Ch. 17 - Personal Selling and Sales Management

My company Beats by Dr Dre often uses social media such as Facebook and Instagram to better fit the needs of a customers today. Young shoppers often times do a little research on the different styles and prices before making their way down to the store to interact with a sales representative and make their purchase. On their Facebook page they have a lot of pictures of celebrities wearing their headphones. I have also seen several times among my friends that when people are buying themselves a pair of Dr Dre, they take a photo and upload it on Instagram, just like they do with their new iPhone’s. Beats by Dr Dre are making the target audience proud to be using their product. That gives them loads of brand ambassadors and positive word of mouth.

Apple will begin allowing prospective customers to test out in-ear headphones prior to purchase within Apple Stores, according to several employees. Due to sanitation concerns, Apple has been reluctant to allowing customers to try out in-ear headphones, but a new solution called Demo Kits will solve this problem. Beginning this week, when a customer is interested in purchasing in-ear headphones, an Apple Store employee will have the ability to create a custom Demo Kit that holds up to six different models of in-ear headphones. These kits will include a fresh pair ear tips and alcohol cleaning wipes so that the try on process is sanitary.

The customer will then be able to keep the ear tips regardless if they purchase the headphones. The customer can then plug the headphones into their iPhone or iPod to sample the quality before making their purchase decision. Now of course who would not want to hear the sound quality of a headphone and the durability before purchasing a headphone at such a high price? Apple have also informed their employees that 51% of surveyed customers have said that they would like to test out in-ear headphones prior to purchasing, so this move will likely to increase the sales of the in-ear headphone sales via Apple Store. Of course, with the upcoming Bluetooth Apple Watch, Apple will market Bluetooth headphones alongside the device for music and fitness applications.