MSFT has come a long ways in the past 2 years, but whew... they have so far to go to capture the hearts & minds of the people. Hope this story makes it to the ears on high
I went to the stanford shopping center recently - and, because obviously we were visiting the Apple store while we were there, we decided to go check out the Microsoft store as well - it was only a few doors down. I was pleasantly surprised at how darn nice it was. It was much larger than the Apple store, had better air conditioning (though, maybe because it wasn't as crowded) - had a cool Kinect/Xbox living room set up front, and had these awesome video walls.
I did have a similar experience as the individual in question - I was kind of used to the very gregarious Apple employees, so I was a bit taken aback when I asked if they had any Lumias (I hadn't been able to find them that quickly), and, instead of being lead to it like a small child (as I'm used to at the competition) - I got a bit of a gruff, "They're in the phone section." - this, despite the fact, we were standing beside a table full of phones, none of which were the Lumia. :-)
The stores are quite nice, beautiful even, but the Stanford Shopping Center employees should take some Apple training.
I really like the stores. They have a refreshing vibe that's in contrast to the Apple store's minimalism. The Kinects, Xboxes, and Surfaces also bring in a pretty diverse crowd since there's an addition of a gaming aspect. There's a wraparound screen that adds a lot of color that the Apple store lacks. It's definitely a well-done ripoff in my opinion.
I go to the one in Tyson's Corner and it's usually pretty busy. I can't say I've actually bought anything from there, but the employees have always asked if I needed assistance. They were also very helpful when describing laptop options to my parents, and pointed me to the ultrabooks when I couldn't find them.
I guess it depends on Microsoft hiring the right employees and management making sure the customer service is up to par. I have no complaints though.
So the author walked into a Microsoft store and asked about their competitor's product, and the retail employees didn't have much to say... And this is news? You don't think I'd get a similar response if I walked into a Reebok store and asked them about the new Nike Air Jordans?
I think the point is more that Apple understands that its retail employees are the public face of Apple. They are, figuratively, part of the PR department. So they train their "geniuses" to always be friendly and helpful.
Microsoft on the other hand may not understand this (though it's just a sample size of one.) In any case, this store manager lost a great opportunity to show his store to a journalist and get some press.
A sample size of one store manager and one interviewer is pretty weak to be making bold claims such as, "This Microsoft is one that teaches its retail employees to be overly cautious of reporters or people asking questions".
Maybe the author didn't deal with the MS Store manager very tactfully, or maybe that manager was having a bad day, or maybe he got lucky with the Apple Store employee; who knows.
I had a similar experience in a T-Mobile store a few doors down from my local Apple store. Wanted to get my hands on the Galaxy S3 to check it out, surf, etc. before purchase. Took the sales guy 10 minutes to find a demo model in the back-room. Then fumbled with the phone with the sales guy looking over my shoulder, constantly peppering me with questions and small-talk. Apparently he had to keep an eye on me, as they don't have their demo phones secured and didn't have the staff to prevent theft. No internet access on the phone either. Very awkward experience. Needless to say I did not purchase the phone.
T-mobile is hurting pretty bad at the moment. Due to the whole AT&T attempted takeover they "optimised" many parts of the business. That included consolidating call centres and making call centre employees also have sales and similar quotas. They reduced own store staffing to absolute minimum levels. The corporate owner (DT) doesn't have much interest in T-Mobile, certainly not enough to invest or pay much attention to management.
Eventually the AT&T thing collapsed and tmobile sank to the bottom of various satisfaction ratings (from usually being at the top). There is much debate as to what the cause of the malaise is, and how to get out of it. Some think this is purely a lack of iPhone issue, while others have pointed to phone selection, customer service, coverage, management, marketing, sales and who knows what else. None of these things are easily fixed, although they are addressing the iPhone issue by changing frequency usage around to the more common ones used by AT&T and others.
There is a new CEO, and he has done the usual rallying the troops ra-ra stuff. As you noticed it didn't really help.
It takes a rather "brave" person to buy a WP7 phone at the moment since you know it is obsolete, and is something you wouldn't want to be stuck with for the next two years (or more). That still shouldn't stop them from trying to enthuse you with the interface style which carries forward into WP8 and Windows 8.
It mystifies me how Microsoft could continue, with such a clear example from the competition, to fuck up such basic issues. This stuff with the retail stores is just one example, and one which doesn't surprise me at all. How hard is it to make your employees excited and enthusiastic about your products? Especially when you are on the cusp of an exciting new phase of products. Microsoft desperately needs every spokesperson it can get. Apple would never, ever, let this shit fly.
