T-Mobile Windows Phone super-seller treated to CES

Limos, parties and helicopters. All in a week's work for Joe Komar

Published by Adam Fraser on January 12, 2012

Joe-heads-to-Vegas

LAS VEGAS, NV, United States – In the USA, there’s nobody better to sell a Windows Phone than Joe Komar, a T-Mobile sales lead. He’s a huge fan of Nokia and Windows Phone and has sold countless mobile phones in his seven-year career. He’s also won an annual sales contest in Northern California, so he knows his stuff. As a treat, Nokia scooped up Joe and took him to CES for a week to enjoy the show, as well as the party scene.

Former Nokia Conversations editor-in-chief Phil Schwarzmann spent some time with Joe to find out what makes him tick and hear about his phone-selling experiences.

When you work in a store, you’re meeting people face-to-face. It’s a real social interaction:

“The secret to selling phones is talking to people, finding out what they want.”

There’s no trickery involved in selling a phone to somebody. Ultimately, a person wants a phone that’s built for purpose, and intuitive to use. Sometimes, though, a customer may think they want a certain model of phone just because they’re told they should have one by friends.

Check out the new Nokia Lumia 900

All about our biggest, thinnest smartphone.

Soon available worldwide

Nokia Lumia 710 on T-Mobile“There are still a lot of people out there who haven’t yet had the time to play with Windows Phone. It’s not the same as the old OS, Windows Mobile. It’s totally evolved into something new, beautiful, streamlined and automatic,” Joe tells us.

We know that T-Mobile doesn’t stock the iPhone in the USA, but when it comes to the phones that they do stock, such as the Nokia Lumia 710, Joe says it’s no competition:

“Once people see how Windows Phone works and I show the differences between Android and iPhone I can get them to buy Windows Phone. I would say 7 out of 10 times.”

What about returned phones, ones that have gone faulty or just if people changed their minds? Of course, every phone store expects a certain amount of returns, but Joe tells us it depends on the phone they sold in the first place.

“When people come back in with a phone, it’s always something that’s crashed, or something. This usually ends in a master reset or sending it back for warranty repair. People don’t like being without their phones for an extended period of time.”

“This doesn’t happen with Windows Phone, that’s why I love selling it. People don’t come back in with Windows Phone problems.”

Joe and Chris

We’ve been following Joe’s CES shenanigans on Twitter – he’s @NokiaJoe1 – and it looks like he’s been having a great time. He’s met Chris Weber, seen Las Vegas from a helicopter, and is taking Limousines around town. We’ve heard he’s also been partying networking hard at several fancy gatherings.

Joe also dyes his hair dark blue, especially for the Nokia and Microsoft partnership. Now, there’s dedication.

The Nokia Lumia 710 is now on sale (in white and black) in the United States at your nearest T-Mobile store, costing only $49.99 on a two year service plan.

Comments

  • Anonymous

    It will be interesting to see what the sales numbers are after a month of Tmobile featuring 710. Haihg an unlimited data plan option might go a long way toward getting some people to pull the trigger on Nokia/Tmobile.

  • http://twitter.com/eyesfortech eyesfortech

    Is there hope for T-Mobile to recover or even compete with other carriers with iPhone products? What do you think?

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  • http://twitter.com/Alex_a_Chemist Alex Wu

    T-Mobile offer pseudo unlimited with their tiered speeds. I’d be curious as to mbps of the throttled speed. I use Mobilicity in Canada (affectionately called a T-Mobile knock-off) and their speeds are pretty miserable (about 1 mbps), but I get by well enough since I only want to use Social Apps. 

  • http://twitter.com/Alex_a_Chemist Alex Wu

    Windows Phone, it’ll surprise you! I only wish that future Nokia WP build on the Symbian ecosystem of features. I love being able to text remotely through Nokia Suite, and I’d need that feature before I switch to a WP down the road. 

    They’ve done a good job replicating Maps functionality as Nokia know that is their true differentiator, but Nokia would be foolish to abandon their diehard old-guard smartphone fans.

