Your Aunt walks into a computer store, how would you want her advertised to?

[HeyKitty]

This may be an odd/unique opportunity, but I am curious what your opinions are.  some things to note:

• I own a brick/mortar computer repair business.
• I get a lot of elderly/not techy customers.
• My computer advertising may not be the best for refurbished systems, and need help improving.

 

So lets say one of your relatives came to me looking for a computer, and you couldn't be there to help them in the moment.

 

Currently on each computer for sale I have a little card with the "greek" on it. exactly like:

 

and I am curious on improving it, as this is good for more techy people like us, this means nothing to someone who thinks a 1Tb hdd is better than a 500gb ssd.

 

What ideas/suggestions do you all have?  Is there good software that "rates" (or gives multiple ratings would be even better) computers based on hardware performance?

[Mohammad Saleh]

2 minutes ago, HeyKitty said:

This may be an odd/unique opportunity, but I am curious what your opinions are.  some things to note:

• I own a brick/mortar computer repair business.
• I get a lot of elderly/not techy customers.
• My computer advertising may not be the best for refurbished systems, and need help improving.

 

So lets say one of your relatives came to me looking for a computer, and you couldn't be there to help them in the moment.

 

Currently on each computer for sale I have a little card with the "greek" on it. exactly like:

 

and I am curious on improving it, as this is good for more techy people like us, this means nothing to someone who thinks a 1Tb hdd is better than a 500gb ssd.

 

What ideas/suggestions do you all have?  Is there good software that "rates" (or gives multiple ratings would be even better) computers based on hardware performance?

probally get a 250 gb ssd with a 1tb hdd

[boggy77]

you can have a tag with "good for:office, web browsing, youtube", or "good for: light gaming, light photoshop", or "good for: heavy gaming, streaming, editing"

[HeyKitty]

2 minutes ago, Mohammad Saleh said:

probally get a 250 gb ssd with a 1tb hdd

Not really what I meant.  I am looking at different ways to show what the computers are able to do. I have around 20 computers at any given time, so a way to show why one computer is $40 more than another is important.  My customer base is not tech savvy and dont understand things we think are obvious like an i3-8100 is better than an i5-750.. Even though everyone says an i5 is better than an i3, it isn't obvious to my customer base that the i3 would destroy the i5 in this example.

[HeyKitty]

5 minutes ago, boggy77 said:

you can have a tag with "good for:office, web browsing, youtube", or "good for: light gaming, light photoshop", or "good for: heavy gaming, streaming, editing"

I like this idea, the downside to this is it doesn't show some performance difference in computers, like a 6gb ram and an 8gb ram computer would both fall under the same category if all other things are equal.

[Mohammad Saleh]

2 minutes ago, HeyKitty said:

Not really what I meant.  I am looking at different ways to show what the computers are able to do. I have around 20 computers at any given time, so a way to show why one computer is $40 more than another is important.  My customer base is not tech savvy and dont understand things we think are obvious like an i3-8100 is better than an i5-750.. Even though everyone says an i5 is better than an i3, it isn't obvious to my customer base that the i3 would destroy the i5 in this example.

price it higher and tell  them

[boggy77]

3 minutes ago, HeyKitty said:

I like this idea, the downside to this is it doesn't show some performance difference in computers, like a 6gb ram and an 8gb ram computer would both fall under the same category if all other things are equal.

it's difficult to put small diferences in plain language. if they are confused, they can ask and you can answer I guess.

not sure how I would express the difference between 6gb ram and 8gb ram in layman's terms (maybe saying 60 chrome tabs vs 80 chrome tabs), but that doesn't really paint a realistic picture.

 

for ssds and hdds you can say something like fast but small  vs slow but large

 

[For Science!]

18 minutes ago, HeyKitty said:

I like this idea, the downside to this is it doesn't show some performance difference in computers, like a 6gb ram and an 8gb ram computer would both fall under the same category if all other things are equal.

An arbitrary star chart with the above metrics, one for the application (e.g. browsing and muiltimedia, video editing, gaming etc) and another for more "greek based metrics" (i.e. RAM capacity, SSD performance, battery life, etc).

 

[HanZie82]

Nice and flashy, so they can easily see fast or office pc.

Keep it simple.
Maybe even make them look like the energy efficiency labels or something familiar.

[tikker]

3 minutes ago, boggy77 said:

it's difficult to put small diferences in plain language. if they are confused, they can ask and you can answer I guess.

not sure how I would express the difference between 6gb ram and 8gb ram in layman's terms (maybe saying 60 chrome tabs vs 80 chrome tabs), but that doesn't really paint a realistic picture.

