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CTS - 2006 :: VIP HDTV WTF?

by Bob Crabtree on 16 May 2006, 00:23

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qafp2

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Distributor VIP had one of the biggest and best-located stands at last week's CTS. There, pride of place was given to a considerable array of HD ready TV sets. So why didn't the company have the wit to give its stand staff a decent crash course in HDTV? It must surely have splashed out a small fortune on appearing at an event where it chose to give such prominence to this potentially lucrative technology and where so many possible would-be stockists were in attendance.


Mirai HD ready TV setHD ready TV sets were all over VIP's stand

There's little doubt that 2006 will be remembered in the UK as the start of the high-definition revolution - HDTV broadcasts being introduced by Telewest and Sky (the latter also showing the BBC's World Cup coverage in HD - we're promised); two rival high-def DVD formats (Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD) coming onto the market (soon, really, it will be soon); and HD ready TV sets being pushed more heavily - and more successfully - than ever before in consumer electronics resellers big and small.

So, perhaps we shouldn't have been surprised at last week's Computer Trade Show to see HDTV being the most prominent products on one of the biggest and best-placed stands - that of distributor VIP. But we were.

And, probably, we shouldn't have been surprised, when talking to one of the VIP reps responsible for the swathe of Mirai and Atec HD ready sets on show, to discover that he knew little more about the products than your average Dixons or Currys shop assistant, believing, for instance, that HDCP was a type of socket which the set he showed us didn't have. But again, we were surprised, though less so.

Mirai HD ready TV setLook! There's another one!

So why, you may be asking yourself, are we having this little pop at VIP; surely there were lots of other firms at CTS about which similar criticisms could be made? Well, yes, that's true. And that's the very reason why we're bothering to tell you about our experience.

What we're doing is using VIP to highlight what appears to be a peculiarly British malaise. Companies over here, especially big ones, all too often under-train and underpay their sales staff - failing to equip them with the knowledge and motivation to sell high-tech products - and generally under estimate their importance to the organisation in a way that comparable firms in other western countries simply don't do in our experience.

Do you think sales staff are better - and better treated - in the USA, Germany, Holland, France, Italy, Belgium or any other country or are your experiences different from our own? Let us know over in the HEXUS.community - where the comments of shop-floor staff and reps would be especially welcome. Oh, and yes, we do know that VIP has offices in Spain and the Benelux.

HEXUS.links

VIP - Home page
Wikipedia - HDCP
CTS 2006 - All the HEXUS coverage
Discussion thread - HEXUS.community

Background - who the f**k does Bob Crabtree think he is?
After studying psychology (not very successfully, he'd be the first to admit) at the then NE Polytechnic (RIP), Bob Crabtree worked for eight years in electrical retailing for a range of companies including Rumbelows (RIP), Nu-sound (hi-fi discounter, RIP) and Tempo (RIP). He also was in at the founding of the (still running!) north London electrical discounter Magnet Discount Warehouses and spent 13 years writing about new products at ERT - the weekly magazine that continues to be thought of by many as the "trade bible" for electrical retailers. He was also the founding editor of Computer Video magazine (RIP) and wore those particular green eyeshades for nearly eight years. He's now the editor of HEXUS.lifestyle and, judging by all the RIPs, that may give real cause for concern to everyone else who earns a crust from HEXUS.

HEXUS Right2Reply

If VIP - or any other firm or individual - believes they've been slighted by this article, then know that we'd be happy, under the HEXUS Right2Reply, to publish their responses here. However, if the intention of such responses is to engage in a proper debate about this subject, then the HEXUS.community might be a better place for that to take place.

HEXUS Forums :: 3 Comments

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Posted by nichomach - Tue 16 May 2006 10:37
It's no surprise when we discover that the sales staff in a DSG store are clue-deficient; we expect that, and if anyone asks, we'd probably say so. Not their fault; they're underpaid and undertrained, and that's partly the stores' fault and partly ours. We want products cheaper and cheaper, but the easiest way for stores to cater to that is by cutting the softest expense they have - staff wages.

That said, a trade show like CTS is one where the manufacturers are showing stuff off to people who are far more likely to ask searching questions, and understand the answers. It's a poor show if they can't do a little better than your typical Saturday-only walking zit farm at a DSG store; it wastes the time of the people at the show, and if they're not competent to explain and demo the product it wastes the exhibitor's time and money too.

They definitely need to buck up, as opposed to what they're doing now which is one consonant removed…
Posted by Funkstar - Tue 16 May 2006 11:10
The poor quality of sales staff is not a UK only phenomenan, the US has it's fare share too. The staff in CompUSA, Best Buy, Frys, etc are not known for their knowledge either.

Although for sales reps on a trade stand i do think it is shocking
Posted by Rack - Tue 16 May 2006 15:24
I think it stems from the US way of cheap expendable staff. Why do you think it's so easy to get into britain? The government is giving in to the needs of big business.
The turn-over of staff in these stores is incredible, and our system of employment (few worker rights, etc) make it easy to do too. The US is worse IMO. I'm in the US right now, will have to try and bamboozle someone in a electronics store.

I lived in Denmark for a couple of years, and the staff in any shops are usually long-term permanent staff, well trained. It is part of the society, but also the government makes it difficult to have high staff turnover. Even waiters have a union.

Companies are doing it how they can, low margins mean low overheads, high turnover of product and staff. If the government and the consumer do not make it clear that this sort of behaviour (poorly trained staff, high staff turn over, low pay) is not acceptable, then why stop?