Cell Phones On A Stick. Cellular Sales Does Events.
Posted on 30. Apr, 2010 by Jay Witherspoon in Uncategorized
I think I’ll take a moment and toot our events horn. We have the wireless industry’s most beautiful mobile showrooms. See one for yourself in the picture below. We use these showrooms to take special deals and that trademark Cellular Sales customer service to State Fairs and all types of other events. Our marketing data suggests that individuals who have eaten two or more items “on a stick” are statistically more likely to buy a new phone than those who have a low “on a stick” intake. And funnel cake never hurt a phone sale, either.
Here are a handful of the larger events we’re participating in soon:
Mayfest
April 30 – May 2
Houston, TX
GA State Fair
April 29 – May 9
Macon, GA
Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival
April 23 – May 2
Winchester – Frederick County, VA
Drift Atlanta
May 7-8
Braselton, GA
Got To Be NC Festival
May 21-23
Raleigh, NC
Taste of Addison
May 21-23
Addison, TX
Cellular Sales Mobile Showroom
-Jay Witherspoon, Director of Advertising
Google on Nexus One for Verizon… Uh, Nevermind.
Posted on 26. Apr, 2010 by Cellular Sales in Cellular Sales News, Equipment
HTC Incredible, Launches April 29, 2010
Google just did an about face and announced that their Nexus One handset will NOT be available on the Verizon network, and they suggest you buy a DROID Incredible by HTC instead. Cellular Sales is happy to see this announcement, because the Nexus One was set only to be available online through Google’s website (not CellularSales.com or Verizon’s site). And while we were not that worried that online handset sales through Google were going to cut into our numbers, we would prefer to have all equipment options available to us in our retail environment.
Cellular Sales does customer service better than anyone, and smartphones require more time with a wireless expert than most cellphones. So maybe Google’s decision was based on issues they had with customer service for the T-Mobile version? Not sure, but we’re happy to see it. And it makes us even more excited about Thursday’s launch of the Incredible. Visit CellularSales.com to find a location near you. Pre-order by calling a store. Pre-order will not be available through CellularSales.com.
-Jay Witherspoon, Director of Advertising
Happy 300th, Cellular Sales!
Posted on 22. Apr, 2010 by Cellular Sales in Cellular Sales News
Cellular Sales celebrated the opening of its 300th location in Maryville, TN on Wednesday. Check out a few video highlights below, created quickly with the help of our friends at Cobblestone Entertainment. The event celebrated a big milestone for a great company made up of great people. Alec Rankine, a Regional Director for Cellular Sales, said of the event, “Thanks to our customers and everyone in the Cellular Sales family for making it all possible!
Check out our grand opening specials (PDF) if you’re in the area.
HTC Incredible Solves The "Tethering Problem" With Android/Verizon
Posted on 19. Apr, 2010 by Cellular Sales in Cellular Sales News, Service Features
So, some geeky Verizon-users I know have been noting the lack of this feature: support for tethering Android phones for Internet connectivity (essentially using your phone as a modem). Let me clarify: the geeky folks I know who are also conservative enough not to be willing to run illicit software or do warranty-voiding stuff to their phones have shown great chagrin at the fact that you could not use Android phones to legally connect your computer to the Internet (even if you WANTED to pay for it).
The HTC Incredible answers that problem, and will officially support tethering. That gives the user “one throat to choke” if it doesn’t work right, as so succinctly put by the editor of ZDNet, who notes his joy at seeing the new feature. We’ll hope it doesn’t come to that. It is, after all, the Verizon network.
-Jay Witherspoon, Director of Advertising, Cellular Sales
Save The Date: June 25, 2010 – SOAR Ministries Charity Golf Event
Posted on 16. Apr, 2010 by Cellular Sales in Cellular Sales News
Some of the kids have fun with a volunteer before they go swimming (photo from last summer).
On June 25, Cellular Sales will help put on a charity golf event at Avalon Landmark Golf Club for one of our favorite organizations, SOAR Ministries. SOAR works with inner city youth in Knoxville, TN to meet their spiritual, educational, and recreational needs. The group does an amazing job at giving a lot of our inner city kids something productive and meaningful to do with their time in the summer and after school, to help keep the kids on track. Cellular Sales is a proud supporter of SOAR Ministries, and looks forward to continuing to bolster its efforts and raise up the communities in which it operates. If you’re interested in sponsoring or learning more about the golf event, please call (865) 583-8220 and ask for Kay Rinehart.
-Jay Witherspoon, Director of Advertising
Foursquare: Over-Communication or Over-Awesome?
Posted on 14. Apr, 2010 by Cellular Sales in Uncategorized
If you haven’t heard of Foursquare, you are not alone, but your crowd is thinning. It’s another social application, focused mainly on usage through mobile devices. With Foursquare, users “check in” when they go someplace, notifying their peeps where they are while also encouraging advice on what to do/buy there. This also builds an affiliation with the business that just might get the user some free stuff if the business owners are progressive enough to offer rewards for their loyal Foursquare-using customers.
So Foursquare is a way for friends to keep up with each other, and it sounds like a dream for marketers who want to tap into certain social networks. On the site’s homepage, an ever-updated list of user “posts” flow past. A lot of them are people unlocking “badges” for certain behaviors, like posting a certain number of stops per night. Many more posts are for users becoming the “mayor” of a place they visit more than any other Foursquare users.
“Unlocking badges” and becoming the “mayor” of a place smell a bit like Pokemon for adults, methinks, but I see some potential for the overall concept. There are benefits like having the ability to quickly research a business based on what your friends/colleagues think about it. And of course there are the coupons and rewards you could get from businesses who appreciate Foursquare patronage.
