The Five Phone Challenge Phone Shop Idol

This programme contains some strong language.

There are 24,000 mobile phone sales reps in the UK...

The same materials that are used in aeroplanes,

some of it is used in this phone.

..and every year the industry holds a competition to find the best one.

Get in there! Go on!

Yeah!

It's the same as it would be for a journalist to win the Pulitzer

or for a writer to win the Booker.

Over the past six months,

the judges have ruthlessly whittled down the contestants.

On Xperia Z3,

how much exterior noise is blocked out, out of 100%?

BELL DINGS

And some of the nation's best sellers have bitten the dust.

-It sounds really rehearsed, that.

-I do find that offensive.

I am passionate about what I do.

I didn't make it.

For those who remain, the grand final now beckons.

I'd like you to line them up in decreasing battery size.

But who's got what it takes to go all the way?

I'm emotional cos I'm passionate, not because I'm soft.

It's just so difficult. It's just so tough.

Total nightmare.

I'm very disappointed in myself and I have no doubt...

SHE MUMBLES

If stress is for you, sell mobile phones.

-CONTEST PRESENTER:

-And the winner of Shop Idol 2015 is...

Christ on a raft.

-How can we help you, sir?

-Sort me phone out, to get it sorted.

Kiet, go Kiet, yeah!

Six months ago, hundreds of phone sales reps set out on a journey...

It's got eight brains inside, four big ones and four small ones.

..to be crowned the very best in Britain.

'I will do everything to be in this competition.'

Yeah!

Now, just 11 remain.

Oh, my God.

The cream of the nation's sales talent.

-SHE SQUEALS

-Yes!

Oh.

In a matter of days, they will be summoned

to a top London hotel for the Shop Idol grand final.

A lot of these guys are working up and down the country,

-'not earning a lot of money.'

-That's nice.

But if they do this competition, it can be life-changing.

SHE SCREAMS

It's the only time the whole industry will get to see you

on that platform and the whole of the industry saying,

"You are the best at what you do."

I get to wear a suit now.

But before the final gets under way,

there's one last place still up

-for grabs.

-MESSAGE ALERT

Give me your news, whether it's good news or bad news, give me your news.

I'm not in the final 11.

So where are you, then?

-I'm in a fucking wild card!

-Go on!

Several reps like Kiet in Lewisham only narrowly missed out...

I'm fucking proud of you. Ohh.

..and so the judges have offered one wild card place,

which will be decided by a public vote.

I've got a really good chance of going to the final.

Of course you have, you believe. What you believe you will achieve.

For Kiet's boss, Jason, it's also a second chance for glory.

# Like a flower In the summer... #

He's been on a mission to get two of his team

from the Three Mobile store through to the final.

I think I'm a better salesperson because I connect to my customers.

-But in the last round...

-Is that it?

..Ayyub did not display the star quality the judges were looking for.

Well done, yeah.

Kiet is now Jason's last hope.

-BOTH:

-We are an amazing, we are exceptional,

-we are Lewisham Legends.

-Rar!

There are four other reps in the wild card vote

which will last for three days,

but the Lewisham Legends have got their work cut out.

MESSAGE ALERT

Because their main rival is the mighty

Marc Davies from EE.

I'm going to go at this, you know, guns blazing.

I mean, how amazing would that be?

I think the last person to win a wild card vote was...

Ivanisevic at Wimbledon or something like that from what I remember.

Welcome to April, for some of them. Woohoo!

-Marc's been fast-tracked for management.

-Handshake walk-outs.

And making the final would be a massive boost for his career.

As I'm looking to maybe step up to management now,

I've got to come across a bit more in a professional manner.

We're just going to gently ease into it.

Oh, yeah, just feeling that, that's a good one. Yeah.

You know, I've got responsibilities in the store now,

I've got to build the brand Davies.

-Grab a pen, grab a pen, grab a pen.

-Here you go.

Winning the wild card would see Marc, once again,

pitted against his workmate and rival Gemma,

who he went head-to-head with at the regional heats.

-They want to come with someone who's got the knowledge.

-But it's the old people as well,

-you don't always like to talk to the old people.

-Hang on,

let's talk about Terry and Jenny a second here.

The judges had to make a choice.

-Listen, it'll tell you the balance.

-Gemma's friendliness...

-Hello.

-..versus brand Davies.

Everything's moving away now from a quad-core processor

onto an optical.

-We'll see you soon, OK?

-They chose Gemma.

There can only be one winner in the wild card ballot

and it's a race to get as many online votes as possible

from friends, family and customers.

