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.
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)....
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
They may be forced to have their own retail outlets in the end. The good thing is that this will enable them to have proper service centres, knowledgeable people motivated to sell their product and their entire line will be available with a simple pricing structure.
This if done right could lead too a lot more visibility for products people don't even know exist(9380 anyone?), they could use these stores as direct upgrade locations for those that don't want to go online and do it themselves, or don't have the know how to do it, etc, and it could give some legs to their trade up program too as people wouldn't have to wait weeks. They just take it in for an eval, purchase a new handset, and immediately take the value of the old model off the price.
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.
The original post was funny in its own way...but it is priceless how the androids couldn't stop themselves from posting and liking one another...that is the stuff. OP, don't sweat people who sell phones for a living...just buy what you like and recognize there are going to be sales people who are irritating and lacking knowledge as well as ones who want you to own what works best for you.
So maybe the OP didn't exactly strike a blow for all RIMkind, but I think he makes a good point; he didn't do anything but ask about a 9930 and this first thing the guy asks in response is about an Android. That would lead me to assume that if someone came into the store, uninformed and looking for something new, that guy wouldn't mention a BlackBerry if his life depended on it.
We know their comission is there and all reps do this, but the point stands that RIM is kinda getting d*cked. It's not like there's a rule against sales people trying to persaude someone one way or another since that is what they do for a living though.
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.
Or because the salesperson really wanted a sale to add to his quota.
I think there is some type of extra commission giving to sales reps for selling Android devices. It maybe even a huge bonus seen across the board for the carriers.
I heard on the radio yesterday that MetroPCS were giving money(can't recall the amount) to each customer that switched to Android. And the ad said something like "Getting paid to do what everyone else is doing". Smh
How can RIM compete with this type of marketing? They're paying for folks to switch to a platform that is already viewed as the 'in' thing, more powerful, more apps, etc.
Good for you ! More folks should take the time to do this.
Don't let them get away with this blatant biasing !
And yet, if you walked into a store and the guy recommended BlackBerry, neither you nor the OP would be complaining about "biasing," so let's not pretend this is a fight against bad behavior anymore than it is a fight against different preferences.
Y'all slay me...
