TiVo Community Forums Archives - How do I sell TiVo to friends?

TiVoCommunity.com
(c)opyright 1995-2005 All rights reserved
indexcheckTC
This area is a static history of posts in the TiVo Community Forum Archive.
This archive history was made for the simple indexing of search sites like Google.

Pages:1

How do I sell TiVo to friends?
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: MediaLivingRoom

It is going to be hard to sell TiVo to friends! The cost is getting out of control. There is no new features for the the new $299 Lifetime Service.

It's just too much!!! :mad:

Since just about three weeks ago TiVo announced HMO for $99 set-up and $49 additional TiVo's. I would rather see this type of Service to be added in conjuntion with the Lifetime service increase. Something like "Starting March 3, 2003 All TiVo Series2 units will have a new Home Media Service with a monthly subscription of $13.95 or Lifetime at $299."

Basicly, Keep it simple.

I do agree, TiVo needs to make money. Just Make it simple.

TiVo should now allow people to transfer there Lifetime Service.

Posted by: mtchamp

TiVo was always a hard sell before the price went up for Lifetime Service. Consider that the price of hardware has come down and it sort of evens out. DirecTV would be the best way to go at $4.99 per month. Only problem with DirecTV is they control what add on TiVo features you get.

The only sure way to get someone interested in buying a TiVo, is to let them use one. I'd pay double for mine before I gave up my TiVo unless a competitor could do the same for less. I save so much time and money with my TiVo. I save money because I don't need any premium channels because it records so many programs and movies I like without them. I save time with TiVo and that's worth more to me than anything else. I can sit here and play on the computer and then go watch a program whenever I want to and skip commercials and boring content.

I've sold a lot of friends and family on TiVo and there is a group out there that wouldn't buy one unless you gave it to them. They are so used to channel surfing live TV, they can't make the change, even if they can afford it. I have let some people borrow a TiVo who didn't even set it up and try it. They told me they just didn't have the time, or it's just another box they don't need in the living room. Sometimes it's a struggle between husband and wife and the idea is killed by one of them before they even try it. Excuses that confound the TiVo time shifters and leave us wondering how much intelligent life does exist on this planet?

Posted by: BBQ Chicken

I guess they don't care?

Posted by: kensteele

A Rolls Royce at US$90,000 is a deal.

But there won't be a RR in the driveway unless you can "afford" one.

Tivo is not affordable.

People have a hard time justifying extra $20 month for premium cable.
People have a hard time justifying extra $20 to go from dial-up to broadband.
People have a hard time justifying $99 and $30/month for a cellphone.
People will have a very hard time justifying Tivo.

I will not suggest Tivo to my friends. I would be too embarrassed and ashamed to disclose that in order to use this $200 box, you have to pay a $300 one-time fee. When they ask, I just say "I dunno...might want to check into it on the Internet at tivo.com" or something like that. :(

Posted by: Turtleboy

quote:
Originally posted by kensteele

Tivo is not affordable.

People have a hard time justifying extra $20 month for premium cable.
People have a hard time justifying extra $20 to go from dial-up to broadband.
People have a hard time justifying $99 and $30/month for a cellphone.
People will have a very hard time justifying Tivo.

Depends who you are.

I pay all of those fees above, and I bet a great number of people on this fourm to do.

Is cable worth it? Yes.
Is broadband worth it? Yes.
Is a cellphone worth it? No. . . That is until my car broke down. Yes.
Is TiVo worth it? Yes.

Posted by: Michael_in_MD

I agree...just keep it simple. BTW, even if they do keep the prices simple I wouldn't be running to the store to buy another TiVo, router and cables anytime soon. I'd probably get around to it when I felt I had time, but for the features of HMO...it would be very low priority. Give me DD 5.1 and HD on a SA TiVo and I would part with my money faster.

Regarding the price announcement today I give it a strong :up: :down: :up: :down: :p :) :p

Posted by: HDTiVo

quote:
How do I sell TiVo to friends?

You add $40 to the price you charge them for your old series 1 w/ lifetime instead of the $50 you demand via ebay.

:D

Posted by: kilcher

Q: How do I sell TiVo to friends?

A: http://careers.bestbuy.com/ :D

Posted by: stujac

All my friends are morons - I can't convince 'em even when I know it would greatly benefit them.

Posted by: timdthomas

Unfortunately I'll have a real hard time trying to justify this to friends now.

As everybody knows, Time Warner has the Scientific Atlanta box that does roughly the same thing. Sure, it may not do everything TiVo does, but the cost is just so much less!

TiVo needs to get into cable set top boxes if they want to compete.

Posted by: Chris Gerhard

quote:
How do I sell TiVo to friends?

Assuming the friend doesn't have DirecTV, this should work: The lifetime subscription for TiVo costs $300 or a monthly subscription costs $13. Compare that to ReplayTV cost of $250 or $10. TiVo must be much better. Compare either to a VCR which records without any fees so you know PVRs must really be good.

It is too difficult to explain why we like TiVo so much, and most people can only understand after using one. It is just too difficult to explain beyond the tapeless VCR analogy. The attempts at explaining television with your favorite programs at your convenience without having to bother with setting VCR timers or making sure blank tapes are inserted, etc. etc. just doesn't seem to register very well. I didn't really get it and bought my first TiVo as a result of the friends and family offer based solely on a friend's recommendation.

