Opinion: Here's One Reason Why Windows 8 Sales Are Slow

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So we are from "Be very afraid " Microsoft strategy (Microsoft is taxing Android devices for no clear reason) .. to "Boohoo, we are not SO scary..,
truuuust us, we will harm you just a little with EFI locking and Windows RT store market lock!
 
Windows 8 doesn't appear to misunderstood at all. Your article has 2 or 3 people hating it (can't tell your opinion on Metro), and you blame it on someone being so ignorant that they didn't lie to a customer for a sale. After the consensus that the heralded new feature turns it into a load of junk, you have to defend Windows 8 by saying all you have to do is purchase and install extra 3rd party software to turn it something it isn't. Anything that has customers begging for something as poorly implemented as the windows start button has to be terrible! (All the programs (and often readme files) are just piled together and maybe organized in a folder named for the manufacturer vs Linux having every program grouped by its use)
I think you far underestimate the importance of a good user interface (and I've used a boat load, ranging from superb to toilet fodder that makes MS-DOS look like sci-fi greatness) for being productive . It's a major reason why Apple can steal a large market share while charging much higher prices. It could also be why Windows 8 is being blamed for the worst decline in PC sales ever. There are reports of only getting 1 window at a time (should it be "Window 8"? -- singular; or "Disk Operating System Shell in sensurround 3D"?) and plenty of pictures of it using my 100's of GFLOPS of graphics power to produce monochrome icons (not even my terminal interface is monochrome)!
If you want a correct car analogy, Microsoft changed how you interact with and (more specifically) direct the computer. In car parts, this is the steering wheel and pedals, not the stereo. Microsoft changed it to something more whimsical and entertainment/consumption driven, not caring that it was a poor way to get quick and precise results, for example: driving by PS controller on Gran Turismo.
If I show up at the car dealership and see cars that have the pedals and steering wheels replaced by PS2 controllers, I will tell the salesman I don't want that. A salesman who tries to push it on me as great will have me walk out and give the place poor reviews. The same goes for someone who tries to package it with a conversion kit (Start8 app). A salesman who is willing to confront the failings of a product line will at least salvage the place's reputation and a potential sale on other products.
 
I was talking to a guy that liked Windows 8 and so did his kid I was in shock I had to comment about it since there have been so very few that like it. The reason he liked it was it was fast, and he only uses it for internet and 1 game. He likes the fact he can sink it with his XBox and his Windows phone. Personally I don't have either and have no plans to do either. But it appears those that do have found something positive about Windows 8. Just wanted to share. Is it just me or is it convenient that Eight and Hate rhymes, lol.
 
Kudos to the honest and informed Walmart salesman! He's saved countless heartache from a countless number of customers saved from the horribleness of the Windows 8 experience.
 
I suppose USA sellers are way more ethical than Brasil ones. But I must clap to that seller that said (his) truth to the customer instead of pushing a (what he thinks) junk just to get 1 more sell.
 
I still don't think you people get it. Like or dislike of Win 8 is an OPINION. It's not about facts or non-facts. A customer comes into a store and says they've heard a product is crap, you don't just nod and say, "yup, so what do you want". You keep your mouth shut on the subject, kindly find out what they're looking for, and help them get it. The guy didn't "tell the truth" because there was no truth to tell. Let me put it this way, if a customer came in and said, "I want a Win 8 PC" do you expect he should tell them, "no, forget it, they suck so buy one of these Win 7 PCs"? No. You say, "okay, here's what we've got". Again, it has nothing to do with whether you personally like or dislike a product. You are a salesperson for that store. You represent the products in that store, not just the ones you like. If that's the case, go start your own store and find somewhere else to work. Because you know what? It's not gonna be very long before Win 8 PCs are all that Wal-Mart is going to have to sell. What do you do then? Tell anyone that comes in to go home and look up someplace on the internet? Forget about MSFT for a moment and realize you're hurting the company you're supposed to be working for, in this case Wal-Mart.
 


Apparently you don't get it.
As a owner of two retail stores, a jewelry store and a women's boutique, I sell people what they want.
When you try to sell someone something they are not sure they want, they usually end up returning it.
Now I can no longer sell it as new. And lose money in the long run because I now have to sell it as a return.
The girl probable retuned the laptop a couple days later, because it was not what she wanted to begin with. So now walmart has to return the item to the manufacturer, the manufacturer has to wipe it and recertify it, then sale it at a discount just to break even.
So in your opinion it is better to sell reguardless of it is what the customer wants. The sale is all that matters?

