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Why don't people know what they are looking for when they compare LCD and Plasma. - Page 2

post #31 of 79
1/31/09 at 10:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chadmak09 View Post


Salesman ARE there to help the customer and give accurate and helpful advise. PERIOD!!

No, they are not. They are there to sell. Period.

Selling is the OBJECTIVE. Doing all else is the MEANS to this objective. It is up to the store management to assure that the means are serving the OBJECTIVE of selling well. If being knowledgable serves this objective well, it is up to the management to decide.

This may come as a shock to many of you but being too knowledgable and helpful can be a bad thing for some businesses. You should be able to figure out why on you own.
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post #32 of 79
1/31/09 at 10:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ramazur View Post

No, they are not. They are there to sell. Period.

Selling is the OBJECTIVE. Doing all else is the MEANS to this objective. It is up to the store management to assure that the means are serving the OBJECTIVE of selling well. If being knowledgable serves this objective well, it is up to the management to decide.

This may come as a shock to many of you but being too knowledgable and helpful can be a bad thing for some businesses. You should be able to figure out why on you own.

Being a good salesman also means knowing the products you are selling and being able to educate and inform your customers. You're confusing an order taker with a professional salesman. Go to a high end audio video store and compare the difference between their salesmen and those at BB and CC. I realize there's likely a large difference between payscale also but BB and CC are basically order takers, not salesmen and like in any field of work their are good ones and their are bad ones with everything inbetween.
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post #33 of 79
1/31/09 at 11:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ramazur View Post

No, they are not. They are there to sell. Period.

Selling is the OBJECTIVE. Doing all else is the MEANS to this objective. It is up to the store management to assure that the means are serving the OBJECTIVE of selling well. If being knowledgable serves this objective well, it is up to the management to decide.

This may come as a shock to many of you but being too knowledgable and helpful can be a bad thing for some businesses. You should be able to figure out why on you own.

Your outlook on this is the whole problem and the reason why there are so many returns.

Your confusing POS with sales.

If these salesmen should not be responsible for doing anything, then why do we need them??
Why not just take the product directly to POS?

I certainly hope you never open a store. Because your idea of customer service is horrible.

Salesmen are supposed to know about the products they are selling and offer that knowledge to the customer with the intention on helping the uninformed customer make the right choice for thier individual needs.

Go to BB/CC and ask the management what thier salesmen are supposed to do. I guarantee the answer won't be to stand there and do nothing.
The answer will be "to provide assistance and product knowledge to the customer"

Your idea of a salesmen is horrible!

I guess your philosophy on this is "Do you have a question about a product?, whatever you do, don't ask the salesman"

Are you a car salesman??
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post #34 of 79
1/31/09 at 12:33pm
CC is gone and Amazon is doing fine. See the difference? I, for one, got to the point of being unable to go "shopping" to a b&m anymore as I can't make a decision by just looking. I do it on my computer by reading specs, reviews, opinions, etc. I go to BB to get what I decided at home I want if I want it quickly and don't mind paying extra. Otherwise, it's Amazon or Monopprice.

I am not a car salesman. I never said that a salesperson should be ignorant or do nothing except take orders. You are arguing with yourself.

What I did say is that there is an optimum point of education, training and pay the management tries to achieve. A salemen who knows more than he needs will expect higher pay rate. If he does not get it, he will be restless and will leave taking whatever training he got with him. All the smart ones are already employed somewhere else. A salemen who is too helpful will not be efficient as he will be often cornered by the AVS newbies and get pumped for all they can get out of him.

There is a time limit any smart salesman or customer rep designates depending on the case. A walk-in into a BB who does nothing but asks questions and shows no desire to buy anything TODAY is a pain in the rear end because the salesman knows that he is just "auditioning" and getting free advice to later get on his computer and get whatever he needs on line.

