Maybe we'll find out why carriers can't sell Windows Phone

[Jazmac]

"Federal Trade Commission officials appear to be focusing some antitrust investigations on a few key areas of Google?s business, including not only their web services but also in Android. The FTC recently served Google with broad subpoenas to collect information about how the company conducts business with its Android licensees as well as the entire Oracle situation."

More here

 

[3migo]

Very interesting, very interesting indeed. I wonder what this investigation will discover.

 

[Jazmac]

Very interesting, very interesting indeed. I wonder what this investigation will discover.

I hope it uncovers carrier collusion to price fixing. I always had a feeling Google is behind why carriers only push android EVEN when a customer asks for a Windows Phone. They look at you as if you have a third eye.

 

[scottd34]

Most of that is actually reps that are so afraid of you asking questions about a product they don't know that they will only speak and push what they do know. At least for the carrier I work for that's how it is.

 

[tiny]

This sounds more like they will be looking at how Google collects data, and how they then use that collected data. I don't see how this has to do with the point of sale.

 

[selfcreation]

Most of that is actually reps that are so afraid of you asking questions about a product they don't know that they will only speak and push what they do know. At least for the carrier I work for that's how it is.

It was the same thing for me when i worked in the store . but i always spent time on websites ( like this one and all the centrals ) just so i could informed more clients about more products and not be Bias to One OS ... hence why i was the top baby!!


Allot of sell people are not sell?s man at all , they basically gave them there CV and got hired .. big mistake by 99% of the managers , but hey people need to work and can learn , but they never learn.....

 

[WayneDiesel34]

It was the same thing for me when i worked in the store . but i always spent time on websites ( like this one and all the centrals ) just so i could informed more clients about more products and not be Bias to One OS ... hence why i was the top baby!!


Allot of sell people are not sell?s man at all , they basically gave them there CV and got hired .. big mistake by 99% of the managers , but hey people need to work and can learn , but they never learn.....

Yea, everyone can't be a salesman. I used to say that all the time about my old co-workers. It's all about staying knowledgeable. I always stayed up on my tech knowledge. So when the carrier reps came in, I was one step ahead of them.

 

[3migo]

I hope it uncovers carrier collusion to price fixing. I always had a feeling Google is behind why carriers only push android EVEN when a customer asks for a Windows Phone. They look at you as if you have a third eye.

While it may be because of google intervention, I mainly think it's because salesman still think of WP7 as Windows Mobile, and they want to push you to a more expensive device.

 

[1jaxstate1]

Price fixing. You're being ridiculous. I'm sure if a customer wanted a WP7, they would get one.

I hope it uncovers carrier collusion to price fixing. I always had a feeling Google is behind why carriers only push android EVEN when a customer asks for a Windows Phone. They look at you as if you have a third eye.

 

[3migo]

Price fixing. You're being ridiculous. I'm sure if a customer wanted a WP7, they would get one.

Salesman can be very convincing, especially with less tech savvy customers. My mother went in to the AT&T store wanting a Blackberry, and walked out with an iPhone.

 

[Averry]

It's a chicken and the egg scenario.

That's all. There's no demand, and if everyone has an android device, a customer is less likely to bring it back because they know that everyone has one, and they probably think they're supposed to like it.

Microsoft effed up by calling it "Windows" anything. I think most people are fairly neutral about Windows on their PC, but every time I've said I have a "Windows Phone" somebody goes "oh, i've heard terrible things about those."

Of course they're talking about Windows Mobile.

 

[kylej1050]

Windows Mobile wasn't THAT bad, it didn't do much, but what it did do it did well. I sported WM5 for over 3 years. Would I go back to it? **** no, but when I had it and didn't know what it was like to have more it was great!

 

[jesdt]

the windows brand is most known as the desktop OS, so most people will associate Windows Phone with that, not Windows Mobile.
And generally, people will go after the thing that is most popular.

 

[Jazmac]

Price fixing. You're being ridiculous. I'm sure if a customer wanted a WP7, they would get one.

That isn't the point trick. Customers should be able to get what they ask for and carriers should assist the customer for what they ask for rather than push them to android. It happens across the board from all carriers. I find it unusual and I think there is motivation behind it. Not ridiculous at all.

 

[Rico]

It's a chicken and the egg scenario.

That's all. There's no demand, and if everyone has an android device, a customer is less likely to bring it back because they know that everyone has one, and they probably think they're supposed to like it.

Microsoft effed up by calling it "Windows" anything. I think most people are fairly neutral about Windows on their PC, but every time I've said I have a "Windows Phone" somebody goes "oh, i've heard terrible things about those."

Of course they're talking about Windows Mobile.