 

for ssds and hdds you can say something like fast but small  vs slow but large

 

 

5 minutes ago, HeyKitty said:

I like this idea, the downside to this is it doesn't show some performance difference in computers, like a 6gb ram and an 8gb ram computer would both fall under the same category if all other things are equal.

These are also not the customers you even want to (try and) explain the difference between 6 and 8 GB RAM to (how is there even still 6 GB around).

 

I'm always a fan of icons or graphs. People are visual creatures (which is why they are so easily misled by weirdly scaled graphs from GPU and  CPU manufacturers for example ). For RAM, for example, you could make a symbol of filled in and greyed out sticks as a "unit". For example, 4 GB would be 1 black stick and 3 gray sticks, 8 GB 2/3 sticks and 16 GB 3/3 sticks.

 

While 16 GB vs 8 GB may not mean much to the average person, seeing X out of Y filled in is more easily understood.

 

I like @For Science!'s idea as well.

[jaslion]

9 minutes ago, HeyKitty said:

I like this idea, the downside to this is it doesn't show some performance difference in computers, like a 6gb ram and an 8gb ram computer would both fall under the same category if all other things are equal.

Make it as a category so basically your current way of doing but with an added category like:

 

Category: office, web browsing

Category: office, web browsing, light gaming

Category: office, web browsing, light gaming, photo editing

 

And then have a explanation board in the store because some people may as but why this system is good for gaming but not photo editing and they can see the requirements for the category like:

 

Light gaming: Can play games such at fornite, minecraft at acceptable performance

Photo editing: computer is powerfull enough to run photo editing applications and has a screen with good enough colours

 

etc

 

Also I'd just add a gpu line on the card just for extra information

[For Science!]

Also I think a standardized  table of key features that would appeal to the customer base is also importance (make sure to sort the metrics based on your customer base). Don't be afraid to break the features down to actual use case rather than the technical accurate details (unless if you are not legally allowed to do so, no idea) e,g, Zoom and Skype ready!, Compatibilte with Office! etc. I assume most people come with a particular use-case in mind (e.g. I want to Zoom with my grandchildren).

 

Important metrics

Zoom ready? (Webcam & Mic): Yes

Wi-Fi: Yes

Battery life: 9 hours

Weight: 939 g

Warranty: 2 years

 

Details

Wired Ethernet: No

DVD-Drive: No

Floppy-Drive: No

 

[HeyKitty]

31 minutes ago, Mohammad Saleh said:

price it higher and tell  them

I do price it higher, and then spend 10 minutes with every customer explaining the same thing... Just looking to save my time over the long haul.

 

26 minutes ago, For Science! said:

An arbitrary star chart with the above metrics, one for the application (e.g. browsing and muiltimedia, video editing, gaming etc) and another for more "greek based metrics" (i.e. RAM capacity, SSD performance, battery life, etc).

 

Oh, I really like the direction of this.

 

22 minutes ago, tikker said:

 

These are also not the customers you even want to (try and) explain the difference between 6 and 8 GB RAM to (how is there even still 6 GB around).

 

I'm always a fan of icons or graphs. People are visual creatures (which is why they are so easily misled by weirdly scaled graphs from GPU and  CPU manufacturers for example ). For RAM, for example, you could make a symbol of filled in and greyed out sticks as a "unit". For example, 4 GB would be 1 black stick and 3 gray sticks, 8 GB 2/3 sticks and 16 GB 3/3 sticks.

 

While 16 GB vs 8 GB may not mean much to the average person, seeing X out of Y filled in is more easily understood.

 

I like @For Science!'s idea as well.

I also like this too. Yall have some very good ideas for charts!

[minibois]

Quote

Your Aunt walks into a computer store, how would you want her advertised to?

Honestly, with their knowledge level in mind.

1 hour ago, HeyKitty said:

I am curious on improving it, as this is good for more techy people like us, this means nothing to someone who thinks a 1Tb hdd is better than a 500gb ssd.

Mentioning an SSD is like 5 times faster than a HDD would be a good start, then you can mention "you know all that slow starting on your old system? that was because it was running on a HDD. SSD's start up in a couple seconds, even later in life. With HDD's however you could make a cup of tea before your PC was turned on!"

that always seems to work for me when informing people who don't know too much.

 

Then I can mention how SSD's are a more expensive technology than HDD's and of course I can talk about whether they need the extra storage or not. Plus, mentioning how an external 1TB drive is 40-50 USD helps too.

 

When working with customers that don't know as much as you about computers, it's important to not put them down or shame them for their lack of knowledge.

If they ask "why would I get this PC? it has 500GB, this other one has 1000GB?" (with the idea being the 500GB is an SSD, the 1000GB being a hard drive), it's important to first validate them in their thought: "You're right, this one has more storage space"

Then, you explain shortly why the 500GB is more desired though: "the 1000GB uses an older much slower technology, this 500GB is an SSD, which is much faster [faster bootup times, etc.]"