That is why CC is dead and so is Tweeter. Did you guys ever talk to a dumb salesman at Tweeter? Me neither but they are gone just the same.
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post #35 of 79
1/31/09 at 1:00pm
The vast majority of consumers aren't videophiles. The way the tv looks physically (form factor) is just as important as PQ to some people. I am constantly shocked and amazed by how many people leave their new HDTV's in whatever torch mode was default straight out of the box....and maybe tweak the color or brightness a bit and leave it at that. At the risk of seeming like a douchebag....whenever I see this (and know the people reasonably well) I always grab the remote and make a few discrete changes such as turning off nonsensical video processing and edge enhancement.....and lowering contrast/brightness.
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post #36 of 79
1/31/09 at 1:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ramazur View Post

A salemen who is too helpful will not be efficient as he will be often cornered by the AVS newbies and get pumped for all they can get out of him.

.

Too helpful??
Is there such a thing?

And CC and tweeter failed because of the economy. It has nothing to do with salesmen being "too educated".

Its people with the mentality you have that have contributed to our economy getting this way and stores like these going out of buisness.

People buying from companys like Amazon instead of buying from stores are contributing to putting A/V stores out of buisness.
Amazons idea of customer service is having you email or call some call center in India and talk to someone who barley speaks english. You are a number with them, nothing more.
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post #37 of 79
1/31/09 at 1:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chadmak09 View Post

Too helpful??

And CC and tweeter failed because of the economy. It has nothing to do with salesmen being "too educated".

Well, CC failed due to the economy AND making a lot of dumb moves, such as how it treated its employees.

They did something weird a couple of years back that caused most of their good salespeople to leave, for one thing.
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post #38 of 79
1/31/09 at 1:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chadmak09 View Post

Too helpful??
Is there such a thing?

And CC and tweeter failed because of the economy. It has nothing to do with salesmen being "too educated".

Its people with the mentality you have that have contributed to our economy getting this way and stores like these going out of buisness.

People buying from companys like Amazon instead of buying from stores are contributing to putting A/V stores out of buisness.
Amazons idea of customer service is having you email or call some call center in India and talk to someone who barley speaks english. You are a number with them, nothing more.

I disagree. Companies like CC, Tweeter and others failed because they're greedy. Greed is one of the seven deadly sins and the chickens are coming home to roost. They rather go out of business that let the customer win, that's corporate capitalism for you.

Amazon is alive well because sell stuff that most people can afford, plain and simple.
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post #39 of 79
1/31/09 at 1:19pm
I dissagree as well. These companies fail because their business model is based on continued growth rather than a sustainable business of service and sales that generates sufficient profit by providing value to the consumer. Lots of businesses do perfectly well selling at prices similar to CC and such, but provide consumers with greater service and value.
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post #40 of 79
1/31/09 at 1:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lcaillo View Post

I dissagree as well. These companies fail because their business model is based on continued growth rather than a sustainable business of service and sales that generates sufficient profit by providing value to the consumer. Lots of businesses do perfectly well selling at prices similar to CC and such, but provide consumers with greater service and value.

I think you've got it right. There's basically two ways to make it in the TV world:

1- 'The Amazon Way': Online, low prices, but no personal service

2- 'The Service Way': Face-to-face, higher prices, but excellent, personal service, and better convenience, in terms of return policies and being able to pick it up 'now'

If you're a store who's going the #2 route, but aren't perceived as really offering much more service than the lower-priced #1 outfits, you are screwed and will definitely not survive for long.

I mean, this is the writing on the wall going forward. More B&Ms are going to bite the dust, and the online segment is going to only get stronger, as ppl lose their inhibitions about making big-ticket item purchases online.

