Sprint Sets Sales Record With Weekend Debut of Palm Pre

[larry]

Sprint Sets Sales Record With Weekend Debut of Palm Pre
Bridegroom Says "I Do" to Palm Pre Minutes Before Wedding

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 8, 2009-- Within hours of offering Palm® Pre™ – the most widely anticipated electronic device of the year – eager customers delivered the result: a record Sprint (NYSE:S) sales debut.

By late Sunday, Palm Pre had broken previous sales records (first day and first weekend) for a Sprint device.

"Sprint is a very different company than it was 12 months ago," said Dan Hesse, president and chief executive officer. "Palm Pre is the coming out party for the new Sprint. It is the perfect device that highlights all of the positive changes in our company, including our revolutionary Ready Now retail store experience, greatly improved customer care, unmatched value pricing plans and America's most dependable 3G network.”(1)

Pre comes with Sprint’s industry-leading, value-oriented service plans – which offer significant savings vs. the competition. For example, Sprint’s Simply EverythingSM plan saves customers $1200 over the comparable plan for AT&T’s iPhone, and more against Verizon’s smartphone and PDA pricing over a two year period – that’s real value.”(2)

The anticipation of getting a device found many customers waiting in line at Sprint retail stores Saturday morning. One person in line – on his wedding day – was Theodore Travis.

On Saturday at 7 a.m., Theodore was 14th in line at an Atlanta-area Sprint store, fidgeting for his new Pre. His wedding was scheduled for 8 a.m. As much as Theodore wanted Pre, he wanted his bride, Anita, to see him at the altar at the appointed time. At 7:45, he abandoned his wait and left his line-number and credit card information with a Sprint store employee, asking that he “hold the 14th phone for me.” The Sprint store employee obliged. Minutes after the recessional, the newlyweds returned to pick up their phone, spending the first minutes of married life with a Ready Now consultant who walked the happy couple through Pre’s setup and features. The new Mrs. Travis later revealed that her reaction was “You did what?” to her husband spending the hour before their wedding waiting for a phone, but later admitted, “I guess I kind of understand now.”

In addition to big sales and banner headlines during the weekend, Pre represented a new and major point of differentiation for Sprint, a defining wireless crossover device for business and consumers that come to life on Sprint’s Now Network.

Pre proves the value of Sprint’s 3G network – the nation’s most dependable – which enables downloads more reliably than its competitors, according to third-party tests.

Pre is a breakthrough in wireless usability. This new handset has been heralded as a must for the multitasker, with multitouch capabilities, cached contacts and calendars synced in one place, a keyboard that’s easy to use and a new webOS™ operating system that lets customers operate their phone just like a PC – with multiple applications open at once.

Pre comes backed by Ready Now, a key differentiator for Sprint that proved valuable throughout the weekend as sales added up and customers sought to use the phone right out of the box. With Ready Now, Sprint retail associates work one-on-one with customers to personalize phones, set up features and demonstrate how each Sprint phone works before customers leave a Sprint store.

In addition to reinforcing Sprint’s “Now” positioning in the marketplace, the Pre launch represented an opportunity to advance the perception of Sprint’s positive customer experience – Hesse’s top priority since assuming the company’s leadership. First call resolution and overall customer satisfaction with Sprint’s customer care experience have improved for 15 consecutive months. The company has won awards and accolades for its improvements – including a J.D. Power and Associates award for highest call quality performance among wireless cell phone users in the West Region in a tie.(3) Sprint also was ranked by a third party as first among wireless carriers in customer response time.

The Pre launch was a great example of the changes that have taken place at Sprint, showcased by customers delighted with both the product and their experience.

With the strong customer response to the launch of Pre, as expected, Sprint has sold out in many locations. Sprint is getting the device in to its retail locations as fast as Palm can make them.

Sprint | News Release: Sprint Sets Sales Record With Weekend Debut of Palm Pre

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by larry

Sprint Sets Sales Record With Weekend Debut of Palm Pre

...the most widely anticipated electronic device of the year...

By late Sunday, Palm Pre had broken previous sales records (first day and first weekend) for a Sprint device.

...a defining wireless crossover device for business and consumers that come to life on Sprint’s Now Network.

Pre proves the value of Sprint’s 3G network – the nation’s most dependable – which enables downloads more reliably than its competitors, according to third-party tests.

Pre is a breakthrough in wireless usability. This new handset has been heralded as a must for the multitasker...

In addition to reinforcing Sprint’s “Now” positioning in the marketplace, the Pre launch represented an opportunity to advance the perception of Sprint’s positive customer experience –

The Pre launch was a great example of the changes that have taken place at Sprint, showcased by customers delighted with both the product and their experience.

