You may not need help choosing and upgrading home technology, but plenty of people do. And the people who don’t have the time, the know-how, or a clue about home technology are the target customers for Best Buy’s new In-Home Consultation service.
If it seems like Best Buy is testing out a home-based sales business model, that may be right. The role of Best Buy In-Home Advisers is to inform, advise, and of course to sell stuff from Best Buy. And you could likely get better prices from Amazon or other online sources. And if you’re tech savvy the service isn’t for you.
But many people don’t know what’s out there, don’t know what they need, and find going to crowded big box stores with 80 TV screens on the wall and roaming salespeople overwhelming and confusing. This service is for them, the folks who need help and advice, and who realize that free services are actually built into pricing.
Best Buy is testing In-Home Consultations in Atlanta, Georgia, and in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. For no charge and no obligation to buy anything, an In-Home Adviser will come to your home and do what consultants (and good salespeople) do: establish needs, ask and answer questions, and suggest action. Best Buy’s Advisers, however, don’t do tech support or installations — those services require different skill sets and aren’t free.
Maybe you want to set up a home theater, use your computer on your deck, monitor home systems from wherever you are, or upgrade to more efficient appliances. Those are types of challenges In-Home Advisers assist with.
So if it’s time to upgrade a couple computers, or you moved to a new place and can’t be bothered trying to decipher tech specs and features lists, or even if your dryer takes forever to get everything really dry, you might be a candidate for the service. An Adviser will come to your place, consult with you, and then go back to the store and send a customized plan for your home.
If you go forward with all or part of the recommended plan, the Adviser will also help with the purchases, manage services like delivery and installation, help you with related services like cable installation or alarm hookups, and generally keep in touch.
Yeah, you may not need it. But there are plenty of people who do need help. And if you’re the neighborhood tech resource, maybe you’d like a break and have a place to send people.
