Putting verizon reps in there place.

twelvezero8 · Thread Author #1 02-08-2012, 03:07 PM

Quick and simple. I went to Verizon store today to look at the 9930. The guy asked me why I was looking at a blackberry phone and not android or iphone. I told him they were the best phones on the market. He laughed sarcastically.... Whiched pissed me off. He asked why they were the best on the market. I went into my spill about battery life, communication, keyboard, etc. he backed down very quick as I made him feel like an a$$. he was like oh I just recommend android because I like them. Should have seen how polite he was to me. So next time you go to your local Verizon store don't let them talk down about the blackberry.... We are the last of a dying breed. Looking forward to see what bb10 will do for RIM and the cell phone market.

trelawrence · #2 02-08-2012, 03:14 PM

Alrighty then...

Yay?

EchoTango · #3 02-08-2012, 03:21 PM

Good for you ! More folks should take the time to do this.

Don't let them get away with this blatant biasing !

tgeekb · #4 02-08-2012, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trelawrence

Alrighty then...

Yay?

Why the comment?

missing_K-W · #5 02-08-2012, 03:41 PM

Strut in the store.....confront the rep......lay on a, "why you gotta ($?@ on me?......why you gotta @!?$ on me?!"......

araskin · #6 02-08-2012, 03:44 PM

At the risk of going off-topic, can anyone share their thoughts on how RIM could stop this bashing?

We have all seen the countless posts about people being steered away from BB at various retail locations (Carrier Stores, Best Buy, FutureShop, etc). I mean that Verizon rep isnt going to wake up on the morning of the BB10 release and decide to recommend that people buy the BB10 phones. He will continue to push what is easy to sell which is Android and iOS. So how can RIM make sure that they get a fair chance to be evaluated by potential customers? I wonder if they will go down the root of Apple and put their own people in stores (or have more of their own stores)....

Thoughts?

spencerdl · #7 02-08-2012, 03:49 PM

We should all meet up at the same Verizon store ......thats right ALL 75 million Blackberry owners and go from store to store that will show them!!!

Palmless · #8 02-08-2012, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by araskin

At the risk of going off-topic, can anyone share their thoughts on how RIM could stop this bashing?

We have all seen the countless posts about people being steered away from BB at various retail locations (Carrier Stores, Best Buy, FutureShop, etc). I mean that Verizon rep isnt going to wake up on the morning of the BB10 release and decide to recommend that people buy the BB10 phones. He will continue to push what is easy to sell which is Android and iOS. So how can RIM make sure that they get a fair chance to be evaluated by potential customers? I wonder if they will go down the root of Apple and put their own people in stores (or have more of their own stores)....

Thoughts?

Make it easy to sell.

Have an articulable value proposition. Ideally, easily demonstrable. "If you have a BBX/10 phone, you can do this (brief demo) and this (brief demo)".

This can't be something esoteric like "Keep your FIPS certs up to date" or "Single click the scroll wheel, slide the trackball 1/4 left, then hold ALT while pressing G". It needs to work the way you would expect it to work.

Target the big, fat, huge part of the market. Folks who want to use their phone daily but don't ever intend to log onto ANY site like mobile nations for tips and tricks.

You're coming from behind, so it will have to be cheap. At $99 with contract, I think people will look at a competitive touchscreen phone from RIM. Emphasizing "toughness" would probably resonant more than "security".

Be careful of the Android app "compatibility" feature. This can be EASILY oversold. Most folks will not be able to load most Android apps, ever. And by emphasizing this compatibility, you cause developers to take the easy way out and never natively develop for your device, which eventually causes consumers to say "Why bother with Android compatible when I can buy Android...".

Another point, I have no idea how to address. The news in the months leading up to the launch absolutely CAN NOT be dominated by coverage of "X consecutive bloody quarters". Somehow, RIMM has to have 3/29, 6/29, and especially 9/29 quarterly reports that are not the carnage-strewn catastrophes we are expecting. Otherwise, the consumer will not listen.

The retail store is the new mobile battleground. Those CIOs that still have cabinet seats have been put in their place, and won't respond to traditional "IT marketing". They'll tell you that they are BYOD now, and wish you luck. No more 2,500 unit fleet purchase orders, those days are over.

chrisy520 · #9 02-08-2012, 04:07 PM

Meh. I have better things to do.

kg4icg · #10 02-08-2012, 04:47 PM

Darn, and I walked into my Sprint store this morning to get my new 9930 and walk out of the store with it all set up and ready to go. Why is it I didn't recieve any flack about getting a Blackberry by a snot nose brat of a salesman?

tmelon · #11 02-08-2012, 05:26 PM

Isn't that making a bit of a big deal out of a small thing?

I don't think that you really put him in his place or left him speechless by any means. He probably just noticed how pissed off you got and decided to back down so you wouldn't complain to his boss.

vrs626 · #12 02-08-2012, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by araskin

At the risk of going off-topic, can anyone share their thoughts on how RIM could stop this bashing?

We have all seen the countless posts about people being steered away from BB at various retail locations (Carrier Stores, Best Buy, FutureShop, etc). I mean that Verizon rep isnt going to wake up on the morning of the BB10 release and decide to recommend that people buy the BB10 phones. He will continue to push what is easy to sell which is Android and iOS. So how can RIM make sure that they get a fair chance to be evaluated by potential customers? I wonder if they will go down the root of Apple and put their own people in stores (or have more of their own stores)....

Thoughts?

Stop putting out outdated and inferior hardware would be a pretty good start.

Rickroller · #13 02-08-2012, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twelvezero8

Quick and simple. I went to Verizon store today to look at the 9930. The guy asked me why I was looking at a blackberry phone and not android or iphone. I told him they were the best phones on the market. He laughed sarcastically.... Whiched pissed me off. He asked why they were the best on the market. I went into my spill about battery life, communication, keyboard, etc. he backed down very quick as I made him feel like an a$$. he was like oh I just recommend android because I like them. Should have seen how polite he was to me. So next time you go to your local Verizon store don't let them talk down about the blackberry.... We are the last of a dying breed. Looking forward to see what bb10 will do for RIM and the cell phone market.

soogriffin · #14 02-08-2012, 06:24 PM

I walked into a vzw store for accessories and the sales guy offered me $400 cash for my Bold. They're not all haters. And no, I didn't sell him my Bold.