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Thankfully, that very strange Bill Gates + Jerry Seinfeld TV ad isn't the only way that Microsoft is reaching out to a customer base that's still suspicious of Windows Vista. The San Jose Mercury News' SiliconValley.com website reports that Microsoft is planning to put 155 "Microsoft Gurus" into big-box electronics stores like Best Buy and Circuit City to help improve how Windows Vista and other parts of the Windows ecosystem are received by retail customers. It's part of a $300 million marketing campaign that also includes closer cooperation between Microsoft and major computer OEMs to make Windows faster and more reliable.
According to the official Microsoft news release, you can expect to see the gurus located in specially-brandThe San Jose Mercury News' SiliconValley.com website reports that Microsoft is planning to put 155 "Microsoft Gurus" into big-box electronics stores like Best Buy and Circuit City to help improve how Windows Vista and other parts of the Windows ecosystem are received by retail customers. It's part of a $300 million marketing campaign that also includes closer cooperation between Microsoft and major computer OEMs to make Windows faster and more reliable. ed 'store within a store' locations by year's end, using techniques being developed at Microsoft's Redmond-based Retail Experience Center (see photo at the start of this article).
Microsoft compares its new retail methodology to the personal shoppers employed by high-end stores such as as Nordstrom, while others suggest comparisons with the Apple "Genius Bars" located in Apple retailers. One difference: Microsoft Gurus are tasked with handling pre-sales questions only , while the Apple Genius Bar personnel can also provide technical support.
For anyone who's ever had to drive off a commission-based computer salesperson's desperate struggle to load you up with a lifetime's supply of ink or toner, a USB cable for each finger, or other high-margin goods, one question is, 'how will Microsoft Gurus be paid?' SiliconValley.com quotes Microsoft GM of Corporate Communications, Tom Pilla, as saying a major determining factor will be customer satisfaction and their "ability to translate the technology to a language consumers feel comfortable with."
So, how do you think the Microsoft Guru program will work out? For your chance to sound off, click the Comments button.
Comments are closed on this article
Bender2000
September 11, 2008 at 9:13am
The problem MS is not addressing is that people need training after the sale. You can demo all you want, but when the PC is up and running who's there to set up e-mail, browsers, photo programs, music...etc. Apple has the advantage of developing those programs and they can train and support after the sale, MS is in a bad place because they can't train people to use Picassa or Open Office or Firefox. Ask anyone with parents and grandparents who are not tech savvy, where do they go for help to figure out how to use this stuff? My father in law was having problems with IE 7 so I told him to use firefox. "How do I do that?" We take that stuff for granted but its not common knowledge. MS needs some simple OS usability classes with every OS sale. There is a lot of opportunity there, but not much profit. We need a sponsor to step up.
blackzarg
September 11, 2008 at 1:55am
"Microsoft Gurus are tasked with handling pre-sales questions only ,
while the Apple Genius Bar personnel can also provide technical support."
That's not what Microsoft needs. I think the reason Macs are gaining so much momentum is because of the friendly help they get when their computers get owned. I know it's hard for Microsoft to give support since they don't create the hardware, but any tech support should have no problem helping people with drivers and doing small system fixes. Also, it'd be nice if Microsoft had one on one training sessions like Apple stores do. Perhaps for a cost, but in some ways Vista is a completely different interface than Windows XP was. Will the Microsoft Guru tables work? Perhaps, but IMHO, I don't think it's worth the whole $300 million. It'll probably make people ooh and ahh from the demonstrations, and customers who were holding off on the upgrade will probably buy it, but I doubt it'll attract a large amount new customers.
Marcus_Soperus
September 11, 2008 at 2:39pm
The lack of post-sales support is the biggest weakness in Microsoft's new retail plan, especially since so many of us live in a part-Redmond, part-someplace else world. I use a mix of Microsoft, Adobe, Corel, and various other programs on my systems, and I know I'm not the only one.
It's ironic that the folks in Redmond who have planned this have forgotten that Microsoft recently rolled out a great new site that could be used to help MS Gurus provide that valuable post-sales support: the Windows Vista Compatibility Center. Microsoft needs to stop thinking like a monopoly - and adding post-sales support to the job description for its Microsoft Gurus would be a good start.
It's amazing how illogical a business built on binary logic can be.
