Sprint Sets Sales Record With Weekend Debut of Palm Pre

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! :thumb:

SW

 

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.

 

Sprint breaks its sales record with Palm Pre

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.

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

 

Re: Sprint breaks its sales record with Palm Pre

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.

 

Re: Sprint breaks its sales record with Palm Pre

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

 

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?