[msmara]

I work in cosmetics, and reading all these user posts about bad experiences involving unknowledgable and discouraging sales reps towards bb products got me thinking, are there ever any bb reps in-store to help sales? In the cosmetic world we have something like this, we have vendors and artists who are seasoned, and they are scheduled by our brand's account executive to visit different stores to help sell and boost sales. Most of the time when its an artist we build an event around it and customers see this as a special opportunity to learn more about our product from specialists.

When I think about sales rep who push people towards the same products, it makes me think of the store Sephora where there are hundreds of different brands, and a handful of sales people that can point you in any direction they want. Some of our artists have told us some crazy stories about the sales associates who push certain brands just because of incentives they get, didn't matter if the product was right for the person.

So where I'm going with this is if RIM can't have Blackberry stores, wouldn't it be nice if they would send a specialist say for example, into Best Buy three times a week for like, say a 5 hour shift to educate prospective buyers on the models features and benefits? It would also be good because they could keep all the models up to date, and presentable unlike the sad neglected displays we come across in some retailers.

Just don't know the policies with the retailers on something like this, but I know in the big box dept. stores in cosmetics, the vendors are always present in-store, at our counter we even have a resident artist who isn't employed by our store. Come to think of it there are even brand specialists in the clothing dept.

Anyways am I late and this does exist? If not, do you think it would be a good idea?

[sam_b77]

Happens in India.
Most of the retails stores have a special Blackberry counter in white and deep purple with Blackberry emblazoned across the counter.

Normally there will be one or two people wearing a Blackberry T-shirt. They help the people with features etc. They are not paid by the store, RIM or their distributor in India pay these guys.

[kbz1960]

I think I've heard that they do but it is a once in awhile thing and not sure if there is any fanfare around it.

I think if they are going to sell thru retail stores it would be a great idea to at least a couple times a month for them to make an event around it.

[Xopher]

I've heard some people talk about going into some of the larger carrier locations and there being a BlackBerry rep that happened to be there. In most cases, the rep was there to talk to the store manager/employees instead of customers, but people were able to pick their brains.

I do agree that it would be a good idea to have a BlackBerry "specialist" available to show off the features (along with actually working demo models instead of dummy units). I think the downside to the cosmetic analogy is that most areas have a plethora of cellular stores. Here in our area, we have two major malls (and two smaller ones). It's easy to do a cosmetics event since there only a couple of locations where events are held. There are at least a hundred cell phone outlets in our area, some street corners with each carrier represented across the street from one another.

[msmara]

If I were them I'd send the reps to the flagship carrier stores, I know my brands smaller counters in the suburban area don't get as much suppoprt as we do in downtown. But as our numbers get better they get artists more often out there too.

[PTZ]

I have had similar thoughts regarding RIM and the marketing of their products. I hope that your post gets attention from the proper people at RIM. RIM is about to have a total makeover with the phone line and os. The Playbook is not the flop that the media has reviewed it as, the Playbook has not been marketed well. They absolutely need to have learned something from the Playbook. msmara you have good ideas.

[jelp2]

The BestBuy I worked in last year had a crappy old selection of BB's. I was always asking them when there updating the line. One of the mobile reps said " why, who wants a BlackBerry". I was so mad!
I would see and Apple rep in there every week for a few days a week, Comcast reps walking around the store signing people up, HP reps and Microsoft reps.....never a BB rep! You need to get in more than 50 stores. The one I was in was one of the biggest in S. Jersey. If they need more reps, where can I sign up to train?!?!

[msmara]

I have had similar thoughts regarding RIM and the marketing of their products. I hope that your post gets attention from the proper people at RIM. RIM is about to have a total makeover with the phone line and os. The Playbook is not the flop that the media has reviewed it as, the Playbook has not been marketed well. They absolutely need to have learned something from the Playbook. msmara you have good ideas.

