This phone doesn't stand a chance!

[antsmarchin]

Foursquare is not a Nokia exclusive

 

[falconrap]

My experience isnt directly related to WP or Verizon, but still was a horrible experience with sales rep and how it can affect which phone to get
I went in a few days ago trying to get the new HTC One for my mom, (originally she wanted an HTC 8x like me, but unfortunately WP8 doesnt have a foursquare app, and my mom needs it to keep her business alive :/) my mom has the iphone4 and was on the fence about whether to stay with iOS or switch to android

As soon as I mention me needing a phone for my mom, the rep guy was like "and iphone 5 right?" and I was like "ehh no an HTC one" and he was literally merciless about pushing the iphone5, my mom who before getting there was leaning more toward iphone5 was completely turned off by the reps car sales tatics, and was now wanting an HTC One, and was telling the rep she wanted an HTC! and the rep would not ease up...kept being like "but its easy to use" and "no, but you want an iphone" "everyone has an iphone" and the kicker was...HE OWNED A DROID, smh it wasnt until I asked if he was getting paid for selling iphones because tmobile just got them, that he shut up and we just ended up leaving...

and honestly I had seen a lot of reviews on the HTC one, but when I checked it out in the store, same ol' android, no matter how nice the phone is..
and my mom felt the same, we're just gonna wait until WP gets foursquare for my mom to switch to WP
sorry just realized not to much on topic, but yeah sales rep can really hinder a customers experience with a phone

I'll do everyone else better...here's the link to the app:
Foursquare | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)

 

[omniusovermind]

Having worked at various positions up and down the distribution chain, I can tell you that you're severely underestimating the affect that the front line, the sales force, has on numbers. These are people that are supposed to be experts and all too many customers defer to them, as such.

I don't think I am, but I do know that I have a particular bias when it comes to what you just spoke about, and that's that I hardly ever turn to sales reps for advice simply because they have too much of a vested interest in what they try to get you to buy and it rarely matches mine. So I do my own research.

I even get annoyed when I overhear other customers asking sales reps for advice lol. I mind my own business though because I once tried to warn off someone in a store after the salesman was out of earshot that the laptop she was being advised to get had one of the worst ratings on the market. Rather than investigate for herself she put that "I'm shutting down" blinking calf expression on her face and proceeded to buy it anyway. I decided that people who walk into a store with no homework totally deserve what they carry to the cash register

 

[tgp]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with having bias - that's pretty normal, actually. As an employer, would I take a salesman passionate about one of their products over one that's indifferent to all of them? Any day of the week, man. Where we run in to problems is bias based upon ignorance, bias coming between the pairing of the customer and the best product for their needs and bias getting in the way of a sale. All of this is readily fixable, btw.

I agree 100% that a passionate salesman is better than one who is indifferent. As much as those of us on this forum would like to see WP pushed by everyone, I'm not sure how it makes much of any difference to Verizon which platform is sold, other than maybe profit margins on certain phones. Carriers make money on contracts, not so much on phone sales. Maybe certain phones have higher return rates which could hurt the carrier's bottom line, so they would encourage sales people not to push those devices.

Disclaimer: I am not a phone salesman, and I know nothing about how carriers' systems work. I don't actually have proof that any of this is valid. I'm surmising here.

 

[a5cent]

As much as those of us on this forum would like to see WP pushed by everyone, I'm not sure how it makes much of any difference to Verizon which platform is sold, other than maybe profit margins on certain phones.

According to Abe (our resident Verizon rep coach) the bean counters would very much prefer reps sell WP devices over iP5s or GS4's, because Apple and Samsung have higher margins on their products and thus cost Verizon more.

 

[WhyFiNYC]

I don't think I am, but I do know that I have a particular bias when it comes to what you just spoke about, and that's that I hardly ever turn to sales reps for advice simply because they have too much of a vested interest in what they try to get you to buy and it rarely matches mine. So I do my own research.

You've got 2.5k posts on a tech board - you're not a Joe Schmoe, you're an enthusiast like most of the active people on this forum; a self-selected group of enthusiasts is never an accurate reflection of reality - of course you don't rely on sales people in this arena. I would wager that most of the members here are frequently more knowledgeable than retail staff.