1 hour ago, HeyKitty said:

What ideas/suggestions do you all have?  Is there good software that "rates" (or gives multiple ratings would be even better) computers based on hardware performance?

I have a couple years of experience with customer facing retail and have found that these sorts of hardware tests should only be used with rather minimal differences, like the difference between videocard A or B, or CPU A vs. B.

A HDD and SSD can't be compared in such a direct way, because with games or certain software it's easier to say "old was this slow, new is this fast".

 

With their old HDD, you don't know how slow or not it was. While with their old CPU, you could say "well this one renders a video x amount of times faster!", but with HDD's you can't make that comparison.

You have to finesse your way into having them say (or think) "well my old PC did take quite a lot of time to turn on" and then you can hit them with the whole "well an SSD will start up in a couple seconds!"

 

In my couple years of experience, I have found the most important pieces of informing the less technically interested, is explaining it on their level.

Metaphors are a great way of working with it.

Explain SSD vs. HDD like a fast car vs. a large truck/lorry. 

The HDD is a lorry. Sure, a lot of things fit in it, but it's very slow and not fit for general use.

Your SSD is a fast (or even normal) car. Less fits in it, but did you really need a lorry amount of space anyways?? This car can do the same, but faster.

 

Always make sure you are asking about what the customer will do on their PC and form your story around it. "You use your PC for Word, Excel and e-mail? Well the SSD is 500GB, Windows is 50GB, Office is 15GB, which leaves 535GB. Did you know your Word files are only a small fraction of GB? So you can fit thousands of them on it!"

Or if the customer informed you they store a lot of photos, tell them "Well after Windows and other programs they use you still have room for x amount of photos!"

 

TL;DR:

- Talk on the level the customers needs

- Validate their concerns, explain why a certain solutions works for them (i.e. '500GB is enough for your use' 'SSD is much faster')

- If they have trouble understanding, come up with a fitting metaphor

- Always. Be. Honest. Honesty will encourage repeat business, word-of-mouth advertising, while dishonesty only gets you a quick sale and an unhappy customer

- Don't overwhelm them with numbers, make it simple and straight to the point (unless they want the extra info)

[TargetDron3]

Make it as simple as possible.

Create a scale of 1-100 and you put the computer on that scale where you think it goes.  0 being a rock, 50 being your average computer that can do web activities light gaming with integrated video, and 100 being a dedicated gaming laptop.

 

That's all they need to know.  What can it do.

Facebook, Youtube, Email, look at Pictures/ Videos of the grandkids.  

[GDRRiley]

24 minutes ago, TargetDron3 said:

Make it as simple as possible.

Create a scale of 1-100 and you put the computer on that scale where you think it goes.  0 being a rock, 50 being your average computer that can do web activities light gaming with integrated video, and 100 being a dedicated gaming laptop.

 

the 1-100 scale doesn't work well and it too arbitrary

[HeyKitty]

1 minute ago, GDRRiley said:

the 1-100 scale doesn't work well and it too arbitrary

agree, but 6x 1-100 can work which is much like the star chart accomplishes.

 

What are some things you all find important to chart?

• RAM 2gb - 64gb
• Storage ssd
• Storage hdd 240gb - 10tb (I got a few small NAS styled work stations)
• CPU core 2 - 64
• CPU speed 1ghz - 5ghz
• graphics (how to rank?)
• battery life
• Age

 

 

[minibois]

1 hour ago, TargetDron3 said:

Make it as simple as possible.

Create a scale of 1-100 and you put the computer on that scale where you think it goes.  0 being a rock, 50 being your average computer that can do web activities light gaming with integrated video, and 100 being a dedicated gaming laptop.

 

That's all they need to know.  What can it do.

Facebook, Youtube, Email, look at Pictures/ Videos of the grandkids.  

I agree with the idea of creating something to see what a PC can do, I disagree with the idea of implementing a scale for that however.

This has more chance of confusing potential buyers.

 

It would be better to have a simpler system, that just shows ticks for what a PC can or cannot (quickly) do, so people can see "Oh I need for a PC for X, Y and Z and this PC can do all of those".

[HeyKitty]

rough draft of something maybe like this for graphing?

 

 

[For Science!]

4 hours ago, HeyKitty said:

rough draft of something maybe like this for graphing?

 

 

While its a good start, what is lacking here is the message of priority and importance. I think the layout would be good for the "detail" section, allowing easier comparison between models, but does not help the "aunt level" consumer.

 

I think categorizing the products into 5 segments (Basic, Office, LightGaming, High Gaming/Production, Enthusiast) is great, as indeed a higher category PC can do all of the below.