  • Anonymous

    @ Alex Wu (for some reason, I cannot get reply to work on this site. Been having the problem since move to the new format) Sometimes unlimited is more important than unlimited fast. If I really want to do some things, I can always wait until I get home or to a place with Wifi. Having unlimited, even limited to a couple of Megabyte instead of LTE  and throttled a little still gives me the ability to do what I want to do without worry about overages. Tmobile needs a differentiator and the 710 is not going to be that by itself (but with unlimited data, it could be). Nokia (Elop) was talking about EcoSystems at one point. Well Cellular Operators (i.e. AT&T, Tmobile, and Verizon) are part of the EcoSystem. Problem is the Operators lean toward pushing ways to make THEM money (I understand they are a business and need to make some money) and not necessarily making the customer happy.

  • Anonymous

    @ Alex Wu (for some reason, I cannot get reply to work on this site. Been having the problem since move to the new format) Sometimes unlimited is more important than unlimited fast. If I really want to do some things, I can always wait until I get home or to a place with Wifi. Having unlimited, even limited to a couple of Megabyte instead of LTE  and throttled a little still gives me the ability to do what I want to do without worry about overages. Tmobile needs a differentiator and the 710 is not going to be that by itself (but with unlimited data, it could be). Nokia (Elop) was talking about EcoSystems at one point. Well Cellular Operators (i.e. AT&T, Tmobile, and Verizon) are part of the EcoSystem. Problem is the Operators lean toward pushing ways to make THEM money (I understand they are a business and need to make some money) and not necessarily making the customer happy.

  • Anonymous

    @ Alex Wu (for some reason, I cannot get reply to work on this site. Been having the problem since move to the new format) Sometimes unlimited is more important than unlimited fast. If I really want to do some things, I can always wait until I get home or to a place with Wifi. Having unlimited, even limited to a couple of Megabyte instead of LTE  and throttled a little still gives me the ability to do what I want to do without worry about overages. Tmobile needs a differentiator and the 710 is not going to be that by itself (but with unlimited data, it could be). Nokia (Elop) was talking about EcoSystems at one point. Well Cellular Operators (i.e. AT&T, Tmobile, and Verizon) are part of the EcoSystem. Problem is the Operators lean toward pushing ways to make THEM money (I understand they are a business and need to make some money) and not necessarily making the customer happy.

  • http://twitter.com/NokiaJoe1 Joe Komar

    Absolutely! Windows Phone is how T-Mobile is going to grow in 2012. Everyone I sell that platform to loves it – and become a brand advocate for it. I think 2012 is when we’re going to see WP really take off. The iPhone was revolutionary when it first came out – but put an iPhone 1st gen next to an iPhone 4S. The screen is sharper, processor is faster, hardware is nicer, but there hasn’t been much innovation with the software. It looks almost identical. Live tiles is a true differentiator, and they keep getting better. The 710 is a great way to attract customer who want to make the leap into the smartphone realm, but don’t want to spend a lot of money. $50 for a Windows Phone? Awesome!

  • http://twitter.com/NokiaJoe1 Joe Komar

    I had an incredible time in Vegas with Nokia! Meeting the executive team showed me just how dedicated Nokia is about taking market share back in the US. With the new Lumia series – they are attracting all types of consumers – from first-time smartphone buyers, to high end LTE customers who want the best of the best. They’re doing an excellent job, and I’m confident their numbers will speak for themselves. Thanks, Nokia, for showing me the time of my life in Vegas!! Keep the new phones coming!!

  • http://conversations.nokia.com/ Adam Fraser

    I’m glad you had a great time in Vegas, Joe. It sounds like you had a blast.

  • http://conversations.nokia.com/ Adam Fraser

    I’m glad you had a great time in Vegas, Joe. It sounds like you had a blast.

  • http://conversations.nokia.com/ Adam Fraser

    I’m glad you had a great time in Vegas, Joe. It sounds like you had a blast.

  • http://conversations.nokia.com/ Adam Fraser

    I’m glad you had a great time in Vegas, Joe. It sounds like you had a blast.

  • http://conversations.nokia.com/ Adam Fraser

    I’m glad you had a great time in Vegas, Joe. It sounds like you had a blast.

  • http://conversations.nokia.com/ Adam Fraser

    I’m glad you had a great time in Vegas, Joe. It sounds like you had a blast.

  • http://conversations.nokia.com/ Adam Fraser

    I’m glad you had a great time in Vegas, Joe. It sounds like you had a blast.

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