 

[dksf42]

I have "tried to follow this thread" ... But, come on guys ... No matter WHAT you buy ... a new car, a used car, a stereo, a house, a toaster, etc. ... a "smartphone" ... WHY put ANY BLAME on the poor sale rep - Just trying to make a living and keep his/her BOSS HAPPY!

Sales is about "numbers" - it always has been and it ALWAYS WILL!

So, READ these kind of forums - ask very stupid or very specific questions - and GET the ANSWERS FOR FREE FROM us ...

THEN ... armed to the teeth ... GO into a Verizon store and TELL THEM what you want!

I have seen this a thousand times ... I WANT A Nokia 928 ... PERIOD!

a "smart sales rep" will say ... OK, and CLOSE the sale!

Fence sitters are a waste of a "great sales reps" time & $$$ in their pocket !!!

It's just the way the world works!

I mean, come on ... BOO, HOO ... the "sales rep" talked me into it - that's why you have 14 or 30 days - but THAT will cost you re-stocking, like $35 !!!

 

[WhyFiNYC]

^^^ Evidently, you need to work a little harder when it comes to following this thread, 'cause you're missing the point by a good margin.

 

[TonyDedrick]

Not sure I would call myself anymore knowledgeable than a sales rep. I just know that if im spending a boatload of money on a device, I will make sure I do the research and not have someone else tell me what I should or shouldn't buy. Its just common sense. Especially when money is tight these days.

 

[Cadet Christmas]

As a guy who's been in sales (at a Big Blue retailer, if you catch my drift), I just wanted to throw my thoughts out there.

The KEY to a good salesman is someone who can be passionate about EVERY product. Sure you're gonna have biases, that's almost impossible to avoid, but the main thing I've taken from my sales experience at Best Buy is to try and match a customer with the best device that will fit their needs. I'm not gonna push Androids on the older folks, and I'm not gonna talk up Apple products to someone who is deep in the Windows ecosystem. What I do is listen to them and identify their needs, and illustrate the main differences between Android/iOS/WP. And of course, most didn't know about WP, and some about Android, so I get to educate some people too!

But too often I see so many coworkers or employees at other stores just push the popular product, and well, to be honest, it IS the easy option. There's far too much product to memorize, and even a nerdy type like me who likes to stay on top on the technology bubble soon got overwhelmed with the minute differences between different Android skins or Galaxy Hooks/Skyrockets/Hot Air Balloons or how to navigate 4 different mobile OS's to do the exact same thing for the general public. Yikes.

Fanboyish salespeople are hard to change. I've learned to just walk away, or let em know I was in sales too and they're making it awkward like a bad first date. But if you get someone who simply doesn't know as much, about WP8 for example, my one piece of advice is to TALK with them! Tell em what you know about the technology and show them why you're so passionate! I can honestly say that when I wasn't the expert of a certain phone or computer or tablet or whatever, it was so amazing when someone came in and ended up teaching me a thing or two It didn't happen THAT often, but when it did it was a special experience.

Salespeople are human too. Well, most of us Sometimes we can mess up or not know every single product like the back of our hand. Educate us. Share your passion! In turn, we can take that knowledge and newfound excitement and share it with new customers.

 

[dksf42]

^^^ Evidently, you need to work a little harder when it comes to following this thread, 'cause you're missing the point by a good margin.

Looking at your postingS ... you are a mere amateur trying to look smart ... I bet I FORGOT more than you possibly know about sales!

I hate amateurs and kids that think they are EXPERT sales people ... when they couldn't sell their way out of a paper bag!

I have 30 years in sales ... what have YOU sold?

 

[bahamut443]

My experience buying the 928 on launch day was a bit different. I called the day before and talked to my local Verizon store manager about the device. He was aware of it and the hype around it, but was unsure about the OS. He couldn't tell me how many the store had received or how much demand there would be for it. He did tell me that there wouldn't be many and those that were to become available the following morning were all in white. So I made sure I was there bright and early at 9am when they open the doors to finally get my hands on it. Needless to say, my sister and I were the only ones there. Seemed kinda disappointing. Would have thought there would have been others, but I suppose that's me just being optimistic.