The jury is still out as to whether Foursquare will get the critical mass of users to fulfill its potential, but if you’ve never thought about tweeting your GPS coordinates or unlocking your “crunked” badge on Foursquare, remember that you carry a very sophisticated device in your pocket or purse and weigh your options.
Cellular Sales is joining the Foursquare party here in Knoxville, and I’ll let you know what comes of it.
-Jay Witherspoon, Director of Advertising
Microsoft Announces Sidekick's Futuristic Mutant Offspring
Posted on 12. Apr, 2010 by Cellular Sales in Cellular Sales News, Wireless Industry
Back in February Microsoft announced its new Mobile operating system, “Windows Phone 7,” would be available in devices by this holiday shopping season. Right now, the market for Windows Mobile OS phones, in my experience, is comprised mostly of folks who need to use their phone to interface with their IT systems at work. And a few other people who feel comfort with Microsoft products, suspicious as that may seem…
I’ll be honest and say I have not enjoyed any phones running a Microsoft Mobile OS the same way I have not enjoyed handling any rabid porcupines… I haven’t done it. Okay, I’ve messed around with a few handsets and cursed a few times, but that’s it. More than most people.
So anyway, earlier in the year, Microsoft announced Windows Phone 7. Today they announced there would be two new devices coming soon to Verizon to compete with the iPhone and Android handsets (I know no more dates than have been published [true or not] on the Internet). Microsoft purchased the company that made the Paris-hilton-toting-and-famously-hacked “Sidekick” and now they’ve made spawn with a new set of devices and services aimed at the young demographics who enjoy socializing even more than their elders through their phones. It’s gotten a lukewarm review from what I’ve seen so far.
But I would welcome another competitor in the mobile market. It makes better products. I hope Microsoft came to play, but I’ll wait and see. I think maybe Microsoft is tired of seeing Verizon, Apple, and AT&T hogging the mobile industry headlines, and they’re hungry right about now. Let’s see what happens.
-Jay Witherspoon, Director of Advertising
Cellular Sales' 300th Location!
Posted on 09. Apr, 2010 by Cellular Sales in Cellular Sales News
I visited Cellular Sales’ soon-to-be 300th location in Maryville, TN yesterday. It is bee-utiful. Below are some pictures. We plan to have an event in a couple of weeks where we’ll display a chronology of Cellular Sales’ history with written facts, pictures, and a bunch of cell phones sold throughout the life of the company, which started in 1993 when cell phones weighed as much as your head. Cellular Sales started with one strip mall location and a handful of mall kiosks here in Knoxville, TN and the surrounding area. Phones were sold to customers before they were ordered, and most sales were made on outside sales calls. We’ve come a long way!
-Jay Witherspoon, Director of Advertising
CellularSales.com Is Re-Launching Soon. Here Are Some Videos.
Posted on 07. Apr, 2010 by Cellular Sales in Cellular Sales News
CellularSales.com will re-launch within the next few weeks. I thought I’d share some of the how-to videos we’ve created for some newer handsets. We plan to create a handful of these for each new smartphone we carry, as a way for customers to get to know the phones a little better. We’ll have the same panorama views and detailed specs, but I believe it gives the customer a much stronger sense of how the phone will FEEL when they use it. It’s no secret customers don’t like to buy phones on the Internet. They research wireless equipment online, and purchase in a store, where they can hold the phone and ask questions. This is a small attempt at putting a little bit of the retail experience on the Internet. We hope these videos do their job.
-Jay Witherspoon, Director of Advertising
Cellular Sales Customer Service in Pennsylvania
Posted on 05. Apr, 2010 by Cellular Sales in Customer Service
Can’t get too many of these. Here’s another satisfied customer who just had to tell someone about it…
My experience at cellular sales.
Let me describe it in one word: beautiful.
Simulated IT Professional, Satisfied Customer
I had Lia help my family and I with two new phones plus the droid I’m using to email you. She was quick and courteous and made sure I knew exactly what kind of charges and costs would be incurred.
She was very knowledgeable about phones, current inventory & stock, pricing and policies. She was extremely helpful and I’m glad she was the one that helped us out. If I ever need cells for the business I’m in the middle of starting, she’ll be the first I contact. I have zero complaints.
I’m a web developer and I work full time in the IT industry and I’ve grown used to being taken advantage of by any kind of long term service provider… that said it was a very nice surprise to receive nothing but the opposite from Lia and I now have implicit confidence in your company.
Lastly, I look forward to all future interaction with your company. Please be sure to give Lia my regards.
Sincerely,
JK in PA
This Article Is Not About The iPhone Coming To Verizon
Posted on 01. Apr, 2010 by Cellular Sales in Customer Service
The media recently got another round of press out of rumors about the iPhone coming to Verizon. I’m tired of hearing about it.
Instead, I’d like to direct you to a nice piece from Good Morning America about a great company, The Container Store. The focus this company puts on customer service and the training their sales force goes through are remarkable. You’d think a store that sells containers wouldn’t need hundreds of hours of training (“this here is a shoe box, and that there is a hat box, and this little box will hold a whole mess of cheerio’s…”), but apparently it’s really paying off. The company is growing and their sales force is obviously very good at what they do.
Cellular Sales trains its sales representatives for one week away from the sales floor, and several more weeks on the sales floor. But we are always passing ideas like this one around to see if we can learn better ways. One of the best things about working at Cellular Sales is that I’m surrounded by people who are always looking for better ways to do things, even when we’re very successful. We’re in our 16th consecutive year of growth, with no signs of letting up, yet we are still searching for and motivated by the opportunities that we find every day. There’s always room for improvement.
We’re opening our 300th location this month. I’ll let you know where the party will be.
-Jay Witherspoon, Director of Advertising
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