The B&Ms that survive are going to have to offer really excellent service.
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post #41 of 79
1/31/09 at 2:02pm
When I bought my first set of HT gear in the mid 90s, the guys I dealt with at Tweeter were very very knowledgeable. Knew their stuff backwards and forwards, and were very helpful in specifying the tradeoffs between different product options. As the years went by, this regressed to the point where the people there would read the labels to me when describing product features. I wasn't sorry to see them go. Good riddance.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ramazur View Post


That is why CC is dead and so is Tweeter. Did you guys ever talk to a dumb salesman at Tweeter? Me neither but they are gone just the same.
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post #42 of 79
1/31/09 at 2:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boochie View Post

When I bought my first set of HT gear in the mid 90s, the guys I dealt with at Tweeter were very very knowledgeable. Knew their stuff backwards and forwards, and were very helpful in specifying the tradeoffs between different product options. As the years went by, this regressed to the point where the people there would read the labels to me when describing product features. I wasn't sorry to see them go. Good riddance.

Classic case of a company trying to grow to big, too fast, and not keeping up their standards.
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post #43 of 79
1/31/09 at 2:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SystemShock2 View Post

I mean, this is the writing on the wall going forward. More B&Ms are going to bite the dust, and the online segment is going to only get stronger, as ppl lose their inhibitions about making big-ticket item purchases online.

The B&Ms that survive are going to have to offer really excellent service.

I have made my contribution in supporting local b&ms. In the last 12 months I bought three TVs, a monitor, a printer, a PC. The only items I never will buy locally are the cables. So much for that.

The quotes above are correct. And so is my point regarding Tweeter as it is the other factors like the economy, bad management decisions, etc that seals the fate of the local b&ms but not "dumb" or smart sales people as we rely less and less on salesmen for information.

That was not the case a generation ago when a salesman was the ONLY source of information. So I find it amusing and eventually annoying when, of all people, it is the AVS posters who complain about "the uneducted and the ignorant" kids at the local b&ms. If you guys are so smart why do you care how smart they are?

I am not sure what you mean by "service". The before-purchase info is from the internet. After the purchase, we are at the mercy of the Indians operating the tech support lines. And if that TV set fails, we are stuck with the repair shops operated by the guys who barely speak English and have no spare parts. God have mercy on those who are in that predicament. Any other stuff like VCRs, monitors, laptops, etc. we just throw out.

A while ago I busted a 25-cent power connector on my 2000-dollar laptop. The estimate: 1400. After two hours, some soldering and a lot of swearing, the laptop was as good as new. So much for the "service economy" that was supposed to replace the smoke stacks. No manufacturing, no service, no jobs. The only places still humming along are where the dollar printing presses are.
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post #44 of 79
1/31/09 at 3:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ramazur View Post

I am not sure what you mean by "service". The before-purchase info is from the internet. After the purchase, we are at the mercy of the Indians operating the tech support lines. And if that TV set fails, we are stuck with the repair shops operated by the guys who barely speak English and have no spare parts. God have mercy on those who are in that predicament. Any other stuff like VCRs, monitors, laptops, etc. we just throw out.

Some dealers still service what they sell. They also provide a great deal of assistance to the vast majority of consumers who would not know an interconnect from a speaker wire so that they don't have to depend on the asian with a triage script to read from.
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post #45 of 79
1/31/09 at 3:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ramazur View Post

I am not sure what you mean by "service". The before-purchase info is from the internet.

For the tech-savvy it is. For everyone else, it is not. Ever see a 60-year old guy trying to buy a TV? A housewife? Latino immigrant? There's always exceptions to the rule, but...

Even ppl who are semi-knowledgeable about TVs (I'm not talking AVS ppl, we are the very well-educated exception) can get plenty of value from a good salesperson. Someone who, without bias or an agenda, can steer someone to the right product at the right price, while taking all of the customer's needs into account.

Any fool blue polo shirt guy at BB can say, "Buy the Sammy A650, it's really good!". But, what if your living room has lots of windows/reflections? Oops, that super-glossy screen isn't going to be the best for you. What if you really mostly watch sports? Hmm, maybe plasma, with its more natural handling of motion, might be better for some ppl. What if you really want a TV with good built-in sound? The 650 might be unsatisfying, but the 750 will have better sound.

How's the store's return policies? How does it handle repairs under warranty? And can the salesguy explain all that quickly and clearly, with a minimum of miscommunication or lies of omission?

