Saturday, July 5, 2008

Customer Service... Or Lack There of at Verizon

Verizon should be glad their (cell) service is good

As my previous post stated, I finally took the plunge and purchased a BlackBerry Curve. Thus far, I love the phone; however, my experience at the store was not satisfactory at all.

The play-by-play of how sales should not go:

I walked into the store with the goal that I would not be leaving with out a new phone. I went over to the BlackBerry section and began to tinker with the phones to begin to familiarize myself with them and ensure I was selecting the proper thumb-clicking device. I believe I spent 10-15 minutes of standing there reviewing the phones before I was approached by a sales person. I mean, did I smell? Did my beard intimidate them? Am I too good-looking?

Finally, some man with a clip-board and a supposed suit walked up to me and asked if I needed any help. My response, "I was wondering when someone was going to approach me." Now, of course, I could have be pro-active in seeking advice, but, the fact of the matter is, since I was never even asked initially if I needed help, I wanted to test the waters. I've been in sales for a year now and I'm starting to toy with other sales people to see how good their skills are and see if they really want my business.

Moving along, once I was approached by the clip-board bearing, blue-tooth wielding, sales-person, as I asked my questions, he actually made me feel like an idiot. While I cannot precisely pin-point the exact causes, there were instances in his tone and inflections that really angered me. If I had not been adamant on purchasing a phone I would have left.

Nevertheless, I selected the Curve and then was taken to the counter. This "sales consultant" was even worse. Talk about being so bored and not wanting to show the customer he wanted the business as well. We began the phone upgrade process as I supplied all of my pertinent information. At this point, I thought (sarcastically), I really must be taking up this valuable person's time by me wanting to spending a couple hundred dollars with this company. Not only that, but the ever-annoying "Can You Hear Me Now" Guy was plastered right in front of me and I wanted to break his glasses.

I understand my phone upgrade was pretty much a transactional sale, but how did they know that? Should that matter? At least show the customer you value their business.

As I continue to evolve my sales skills and analyze others, I really paid attention during this "experience." Like I said before, if I had not been so focused to buy my new phone that day (or wanted to waste another trip and gasoline), I would have walked out.

My experience at Verizon was awful. The "sales consultants" made me feel stupid at times, all the employees showed poor customer service, and they made it seem that me wanting to spend money with them was deplorable. Verizon is lucky its cell-coverage is very good where I reside, or I'd be gone.

~the GURU

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