How I made a switcher out of a stranger.

As is mentioned in my profile, I work at RadioShack as my college job. Recently, a customer came in and wished to buy our Computer Associates Internet Security Suite for his PC. I was going to sell him the Suite until I realized that the 39.99 sale we had on it was after a 40 Mail in Rebate (the most pointless piece of paper ever created), so the price today would be 79.99. He said he had spyware everywhere in his computer but didn't want to pay 80 bucks for the internet security since his PC was getting old anyway. So I said, "Well, to tell you the truth, if you'd like to see your risk of being infected with spyware shrink dramatically, you should just switch to Mac." Long story short, he ended up going to CompUSA that night and buying a 17" iMac. I didn't get any sales, but I did get someone to buy a REAL computer.

I've got a buddy that has done that too many times to count. He has probably sold enough people on Macs that if he worked at the store, he could afford a new one.

last time i was at radio shack (to buy a 1/8" stereo to 1/8" mono jack), one of the sales people was telling a customer how the computer he was selling her would be Vista compatable. problem was he kept saying "Veesta" for some reason (and otherwise he sounded like a native English speaker with only a very slight minnesota accent).

That's what my roommate always says. It bothers the heck out of me. It's like people that say "warsh" instead of wash. My dad's a definite offender.

Well that's certainly a welcome departure from the typical Radio Shack "You've got questions, we've got blank stares" associate. Glad to hear you're setting people down the right path.

To tell you the truth, I have turned a number of the folks at the company I work for on to Macs. As one of the senior IT guys, I get a lot of side jobs repairing PCs. 90% of the problems are malware related and I spend a lot of time effectively turning away business by extolling the virtues of Mac. It's unreal how many people come back to me saying "you were right, this thing is just awesome!".

For most of the home users out there, particularly households with kids, Macs are an excellent choice. I see so many PCs with what I call "kiddie disease". They download just about any program their friends are talking about, completely disregarding the stowaway spyware that accompanies it. By the time the computer gets to me, it's come to a grinding halt and is barely usable. Most of the time, I recommend wiping it clean and reinstalling. But every one of the people I've convinced to try Macs come back to me and say "this thing is great" rather than bringing their old PC back again for a clean-up.

cwa107 said:

Well that's certainly a welcome departure from the typical Radio Shack "You've got questions, we've got blank stares" associate.

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LOL, I know what kind of associates you're talking about. For the most part, I know a lot about the products we sell, enough to solve almost every customer's problem. But then some electrician or TV repair guy, or computer expert will come in and talk circles around me. It isn't really the problem that I can't help them with, its the jargon they use. I think they just use it to make me feel inferior to them.

TheCustomer99 said:

LOL, I know what kind of associates you're talking about. For the most part, I know a lot about the products we sell, enough to solve almost every customer's problem. But then some electrician or TV repair guy, or computer expert will come in and talk circles around me. It isn't really the problem that I can't help them with, its the jargon they use. I think they just use it to make me feel inferior to them.

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I'm glad you didn't take offense to that. Right after I clicked the "post reply", I thought "ugh, I hope I didn't come off as being smug or insulting". Either way, I apologize.

I agree, no one knows everything and Radio Shack sells quite a diverse set of products. My issue with *some* (trying not to stereotype here) associates is that they tend to hang off your rear end, but sometimes don't get that I know exactly what I'm looking for - and then, when they persist, I tell them what I need, they look at me like a deer caught in the headlights and back off like I'm trying to build a bomb or something.

My advice - if you see someone immediately walk toward the components isle at the back of the store, they probably know what they need already