Aw thanks! Yeah what better place to post stuff like this, from my experience on other forums ideas get heard. I'm kind of a Disney fanatic as well so I frequent Disney forums, and I remember a discussion we were having on why the California Adventure park wasn't successful and it was a factor of a lot of things, a major one that it was missing a night time spectacular that draws large crowds and traffic to the other park, this was well before the announcement of the billion dollar makeover, so imagine our surprise when everything we wished for was going to be done! Its been on more than one occasion that changes the fans wanted were actually implemented and even improved on, (we're still working on campaigning the people mover to be brought back ) Those sneaky imagineers are probably lurkers lol.
So I guess moral of the story, never hurts to ask!

[world traveler and former ceo]

The BestBuy I worked in last year had a crappy old selection of BB's. I was always asking them when there updating the line. One of the mobile reps said " why, who wants a BlackBerry". I was so mad!
I would see and Apple rep in there every week for a few days a week, Comcast reps walking around the store signing people up, HP reps and Microsoft reps.....never a BB rep! You need to get in more than 50 stores. The one I was in was one of the biggest in S. Jersey. If they need more reps, where can I sign up to train?!?!

+100000 agreed!!!

[OniBerry]

You can always wear a BB shirt and wander around your local Best Buy or Future Shop

Start a Grass Roots movement!!! Seriously though, they do need more exposure in the box stores. Maybe enhanced training for 3rd party sellers, webinars or something, to keep em in the loop.

[miktro]

They should give out a Blackberry T shirt with every Phone they sell. Thats getting the word out.

[Venichie]

Want me to be honest... if you really want to be a Representative, even for Blackberry? Well you could apply here. Outsourced Sales and Marketing | MarketStar There are BB reps, and this is the company who helps RIM with this marketing and sales area that you guys speak of.
I won't expose the BB rep I know, but unless there is another 3rd-party vendor helping them out. This is the only real people who are authorize to help RIM out in the US, that I know of... (besides retailors).

EDIT NOTES: P.S. They don't just support Bestbuy.

[Venichie]

Want me to be honest... if you really want to be a Representative, even for Blackberry? Well you could apply here. Outsourced Sales and Marketing | MarketStar There are BB reps, and this is the company who helps RIM with this marketing and sales area that you guys speak of.
I won't expose the BB rep I know, but unless there is another 3rd-party vendor helping them out. This is the only real people who are authorize to help RIM out in the US, that I know of... (besides retailors).

EDIT NOTES: P.S. They don't just support Bestbuy.

Call me crazy, but I believe I was on topic with the bolded statement... don't believe me? Well read the title of this thread and follow up with the bolded statement.
I only really posted the link, and made a remark of being a BB rep., because I see so much concern about "how well" "you" guys are doing your jobs. I just gave them the link to contact the source some have been wondering about.

ON TOPIC: Not much else I can say really, atleast at this point... sorry.

[msmara]

???? Who was asking about being a BlackBerry Rep?????? They were asking for help and where to find trainings from BlackBerry Reps....Nothing about becoming a rep

In all fairness I think jelp2 on page 1 asked where could he sign up to become one.

[ignites]

they did this in april pre-launch but i dont think since then.

[dlsmith00]

I work for Office Depot and I have seen the Rep in multiple times. However,
it has been a while. I have been the main person they have talked too. I
wish I could say they could have taught me something, but I had already
watched most of the videos on-line and was more knowledgeable about the
product than most. I have tried to push the Playbook on to every customer
that I interacted with. The price point and it being Blackberry scared them
away. I heard "Do you have the ipad or an Android Tablet?" way too often.

Even after showing people the tablet they were not interested. Apple does
a better job with informing people of the their products with commercials. When
is the last time you watched a commercial from BB? I love the product.

[evilbean42]

I work for Sprint. We have a Blackberry rep that comes in every month or so. Shes not usually training us on stuff, and by the time shes allowed to talk about a device to us Ive probably already learned about it here on Crackberry. That said, she is a great resource to the store. She'll often come by to notify us about software launches, or specials. She also likes to collect feedback on the products we sell. Shes also someone that we contact when we have questions or issues. All in all I would say we get more support from our Blackberry rep than we get from most of our other manufacturers.

