Dublin

Take a Town
Dublin
Our mystery shopping team has been out and about in Dublin to check up on the
sales skills of electrical retailers across the city.
Impressed by the quality
AFTER getting an iPod
Touch for my birthday,
I wanted to get some kind of
Bluetooth speaker, so I went
to see what was available at
Compu b on Grafton Street.
Cian greeted me and asked
if I needed any help. I explained
what I was looking for and he
said that the store didn’t stock
any suitable docking products,
but he invited me to go to the
upstairs area of the store to look
at some Bluetooth products.
Cian showed me a number
of products from Bose and then
he started to demonstrate one of
the units – the Bose SoundLink
Mini speaker, which was priced
at €199.99. He took his iPhone
6 out of his pocket, paired his
phone to the unit, via Bluetooth,
and selected a track and
instantly the track – Cosmic Love
by Florence & The Machine.
I was very impressed by the
quality of the sound and Cian
said that the SoundLink Mini
speaker was small and light
enough to tuck into your bag.
He explained that in addition
to Bluetooth, an auxiliary cable
could also be used for a wired
connection.
He added that the rechargeable
lithium-ion battery delivered
up to seven hours of playing
time. And at home, you could
listen even longer as the
charging cradle lets you listen
while it charges. An empty
battery usually fully recharges in
three hours, he added.
Jose does it by the book
WANTED to buy a Nespresso coffee maker for my office, so
I I headed to the Nespresso Boutique on Duke Street.
Inside the store, I was immediately greeted by Jose, who asked if
I needed any help. I said that I had read about Nespresso and that I
wanted to know more.
Jose asked what styles of coffee were generally consumed in my
house and I said that I drank coffee without milk, while my wife enjoyed
cappuccinos and lattes.
He said I should look at the De’Longhi Lattissima+, priced at €299.99
for the silver version, but available in other colours at €279.99.
Jose then offered me a demonstration. Behind the Nespresso bar,
he asked what kind of drink I would like and I opted for a cappuccino.
He explained how easy the machine was to clean and he showed me
how to clean the milk tubes, using the automated program.
Summary: Cian was on top form. He was able to present a suitable product well and his
demonstration was simple yet highly effective. The store, meanwhile, was perfect.
SALES SKILLS: 5/5 STORE PRESENTATION: 5/5
TOTAL SCORE: 10 out of 10 JOINT WINNING INDEPENDENT
Summary: A textbook sale – and the environment of the
Nespresso Boutique was welcoming and clean. He gave a
great demonstration too – well done.
SALES SKILLS: 5/5 STORE PRESENTATION: 5/5
TOTAL SCORE: 10 out of 10 JOINT WINNING INDIE
Shane makes the connection
LOOKING to replace my
bulky Windows PCbased
laptop, I went to
see what alternatives were
available at the iConnect
store on Henry Street.
Shane greeted me and I
explained that I was keen to
buy an Apple laptop, although
I pointed out that it had to be
lighter than the heavy Windows
model it was to replace.
Shane suggested I look
at the MacBook Air and he
encouraged me to lift one of
the models on display to see
how light it was. He explained
that MacBook Air came in two
screen sizes – 11in and 13in –
and in two capacities – 128GB
and 256GB.
I said a 13in model with
256GB storage would be ideal
and he said that would cost
€1,229. Shane explained that
I could spread the cost of my
purchase over one, two or three
years, using Flexirent. Over
three years, the weekly payment
would be €13.54, he said.
Summary: Shane talked me through the features of the
MacBook Air. He encouraged me to check the weight of the
machine and giving information on Flexirent was an attempt to
close the sale. The store looked great.
SALES SKILLS: 5/5 STORE PRESENTATION: 5/5
TOTAL SCORE: 10 out of 10 JOINT WINNING INDIE
14 · April 2015
www.ERTIreland.ie · ERT
014-016-ERTIr-TAT-Apr15.indd 14 31/03/2015 10:19