And does the salesperson make the customer comfortable, at ease, and is willing to take the time to educate them enough to make an informed decision, without throwing SO MUCH info and tech jargon at the customer that they only end up confusing them and wasting both the salesguy's and the customer's entire afternoon?

I think service matters, and I think a lot of ppl would agree with me on that.

That said, some of us do not need service, and for us there is Amazon and the like. So, we all have choices, and that is great.

What is not great is when a store, whether online or B&M, does not come through on its advantages, or lacks basic competence. The online store that can't get your order right or tries to bait-and-switch, the B&M that asks a price premium yet does not do a damn thing really to earn it.
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post #46 of 79
1/31/09 at 3:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Auditor55 View Post

I disagree. Companies like CC, Tweeter and others failed because they're greedy. Greed is one of the seven deadly sins and the chickens are coming home to roost. They rather go out of business that let the customer win, that's corporate capitalism for you..

So if our economy was strong you still think they would be going out of buisness? They may be greedy and it may feel good to see some justice, but lets be realistic here. Thier closing is a result of the economy.
I have had a number of bad experiences with BB and CC, so i know where you are coming from though.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Auditor55 View Post

Amazon is alive well because sell stuff that most people can afford, plain and simple.

And why can't people afford to buy from a local walk-in store here in America??
Its because of companys like big river who put our stores out of buisness and outsource thier employment instead of replacing the jobs here in the US.
So much of this (amoung other things) has gone on and taken its toll on us.

I worry about the stores of some of the forum sponsors like Robert and Roman, because of companys like Big river who are the truly greedy ones.

Personally, I will always buy from them before big river or a company like them.
Not only because I want to help out an american company which will help our economy, But ecause of the superior service and knowledge they have to offer also.
On top of that, You get something that companys like big river can never compete with, a firm handshake guarantee and being able to call up the owner of the company if you have a problem. lol
No bull or having to repeat yourself about the problem your having over and over to 10 different call center reps.

And the cool thing is that in most cases, you might even get a better deal with them than big river.
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post #47 of 79
1/31/09 at 3:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chadmak09 View Post


I worry about the stores of some of the forum sponsors like Robert and Roman, because of companys like Big river who are the truly greedy ones.

Personally, I will always buy from them before big river or a company like them.

I agree with you on this point. As I said, I have done my very best to buy locally. But the trend, in spite of you, me and others who feel the same, is there and we may delay it but we can't stop it.

On a more philosophical note, there is less and less personal contact in our lives. Instead of getting together at the town square, we email, text, send 4-buck greeting cards. I think that is one of the reasons even those who are no longer "shopping" still visit this forum.
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post #48 of 79
1/31/09 at 6:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SystemShock2 View Post

For the tech-savvy it is. For everyone else, it is not. Ever see a 60-year old guy trying to buy a TV? A housewife? Latino immigrant? There's always exceptions to the rule, but...

Even ppl who are semi-knowledgeable about TVs (I'm not talking AVS ppl, we are the very well-educated exception) can get plenty of value from a good salesperson. Someone who, without bias or an agenda, can steer someone to the right product at the right price, while taking all of the customer's needs into account.

Any fool blue polo shirt guy at BB can say, "Buy the Sammy A650, it's really good!". But, what if your living room has lots of windows/reflections? Oops, that super-glossy screen isn't going to be the best for you. What if you really mostly watch sports? Hmm, maybe plasma, with its more natural handling of motion, might be better for some ppl. What if you really want a TV with good built-in sound? The 650 might be unsatisfying, but the 750 will have better sound.

How's the store's return policies? How does it handle repairs under warranty? And can the salesguy explain all that quickly and clearly, with a minimum of miscommunication or lies of omission?

And does the salesperson make the customer comfortable, at ease, and is willing to take the time to educate them enough to make an informed decision, without throwing SO MUCH info and tech jargon at the customer that they only end up confusing them and wasting both the salesguy's and the customer's entire afternoon?

