Corporate stores don't know about new phone releases?
I went to a couple of corporate stores today wanting to confirm they would have the Droid DNA on the 21st (it's official release date) and neither one knew anything about it. They just said if the phone was released they would "most likely" have them. One manager added they don't know about releases until 24 hours beforehand. So I'm wondering how can this be? I thought the stores trained up their people on new phones days in advance so they were ready to demonstrate them. It doesn't make any sense.
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There isn't much training on new devices. On the Indirect side we get a learning course about most new devices, but not all, and that's it. Heck they're all so similar these days there isn't much to know other than what the specs are. Most customers that really care have done their own research.
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To follow up on that... there is more training for Apple devices than any other device out there. Pages and pages of training over each device and IOS release.
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Fair enough (regarding the training), but what I was more curious about was the staff not knowing about the Droid DNA and one of the managers saying they're only given 24 hours notice RE new releases. Is that normal?
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Wouldn't be surprised. It's probably more they haven't looked at the resources made available to them about it. They probably don't receive the devices or materials until a day before, that's not surprising at all.
I know there is information listed about it on our internal site, and I'm sure theirs too. Plus there was a webinar call this week I was on discussing it. Corp could be different but I'm sure they have similar things available, they just must not pay attention.
I know there is information listed about it on our internal site, and I'm sure theirs too. Plus there was a webinar call this week I was on discussing it. Corp could be different but I'm sure they have similar things available, they just must not pay attention.
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Plus, it's also available for pre-order right now. We've already done so for a customer. Not sure how that's handled at corp either, but we have the capability.
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Thanks for the reply. I guess I was expecting the stores to be paying more attention given how much buzz there's been about the DNA on the web, but whatever. As long as they have them on the 21st then no problem (and if they don't I'll come back and order it online).
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I'm sure they'll have it. As often as new devices launch is easy at the store level to not know what's coming fairly soon. I used to be able to tell you a lot better than I can now.
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You should order it online now.
I'm not saying that everyone in the store is lying to you. I think the likelihood is high though. Once you mentioned the phone they could have easily hit Info manager (or whatever they call their internal resource) for information on the phone. They either didn't want to waste time discussing a phone they didn't have or were just feeling generally lazy. Would you have allowed them to sell you the phone on that day if it could be ordered in advance?
I'm not saying that everyone in the store is lying to you. I think the likelihood is high though. Once you mentioned the phone they could have easily hit Info manager (or whatever they call their internal resource) for information on the phone. They either didn't want to waste time discussing a phone they didn't have or were just feeling generally lazy. Would you have allowed them to sell you the phone on that day if it could be ordered in advance?
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Jarahawk said:
You should order it online now.
I'm not saying that everyone in the store is lying to you. I think the likelihood is high though. Once you mentioned the phone they could have easily hit Info manager (or whatever they call their internal resource) for information on the phone. They either didn't want to waste time discussing a phone they didn't have or were just feeling generally lazy. Would you have allowed them to sell you the phone on that day if it could be ordered in advance?
Not completely sure what you're saying, but the reason I prefer not to pre-order the phone online is I want to actually see and handle it first. Looking at pictures and reading reviews are not a substitute...
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Ah. Then you should go to the store the day it is supposed to be released. I'm certain it will be there.
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So here's an interesting scenario. I went to the local corporate store on 11-21 and they had the Droid DNA available. However when I attempted to buy it (apparently I was the first person who tried) they discovered that it wasn't entered properly on the computer system (can't say more specifically what was wrong) and so they couldn't actually sell it. So I called another corporate store and told them about this. They said they couldn't check in advance so I went there and discovered that they also could not sell the phone. Pretty weird, don't you think? I'm going to wait a few days for them to sort themselves out and get a confirmation that they can actually sell the phone before I go back 🙄 🙂
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Seriously. Does ANYONE believe that? Who would run a business like that? Retail Ops and store managers have to know what inventory they will receive in advance. I would say at least two to three weeks. Again, can't call anyone a liar, but I would never turn my back on someone who made a statement like that.
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Being a manager in a corporate retail store, I understand the frustration. I really do not know what kind of inventory levels I am getting until a few days before and when I find out we never give specific numbers to people asking.
As the not knowing part, verizon has been holding press conferences to announce the new devices. It was at least 1 day from the announcement of the device before I could find anything in my systems. I find out more about things that are launching on sources on the Internet before anything officially hits my systems. There is not advanced training on any droid because the operating system is very similar across most droids with minor differences here and there. We will get a training course a week out bu...
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As the not knowing part, verizon has been holding press conferences to announce the new devices. It was at least 1 day from the announcement of the device before I could find anything in my systems. I find out more about things that are launching on sources on the Internet before anything officially hits my systems. There is not advanced training on any droid because the operating system is very similar across most droids with minor differences here and there. We will get a training course a week out bu...
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I get that. But this manager allegedly told this person they don't know about the device until twenty-four hours until it is in the store. I get only selling what you have, but possibly telling a blatant lie? Makes no sense to me.
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The better response is, "I can't comment on unannounced or unreleased phones." Simple as that. I'd rather admit I know nothing than lie and tell a customer I don't find out anything about a phone until 24 hours out. Maybe a week, sure, as is often the case with iPhone, but since Apple can't keep a secret to save their lives this past year, the best I can say is "I have nothing official at this time."
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I just re-read your post. I guess I can understand why they were evasive about having the phone. No one wants tp promise and the phone not be there because of a storm or something AND I can see that if they had confirmed you likely would have asked a lot of questions keeping them from serving potential customers NOW. I'm not a fan of lying to customers and they were clumsy with the facts if nothing else.
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