Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Boston, MA, USA
Posts: 90

... how can they know so little and yet sell so much...???
I was just in there at lunchtime looking for a HS case. They have Visors in, but there are no display materials - is this just them or haven't HS sent any out. Anyway, the Visors were in a locked glass case, but a guy was being shown the Ice Deluxe by the salesman. I overheard the story the salesman was spinning. Apparently the Visor is the second generation product from Handspring because they used to have another handheld which ran their own operating system. That didn't work out, so they recalled them all and did a deal with 3Com. That's how come it now uses the PalmOS. Also the batteries last for 3 months even if you use it every day (the guy thought he'd heard they only lasted a few days - so they're both wrong).
What is it with these places...? CompUSA and Best Buy are the worst in my experience. They think that people should spend from hundreds to thousands of dollars in their stores without the sales people being able to give any kind of comparison between the relative merits and demerits of different choices...

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

Fubar:

It's a mystery. I think it has everything to do with the still-apparent "technology fear" that most consumers seem to have.

They'll spend days researching a new auto purchase, negotiating a price, and fixing it themselves, but when it comes to buying anything with a microchip in it, they'll believe ANYTHING these schmucks at Best Buy and CompUSA say.

I don't get it either.

People just need to use a bit more common sense.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

A few year ago I worked at Computer City outlet in Beverly Hills. You would think that with a wealthy clientelle, the store would be staffed with lots of knowledgeable salespersons.

I was hired to put up stock, and only for that purpose. Because there was always less than a half-dozen sales reps on the floor at any one time (and this was a large store), the customers would desperately intercept anyone would looked like a Computer City employee. I could never put up stock (and was criticised for it by management) because I was constantly interrupted by customers who couldn't get a salesperson. Only the sales staff was given any real training in new products, so the other employee, when cornered by customers, couldn't give informed answers. So customers would natually wonder what no one seemed to know anything. It was a no-win situation.

Why did the store keep its sales staff so low? To keep overhead at a minimum. That's how they keep their prices low. I bought a Visor Deluxe for $236 at Staples, but I had to go through three staff member to find out that they actually had the Visor in stock, let alone knew what a Visor was.

If I had to choose, I would rather have paid the extra $14 and not wasted and extra trip and repeated questions to staff members. For better or worse, I've adopted the philosophy to finding out about the products I want before I get to the store, at least until corporations put people over profit.

[This message has been edited by Gameboy70 (edited 04-11-2000).]

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Boston, MA, USA
Posts: 90

But this guy wasn't just uninformed - he was making up elaborate stuff...! A recall??? A switch of OS???? What was he smoking...???!!!

I'd rather run the risk of HS's poor CSRs (have they fixed that yet?) and buy direct. That way I'm not lining Best Buy or CompUSA's pockets. Will HS sell at a lower price on their own site now, given that there must be two profit margins when it sells at $250 in retail...??

[This message has been edited by fubar (edited 04-11-2000).]

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 42

quote:

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Originally posted by fubar:
But this guy wasn't just uninformed - he was making up elaborate stuff...! A recall??? A switch of OS???? What was he smoking...???!!!

I'd rather run the risk of HS's poor CSRs (have they fixed that yet?) and buy direct. That way I'm not lining Best Buy or CompUSA's pockets. Will HS sell at a lower price on their own site now, given that there must be two profit margins when it sells at $250 in retail...??

[This message has been edited by fubar (edited 04-11-2000).]

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Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

I was at my local CompUSA Saturday looking at the Visor. The 2 guys lurking in that area were clueless about the Visor. I was also back there today... had the Blue Deluxe in my hand and the salesman comes over and says "you'd be better off with one of these" (pointing to a Palm V). When I asked why he said "because, that's a bad clone that can't really do everything that this Palm can. They claim it's fully compatable, but it's not. These (waving the Palm at me) are the people that invented these things." At that point, I pulled out my IVDx and said "oh, really???" as he proceeded to turn as red as his shirt. Incompetence is one thing... total ignorance is another.

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MarkEagle - Ice is nice!

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Boston, MA, USA
Posts: 90

quote:

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Originally posted by Hellion_Prime:

If I don't know the answer to a customer's question, I tell them so straight up, and try to find somebody who can answer the question. If I cannot find anybody with the answser, I'll go look it up so I'll know when the next person asks me. Thats part of the job. When a customer comes to you for information, thats what they want, not some off the wall made up junk you spew out to cover your tail. If you give your customer the information they want, it'll be a contribution to their shopping experience and they'll come back. If you don't, they will shop elswhere, and if it happens enough times, you'll be out of a job.

One of the few edges that we have over the online stores is a knowledgeable staff. If all the customer wanted to do was walk in and grab a box off the shelf then head to the register, they can go to buy.com and do it from their living room, and save money in the process 9.9 times out of 10. They come to computer stores to get help in choosing their products. If they have a bad experience due to a salesman making up information or not getting them what they need, it can only hurt the company in the long run.

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This guy was offing this made up story without being asked direct questions...! Needless to say the customer wandered off without a PDA of any kind. When I asked him if they had HS cases he took me over to a display... and shoed me a serial cradle box. "oh, my mistake" he said. Hmmmm... At least it had the right logo on it I suppose.

I have to disagree about knowledgeable staff being your advantage. People who will buy over the internet will do their research over the internet and will know more than the staff 9.9 times out of 10
The people who will buy what they're advised to in stores like CompUSA are those who are not quite tech-y enough to find out for themselves, those who are too impatient for UPS and those who have already checked that the price is the same as on the web. Everyone else in there is only there to look and feel before they go back to their browser and get it cheaper without interacting with 'knowledgeable staff'


[This message has been edited by fubar (edited 04-11-2000).]