I think service matters, and I think a lot of ppl would agree with me on that.

That said, some of us do not need service, and for us there is Amazon and the like. So, we all have choices, and that is great.

What is not great is when a store, whether online or B&M, does not come through on its advantages, or lacks basic competence. The online store that can't get your order right or tries to bait-and-switch, the B&M that asks a price premium yet does not do a damn thing really to earn it.

Very good points SS2 as you explained it very well and I agree.
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post #49 of 79
1/31/09 at 6:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ramazur View Post


send 4-buck greeting cards.

Dollar store!
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post #50 of 79
2/1/09 at 2:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ramazur View Post

I am having a really tough time understanding the plasma guys and their public criticism of the LCDs. Let's walk slowly through the logic.

1. The supply and demand law are still in effect: the higher the demand, the higher the price.

2. What I want to buy I want to buy at the lowest possible price.

3. Therefore, it is in my interest to keep the demand low if I can.

4. Consistent with Item 3, as a prospective buyer I have no interest in telling everybody what a wonderful thing the item I am about to buy is.

5. Plasma guys keep raving about Elite Kuro.

6. This makes more people want Elite Kuro.

7. This leads to a higher demand for Elite Kuro.

8. The prices go higher when more people want Elite Kuro.

9. The current owners of Elite Kure will pay more when the time to upgrade comes because they kept talking about what a marvel Elite Kuro is instead keeping their mouth shut and enjoying their toys.

10. Conclusion: Elite Kuro owners are acting to their financial detriment because the pleasure of bragging is just too irrestible.

Anything illogical here?

What is illogical here is your assumption the consumer electronic market is confined only to this forum. The members here talking postitively about the kuro will have basically no affect on the market.


Quote:
Originally Posted by chadmak09 View Post


Salesman ARE there to help the customer and give accurate and helpful advise. PERIOD!!

Salesmen are there to make a sale. While it may be true that those that look out and help the consumer are "better", that is not why they are there
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post #51 of 79
2/1/09 at 3:17pm
I have no problem with that. It's their ethics - or lack thereof, that many of them seem to have, that I often have a problem with.

I sometimes think that the only thing they actually spend time teaching them is how to BS their way to a sale.

Especially BB's salespeople. They are by far the worst, most dishonest bunch I've ever encountered.
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post #52 of 79
2/1/09 at 4:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zivman View Post

Salesmen are there to make a sale. While it may be true that those that look out and help the consumer are "better", that is not why they are there

So what does a salesman do in your ideal store?

Define "make a sale".

And just how do they get that sale??

Maybe in your ideal store when you ask a salesman a question they tell you that its not part of thier job description and they are only there to "make the sell", but thats not what they are paid to do.

Go to some of the websites of these stores and find the job desciption of these salesmen.
I will bet you anything that advising, assisting, and helping the customer are part of thier job description.

A salesman should know the products they sell and be able to answer questions from the customer correctly.

Is anyone really gonna argue this?

So if a customer walks up to a salesman and asks him what kind of cables he needs, and the salesman tell the customer what he needs and he turns out to be incorrect, Are you saying that the salesman is not at fault because "he is only there to make the sell"????

my goodness, no wonder there are so many misinformed customers.
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post #53 of 79
2/1/09 at 7:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chadmak09 View Post

So what does a salesman do in your ideal store?

A salesman should know the products they sell and be able to answer questions from the customer correctly.

Is anyone really gonna argue this?

A salesman should do what the employer told him to do.

He is supposed to answer only the questions his employer told him he is allowed to answer. Any answers that expose his employer to bad publicity or litigation are off limits regardless how knowledgable the saleman is and how curious the customer might be. Also, badmouthing a specific brand can cost the store dearly like losing the rights to sell as an authorized retailer.

Would you like to have a guy on your staff who knows all the weak points of every brand and model so that he can share all that wisdom with the customers? It sure would be helpful to know the failure or return rates. Every time I asked I always got an evasive answer.

