One morning, my next-door neighbor asked if I would drive her to the local Verizon store and accompany her inside.
She already had Verizon cell phone service but wanted to sign up for home internet service.
When we arrived, she asked me to listen as she spoke with the salesperson and help her evaluate the options.
Verizon Home Internet offered three service tiers. Almost immediately, the salesperson began encouraging her to purchase one of the higher-priced plans.
I asked a simple question:
“What are the download and upload speeds for each tier?”
The salesperson quickly responded with the download speeds, but when I asked about the upload speeds, the conversation changed.
“Um… uh… let me check.”
Many salespeople and consumers focus exclusively on download speeds and assume upload speeds are similar. In reality, upload speeds matter, especially for people who work from home and connect to their employer’s network through a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Video conferencing, cloud backups, file sharing, and remote access all depend on upload performance.
The salesperson continued encouraging my neighbor to purchase one of the more expensive service tiers. He claimed that customers who selected the basic tier often experienced degraded performance and insufficient speeds.
I disagreed.
“That’s not necessarily true. You don’t know where we live, how many devices we have, or how the service performs in our neighborhood.”
I also explained that it is often easier and less expensive to start with a lower-tier plan and upgrade later if necessary than it is to start with the highest-tier plan and discover you’re paying for performance you don’t need.
At that point, the salesperson shifted from selling to listening.
To be fair, this story is not about Verizon, and it is not about criticizing salespeople.
It is about helping customers make informed decisions.
Every business has sales goals. Every salesperson has quotas. There is nothing inherently wrong with that.
The problem occurs when recommendations are based on sales targets rather than actual customer needs.
My neighbor lives alone.
She doesn’t play online games.
She doesn’t stream multiple televisions simultaneously.
She doesn’t run a business from home.
She simply needed reliable internet service for everyday activities such as browsing the web, checking email, watching videos, and communicating with family and friends.
The basic tier met those requirements perfectly.
One thing I have learned over the years is that customers appreciate honesty.
When people feel that someone is educating them rather than selling to them, they become more confident in their decisions. They are less likely to experience buyer’s remorse and more likely to trust future recommendations.
Technology consultations aren’t really about technology.
They’re about helping people make decisions.
Customers don’t hire me because I know what internet plans exist.
They hire me because they don’t want to navigate technology decisions alone.
Whether it’s choosing a computer, replacing a smartphone, selecting an internet provider, or evaluating cybersecurity risks, my role is to help customers understand their options and avoid spending money unnecessarily.
The most expensive solution is not always the best solution.
The right solution is the one that meets the customer’s needs.
About Duke Nguyen
Duke Nguyen is a technology consultant serving Phoenix, Arizona. Duke helps homeowners, retirees, churches, and small business owners make informed technology decisions involving computers, smartphones, networking, cloud services, backups, websites, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and cybersecurity.
With an education-first approach, Duke believes technology should simplify life and business, not complicate it. Whether helping a customer compare internet plans, select a computer, replace a failed smartphone, or recover from a cybersecurity incident, Duke focuses on helping people make practical decisions that provide long-term value.
Many of Duke’s articles are inspired by real customer experiences and real-world technology challenges. His goal is to help others avoid costly mistakes and make better technology decisions before problems occur.
Need help with computers, networking, cloud services, smartphones, cybersecurity, backups, or small business technology? Contact Duke Nguyen to schedule a consultation.