Palm’s poorly executed launch on Verizon Wireless was undoubtedly the final nail in the coffin in what forced the company to evaluate its options and subsequently find a buyer in HP.  One oft-cited reason cited for that launch going south was the lack support and enthusiasm from Verizon’s sales staff as reported by many new Pre Plus and Pixi Plus users on that carrier.

Palm has seemingly learned its lesson, as things have drastically improved with the company’s launch on AT&T.  PreCentral forum members are reporting that the sales staff have been highly knowledgeable, well-trained and enthusiastic about Palm’s products, to the point that many are saying that there were no attempts to dissuade their purchase of a Pre Plus with talk of other popular smartphones on the network. We imagine that AT&T’s internal program to promote the device by offering free Pre phones to salespeople who sold the most Palm phones didn’t hurt, either.

Tell us, new AT&T Pre Plus users: how was your in-store experience?

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Here’s some of the latest talk in the forums:

• How has Palm’s "Project Jump-start" been going?  If forum members’ recent encounters with the Verizon sales force at large is any indication, probably not as well as hoped.
• User onemadrssn is thinking of making the switch from the Pre to the Pixi and wants your opinion.  It’s not as crazy a proposition as one might think.  I’ve already weighed in on the matter, and so should you.  
• You use Preware, you love Preware, and now you can donate to the folks behind Preware to keep the effort going in the webOS-Internals "telethon" thread.  
• You’re few, you’re proud, and you’re the folks who use the GSM version of the Pre in unsupported territories.  User tomi666 has put together a contest dubbed "the world cup of unofficial Pre users" that ranks countries by the amount of Pre owners. 

We look forward to seeing you in the forums!  Not already a member?  Remember: Registration is free, and the benefits are numerous indeed.  

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Engadget has word that select AT&T will be receiving ‘practice’ Palm Pre Plus phones tomorrow for select employees can use for learning / training. Given the problems that Palm has had with buy-in amongst Verizon employees (necessitating ‘Project Jumpstart‘ to evangelize the platform within the company), we can only see this as a smart move. Whether or not this means that we might see an AT&T launch sooner rather than later remains to be seen. The leaked slide does make it pretty clear that these devices are not meant to be seen by prying eyes.

Combine this with the fact that Verizon just slashed prices on webOS products and we can draw at least one conclusion: there’s a concerted effort to turn webOS sales around.

Thanks to everybody who sent this in!

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While Verizon is no longer exclusively doing mom-based marketing for the Palm Pre Plus, those of you hoping they’d dropped it like a hot rock should probably adjust your expectations. An anonymous tipster has sent in some internal Verizon missives detailing some of their work educating employees on the Pre Plus. The focus, as you’ve no doubt guessed by now, is how the Palm Pre Plus helps moms. Verizon recently sent out a raft of Pre Plus phones to "Mommy bloggers" and the results are in: they like the Pre Plus:

Calendar Syncing – This has been TREMENDOUS! I have 4 sons and my husband travels for work. Actually, ironically enough… I’ve been traveling more than him in the last 8 weeks. It has been essential and a lifesaver to have my calendar and my husband’s and my sons all synced to one spot. What would always through us off would be… I’d have something planned for us – a playdate, dinner with friends or family – and then I would discover my husband wouldn’t be home or he had a meeting during that particular time. It has been wonderful having everything (quite literally) at my fingertips.

Can’t say we disagree – in fact we whole-heartedly think that the Pre Plus is a great option for moms. We also think that the Pre Plus has a serious chance to catch some business attention – the Mobile Hotspot functionality is big for that (although not quite enough to offset the pain of no document editing). Verizon agrees – they’re also trying to push business apps a bit.

In all, we hope that Verizon continues to get their rank and file sold a bit more on the Palm Pre – Project JumpStart is a start, but until their retail employees stop trying to get customers asking for the Pre to go Droid it’s going to be slow going.

Two more internal images after the break.

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