This was even more full of meaningless marketing fluff than the usual Press Release. Besides claiming they broke their own record, they don't tell you what the record was, or provide any sales information at all. This did not advance my perception of Sprint, reinforce Sprint's "Now" positioning (whatever that is) or make me delighted with my experience.

Also, I found the following hysterical. I take it they sell you a phone and can help you get started with it. Awesome!

Originally Posted by larry

Pre comes backed by Ready Now, a key differentiator for Sprint that proved valuable throughout the weekend as sales added up and customers sought to use the phone right out of the box. With Ready Now, Sprint retail associates work one-on-one with customers to personalize phones, set up features and demonstrate how each Sprint phone works before customers leave a Sprint store.

SW

[cheddar]

I wouldn't dismiss Ready Now so quickly. There are a huge number of sales people who have no clue how any of the stuff they sell works, at least in the area I live.

[Charlyee]

Sprint Nextel executives said Monday that the launch of the much anticipated Palm Pre on Saturday hit a new sales record for the company.

Neither Sprint nor Palm is discussing specific sales figures, but Tim Donahue, vice president of business marketing for Sprint, said that the launch exceeded the company's expectations.
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Now Sprint and Palm must wait to see if the momentum will continue. Donahue said the company plans to replenish inventory at retail stores as quickly as Palm can get the devices shipped. Customers can sign up to be on a waiting list for devices and will be notified when a phone is available. Donahue said that these lists should help the company direct new phones to locations with the highest demand. But he admitted there could be shortages and delays in getting the Pre into customers' hands.
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Even though the Pre has an impressive touch screen that is similar in function to the iPhone, it may actually compete more with Research In Motion's BlackBerry devices than the iPhone. The Pre's physical keyboard and the phone's ability to handle multiple functions at once, much like a computer can, make it a good device for business users, Donahue and other executives have said.
But Donahue stops short of calling the device a BlackBerry-killer. After all, Sprint also sells quite a lot of those too.

"When you look at our customer base, the lines are blurred today versus five or 10 years ago," he said. "Subscribers use their phones for business as well for personal use. It isn't an either/or situation. And here is a device that I think is the best crossover device for business and personal use in the marketplace today."

One thing is for certain, Palm and Sprint are banking on the phone's success. For Palm, the Pre offers a chance to get back into the smartphone game. And for Sprint, the Pre provides a window of opportunity to attract new customers and retain old ones with a cool device that will show off the new and improved Sprint network.

Details:

Originally Posted by cheddar

I wouldn't dismiss Ready Now so quickly. There are a huge number of sales people who have no clue how any of the stuff they sell works, at least in the area I live.

Agreed! That has been my experience with AT&T and Verizon also

[Gamer03]

Originally Posted by Charlyee

Agreed! That has been my experience with AT&T and Verizon also

I also agree. I don't think any company that I have been with knows a lot about their devices (although from what I have experienced Verizon seems to rank higher in my area with knowing their devices the best so far).

But I have to admit that most of the time I come into a store after already researching the heck out of the device(s) that I am looking at.

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by cheddar

I wouldn't dismiss Ready Now so quickly. There are a huge number of sales people who have no clue how any of the stuff they sell works, at least in the area I live.

Originally Posted by Charlyee

Agreed! That has been my experience with AT&T and Verizon also

Originally Posted by Gamer03

I also agree. I don't think any company that I have been with knows a lot about their devices (although from what I have experienced Verizon seems to rank higher in my area with knowing their devices the best so far).

Store sales people, in general, know very little and get very little training. So I'm not saying that a carrier program that aims at better training for their sales people and a better customer experience is bad - of course it's good. I just think that the way they promote it is very weird, because it implies that without the program, customers can't use their phones "right out of the box" and sales people don't "work one-on-one with customers to personalize phones, set up features and demonstrate how each Sprint phone works before customers leave a Sprint store".

I think that all carrier sales people try to do this, they just do it badly. They make sure the phone can receive calls, swap your SIM (if it's a GSM phone) and make sure you have your address book, and that's about it. They typically don't know much about features unique to a particular phone or smartphone features like data services, GPS, Google Maps, Web browsing, downloading and installing software, etc.. If Sprint wants to promote "Ready Now", they should say something like:

"Of course you want to use your new phone right away and get on-the-spot help for those features that are important to you. Have you every tried to do that with the other guys? And with a super-snazzy phone like the Pre, it's even more important. Our sales people are the best in the business because they have the training to help you when you need it. And you're going to get the most out of your new Pre."

That should be the differentiator - not that they help you set up your phone, but that they do it better than the competition. That's all I was trying to say.


SW

[AnthroMatt]

How can Sprint say that the sales exceeded expectations when in the weeks leading up to the launch they claimed they would not be advertising the Pre much because they knew it would be in short supply and that they would have no way to meet the demand?