[AngryEdmontonian]

Blame Canada!

[jrohland]

A guy I work with won a Z10 in some contest. He is selling it to buy an iPad, if he can. He was a BB guy until about a year ago. BBs are considered useless trash here.

[Kendall Oei]

[
You can make a thousand excuses, but if the problem is there, it will be there until it is addressed. Who usually addresses the problem? The ONE who cares the most. If the problem keeps happening again and again, who to blame? The ONE who cares the most.
Who cares the most here then?
BlackBerry
Now, who to blame?!

Wow! It's a complex world, full of varying contexts and limitations that vie for our prioritization and attention.
From the philosophy that you outline here, I am guessing that you feel a great deal of guilt for the things that you cannot or do not change. Or perhaps you understand that, after a full day of work and taking care of the people you care about, there is only so much any person (or corporate entity maybe) can do. Seriously, if you yourself really accompllish everything that you try to fix, you are not reaching very far.
Maybe BBRY realizes that Best Buy is smaller than even a battle in a larger war, or that their journey is a long, slow one that will address Best Buy later, of its own accord. Maybe a barrage of excelent new products is their priority right now. Maybe BBRY intends to focus on markets that welcome them and let the others follow these successes.
Quick blame rarely fixes anything and usually misses the mark. But the conversation can be good.

[Dave Bourque]

A guy I work with won a Z10 in some contest. He is selling it to buy an iPad, if he can. He was a BB guy until about a year ago. BBs are considered useless trash here.

DID HE EVEN TRY IT?

Posted via CB10

[AngryEdmontonian]

A guy I work with won a Z10 in some contest. He is selling it to buy an iPad, if he can. He was a BB guy until about a year ago. BBs are considered useless trash here.

Tell him I'll buy it!

[AngryEdmontonian]

A guy I work with won a Z10 in some contest. He is selling it to buy an iPad, if he can. He was a BB guy until about a year ago. BBs are considered useless trash here.

I also assume you showed him yours and proved him wrong? (Sell like hell)

[torndownunit]

I don't neither. "Who to blame?" is not about we the fans want to blame someone, instead, it's about quitting the finger pointing game and get to work.

Now as some posts above states, BlackBerry needs to know this situation (if indeed exists... (as some posts questioned, this may only exits in a small portion of the retail stores)) and make things happen to change it. Recognizing the problem is the first step......

Could the following be what happened?

BBRY: please take our product to sell in your network
US Carriers: not a chance...
BBRY: Ok at this price
US Carriers: maybe...
BBRY: you don't even have to push it, just put it on your shelves in the corner.
US Carriers:...... All right, but remember, you owe me one.
BBRY: I am so thankful for your support.

......

I am no expert whatsoever, but from reading several posts from people working in retail on this forum, they claim this is exactly what happened. I don't think I could find the post now, but there was a post I read that said companies like Apple and Samsung pay (or give incentives) for the type of attention they get in those stores, and the elaborate launches. The retailers don't just do it for the fun of it.

[web99]

Maybe blackberry should open its own stores, i would buy a BlackBerry TV and dual boot PC if it's going to have QNX lol!

Posted via CB10

The way I am seeing it is that it may very well come down to BlackBerry having to do that. I am starting to believe that BlackBerry actually needs their own stores, where customers can come in, play with the latest devices, have live demonstration of the BB products, accompanying accessories. And most important, to be able to talk with knowledgeable staff who know the product.

I don't think the carriers will do an adequate job. I am not saying that it has to happen overnight, but they could start small with a few stores in the main city centres and gradually expand. I think that it is a feasible plan.

Posted via CB10 from my spectacular Z10

[aha]

Wow! It's a complex world, full of varying contexts and limitations that vie for our prioritization and attention.
From the philosophy that you outline here, I am guessing that you feel a great deal of guilt for the things that you cannot or do not change. Or perhaps you understand that, after a full day of work and taking care of the people you care about, there is only so much any person (or corporate entity maybe) can do. Seriously, if you yourself really accompllish everything that you try to fix, you are not reaching very far.
Maybe BBRY realizes that Best Buy is smaller than even a battle in a larger war, or that their journey is a long, slow one that will address Best Buy later, of its own accord. Maybe a barrage of excelent new products is their priority right now. Maybe BBRY intends to focus on markets that welcome them and let the others follow these successes.
Quick blame rarely fixes anything and usually misses the mark. But the conversation can be good.

You would have been right if this is only happening in BestBuy stores.

And your remark about me is wrong, let's just leave it like that.

I agree with you that there should be a priority list for the items BlackBerry cares. But whatever list you create, the efficiency of retail sales channel get to be on the top. Especially after they created such a great product.

[mefretwell]

They cant be in every store but they can provide better training. Maybe test the waters and open their own stores in a few key markets like NY.

[aha]

Apple can open stores because they have a large portfolio of products, and a very positive brand image in the market, so people actually want to buy their products. It's like those franchise stores, the profitability of those franchise is already there, they just need to open it at right location with right people to operate them.

BBRY is not there yet. Opening lots of stores with a high risk of losing money is gamble. I think BBRY should form a retail sales support team if haven't already, or rebuilt the team if it's there but not capable of recognizing the prominent problem, finding the right people to do the job is half the battle for BBRY. With a efficient professional team working full time on solving this problem, it will be better than us chatting here in the forum trying to solve the puzzle.