 


I'm not talking about forcing an item down a consumer's throat. Jewelry sales are a fundamentally different business, and I don't know what kind of jewelry store you run, but let's try this scenario. You've got displays of diamonds from big diamond companies A, B, and C. A customer comes in and says they've heard all of company B's diamonds are terrible. You personally don't like company B's products, but you know that others have previously bought it without complaint. I would think that you would simply say to that customer, "well, I don't know what you've heard, but as you can see, we have other products from A and C that you might like". You should not just badmouth company B. That reflects badly not just on the company B that you insult, but on you as a business owner who is selling a product you apparently have no faith in. If it's such a terrible product, why are you carrying it at all? Are you hoping enough people just waltz in and blindly buy it and don't come back for a return?

Like I said, I'm not faulting the guy for not trying to push Win 8, because I think it would have been just as bad to force something on someone when they're just asking for a little help. My problem is strictly the way the matter was handled. The customer doesn't like 8, fine. Ask them what they're looking for and help them out. But you are not going to convince me that it's smart business strategy to set a product out for sale and have your sales people badmouth that same product just on a passing comment from a single customer. The same way the author of this article just happened to be there and overhear all of this, there could well have been other customers who were there, unsure what they wanted, and heard you badmouthing the product. Are you saying as a salesperson you're going to turn around and try to talk to that other customer and sell them Win 8 or whatever as though you weren't just bashing that product? That's the most unprofessional garbage I've ever heard. Again, in a sales environment you have to dismiss your personal biases. If you can't do that, you shouldn't be in charge of selling that product.

 
In the authors scenario the Wal-Mart only has Win8 computers for sale and it is not what the girl wanted. The salesman has most likely had lot of customer leave in disgust and take their frustrations out on him because they did not have win7 computers, and they did NOT want win8.
People can be very rude if they do not get what they want. Especially to someone they consider beneath them, such as a lowly Wal-Mart salesman.(please refrain from labeling me biased. These are observations not me beliefs)( I grew up as a German Jew/Cherokee half breed and was discriminated against by most people at the time.)
so the Wal-Mart salesman ,already biased from his encounters with a plethora of rude customers ,just agreed with the girl to save himself futher discord from another customer.
And in steps our author to save the day for Microsoft.

As far as my stores I carry a wide range of stones. from F color SSI (very clear color and the inclusions are so small you need a 30x loupe to see them) to I color I3 (slightly whitish in color and up to 3 inclusions that can be seen with the naked eye) so people have a choice.
Unlike Microsoft who wishes to shove win8 down everyone's throat. And tell you that you will like it.

The other store ,the boutique is quite different.
I will definitely tell you that something looks great or not.
My job there is to make sure the women are happy and confident about their purchase. If something doesn't look good on them we tell them before the purchase. (much better us than their friend or family later.)
A woman who feels good, looks good and is happy with her purchase, then receives compliments on her appearance later will be a return customer.
That is the point of my earlier post. I then do not have the problem of returns.



 


When it comes to new PCs in a store with limited selection like Walmart, If someone doesn't like Windows 8, you can't help them find something that fits their needs. You only have that one option. The salesman helped them out perfectly by telling them they were right rather than trying to push a sales.

Additionally, anyone who likes Windows 8 is a complete moron. Anyone that cares about society will not only boycott Microsoft themselves, but help make sure other people don't give them any money and make them think their plan to copy Apple's walled garden is a success.

That Walmart employee is a hero of our time.
 
I don't want to be rude but - did they pay you to say this.
I see lots of people struggling with this interface, I've yet to meet one that likes it.
It's amazing to me that a company with the resources of MS can go on and on screwing up, one thing after another. Evidence ? making the space for Apple to come back from 2% market share.
 
I don't think the Walmart guy is a hero,but I know the guy that wrote the article certainly thinks he's a hero by tricking a grandfather to buy a unit his grand daughter didn't want. The Walmart guy is just reacting to the feedback he hears from his customers and the reality of how the product is selling. The guys at Walmart receive little to know training and are only allowed to work part time so the richest owners in America don't have to give them good pay or benefits. Now according to this "Hero" the failure of Windows 8 is their fault. Is it just me or is this guy drinking the MS Kool-aide. The only reason Windows 8 isn't selling well is because of Microsoft, PERIOD! The product is the problem, not the market, not the public, not the salesman. The head dude at MS should be fired and replaced with someone with a brain and less ego.
 
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