The handsets are announced, the specs are attractive (albeit not numerically superior to everything else), and over the next few months more regions and consumers are going to get their chance to buy a Windows Phone. But for them to walk out of the shop with the Microsoft powered handsets, they are going to have to want the phones. So how are we going to sell them on the devices? Rob Offringa has a few ideas.

In his mind, three areas need to be focused on. Successfully telling the story of third party applications; supporting retail staff at the point of sale; and making a clear case on why Windows Phone is better for a consumer than another platform:

Charlie Kindel, Robert Scoble, and Hal Berenson recently wrote about solving Windows Phone 7's sales problem from different perspectives. Kindel argued that until Microsoft makes it attractive for carriers to push Windows Phone 7 devices, it will continue to offer the best experience while consumers continue to ignore it; Scoble argued that without good apps, Windows Phone 7 will continue to be an unsafe choice for consumers; Berenson argued that until Microsoft can show the consumer what a Windows Phone is and why they should want it, they’ll continue to buy an Android or iOS device. I think all of them make good points, but each argument has some issues.

All of these areas need to be balanced out, but the key is to have them work in layers, so that the answer provided in one will support the other areas, and of course these are only three. Windows Phone is a huge value proposition to get over. Perhaps the message needs to be simplified and just one or two features need to be highlighted.

In which case, I'd start with the People Hub. What about you?