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 42

*previous post by fubar snipped in intrests of space*

All perfectly valid points. Nobody with even slightly geeky intentions buys in retail stores much in this day and age. The ones that aren't tech savvy are the ones that we are there to provide the information for. It's sad that more people working computer retail sales don't have that kind of mindset. Its good that this isn't my career, or I'd go crazy =).

--HP




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That which does not kill me had BETTER do enough damage to keep me from firing back!

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Roseville, MN, USA
Posts: 161

One problem CompUSA probably has is finding people who know something and are willing to work for the money they probably pay. I would guess that most people who know much about computers can make a lot more money elsewhere.

Most retailers are having trouble finding staff given the current low unemployment. I'd say that's part of the reason that it's so hard to find sales people who know anything.

These are gross generalizations. I'm sure there are intelligent, knowledgable people working at such stores, I just don't tend to run into them.

One thing I like about Best Buy is that the sales people aren't on commission. That means they aren't as pushy, but they also might not know as much.

Sorry, I'm just rambling now�

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Hillsboro, OR, USA
Posts: 64

I've been to Best Buy, CompUSA, Circuit City (shudder), Fry's, you name it. I have yet to find a sales person who knows a PDA from PCI.

Now, the only big store that I'll go into is Fry's, but with a strict goal in mind. Don't ask for directions, don't ask for help. Just know where you're going and go there.

I wonder if the Handy GPS will have maps of where things are inside of Fry's? Hmmm...

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: McLean, VA USA
Posts: 216

Ash,

While I agree with your point about knowledgeable people not working retail because of the pay, that does not mean that the retail organization can't take the time and effort (yeah, that means: spend the money) to train their sales associates on the products and such that they sell. I personally would not mind if a sales person had to go find the answer to a question I asked in some kind of product guide, etc. That would be much more preferable to them just making stuff up.

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Have Visor Will Travel!

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Kuala Lumpur
Posts: 247

Hmm...looks like things are the same in retail stores all over the world! Your horror stories of uninformed sales people sound exactly like the ones we have here in Malaysia.

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Roseville, MN, USA
Posts: 161

Can anyone who works at CompUSA/Staples/etc. comment on spiffs (I think that's the right term) given for selling different hardware?

For a while there was discussion on the Mac sites about how many PC manufacturers had programs where the sales clerks at a store like CompUSA would get cash payments based on the number of PCs they sold, but Apple didn't have a similar program so there was less motivation to sell them.

If Palm had a program like that while Handspring didn't, that would give the clerks a reason to try to push the Palms (or wince devices) and discourage sales of Visors.

Registered: Apr 2000
Location:
Posts: 2

I bought my Visor at Best Buy. I had been calling the store for weeks to see when they'd get the Visor's in, each time I had to explain what the Handsrping Visor was. I must say this, the Visor's are selling like hotcakes. 3 Bestbuys I tries had sold out of the Deluxe. Finally I took an hour trip to a Bestbuy who still had them in stock. Of course the salesperson didn't know a damn thing about them, but thats ok becuse I did. In fact a sales person has never known more or at least as much as me.

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: Great Falls, VA, USA
Posts: 2

I went to local CompUSA in Tysons Corner Virginia. Just wanted to finally see a color other than Graphite. Really wanted to see the Green in person. Took about 5 minutes to find out that, yes, we have 5 green Visors in stock. "Oh you wnat to see one?" Hum. Got the salesman to go back to the back and pull a green one. Coomes out with it in the box. There's no window on the box so you can see what's inside. And the salesman refused to open the "sealed" box to just let me see the Visor.
Would be nice if Handspring would put a window on the box so you can see what's inside. All the boxes are the same. Only thing they do is put a label with the color indicated on it.
Grumble


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Andy Caldwell, AIA
Robert Wilson Mobley, AIA
Architect
P.O. Box 609
Great Falls, VA 22066
703-759-4424 (W)
703-759-3293 (Fax)
[email protected]

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Hillsboro, OR, USA
Posts: 64

acarchitek, that's just poor salesmanship.

For one, if you're there in the store ready to spend $200+ dollars, they should be doing everything they can to help you. Another thing is since the different colors are a strong selling point for the Visors (I'll still stick with my Graphite), they should have these babies open and on display.

I could understand them being new and a display model not being set up yet, but if that were the case, I'd want the sales person to open one up right there to show me what it looked like. I ain't buying a car after the salesmen saying "here's the garage that it's in. Sorry, I can't open the garage door." Small price difference, but same principle.

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 42

I've never hesitated to open up something when a customer wants to see an item out of the box. All I can say is I'd hate to work in that store.

--HP

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That which does not kill me had BETTER do enough damage to keep me from firing back!

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Roseville, MN, USA
Posts: 161

The CompUSA and Best Buy in Roseville, MN both have several Visors on display (blue and maybe green).

At Best Buy they are in a glass case so you have to ask for help if you want to hold them (which is a pain since it is also the cellphone section and is quite busy).

At CompUSA they are just sitting out attached to anti-theft devices so you can poke and prod all you want.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 391

What's the difference between a computer salesman and a used car salesman?

The used car salesman knows when he's lying.

Last time I went to a store like that was because I wanted to do a hands-on of the GoType keyboard. Of course the Palm they had in the keyboard was a dummy, and the only one that was live was too far for the anti-theft cable to stretch...

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Boston, MA, USA
Posts: 90

Here's a thought.... since Hellion Prime seems to be the only knowledgeable and helpful CompUSA or Best Buy sales person in the country, how about we start our own human cloning experiment and when we've made a few dozen copies, we'll open our own store and clean up...!! How about it H_P...???

Failing that, *vote*with*your*wallets* and buy it direct from HS...!! Patience is a virtue.