 

What I feel is that you'll be "losing the customer" in the front two graphs as core count, core frequency, RAM capacity is not really something that clicks with average joe (apart from more is better). But is 2 GB RAM bad? is 4 GB RAM okay? is 8 GB RAM excessive? these are questions that you will want to be asked, but may not get them at this.

 

If you want are willing to keep benchmarks, you might as well do it that way and have a few key benchmark scores (graphed without numbers, but scaled) to represent a product:

 

e,g, (with appropriately dumbed down names, but I will give what they are in brackets)

 

Processing power (Composite Office Test, e.g. PCMark)

Gaming power (GPU+CPU benchmark, e.g. Firestrike)

Storage capacity (Stacked bar chart)

Startup speed (Essentially a SSD yes/no question, but make sure to show the fast speed as a big bar)

Battery performance (some app, no idea)

 

and along side this, the yes/no for various peripherals (webcam, mic, dvd-drive, age, etc etc). Basically you want to remove the people having to think about whether a certain geek feature (e.g. core count, ram capacity) makes the laptop good/bad or better than another one. 

[For Science!]

5 hours ago, HeyKitty said:

rough draft of something maybe like this for graphing?

Since I was procrastinating. As I was making it, I think the shopkeepers summary in less than 30 words gives it a nice touch to an otherwise very cooporate feeling tag (in fact, thinking about it now, I would put it on top of the key features and specs). Obviously more effort needs to go into characterizing the product a bit more, but maybe its worth it?

 

Other key features that average joe would benefit from:

Weight:

Screen size/touchscreen:

 

Details:

Screen Resolution

OS installed

USB port count and version

 

Things that aren't even worth mentioning (if they care, then they know enough to look it up or ask)

Core count

Core frequency

RAM frequency

Screen refresh rate

HDD RPM speed (this would be reflected in the startup speed, I guess)

 

[YT_DomDaBomb20]

9 hours ago, HeyKitty said:

I like this idea, the downside to this is it doesn't show some performance difference in computers, like a 6gb ram and an 8gb ram computer would both fall under the same category if all other things are equal.

See, what Walmart does is good better best, but be honest, if it’s a core 2 duo with 1gb ram, c2d might maybe be average likely slightly below average, 1gb of ram is below average, stuff like that

[papajo]

9 hours ago, HeyKitty said:

This may be an odd/unique opportunity, but I am curious what your opinions are.  some things to note:

• I own a brick/mortar computer repair business.
• I get a lot of elderly/not techy customers.
• My computer advertising may not be the best for refurbished systems, and need help improving.

 

So lets say one of your relatives came to me looking for a computer, and you couldn't be there to help them in the moment.

 

Currently on each computer for sale I have a little card with the "greek" on it. exactly like:

 

and I am curious on improving it, as this is good for more techy people like us, this means nothing to someone who thinks a 1Tb hdd is better than a 500gb ssd.

 

What ideas/suggestions do you all have?  Is there good software that "rates" (or gives multiple ratings would be even better) computers based on hardware performance?

Use broad definitions such as "Strong" "Reliable" "Reasonable" (the honest thing is if you also try to meet such expectations)  and dont get too much into techy stuff.

 

Just broad definitions and pricetag(<-- use positive adjectives for that too e.g best price, offer, or bring dead lines only until X date etc)  let the people who actually care and are one step before buying it to ask you technical specs. 

[HeyKitty]

13 hours ago, For Science! said:

Since I was procrastinating. As I was making it, I think the shopkeepers summary in less than 30 words gives it a nice touch to an otherwise very cooporate feeling tag (in fact, thinking about it now, I would put it on top of the key features and specs). Obviously more effort needs to go into characterizing the product a bit more, but maybe its worth it?

 

Other key features that average joe would benefit from:

Weight:

Screen size/touchscreen:

 

Details:

Screen Resolution

OS installed

USB port count and version

 

Things that aren't even worth mentioning (if they care, then they know enough to look it up or ask)

Core count

Core frequency

RAM frequency

Screen refresh rate

HDD RPM speed (this would be reflected in the startup speed, I guess)

 

You wouldnt have saved this document?  This is pretty much perfect I believe

[HanZie82]

22 hours ago, HeyKitty said:

I do price it higher, and then spend 10 minutes with every customer explaining the same thing... Just looking to save my time over the long haul.

Yeah you wont be able to avoid that ive found.
Even if you have all the info simple as can be, they will still ask can it do this or that specific thing.
If people didnt need that hand holding advice they wouldve let someone order it online.

 

Yes you can make it a hall of a lot easier with some graphics and such, but they will still ask questions. Always.