Anyway, before they unlocked the door, we watched the manager and another employee put together the display for the 928. When we were let in, he knew who I was and had already had accessories for the phone in a bin to pick through. He was playing around with the floor model and handed it to me. What he said next surprised me. He said,"I'm a huge Apple guy. I've always owned Apple computers and the each Gen iPhone. I'm the sales guy and I want you to make the case to me about what lead you to want to switch from your iPhone to the Lumia. I'd love to know because I may just try one out myself for awhile."
It was very weird making a sales pitch to a salesman, but he seemed pretty open minded about what I had to say.
I walked out with 2 928s and my sister who went for the ride seemed impressed enough with it to bring one home as well. In all, they received four devices and we walked out with three of them. The fourth became the floor model. For accessories, the had only two silicone cases in black or navy. My sister got the navy one as part of the accessories bundle they try to shove on you for an extra $50. As part of the bundle, she received three screen protectors and a car charger. Not a good deal in my opinion, but hey, she gave me two of the screen protectors for me and my wife so I wasn't going to say anything.
It took about an hour to get things setup and to transfer contacts, etc. Before we left, a guy showed up asking about it and went to the mall across the street after learning they were out of stock.

 

[vlad0]

Hm.. I am going to go into the main Verizon store here in my town tomorrow and see how that goes. I guess it just depends on who you get, which shouldn't be the case, but oh well..

 

[dksf42]

My experience buying the 928 on launch day was a bit different. I called the day before and talked to my local Verizon store manager about the device. He was aware of it and the hype around it, but was unsure about the OS. He couldn't tell me how many the store had received or how much demand there would be for it. He did tell me that there wouldn't be many and those that were to become available the following morning were all in white. So I made sure I was there bright and early at 9am when they open the doors to finally get my hands on it. Needless to say, my sister and I were the only ones there. Seemed kinda disappointing. Would have thought there would have been others, but I suppose that's me just being optimistic.

Anyway, before they unlocked the door, we watched the manager and another employee put together the display for the 928. When we were let in, he knew who I was and had already had accessories for the phone in a bin to pick through. He was playing around with the floor model and handed it to me. What he said next surprised me. He said,"I'm a huge Apple guy. I've always owned Apple computers and the each Gen iPhone. I'm the sales guy and I want you to make the case to me about what lead you to want to switch from your iPhone to the Lumia. I'd love to know because I may just try one out myself for awhile."
It was very weird making a sales pitch to a salesman, but he seemed pretty open minded about what I had to say.
I walked out with 2 928s and my sister who went for the ride seemed impressed enough with it to bring one home as well. In all, they received four devices and we walked out with three of them. The fourth became the floor model. For accessories, the had only two silicone cases in black or navy. My sister got the navy one as part of the accessories bundle they try to shove on you for an extra $50. As part of the bundle, she received three screen protectors and a car charger. Not a good deal in my opinion, but hey, she gave me two of the screen protectors for me and my wife so I wasn't going to say anything.
It took about an hour to get things setup and to transfer contacts, etc. Before we left, a guy showed up asking about it and went to the mall across the street after learning they were out of stock.

Bravo, Bravo, Bravo ... THIS is what sales is all about = OPEN minds, the right people and great technology!

Brings tears to my eyes ...that is EXACTLY HOW the iPhone "FIRST go entrenched" ... a willingness to explore NEW paradigms!

 

[dksf42]

Hm.. I am going to go into the main Verizon store here in my town tomorrow and see how that goes. I guess it just depends on who you get, which shouldn't be the case, but oh well..

Try this ... go in and when they "check you in", just say "I am very interested in the NEW Nokia Lumia 928 "because" I have read a ton of great reviews! If the saleperson says ... but, but, but how about an iPhone 5 or a Samsung Galaxy S4 or an HTC ONE ...

JUST SAY ... I'd "like to speak to your manager"!

Most of the time, the salesperson will immediately "go passive" as they don't want their manger involved!

When you get the manager ... just say, LISTEN ... I am here to BUY a smartphone ... I "think" I want the new Lumia 928 - can you show me the main features?

