Mystery Caller is bored of the traditional brands like Apple and Samsung and wants something less well known. What do the advisors think are “alternative” brands and can they sell them well?
5: O2
I asked Sinead what the main differences between Windows Phone and Android were, and she told me she wouldn’t be able to give me too much information as she used an iPhone. Not very helpful.
Manner – 1/5
Understanding – 1/5
Knowledge – 1/5
Helpfulness – 1/5
Clarity – 3/5
Overall – 1/5
Total – 8/30
4: Virgin
Leah was lovely but seemed to repeat herself a lot. It was all good information but I only needed to hear it once and, after a long wait on hold, I didn’t want to be on the call longer than I had to be.
Manner – 4/5
Understanding – 2/5
Knowledge – 2/5
Helpfulness – 2/5
Clarity – 3/5
Overall – 2/5
Total – 15/30
3: EE
She asked if I’d ever tried Nokia before and I said not for a long time. She added that they were now owned by Microsoft and told me that the Lumia range was very popular.
Manner – 4/5
Understanding – 3/5
Knowledge – 3/5
Helpfulness – 2/5
Clarity – 4/5
Overall – 3/5
Total – 19/30
2: Three
Sarah started with the 735. It was slightly over budget but Sarah was really selling the benefits of getting that device.
Manner – 4/5
Understanding – 4/5
Knowledge – 4/5
Helpfulness – 4/5
Clarity – 4/5
Overall – 4/5
Total – 24/30
1: Vodafone
He then offered me an alternative, which was even more unexpected than a Nokia – a handset made by Vodafone itself.
Manner – 5/5
Understanding – 4/5
Knowledge – 4/5
Helpfulness – 5/5
Clarity – 4/5
Overall – 5/5
Total – 27/30
Summary
We wanted to shun the major brands and asked our advisors to find us something a little bit different. Really, we wanted to explore their knowledge beyond iPhones and Galaxys.
Sinead at O2 didn’t seem to get to grips with this idea but made it worse by being plain rude and dismissive for most of the call.
Virgin’s Leah decided on a Windows Phone very quickly and would have sold it well, if she hadn’t kept banging on about Live Tiles!
Ashleigh at EE was only slightly better, also jumping straight to Nokia, but at least she gave a bit of information about the device, even if it was very limited.
Three’s Sarah also went down the Windows Phone route but gave a far better description and explanation of the device.
I never caught the Vodafone advisor’s name but he also went for Windows Phone but, at the last minute, switched to Vodafone’s own brand and won it with that.
Full article in Mobile News issue 591 (June 22, 2015).
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