Why do salesmen discourage iphones, even if you want one?

[BrianJB]

I know I am posting this on androidforums,lol but please follow me.

Recently I had my boss and my father-in-law both have upgrades available through verizon.

Both of them wanted the iphone 5 due to the ease of operation, they both told me that while they liked their androids that they had too many options they never use and wanted something simple.


My boss ended up coming back with the sg3, which I told him was a great phone. But he told me that he almost felt bullied out of the iphone 5. He then asked me "what button do I hit to transfer this file to my computer?"...I told him "you can only do that with other samsung galaxy s3 and up phones". He tells me "the salesman told me I could do it with any phone or computer".


My father in law went in to get the iphone 5, he ended up coming back with the droid razr m, which is a sharp phone. But he then told me basically the same thing my boss did, that he told them he wanted the iphone 5 and they told him that he didn't want the iphone 5 and sold him on the razr m. He did end up going back and returning it for the iphone 5.


But I raise the question, why do the sales people do this?...Is it like the same thing with car dealers?, if they have a certain amount of a particular car on the lot, but everyone is buying the same car they start telling people "you don't want that..you want this".


Anytime I have ever went to buy a phone they have never tried to sell me on anything other than what I ask for, but I am 29 and they are both in their 60's.

 

[Bob Maxey]

Something we once called spiffs, perhaps? Perhaps manufacturers offer salesmen a bonus per unit? Perhaps corporate ordered too many Note 3s, so there are the by God best phones available, perhaps?

Hard to say.

Yashica once gave us spiffs for every Yashica GSN we sold. Contax gave us Spiffs for every Contax RTS we sold. Guess which cameras were the best cameras on Earth?

 

[lunatic59]

Hard to say.

Not really, you're spot on. Salesmen will push whatever items will make them their quotas, bonuses and spiffs regardless of what the customer wants.

 

[damewolf13]

I have been very fortunate because I just go in, tell them what I want, and get it.
I do recall actually knowing more about a phone that I purchased than the sales person once, though. I do my homework before I ever go in, and usually before the phone is even released.

 

[Omar Days]

I do recall actually knowing more about a phone that I purchased than the sales person once.

I'm pretty certain the average member here knows more than the sales people in phone shops. It's not hard when most of them are planks who just care about hitting their quotas

The Phoneshop Episode 1 Clip - YouTube

 

[Liamo_210]

I would of thought all salesmen would encourage and attempt to bully you into buying an iPhone as that's is pretty much the most expensive device you can buy. Therefore they would earn more commission.

 

[EarlyMon]

It's easy to transfer files from an Android to a PC.

Do you still need help getting that sorted out?

AirDroid works great and is very easy to use.

 

[kevincott]

It's easy to transfer files from an Android to a PC.

Do you still need help getting that sorted out?

AirDroid works great and is very easy to use.

I have to agree, you can transfer files relatively easily via Bluetooth or other means. Many apps out there.

Not the NFC advertised on Samsung commercials, but still somewhat simple.

 

[chrlswltrs]

Two reasons:

1. iPhone is not the best phone for most people. A good salesman will try to get you to buy what you will enjoy most and be best for you.

2. Most salespeople work on commission (not BestBuy though) and there is ZERO profit in selling an iPhone. They make profit selling the service plan and accessories that go along with the iPhone, but not the phone itself. Android, blackberry, windows, etc there is the same profit but also profit from the phone. Therefore they make a paycheck.

Reason 2 is probably the biggest reason, since very few people are really familiar with the advantages and disadvantages of more than one OS. When I sold phones for BestBuy it was reason 1 (still would have applied even if I worked on commission)

 

[ocnbrze]

yep exactly what chrlswltrs said. they just do not make a profit what so ever by selling the iphone.

and a bunch of companies are doing this:
AT&T orders retail staff to sell anything but the iPhone, multiple sources tell us - Yahoo! News

T-Mobile memo asks staff to sell 'against the iPhone' on September 21st