Chris

Posted by: HDTiVo

I tell 'em if they don't get a TiVo I won't come over to their place to watch TV anymore.

Funny though, that line hasn't sold a single one yet.

:)

Posted by: Cubfan

We've seen a lot of not too smart moves in the past year by this company. Getting rid of the 800 number for those who bought with that promise, then backing off that decision was one. Charging way more than the competition was another when monthly went to $12.95, but at least I got a window cling in the mail.

But this one takes the cake. Tivo NEEDS to get people to buy Lifetime. If you buy that as a customer it's gonna take an earthquake in the market for you to switch to something else. Heck, allow people to transfer it, and they'll buy new hardware the moment it comes on the scene... and they should build the extra profit they need into the price of the new hardware. But Lifetime means a "lifetime customer," which is a good thing, Tivo. When will you learn? It's like they've hired a marketing firm with the big pitch to executives... "Hey, let's make it really HARD for people to want to get in the Tivo game, OK?" Oh, yeah... didn't the president resign? I think I now know why.

One positive move this year is that they've decided to charge for software upgrades. People will do that... enough will, that is to make it good for profits. Some won't and will stay happy with what they have. Win-win for everyone.

But Tivo HAS to get customers buying these boxes and then locking them in for life. This move has me wondering what is going on at Tivo. It smacks of desperation, not a confident company that expects to be here years from now.

Posted by: CrispyCritter

quote:
Originally posted by Cubfan
Tivo NEEDS to get people to buy Lifetime.

That's a rather unique view. TiVo has said (Ramsey, in a press conference about a year ago) that they have to gradually reduce the percentage of people who have lifetime. TiVo warns (in their financial statements) that they will eventually be losing money on customers with lifetime. I don't think that TiVo anticipated E-bay and the very active resale market in TiVo's with lifetime; these TiVo's are going to be around for a much longer time than TiVo figured.

And your statement that TiVo is charging for software upgrades is also very curious given the fact that they've already announced some of the features of the next free upgrade (4.0). (HMO is a new service, not an upgrade).

Posted by: Hunter Green

I think I just finally sold my first one today. :)

Posted by: MediaLivingRoom

quote:
Originally posted by MediaLivingRoom
It is going to be hard to sell TiVo to friends! The cost is getting out of control. There is no new features for the the new $299 Lifetime Service.

It's just too much!!! :mad:

Since just about three weeks ago TiVo announced HMO for $99 set-up and $49 additional TiVo's. I would rather see this type of Service to be added in conjuntion with the Lifetime service increase. Something like "Starting March 3, 2003 All TiVo Series2 units will have a new Home Media Service with a monthly subscription of $13.95 or Lifetime at $299."

Basicly, Keep it simple.

I do agree, TiVo needs to make money. Just Make it simple.

TiVo should now allow people to transfer there Lifetime Service.

To add to this:
I don't like that I am paying for Ads (movies, music, etc)!!!

--- Do we get cheap tickets? NO
--- Do we first access to movies at the theaters? NO
--- Do we get get any savings on CD's? NO!!!

Yet, I pay for shedules.

Plus, they are tracking, as an aggregate, all of the habits of TiVo users. I am sure they are using it to make a case for investors and partners to enter business agreements!!!

Such as “TiVo inks movie deal with Fox” http://news.com.com/2100-1040-982745.html

This really erks me!!!!

Posted by: NeZorf

I guess it make sense that if they want less lifetimers, they raise the price on that.

These are after rebate numbers:
80Hr - $349 + $299 (lifetime) + $99 (HMO) = $749
60Hr - $299 + $299 (lifetime) + $99 (HMO) = $699

"Whoa"

Posted by: samo

quote:
It is going to be hard to sell TiVo to friends!

And why do you feel that you have to sell TiVo to friends? What's in it for you? Do you get commissions or something? Let people like Ramsey and Barton who got paid millions to sell TiVo worry about it. :)

Posted by: dsmith48

As long as I have been a member of this forum and a TiVo owner, I have yet to say anything bad about TiVo.

Not that I put TiVo up high on it's golden pedestal like some of you, but it has always done the job. I have always been satisfied with it's service, prices, and functionality. I have been a happy customer. I recently decided to grab one of those Rerfurb 60hr units and although I have yet to purchase the lifetime like I had on the oldie, I will do so before March comes along. Like many of us I have been a walking TiVo sales pitch any chance I get. This is mainly because TiVo is able to accomplish my specific needs. It may not be perfect for everyone, but it's been perfect for me in what I want it to do.

Now this isn't exactly a complaint. But I am trying to get my parents to buy their first TiVo. They are undecided based simply on whether or not they have a need for it. I am sure my parents will not be the last of my TiVo pitches... I may not get paid for selling TiVo, but if I did I sure as hell hope it wasn't commission based.

$350.00 60hr Unit (before rebate)
$299.00 Lifetime Sub (After March 3rd)
$99.00 HMO (assuming this is the set rate)

Hypothetically

"Oh so you like my TiVo? You can have one too, got $748.00 laying around somewhere that you don't need. Oh by the way, you can upgrade these bad boys too. Oh sure, I can upgrade it for you! Go ahead and reach into your pocket there. I only need between $100 and $200 more. Pocket Change!!!"

edit: whoops, wrong forum... I was trying to put this in the Coffee House