Opinion of Windows Phones by those who (should) sell them

[RiseAgainst94]

Here is my first experience with trying to buy a windows phone:

I walk up to a cell phone kiosk in my local PX and ask if they have any Windows Phones. The woman there immediately said: I will not sell you a windows phone.
I ask the ignorant woman why not and she states, "they have so many problems with them, they are slow and laggy, buy Android or Iphone."
I roll my eyes shake my head. Clearly frustrated I decided to keep my mouth shut and ask to see what they had. I was looking for the Samsung Focus S and they only had the original Focus (When they had the newest Android Phones). I tell the unknowing lady thank you and walk away.
This right now is Windows Phone's biggest problem. If the people who are trying to sell the devices won't even recommend them then only people who are knowledgeable about the three main OS's will know to buy Windows phone (if it's there thing). Unfortunately, 90% of the population is not knowledgeable on the subject, and will simply buy whatever they are told too.

 

[Mitlov]

I've been in both Verizon and US Cellular stores. In both stores, when I inquired about Windows Phone, the salespeople were not particularly knowledgable, but had positive stuff to say (along the lines of "one of the guys here owns one and is always raving about it"). The phrase "easy to use" came up more than once, and maybe "refined" at one of the stores, but that's about all they knew about it.

 

[theefman]

Here is my first experience with trying to buy a windows phone:

I walk up to a cell phone kiosk in my local PX and ask if they have any Windows Phones. The woman there immediately said: I will not sell you a windows phone.
I ask the ignorant woman why not and she states, "they have so many problems with them, they are slow and laggy, buy Android or Iphone."
I roll my eyes shake my head. Clearly frustrated I decided to keep my mouth shut and ask to see what they had. I was looking for the Samsung Focus S and they only had the original Focus (When they had the newest Android Phones). I tell the unknowing lady thank you and walk away.
This right now is Windows Phone's biggest problem. If the people who are trying to sell the devices won't even recommend them then only people who are knowledgeable about the three main OS's will know to buy Windows phone (if it's there thing). Unfortunately, 90% of the population is not knowledgeable on the subject, and will simply buy whatever they are told too.

This has been the case since Windows Phone launched and no one that should be doing something about it seems to care. Not much we can do when the companies with millions at hand wont do anything.

 

[based_graham]

Its slowly changing its going to take some time

 

[steve70]

WOW! really? SLOW and LAGGY? Having a big screen Titan, it always lures people in. Every single person is amazed how fast and fluid WP is when I turn it over to them. Is it the right OS for them? Who knows, that is for them to decide. At least give them a chance! I work in retail (doors, windows, and millwork)and no matter what product I prefer, I always go through detailed qualifying process, pointing out pros and cons of each product. I try to help them decide what the CUSTOMERS expectations and needs are so that said product will enhance their life and work the best it can for them everyday. I do admit that I work with others that take a biased approach as the sales associate in the OP. Sorry for the rant. Point is, take care of your customers, learn your products, and let them sell themselves.

 

[5tephen]

Honestly, most of the sales reps I've talked to have negative things to say about them but at the time they were accurate things. Like when I bought my HD7 I heard "Oh, but it doesn't have 4G. It doesn't have a FFC." However, when I go into my closest AT&T store (which so happens to be 75 miles away in Tucson) that the rep who is usually in there is very knowledgeable of WP7 and has used one of each that they have sold. He also said he is planning on buying the Lumia 900 the day it launches. That was my original plan as well, but that changed since I will be out of the country for three months due to the Army. However, when I return to the good ole' US of A I will take a look at what's out and what's coming soon and make a decision then. In the meantime, I split my time between a 4S and a Focus Flash.

 

[RiseAgainst94]

I agree Steve, people talk out of their as*ses, we need marketers like yourself, customers deserve to be fed knowledge on the products they intend to buy so they can make an educated decision. Products should be bought on the educated opinion of the customer not the bias decision of the retailer.

 

[steve70]

Sign me up! lol. This stuff isn't rocket science.

 

[freestaterocker]

Everytime I'm at a mobile retailer (which is a lot) I do at least one of 2 things:
1 I ask if the rep knows about x phone (whatever the newest/upcoming WP for that carrier) and I whip out my HD7 and begin wowing them. This is very effective lately, since many reps are curious about the platform, but have minimal training/opportunity to "play" with them.
2 I find the customer looking for a new device and take a similar approach.

If I had money like @benthepcguy I would probably give phones away. Who's gonna turn down a free phone?

 

[anodynamic]

A while ago I went into a store and asked if they had any WP7 phones to look at. The guy told me there was no interest, and started telling me why I shouldn't bother either. He had a few good points... mostly because he was describing Windows Mobile.

This was back in November or so.

 

[selfcreation]

man i almost feel like going to a store and see what they gona say , then completely destroy them with proper facts.

I would feel soo good about my self! lol

 

[kevm14]

Last time I was in an AT&T store, I was trying out the Titan (last November) and ended up explaining some things to some customers as well as a few of the store reps. Then I got the question: Did I work for Microsoft? Felt almost like an accusation...bah.

 

[Pronk]

OK, here's a strange thing. I agree the above is bad. Salespeople seem ignorant and the general population are therefore ignorant too. And what they don't know about, they won't ask for and so things never change. So you'd think Microsoft would do something about it, right?

