[TrueKulcha]

So I was in a local Telus store over the weekend just comparing the displayed Z30 brightness with mine, when a customer walked in asking about the BlackBerry trade in program he heard about. He asked how well BlackBerry was selling and wanted to take a look at the new phones from BlackBerry since he had already spoken to customer service over the phone.
I was both surprised and amazed how quickly a salesman approached the guy and identified himself as an Apple "expert and local rep", at which point I scrutinised him to see if an Apple logo was on his clothing somewhere and saw only Telus. He said BlackBerry was only for die hard business customers and went on to state the pros and cons of IOS and Androids.. this was as if BlackBerry and Windows phones didn't even exist.
At that time I wanted to chime in but then I asked myself how often am I at the store and what difference can I make? These salespeople have their minds made up of what they want to sell and just how they will sway the minds of customers who aren't strong willed.
The lesson in all of this for me, is to do a thorough research before leaving home to make purchases and just ignore the blab of these ill informed salespeople. This not only exist in the phone industry but in any where multiple brands are sold.

ZeD30 on CB10

[BergerKing]

It takes an informed customer to win, but a good rep can make or break an uninformed customer. I added that this was a rep story to the title.

[Mark LeGear]

If you are asking reps for advice on any kind of purchase you have already lost as a consumer imo. They may not all be bad but I have yet to meet one of these fine folk that know anything about any phones. They are salesmen first.

Posted via my Z30

[1REDRUM]

I was in a Telus store looking T and using the Z30 on display. I was approached by a rep who basically wanted to talk to me about the Apple regular and mini tablet. I said thanks and kept playing with the Z30 and hour walked away without any effort to talk to me about the product I was looking at.

This has happened three times at this same store over the last month.

Posted via CB10

[togarika]

Eish. BlackBerry should think of having their own shops and sell directly to the public where they have their own employees that are trained in using the devices. Relying on carriers to do it for them will not do.

One question I have is when they sell to enterprise users is it done through the carriers or its directly with BlackBerry?

[Davidro1]

I'm willing to bet that Apple pays someone (or many people) something extra, somehow, in every store, and that reps get trained (and unconsciously programmed) to treat Apple products as being in a category all of their own. "You have iPads here, and you have tablets over there. You have iPhones here and you have smartphones over there." Pronounced respectfully. Articulated with gentle respect for both types.

In printed flyers I see Apple products in their own category. Too.

I'm willing to bet that Samsung does pretty much the same thing, as an also-ran. Extra training, extra money. That is buying pride.

--

When a buying person is looking for guidance they are susceptible to the minor signals emitted by the paid staff people - who emit many signals in their respectful breathing and pride.

BlackBerry has a few choices. BlackBerry can buy groupthink pride by paying more to the retailers and to their staff, or they can perform guerilla campaigns to bypass it.

[Adva_]

They are cutting people, they can't afford to start opening shops for direct sales.

Posted via CB10

[Smylie94]

Telus representatives I know are commissioned to sell Android based phones so no matter what they will try to sell anyone an Android phone.

Posted via CB10

[togarika]

They are cutting people, they can't afford to start opening shops for direct sales.

Posted via CB10

Franchising or some kind of alliance with businesses that can do the actual selling. IMHO BlackBerry needs to take control of distribution of their devices. The carriers aren't helping at all

[JMDBERRY]

If you are asking reps for advice on any kind of purchase you have already lost as a consumer imo. They may not all be bad but I have yet to meet one of these fine folk that know anything about any phones. They are salesmen first.

Posted via my Z30

...make that, ...wannabe be salespersons!

Posted via CB10

[JuiciPatties]

.... BlackBerry should think of having their own shops and sell directly to the public where they have their own employees that are trained in using the devices. Relying on carriers to do it for them will not do.

...

The problem with this model is that a customer usually wants to see all the options and have an "independent" third party help them decide what is best for them. Unfortunately, what it appears to be happening is that the carrier reps/salespeople are not independent and are giving biased advice (or so it seems based on the stories being reported). Again, we are only hearing the "horror" stories on this site. Not many times are we hearing the good stories where the carrier rep may have actually been impartial and helped explain the differences between phones and allowed the customer to make an informed decision.

If you were to have to visit multiple stores in order to "hold and feel" a certain device, it can get overwhelming and you may also forget what the others were like after you left. You want to "look and feel" all the devices at once, which would normally be a carrier store or a boutique shop that sells phones.

Also, if you went to a Blackberry store, you know that they would be pushing you to buy a Blackberry, so there may be a hesitation to even go in there.

I think the carrier store or those boxed stores (e.g. Future Shop/Best Buy, etc.) is where you really need to rely on them to promote your brand. I'm not sure if there are stats on the breakdown of sales from these different storefronts, but I would assume that most come from them and Blackberry will need to devise a way in which they are given ample "air" time and a "fair, open and honest" dialogue for their salespeople with any customer on its merits and drawbacks. Of course this requires training of the sales folks and schmoozing with the carrier and boxed store execs, but easier said than done.

[JimStevens33]

Sorry to hear that, all Telus reps are not like that. I should know I am one

Posted via CB10

[TrueKulcha]

Sorry to hear that, all Telus reps are not like that. I should know I am one

Posted via CB10

Apologies to you and I would go on to say that you're truly one with a difference today.
The point about opening BlackBerry stores or franchising may be the only hope of quickly turning around sales for this company.. sure some may be turned off from even entering because of the lack of choices or not having much to compare to there but....... think about this for a second... if someone is looking for a BlackBerry device there won't be anyone there to try and talk them into another platform. That's one of the pros.

ZeD30 on CB10

[keith1000]

The problem is and it's happened to me directly. As soon as a customer walks into a store and says "I heard stories about a new BlackBerry" the sales rep should say, "oh yeah its a great phone want to see one." not oh not that one, can I sell you a android? The reps are there to sell phones, and answer questions and work for all makers. They seem to forget the customer is always right. If I come in asking about BlackBerry or windows apple or android then sell me one. Don't change my mind as soon as my mouth opens.
I know it's been said a million times, yes I believe the carriers are getting paid off one way or another.
Keith

Posted via CB10