Originally Posted by
togarika .... 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.
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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.