[Jerky223]

I'm going to rant for a bit.

RIM needs more marketing and training for the retail sector. Long gone are the days where people look for a "Specially" store to pick-up a Blackberry. I know way too many small to medium business that just go to Best Buy, Future Shop, Staples, etc. for there Mobile needs. This is the point where the sales reps move people over to an Apple or an Android device. We all know this and it's not anything new.

I work for a retailer and Apple requires every potential sales agent to take the iOS training. On the flip-side, Blackberry Universe training is not required nor is it mentioned that it's available. Due to the lack of knowledge, I see reps everyday selling what they know, Apple. They took the training and know the features. Customer comes in for a BlackBerry, they walkout with an iPhone. They ask about the Android devices, they walkout with an iPhone. I can go on, but the bottom line is, people feel confident with what they know.

Another example, I had a sales rep BBM me this weekend because they spent 4 hours (no joke) with a customer to bridge a PlayBook to a Blackberry 9300. Just after BBM'ing me, they were going to giving up and I forced them to call me and I stepped them through it in 2 minutes. It comes down to the education that msmara is talking about in the original post.

Finally, RIM MUST, and I mean MUST make the new BBX OS training MANDATORY for all potential sales reps at all retailers and over the phone (telecom) sales reps. Even if it's an online internal course that's a Power Point, make it MANDATORY!

Sorry for the rant, I just had to get that out.

[NYMETSFAN86]

I have a good friend that is an actual BB rep and can tell you that some are extremely diligent and support the market in their region. Their support blows away that of any other handset manufacturer...combined. They set up training sessions as well as create a group of BlackBerry sellers in each store and update them with all pertinent information. Unfortunately, there were a fair amount that were layed off a few months ago and that has limited their support. "Knowledge is Power" so the more of an expert BB sales rep in a store, the more BB you will sell.

[msmara]

,
I work for a retailer and Apple requires every potential sales agent to take the iOS training. On the flip-side, Blackberry Universe training is not required nor is it mentioned that it's available. Due to the lack of knowledge, I see reps everyday selling what they know, Apple. They took the training and know the features. Customer comes in for a BlackBerry, they walkout with an iPhone. They ask about the Android devices, they walkout with an iPhone. I can go on, but the bottom line is, people feel confident with what they know.

Wow. See this is one of those little droplets of water in the pond that causes a huge ripple effect, RIM is facing all kinds of disadvantages in the market today, and here's just another one to add.

We have to remember that there's only a small percent of people who stay current with the mobile market, then there's everyone else. While all the consumers without a clue on what they're coming in to buy, will be approached by Apple trained sales people, the Blackberries will sit on the displays with the rest of the units. I agree above that they will sell what they feel most confident, because it will be the easiest sell. In commissioned places, this is money in the pocket for the sales person, and for Apple.

So YES please, if they can't afford to provide reps everywhere at all times, setup Blackberry school, and make it fun for the sales reps to attend by giving them Blackberry gratis. (One of the reasons I love working at my job) We get seasonal training twice a year Spring and Fall, it's all day in a hotel, and we go home with goodies. We come out refreshed for the new season happy and excited to sell our new products.

[jelp2]

I'm just checking back in on this thread, and yes I did ask where or how to become a rep. I will check out the link when I get back on my computer. Thank you!

[sensarmy1]

Agree, Agree, Agree. The Best Buy and Futureshops I visit always have Apple front and center and Blackberry off in a corner, poorly mantained. RIM - You need to listen to your true customers, the people who take the time to post here. Thanks to msmara

[drumzalicious]

Yes they do. I worked at a Best Buy's cell phone department and they exist. They just come like once every 1-3 months. It's actually like that with every rep for the most part except carrier representatives.

[azrin640]

Maybe RIM should re model the setup/option screen to make it easier for the less technical to use bb at the first place. Will save them a lot of time and money

[RoboticGolem]

The t-mo guys that I harass say they like seeing me in the store more than the blackberry rep cause I can tell them more than the rep.

...however, i've never actually seen one.