Same for side-by-side comparisons. You can ask a saleman what he thinks about Dynex and Sony and he will tell you that some like Dynex and some like Sony. This is how salesmen are or should be because if a customer can't see the difference the customer is a moron and a waste of time.

I still stand by my original point that salesman's only duty is to maximize the profit for the store using methods approved by the management and staying on the safe side of the criminal code. They are scripted for a the same reason why there is only one way to make the Whopper that Burger King management approved.
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post #54 of 79
2/1/09 at 8:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chadmak09 View Post

So what does a salesman do in your ideal store?

Define "make a sale".

Take your money in exchange for a given product

And just how do they get that sale??

Some do it by offering the best price, some do it by telling you it would look great in your living room or garage.... others do it by being able to finance you; still others do it buy stretching the truth and telling you what you need to hear which in turn convinces you to hand over your money for said item -> there are a thousand different ways

Maybe in your ideal store when you ask a salesman a question they tell you that its not part of thier job description and they are only there to "make the sell", but thats not what they are paid to do.

They will basically tell you only what they think you need to hear in order to sell you the item in question....

Go to some of the websites of these stores and find the job desciption of these salesmen.
I will bet you anything that advising, assisting, and helping the customer are part of thier job description.

A salesman should know the products they sell and be able to answer questions from the customer correctly.

Is anyone really gonna argue this?

Just because you may find some description online that says a salesman's duties are advising, assisting and a whole other things, doesn't mean much....
And, just because you think a salesman should know the product they are selling doesn't make it so -> anyone that has shopped for just about anything knows these simple and obvious truths

So if a customer walks up to a salesman and asks him what kind of cables he needs, and the salesman tell the customer what he needs and he turns out to be incorrect, Are you saying that the salesman is not at fault because "he is only there to make the sell"????

At fault of what? Being an idiot? Being misinformed? Not caring? Not paying attention during job training? He could be at fault of a lot of things

my goodness, no wonder there are so many misinformed customers.

The market is all about the dollar and the number of units -> it isn't about making sure Jon Smith is informed of things like 120hz doesn't apply to plasma technology.
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post #55 of 79
2/1/09 at 9:15pm
Zivman,

Thank you for your post as I almost reached a point of total and complete desperation.
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post #56 of 79
2/1/09 at 9:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zivman View Post

The market is all about the dollar and the number of units -> it isn't about making sure Jon Smith is informed of things like 120hz doesn't apply to plasma technology.

I am not talking about how it is.

we all know that most of these guys know next to nothing about what they are selling.

I am talking about how it should be and is supposed to be.

But your stance that it should be this way is the whole problem.

If a retailer wants to run his buisness the way you are describing, then he might as well fire the salesmen because they have no job function.

If your description of a salesman doing his job is "Take your money in exchange for a given product", then they are not needed. That is what the cashier is there for.

No need to have a salesman if he can't answer question, assist customers, and be knowledgable about what he is selling.

This is why most people go to retail/AV stores instead of just buying from the internet, To talk with someone about the products and learn to find the best solution for them.


There is no excuse for a salesman not knowing at least the basics about what he is selling.
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post #57 of 79
2/2/09 at 5:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chadmak09 View Post


There is no excuse for a salesman not knowing at least the basics about what he is selling.


You are correct. But the implication of that sentence is that they don't know the basics. They do judging from my personal contacts as well as the conversations I overheard standing close. There is a huge difference between knowing the basics that are published at the manfucturer's website and the hard-to-get background information like the failure rates, professional reviews, software bugs, etc. No salesman can keep up with it or is allowed by store management to share with prospective buyers.

I would like to suggest that we at AVS are not the only smart ones. To assume that the management of BB didn't consider that giving their sales guys more training might increase thier bottom line is simply arrogant. Their logic would have to be like this: I, the general manager of BB, know that my company would make a lot of money if I had more informed and helpful guys on the floor. But I will not do anything about it because...

