after all.

That's Windows Phone, NOT Windows RT dude.

 

[socialcarpet]

Yeah I sold my sister on the Lumia 900 when it first came out; what a mistake! "Where is Instagram? Where are all the seasonal levels for Angry Birds? Where is Words With Friends? etc. etc. etc."

Never again.

Exactly my point.

I love Windows Phone and I think Windows RT has enormous potential, but I don't let that blind me to what other people's needs and expectations are. Buying into Windows Phone right now and especially Windows RT, involves some compromises and people should know what they are getting into. Otherwise they will be one more crybaby coming to this forum to post once with some b*tch list of what they don't like about the phone/tablet and God knows we don't need more of those.

 

[ade333]

Exactly my point.

I love Windows Phone and I think Windows RT has enormous potential, but I don't let that blind me to what other people's needs and expectations are. Buying into Windows Phone right now and especially Windows RT, involves some compromises and people should know what they are getting into. Otherwise they will be one more crybaby coming to this forum to post once with some b*tch list of what they don't like about the phone/tablet and God knows we don't need more of those.

It's unfortunate but true. Microsoft is still behind in terms of ability to satisfy typical consumer demand when it comes to phones and tablets. WP8 and Surface Pro get them closer, but there are still gaps in the crowd-fare that cannot be dismissed. I'm happy with WP8, but one of the younger guys I work with said he was thinking about getting one and rather than being a screaming fan, I thought it was best to warn him.... while there are cool things, he will also miss some things as a person who churns through the "latest and greatest" phone each year- those of which have only been Android and iPhone. Personally, I still cannot believe Xbox Music doesn't have 1,000 engineers working on it to fix the ****ing train-wreck that it currently is. That app on it's own will drive people away by the tens of thousands.