Hi All,
I seem to be posting a lot of these messages lately...but that's a good
thing.
We had a few buyers from Staples head office today. For the most part
they talked to the GM and the less-knowledgable consulatant (my
boss...grrr...the guy is a bit of an idiot). But I did have a chance to
put a few words in from my viewpoint. I told them how I had written in
to one of the other buyers regarding Linux friendly and Open source
products (StarOffice & OpenOffice.org) and the success they had with
them. I told them of one customer who came in looking for MS Orafice
and would have spent $700 on just that. I sold her OOo instead and she
came back and bought a $500 filing cabinet and was purchasing a phone
the day she talked to me. I think they were impressed how I tied the
customers needs to gether but also managed to build customer loyalty.
They sort of drooled a bit as I mentioned how much she enjoyed her
purchase & the product (OOo).
I also mentioned that we had sold Mandrake in the stores and we could
special order Red Hat...but people don't want to wait the 2 weeks to get
it when they can go to another store and pick it up. That offering
alternatives makes better business sense because people are pissed at MS
and the money making machine he controls.
To make a long story sort I had about 3 of the 5 (I think) buyers
writing things down in their books and thanked me for my insight. Who
knows...maybe Staples/Business Depot will soon become the Linux/Open
Source Depot!!! ANd we will have a huge penguin on the roof of the store.
Cameron
