Helping Out

So, this is going to be a more personal post than much of what I've shared so far. I wanted to share how excited working in this field makes me. I've mentioned before that cell phones are not new territory to me, but having spent all my experience working on selling them, it's refreshing to be able to take some of my favourite parts of my old jobs, and continue on with them.

When someone walks into a cell phone store, it's because they need something. Whether it's a new phone or help with an existing phone, it always seems to be something that they dread attempting. Maybe there are salesmen out there pushing a hard-sell. Maybe they've become exasperated with the problems their expensive new toy has been having. Whatever the reason, walking in the door seems to be the hardest thing they've done all day.

That's why I find it so rewarding when they leave feeling like a weight has been lifted from their shoulders. When I can help out someone, and it shows in their face that they feel more confident and excited about their device than they expected to that day. When I can teach someone something new about the phone they've had for the last year and a half, and were starting to tire of. When my help makes them smile, it also makes me smile.

Today, one of my customers was looking for help rooting his phone. He wanted it to be faster, and more reliable, and altogether more exciting than he expected it to be, coming straight from the manufacturer. He wanted to know what it took to root his phone, and he wanted to understand the technology. While the willingness to dive into the unknown is an incredible tool for the cell phone owner (and deserving of its own blog post), it's not always the safest bet, without experience to lessen the risks. So he brought it to me, and I worked my magic. I explained for him what I did, and it seemed the time that I took to help him out was more than others in similar places had been willing, or able to offer.

His appreciation was extremely rewarding, and reminded me so much of why I got into this technology in the first place. I like to help people understand how phones work, how carriers work, how this industry that is built up to keep the consumer in the dark is run. I like to impart knowledge, and the look in my customer's eyes when he really understood what he was being handed reminded me of that.

Sometimes all people want is someone to take the time to work with them, at their pace. Cell phone salespeople, for all their skills, are not always able to offer this, being under pressure from the carriers to sell more phones, or more accessories with each extra phone. It always frustrated me to have limits put on my ability to work with individual customers.

Long story short, I'm really excited to be able to take the time now.