Since a live demonstration of the Rift or the Go is the very best way to sell these products, last year I was disappointed to learn that many of the demo stations were being closed. I began visiting Best Buys and Microsoft stores to see what the problem was and I discovered that they were being shut down because they were ineffective. They were ineffective because they were horrible. A few months ago I wrote a post about my experiences – and suggestions for how to improve the demo stations. Oculus was definitely listening!

There are no demos available close to my home, but this past weekend we drove to Knoxville, Tennessee to spend time with my son, who is being deployed for a year. The tradition with my sons has been bonding time with their dad at a Best Buy. Meanwhile, I would tag along, sometimes even taking a nap in the car until they had their fill of tech-related discussion while drooling over all the wonderful “toys” in the electronics store. I disliked this tradition because I’ve never had any interest in technology. Oculus has changed that and now I not only look forward to it, but they pretty much have to drag me out of the store if there is a demo station there. But anyway… this isn’t about me. When we were visiting my son, of course they wanted to go to Best Buy and of course I wanted to check out the demo station to see if they had improved any.

When we arrived, there was no one there. At first I was incredibly disappointed because this is how all the other demos had started. A couple of Best Buy employees said the demo guy was either going to or coming from lunch. They asked if I could come back, but I told them, “no” and asked if he was still in the store. They said they’d try to find him.

I had been told at other stores that the demo guys were at lunch, but then I’d wait for an hour and they’d never come back. A couple of times I would even return to the store / demo station a couple of hours later and I’d receive the same response – “they’re at lunch.” I knew they couldn’t possibly be at lunch for 3 hours so I figured they had just skipped town! I was pleasantly surprised to see the Cedar Bluff demo guy walking up with his unopened drink still in hand. (And truthfully I felt kind of bad at that point because I probably did actually interrupt his lunch.)

Anyway, he said hello, introduced himself as Andrew, and asked if I would like to try a Rift or a Go. I opted for the Rift, but asked if I could try the Go afterwards if no one was waiting. He said sure.

Basically everything Andrew did was opposite of what I complained about in my previous review. I’ll just give you a quick run down of what he did that worked.

He came quickly when the store employees paged him.

He had a smile, was friendly, asked us how our day was going and asked if I wanted to try a demo.

He asked me to complete a registration form on a tablet, which I actually think was only the 2nd time I had been asked to do this. (They’re supposed to ask for it every time.)

When he discovered I had used a Rift before, he handed me the headset and allowed me to slide it over my head. (This is a small point, but I honestly got tired of having these guys insist on yanking the headset over my long curly hair after I told them point blank that I KNEW how to put it on.)

He actually uses a Rift at home and knew what I was talking about in regards to tracking, use of the hand controllers, etc.

He had experience with every game and was able to give me a detailed description of the games offered in the demo.

When he found out my son was being deployed the next day (Army National Guard), he wished him the best and then we continued to talk about the product. (At several demos, the salesperson literally lost focus at times and would just turn around, step away, or start talking with someone about some random subject unrelated to virtual reality.)

This was by far the most effective demo I’ve seen. Honestly, if I’d had the money, I would’ve most likely left the store with a Go. That was the first time I had tried one and it was great. Andrew was quite successful in discussing the pros and cons, as well as convincing me it was something I need – without being pushing. That’s what a good salesperson does.

Overall, the main reason I would consider this a successful demo is because he was familiar with the products, the specifications needed for your computer, the games and experiences you could have on each of the different headsets, etc. He obviously uses the Rift on a regular basis. In addition to being knowledgeable, he was friendly and focused.

You can’t successfully sell a product if you’re not familiar with it. Since our first demo, where I actually purchased my Rift in April 2017, this is the first demo I’ve been to where the salesperson has actually had much knowledge of the equipment and/or the games. This was a huge improvement.

Hopefully Oculus will continue to find more positive, effective salespeople like Andrew and then re-open those demo stations – because everyone knows the best way to sell a Rift is to let someone try it. 🙂