Try to come up with a list possible reasons why he wouldn't do it starting with "because I am stubborn, stupid or both".
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post #58 of 79
2/2/09 at 5:22am
I don't know that it'd be a conscious assessment that they're choosing to be stubborn or stupid. It's more that they probably don't see a favorable cost/benefit ratio for the extra amount of training required. That's short-sighted. If I deal with a salesperson at a B&M store who takes the time to understand my needs, and point me in a direction that I might not have been aware of previously, I'm going to remember that. That sort of long-term relationship building is unfortunately very rare these days.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ramazur View Post

You are correct. But the implication of that sentence is that they don't know the basics. They do judging from my personal contacts as well as the conversations I overheard standing close. There is a huge difference between knowing the basics that are published at the manfucturer's website and the hard-to-get background information like the failure rates, professional reviews, software bugs, etc. No salesman can keep up with it or is allowed by store management to share with prospective buyers.

I would like to suggest that we at AVS are not the only smart ones. To assume that the management of BB didn't consider that giving their sales guys more training might increase thier bottom line is simply arrogant. Their logic would have to be like this: I, the general manager of BB, know that my company would make a lot of money if I had more informed and helpful guys on the floor. But I will not do anything about it because...

Try to come up with a list possible reasons why he wouldn't do it starting with "because I am stubborn, stupid or both".
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post #59 of 79
2/2/09 at 7:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ramazur View Post

I am having a really tough time understanding the plasma guys and their public criticism of the LCDs. Let's walk slowly through the logic.

1. The supply and demand law are still in effect: the higher the demand, the higher the price.

2. What I want to buy I want to buy at the lowest possible price.

3. Therefore, it is in my interest to keep the demand low if I can.

4. Consistent with Item 3, as a prospective buyer I have no interest in telling everybody what a wonderful thing the item I am about to buy is.

5. Plasma guys keep raving about Elite Kuro.

6. This makes more people want Elite Kuro.

7. This leads to a higher demand for Elite Kuro.

8. The prices go higher when more people want Elite Kuro.

9. The current owners of Elite Kure will pay more when the time to upgrade comes because they kept talking about what a marvel Elite Kuro is instead keeping their mouth shut and enjoying their toys.

10. Conclusion: Elite Kuro owners are acting to their financial detriment because the pleasure of bragging is just too irrestible.

Anything illogical here?


Maybe they want Elite Kuro to still be around next time they upgrade. It won't be if it is kept a secret. Just one reason I thought of.
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post #60 of 79
2/2/09 at 7:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ramazur View Post

A salesman should do what the employer told him to do.

He is supposed to answer only the questions his employer told him he is allowed to answer. Any answers that expose his employer to bad publicity or litigation are off limits regardless how knowledgable the saleman is and how curious the customer might be. Also, badmouthing a specific brand can cost the store dearly like losing the rights to sell as an authorized retailer.

Would you like to have a guy on your staff who knows all the weak points of every brand and model so that he can share all that wisdom with the customers? It sure would be helpful to know the failure or return rates. Every time I asked I always got an evasive answer.

Same for side-by-side comparisons. You can ask a saleman what he thinks about Dynex and Sony and he will tell you that some like Dynex and some like Sony. This is how salesmen are or should be because if a customer can't see the difference the customer is a moron and a waste of time.

I still stand by my original point that salesman's only duty is to maximize the profit for the store using methods approved by the management and staying on the safe side of the criminal code. They are scripted for a the same reason why there is only one way to make the Whopper that Burger King management approved.

First off, you don't know what BB or CC told their salesmen as I doubt it's that simple. The problem isn't what they are telling their salesmen to say, it's the lack of training that they give their salesmen as they are just expected to go out on the floor and "take the order" and hopefully point the customer to the right aisle. You obviously have never been in sales before ramazur by many of your comments but the good ones know their stuff and are more successful because of it.

It sure would be helpful to know the failure or return rates. Every time I asked I always got an evasive answer.

You really think these floor people are privy to that kind of information? They weren't being evasive, they didn't know.
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