People always think it's Windows Mobile, not Windows Phone, so they won't touch it. You go into stores and half the reps are calling it Windows Mobile, and Windows Mobile evidentally raped their cat with a stylus. ****, when you have tech journalists who refer to it as Windows Mobile, what are the average Joes gonna call it? When I show my phone off, I always reference it as the new Windows Phone, which seems to distance itself a bit more from Windows Mobile.

In a more ideal world, the team that branded the Zune could brand Windows Phone. They'd call it something that would sound like the way you feel when you smell freshly cut grass on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Something that would evoke the smell of barbeques in the distance, and wasting the day away with friends in what years later you'll realize was a really crappy car. And we'd all love it.

But in our sucky world, we're bombarded with new products all the time, and it's hard to make them stick in our brains. Companies have to reuse successful brands and append differentiators to them to set one product apart from another in the same base brand. Apple does this to great effect with their i-branded devices, the letter "i" seemingly meaning nothing yet if you stick it in front of a product, people will instantly expect that product to have something to do with the iPhone or iPod.

I get the complaint some state, that there's no windows in Windows Phone. But the word "windows" in the computer space moved beyond a GUI metaphor years ago, at least for me. I associate the word (lol "Word") with an operating system. Windows is something I run programs on, so it makes sense to call their phone OS "Windows Phone".

The real trick here is moving Windows Phone beyond the memory of Windows Mobile.

Windows Mobile wasn't THAT bad, it didn't do much, but what it did do it did well. I sported WM5 for over 3 years. Would I go back to it? **** no, but when I had it and didn't know what it was like to have more it was great!

You just described Windows Phone 7. Windows Mobile did a lot, but didn't do it well. It was simply flexible enough to allow the end user to do almost any task.

 

[Johnny V Rotten]

It's about sales commissions.

Sales guys at the different networks get different bonuses, commissions, depending on the phones they sell. Microsoft generally doesn't offer these bonuses, but Google and Android manufacturers DO.

The salesman pushes people to Android instead of WP7 b/c he gets paid more if they buy the Android phone.

 

[scottd34]

It's about sales commissions.

Sales guys at the different networks get different bonuses, commissions, depending on the phones they sell. Microsoft generally doesn't offer these bonuses, but Google and Android manufacturers DO.

The salesman pushes people to Android instead of WP7 b/c he gets paid more if they buy the Android phone.

other carriers might get spiffs for selling phone x, but the one i work for dosent. no commissions on phones only services/accessories.

 

[Rhody#WP]

I think there is a cultural component. Salespeople at phone stores tend to be tech savvy people. Tech savvy people tend to prefer Linux and hate Windows. When has an IT person ever said, "I'm going to install all Microsoft products on your computer so they all work together the way they're designed to"? No, they want to install Open Office and AVG Free and so forth.

So your typical phone expert is going to have the open source OS that is tweaked and modded. They're unlikely to steer a customer to something that is Microsoft because they swore an oath to the nerd gods to never support Microsoft.

 

[selfcreation]

I think there is a cultural component. Salespeople at phone stores tend to be tech savvy people. Tech savvy people tend to prefer Linux and hate Windows. When has an IT person ever said, "I'm going to install all Microsoft products on your computer so they all work together the way they're designed to"? No, they want to install Open Office and AVG Free and so forth.

So your typical phone expert is going to have the open source OS that is tweaked and modded. They're unlikely to steer a customer to something that is Microsoft because they swore an oath to the nerd gods to never support Microsoft.

id like to think im a phone expert ( working in it for 4 years ) i use to love to custom stuff on WM , but i would NEVER EVER get Android or Iphone ,,, if you gave me one id sell it ( wich i have done lol )

and most store reps are NOT tech savvy , thats the problem , * yeah you can customize android * .. thats the tech savvy pitch? ..

how bout this :

me: *Android can be customized, but its not stable , its the only OS with malware , its messy , probly a bigger learning curve then all other OS, old android phones are left behind so you dont get upgrades ( so in 1year your kicking your self cause u need to spend an other 600$),BUT WAIT ITS NOT OVER!!! , it has Custom ring tones! So now you know when your parents call you!! ,

now do you want the black one or the pink one? *

client: *hmmm* **** that ... what else you got..

me: i brand new WINDOWS PHONE!!! lol.

see, was that hard?

and try explain to NOOB clients how to tweak an android phone m **** i use to spend 15min just trying to get some one to add ONE widget! can you imagine putting on custom ROMs or other tweaks. they always come back to complain ... always..

only complains i ever got from WM users:

my phone is slow and some calls are not coming in *me: opens up task manager* `` did you try closing your 30 opened apps? * .. DOH!!

Wp complaints so far from my clients: none.

 

[thed]

and most store reps are NOT tech savvy , thats the problem

Agree with this 100%, I don't think I've ever met a store rep that didn't know more than you could learn from an hour of researching online. But that's still more than the average person knows, so to them the reps are experts whose word is to be trusted.