I'll tell you what. If anyone at Microsoft is listening, I offer my services free of charge to help you unfuck your business. Just fly me over to the States, send me on a tiki-tour of your business and I'd be happy to give you some pointers. No sweat.
Apple's PR department really is an outlier in the tech industry and I don't think it's worth it for other companies to aspire to it, especially now that so many people go to online reviews to check out gadgets before committing to a purchase.
Making awesome products that has great reviews and having a frictionless way to buy online would pay off way more than throwing money at a way to try to steal some of Apple's limelight when it comes to product launches and culture.
Careful what you wish for. Microsoft's "frictionless ways to buy online" always seem to involve more restrictive, less comprehensible licensing. I'd love to see Microsoft move to Apple's simplified model for non-volume licensing: one license = your choice of
1. all users on all devices you own or control for personal, non-commercial use.
2. all users on a single device for commercial use.
3. one named user on all devices for commercial use.
C.f., e.g., Mac Office, where it looks like the only (non-subscription) option for individual, commercial use on multiple devices going forward is a $220 license per device, with no upgrade or multipack pricing, and moves towards electronic delivery at MSRP rather than (frequently discounted) retail sales of packaged product. Net result: an Office license I can get for $150 today will cost $440 next year.
The only reason the Microsoft Store "...[is] not even close to as effective to what Apple has built" is because of brand and hype. But I have a feeling this is going to shift over time. It won't happen overnight, it'll be gradual, but it will happen.
TL;DR: It may happen, but nothing about Microsoft's position in the market seems inevitable going forward.
Most people outside the HN bubble actually like and admire Microsoft because it's what they know ---- and most importantly, they don't care about computing enough to know the differences between things, so they go with the comfortable and familiar. Apple's premium pricing keeps a lot of people away from the Mac (not that Apple needs to care -- their business model is fantastic for their bottom line). So, for most people -- the Android crowd that uses MSFT at work -- Microsoft stores could become something meaningful in the overall landscape.
Then again, since most of the people I'm talking about just don't care that much...when the time comes to buy that new laptop they might not ever make it to the store when the (already familiar and comfortable) Best Buy / Costco / Sam's / Walmart / Dell / Amazon buying experience will do just fine.
There are only two types of store culture in retail: the right one and the wrong one. Apple obviously totally nails the approach, which when you think about it is actually very suprising, because ragrdless of the company culture, consumer electronics stores of any kind are manned by bored and/or clueless staff. Good examples are the Dell mini stores, Best Buys.
Not a consumer electronics example but a great example of just how big a difference employees who are both excited and knowledgeable about the products they sell is Marbles, the Brain Store. I always felt that the people working there would still be there even if they weren't paid.
There are only two types of store culture in retail: the right one and the wrong one
I see where you're coming from, but I love having diverse retail opportunities. Sometimes I want to go to Nordstrom and have a nearly omniscient person guide me to something stylish and expensive. Sometimes I want to go to the indie coffee shop where the staff is competent but aloof. Sometimes I want to scrounge around in thrift stores, usually finding nothing, but sometimes finding a vintage designer suit that fits like it was made for me.
If the entire retail landscape looked and felt like the Apple store (which I do love) that would be kind of terrible.
That's a bit posh minded isn't it? Lower margin stores don't have the "right culture" because its not affordable and not part of their business strategy.
Not saying that MS is low margin per se but its certainly lower than Apple.
I don't get your concept of lower margin store: the commission that store employees get is not in general related to the margin, i.e. Apple store workers get one of the lower salaries in that space.
Given they carbon copied everything you immediately notice about Apple stores (look, feel, employee uniform), I do find it surprising they didn't try to ape the store culture too.
There really are Microsoft fans that know how to relate with people. And a lot of them (and others) have a pathological hatred for all things Apple.
I'd hope for some swagger going into any branded store even if I thought their products were overpriced crap (I'm looking at you, Sony Store). Otherwise, it's just depressing.
I did have a similar experience as the individual in question - I was kind of used to the very gregarious Apple employees, so I was a bit taken aback when I asked if they had any Lumias (I hadn't been able to find them that quickly), and, instead of being lead to it like a small child (as I'm used to at the competition) - I got a bit of a gruff, "They're in the phone section." - this, despite the fact, we were standing beside a table full of phones, none of which were the Lumia. :-)
The stores are quite nice, beautiful even, but the Stanford Shopping Center employees should take some Apple training.