Reviews and Ratings Can Trump Live Salespeople

Score one for e-commerce over bricks and mortar.

I managed to short out my Samsung BlackJack II PDA last week, getting out of my car and heading into a meeting. I scraped my car keys against the keyboard and after a quick flash, it was history.

So as an AT&T subscriber, I knew I could go online and check out which upgrade I was eligible for, and how much it would cost. Knowing my wife wanted an iPhone for herself, I was fine with the free PDA AT&T offered me: The Nokia E71x. The reviews and ratings were great, and the phone had everything I wanted and needed, but I wanted to physically test it out before I bought it.

On Saturday morning, my wife stopped by an AT&T store and asked to see the Nokia E71x, and explained to a clerk that her husband was interested in it.

Without knowing my needs, the clerk showed her the phone and told my wife it was a piece of junk, and that I should get an iPhone or a BlackBerry. I’m sure he didn’t know that we’d seen the user reviews and ratings on AT&T’s Website.

My wife told the clerk I was also interested in a BlackJack II, and the clerk’s response was, “well, the E71x is much better than the BlackJack II.”

So my wife said she laughed, telling him that I was perfectly happy with the BlackJack II, having owned one for a year and a half, and left the store.

That night, my wife and I went to another AT&T location just before closing time, and the clerk explained all the pros and cons of the E71x vs. the iPhone and the different BlackBerrys. There was no push despite his opinion, and he even encouraged us to get the E71x online, since he couldn’t waive the $79 or $99 cost of the phone in-store.

So I checked out the phones, and I went home and ordered the E71x online. And as a reward, my wife got her iPhone… even though I’m sure that was all part of the plan anyway.

The moral of the story? If you’re in e-commerce, you better have reviews and ratings. They may not help you make an immediate sale, but a peer-to-peer resource like reviews and ratings is going to help a consumer make a wiser decision and help build customer loyalty.

And in a case like mine, where I’m making a commitment and not just a straight purchase, I was educated enough to make my own choice instead of helping a clerk reach a sales goal.