Well that's what I thought I was getting involved with when I won my Lumia 800 - we were supposed to be brand ambassadors and help build a buzz. There was a big launch party in London, and a couple of smaller, regional events. And then?

Nothing. Neither I nor the two friends I nominated to also get free phones have been asked to do a single thing. Not write a blog, not encourage friends to try the system, not have our experiences recorded and used in marketing. I even offered to write an article and I received such a half-hearted reply from the PR company contact in the end I didn't bother. It was basically here's your phone, come to a party and then we seem to have just been cut loose.

Compare and contrast with a friend of my wife who's a Samsung blogger (and this is in her spare time). They have her writing reviews, attending press launches and reporting, getting all her friends involved. She's been to South Korea, Barcelona, and is getting a week's stay in London for the Olympics in a 5-star hotel. And in return they get proper grassroots buzz about their products from massively dedicated fans who really enthuse about them.

I'm not saying I want or expect anything else - I walked away with a free phone, so I'm not complaining at all. I just find it really, really odd. It's like they started off really enthusiastic and then got bored of the whole thing and drifted on to the next idea. Even the email updates are a lot less frequent now.

If people want to know why WP isn't gaining ground and fast, I'd say it's because MS just don't seem to know how to sell it and indeed how they want to sell it, and there's no coordination with the OEMs either, who are off doing their own things. They seem to just be trying to do thing after thing in the hope something makes an impression and sticks.

 

[diplomat696]

Have to agree with Pronk, the Lumia 900 is launching in roughly 2 weeks and I am yet to see a single tv ad about it. I feel like MS has this awesome product, barely anyone knows anything about it and even when you do see adverts for windows phone (for example when they were first releasing the original devices) there was no information on the innovation, the simplicity, the quality, the smoothness.

The average customer is always going to think that a dual core phone is better than a single core for example. It would be great for MS/Nokia/AT&T to give a little more information and maybe just maybe even do some aggressive marketing against android and apple instead of being so passive all the time!!

 

[selfcreation]

you guys seriously need to stop blaming MS for lack of advertising... the NOKIA 900 is a NOKIA phone not a MS phone... lol

MS will NEVER advertise a specific brand of WP , so get use to it! just like GOOGLE doesn't advertise HTC android phone HTC advertise HTC android phone..

MS advertise Windows OS all the time , i see a Windows add every day. never with a specific brand ( as a matter of fact they HAVE TO REMOVE the brand from the WP )
why do you think company names are always blurred out in TV shows. RULES! LAWS!! royalty's to pay if they dont!!! lol

marketing 101


and Nokia just gave MILLIONS of $$ to AT&T to force all the at&T reps to use the 900..
so you still think they do nothing??


check the 2 MS vids bellow. I see does 2 every freaking day!!!!

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg12GF5-vGg[/YT]

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[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPOWiOnt1-M&feature=related[/YT]

 

[Mitlov]

you guys seriously need to stop blaming MS for lack of advertising... the NOKIA 900 is a NOKIA phone not a MS phone... lol

MS will NEVER advertise a specific brand of WP , so get use to it! just like GOOGLE doesn't advertise HTC android phone HTC advertise HTC android phone..

MS advertise Windows OS all the time , i see a Windows add every day. never with a specific brand ( as a matter of fact they HAVE TO REMOVE the brand from the WP )
why do you think company names are always blurred out in TV shows. RULES! LAWS!! royalty's to pay if they dont!!! lol

marketing 101


and Nokia just gave MILLIONS of $$ to AT&T to force all the at&T reps to use the 900..
so you still think they do nothing??


check the 2 MS vids bellow. I see does 2 every freaking day!!!!

Neither of the videos mention Windows Phone by name, and while they both briefly show the Windows Phone, they're both Windows 7 PC ads, first and foremost.

 

[selfcreation]

the add are ecosystem adds * power of sharing*

for PC+WP... and a little Xbox. Wp is shown at the end of the add .

im not saying its *good* lol but thats MS`s campain for all the platforms.

 

[Mitlov]

I swung by the local AT&T store just to look at the HTC Titan and the Samsung Focus S, and the salesmen didn't try to talk me into any iOS or Android phones. To the contrary, he was pretty enthusiastic about the Titan.

 

[damielrohie]

the add are ecosystem adds * power of sharing*

for PC+WP... and a little Xbox. Wp is shown at the end of the add .

im not saying its *good* lol but thats MS`s campain for all the platforms.

But MS did just hire the marketing guy responsible for the "Can you hear me now?" Verizon ads for windows phone. this suggests that they are going to be launching a much more targeted ad campaign for WP. I do think you are right that it is Nokia's job to market the Lumia's phone and its MS's job to market the OS. but up to this point neither seem to have their act together. but as you stated Nokia is pushing $s at ATT and MS hiring Mr "Can you hear me now" we should see a change in both advertising and salesperson knowledge. I think people just associate Nokia and MS together due to the money that exchanged hands and the tight collaboration that is supposed going on behind the scenes. with the WP8 release were Nokia is going to have a direct hand in the design and functions it will be interesting to see if there is still a clear demarcation between Nokia and MS. I am not saying that MS is going to buy Nokia but I am saying that there probably should be more if you scratch my back I will scratch yours mentality.