My laptop is playing up. Dropped the kiddo off at nursery, went round to Starbucks, grabbed LD50 of chocolate-enhanced product (I’ve a high tolerance), and settled down upstairs.
Bugger.
Laptop says 30% power left, despite being left plugged in all night. It’s not charging right again. So spent 30 minutes sucking out the last of the juice, and then headed off to the shops.
Went to the T-Mobile store. I’m spending too much on WiFi access, and am fed up with the hassle of keeping my pre-paid phone topped up. I’m interested in what they’ve got to offer.
“Can I speak to someone who deals with small business users?”
“Sure, I can help you with that.”
“OK, I’m currently a pre-paid user. I use hardly any minutes or send texts — maybe 30 minutes a month and a dozen texts. However, I travel abroad a lot, and I use a lot of WiFi, and I’m also interested in mobile data for email and Skype. I also don’t need a new handset, as I have several unlocked smartphones already.”
What does he try to sell me? The £25/month basic plan that includes a free phone and a ton of minutes, plus the top-of-the-range data plan. Total damage: around £60/month. Completely wrong — I’m paying ten times the price I need to for the minutes!
“I work in the telecom industry, I don’t need to pay for a subsidised handset. What else do you have to offer?”
Finally I drag out of them the SIM-only monthly post-paid offer. They’ve no documentation on it, they don’t advertise it, and don’t even have a list of the call charges. As it happens, it’s probably what I want. A fraction of the price (£7.50/month with 50 inclusive minutes), and all the business features I need (international option, itemised calls, enhanced voicemail, inbound fax handling), and no contract lock-in.
I could have bought it on the spot, but I just didn’t feel like closing the deal after the trauma of the fight to get what I really wanted.
It really isn’t hard. Just listen to the customer, and give them the product that meets their needs for a reasonable price. Or am I asking too much?
Posted by Martin Geddes at 02:31 PMTrackBack URL for this entry:
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Telcos seem rather good at trying to sell me what they want to push rather than what I want.
I use the term good inadvisedly as it isn't good for me...
Posted by: at December 2, 2006 05:34 PMOperators...have a read around the O2 moans here:
http://www.shitcompanies.blogspot.com/
Posted by: at December 5, 2006 11:59 PMIf the salesman is on commission, he's going to try to upsell you. If he's not, he's going to be too lazy for his bosses' good. Anyway, telcos/cellcos don't *want* to sell you what you want. They want to sell you something more costly. So if you won't pay them more of your money, you'll have to pay them more of your time.
Posted by: at December 14, 2006 09:45 PM