 

[Martog]

When I went to get my 822, the rep that dealt with me had the HTC 8X, was surprised by the fact I wanted to get from my iPhone 5. He also swore the 822 has wireless charging built in since the display model had the charging cover installed and the actual models do not have them.

The 822 bugged me, some of it was software that did get fixed with "Portico" and a few other things like battery life which slowly got better (and is even better on my 928 so far), I switched back to the iPhone 5.

Went in Saturday to check out the 928, and I felt like it is what Verizon should have gotten in the first place. I like it way more than the 822 for sure. The rep this time also had an HTC 8X, seemed kind of clueless about the Super Sensitive display the Nokia's and gave me a funny look when I tried to use my key on my phone, to my surprise the super sensitive was turned off out of the box. He also did not know the phone had 32GB of storage either. Though after he got to looking over the 928, he sure did say it looked a lot better than his 8X screen wise. I told him about using it in daylight, also another feature he did not seem to be aware of, which I know 822 has the super sensitive screen and good visibility outdoors. Again this rep did seem kind of perplexed about me going from the iPhone 5.

Neither time though did I get asked if I wanted to check something else out, was the same store too. I questioned the rep about the Z10 when I got the 928, not doing so hot. That and I got to hear this other customer ranting something about the subsidized pricing on the iPhones (Was wanting a 4S and they were trying to convince him to get the 5 due to LTE and being grandfathered in on LTE pricing, which does not bode well if they decide to bump up data cost for LTE). They also mentioned trying to do VOIP over LTE by end of the year, and sometime in the next 2-3 years subsidized pricing going bye bye. All this while I was completing my 928 purchase. o.o

Kind of wish the carrier corporate store employees knew as much as the Microsoft store ones do, as I was in a Microsoft store over Thanksgiving weekend and you better believe they knew all about those phones and even do the "Smoked by Windows Phone" challenge on a smaller level than what Ben does by handing out a coupon or something similar for the store.

 

[Hamster_99]

Hi All,

Just bit of intro abt maself, I'm a WP8 Trainer for Nokia in my country. I have noticed this general trend in all sales people apart from sales people at the Nokia Store(who also need to be trained often) ... they mostly promote an Android Phone than a WP8 because they are so familiar with the Android OS and most of them still do not know that a WP8 OS could easily beat up an Android OS... but the point is they still have to learn abt the wp8 features and how to market it to a person whose interested in the Android Phone.. most of the sales people who you ask details abt wp8 only talk abt the hardware and not the OS.... And now as a sales strategy we promote Customers to try and buy the device
On a personal note after being a smart phone techie for a few years and learning abt different Mobile OS's i think WP8 has more than just a chance to come up.. When two of the Most trusted Brands in he world get together i think they have a chance to change the way people think abt the WP8 series.

 

[omniusovermind]

I think this getting blown out of proportion anyway. I rarely see a phone store or big box store go to the bother of the scenarios some of you are hypothesizing. The vast majority of the time they just grab your box and send you on your way if you simply just tell them I want this can you grab it for me.

 

[Martog]

I think this getting blown out of proportion anyway. I rarely see a phone store or big box store go to the bother of the scenarios some of you are hypothesizing. The vast majority of the time they just grab your box and send you on your way if you simply just tell them I want this can you grab it for me.

Yeah I've never heard that from anyone I talk to nor myself. I've bought a Blackberry Storm 1 and both my Windows phones in store and never had any of that (different stores for the BB and Windows phone (both at the same store). Both times they questioned on the Windows Phone from iPhone 5 (I bought my iPhone 4 online, iPhone 5 from an Apple store) but did not steer me away or really try to keep me on my iPhone 5.

 

[WhyFiNYC]

Looking at your postingS ... you are a mere amateur trying to look smart ... I bet I FORGOT more than you possibly know about sales!

I hate amateurs and kids that think they are EXPERT sales people ... when they couldn't sell their way out of a paper bag!

I have 30 years in sales ... what have YOU sold?

Yeah, sure - if you have to state your credentials, you obviously haven't demonstrated them. The point that you're missing, oh high and mighty salesman - people here aren't lamenting iPhone/Android being pushed on us, we're lamenting them being pushed on the less knowledgeable masses. IOW, you're preaching to the choir.