But the key is, they have to recognize there is a problem here. That's what we can help.

[web99]

BBRY is not there yet. Opening lots of stores with a high risk of losing money is gamble. I think BBRY should form a retail sales support team if haven't already, or rebuilt the team if it's there but not capable of recognizing the prominent problem, finding the right people to do the job is half the battle for BBRY. With a efficient professional team working full time on solving this problem, it will be better than us chatting here in the forum trying to solve the puzzle.

But the key is, they have to recognize there is a problem here. That's what we can help.

I agree, but I still do think they could start small with just a few stores in a couple of the major cities.

Posted via CB10 from my spectacular Z10

[theegoldenone]

I've seen this happen with almost all phones in all types of stores. Better question is how wide spread this actually is. Of course it looks bad here, as there has been many topics on the subject. But I have never seen a topic that said "I just walked into Best Buy and saw a Z10 on display and it was on, charged, and not covered up with zip ties!!!!!!"

Posted via CB10

[aha]

I've seen this happen with almost all phones in all types of stores. Better question is how wide spread this actually is. Of course it looks bad here, as there has been many topics on the subject. But I have never seen a topic that said "I just walked into Best Buy and saw a Z10 on display and it was on, charged, and not covered up with zip ties!!!!!!"

Posted via CB10

Ask Kevin. I don't think he would blog about it if that's the only store he saw in NYC.

[southlander]

It's not like Apple only sells its product at its own stores. They still sell at carriers and places like Best Buy despite having their own stores. This is a problem BlackBerry is going to have to deal with whether or not they open stores.

Right. BlackBerry does not have to actually open their own stores. But they are at some point (like all these companies) going to need BlackBerry employees to sell the devices.

[mathking606]

Maybe blackberry should open its own stores, i would buy a BlackBerry TV and dual boot PC if it's going to have QNX lol!

Posted via CB10

I wish it was that easy but developing this hardware in a market you don't know would be deadly to BB.

[CDM76]

It shouldnt be a matter of laying blame. It should be a matter of taking responsibility. The Z10 is a BB product. It is a BB launch. BB has a LOT riding on this. Laying blame helps no one. Laying blame just pushes the problem to someone else. Society is quick to blame these days, but not so fast to take responsibility and fix the problem.

BB should stand up and take responsibility and provide a solution. Ultimately I dont really give a damn WHO created this problem, I care about who will FIX this problem. Who has the balls to stand up and say "A problem has been clearly identified. THIS is how we are going to fix it."

[jrohland]

I also assume you showed him yours and proved him wrong? (Sell like hell)

I didn't tie him down and force him to watch as I diddle it. He did mess with mine the first day I brought it to the office. He tried stuff until our iPhone loving boss told us to get to work.

[jrohland]

Tell him I'll buy it!

It is an STL100-3. It is AT&T branded and he believes it is locked to AT&T. I don't know the RF code but all AT&T versions I've seen are RFF91LW. Anyway, if you are serious, PM me.

[Xopher]

After thinking about it some, I don't see it as a "Who to blame" scenario. Instead, it is "Who should step up".

The answer is definitely BlackBerry. Telling people to sell like hell is great, but BlackBerry needs to listen to their own words and work on building a positive influence in the sales stream. Maybe it means more BlackBerry reps (heck, they can hire me), better marketing, more sales training. When you are fighting for your life, subtlety only goes so far.

I do think that the word is getting out there, people who actually try the Z10 like it, and the sales staff who have actually attended training seem to be excited. Is the word getting out there fast enough? Or maybe it is just a slow build until the Q10 is available...

Posted via CB10

[prithvi64]

But situation in India has been entirely different. I purchased Z10 on Mar 1, the day it was made available in India, it was a pleasant surprise, I got a call from dealer asking whether I need any more help in setting and configuration. I said, no. I told that I have been regular user of Bb since several years so no issue of any help but he insisted and said that he was instructed by RIM India specifically to take care of all Z10 users individually.

[chrysaurora]

But situation in India has been entirely different. I purchased Z10 on Mar 1, the day it was made available in India, it was a pleasant surprise, I got a call from dealer asking whether I need any more help in setting and configuration. I said, no. I told that I have been regular user of Bb since several years so no issue of any help but he insisted and said that he was instructed by RIM India specifically to take care of all Z10 users individually.

India is a different market. BlackBerry also has their own store there. US/Canada/UK and many other countries: people purchase phones from carrier stores and retailers (not directly from BlackBerry). So, BlackBerry needs to step-up their game.

- Train more ground sales staff. Maybe even station your own reps at high traffic BestBuy and carrier stores.
- Negotiate with retailers and carriers for prominent positioning (now that we know there is decent demand for BB10 products, they should be able to negotiate better positioning, they might have to pay for it though)
- Send better quality marketing material. For eg: instead of running that crappy, locked-down DEMO mode on Z10 display devices, they could simply put a physical board or a banner in the display area that illustrates 2-3 basic gestures. This way, user can pick-up Z10, reference the display-board behind it for basic gestures and start using it.

[aha]

This is ducking awesome!

http://crackberry.com/blackberry-see...s-return-rates

BBRY is finally taking some actions to change the situation.