Campaign. Yeah, I've got to go on the campaign trail.

You have to be relentless, like a rockhopper penguin, yeah?

Look at me when I'm talking to you, are you listening to me?

Yeah, I'm listening but I'm...

And when the waves knock 'em down,

they have to get back up again and they still hop to the top.

-You're going to hop to the top.

-Hop to the top.

-They're like...

Uh-ahh!

Then you need to go back and try again.

Oh, my God.

With the grand final just 24 hours away,

the confirmed finalists begin to arrive in the capital.

That's absolutely fantastic, thank you.

'Still don't know what to expect.

'I hate going into things'

where I don't feel like I have any idea what's going to happen.

They face a day of challenges

and only the top six go through

to the prestigious Mobile Industry Awards

where one of them will be crowned Shop Idol.

I'm hoping that my passion for it will show through.

But one candidate has had a more difficult journey than the others.

Andy, from the small independent chain Fonehouse in Sunderland,

scored 96% in his mystery shop.

-Great-granddaughter?

-Yes, I'm a great-grandma.

-You don't look like one.

-SHE LAUGHS

Thank you.

But on the day of the regional heats, Andy received some bad news.

Me nan has passed away so...

Aye.

To challenge for the title, he's made a major sacrifice.

It's me grandma's funeral tomorrow on the day of the final.

I've had to make a choice between going to that or coming here.

What's the right thing to do, you know what I mean?

It's a funeral, isn't it?

Saying bye properly and stuff

but this could lead onto something massive.

Me nana would say, "Don't be bloody daft, man.

"Why aye, get yourself there."

Is that a fucking pigeon swimming?

I didn't think pigeons swam.

What the fuck's that?

That pigeon's fucked.

I feel like there's something we should be able to do for him.

Pigeon's don't swim, do they?

Well, they haven't got webbed feet, so how do they...

Fucking typical London bastards, youse just don't give a shit.

Meanwhile, in the race to win the wild card place,

-things are hotting up.

-One behind you now.

1,399 and he's on 1,400, he's overtaken you.

He's going in hard, mate.

It scares me knowing the sort of, like,

the actual potential that I've got.

The awesome power...

The awesome power in my guts.

EE already have one more rep in the final than Three Mobile

and Jason is out to even the score.

He's probably got like a factory of people, you know,

sitting there on computers, typing away.

I don't know what's going on, I'm baffled.

To drum up support for Kiet, Jason pulls half the sales team

from the shop floor and turns the backroom

into campaign headquarters.

Come on, London.

And they're collecting in votes from across the planet.

I got him vote in all the continent of...of the world.

What can we do better than that?

He's five behind. Come on, everyone needs to keep voting.

There's a light at the end of the tunnel,

there's a massive carrot that's dangling in front of me.

You stay in there.

That's more important than any of this stuff, sorry.

-The vote is going to the wire.

-It's neck and neck!

But only one of them will join the 11 confirmed candidates

in tomorrow's grand final.

-Ten seconds.

-Jesus Christ.

The moment of truth has arrived.

Big day, life-changing.

Today, the finalists will face the judges at this luxury hotel.

-This is amazing.

-Yes, I know, it's lovely. But, come on, let's think about it.

We've all got our little secret favourites, haven't we?

No, I do not have any secret favourite.

-Are you nervous?

-I'm really nervous.

I was fine last night, I had a bit of my jitters,

but this morning, wow, I woke up like, "Ahh!"

I want to win, I'm going to win. I've not travelled this far to lose.

They're about to be joined by the winner of the wild card vote.

Marc has defeated Kiet by just 53 votes.

It's up to me now to make sure that I do something

which will make me stand out from the rest.

And it's a bit like those buildings out there as well.

You know, you've got the BT Tower there, you've got The Shard,

and each one of them, you know, brings their own uniqueness,

you know, to the skyline.

And that's something that I will have to do in this competition

cos I'm not here to make the numbers up.

You look pretty broken, Jason.

I am a bit broken, I'm sorry for Kiet,

I'm upset for Kiet, I'm upset for Lewisham.

It was good while it lasted.

I just don't like losing.

The fact that EE beat me makes it even worse.

But, yeah, we'll bounce back. I have bounce-back ability.

I've just gone through, like, a messy divorce and break-up,

this isn't as bad as that.

If I can do that and still be successful at work,

then I can do anything.

Competition fun like this is a welcome relief

to all that crazy shit that goes on in life.

I think that's how we get through things, isn't it?

I mean, I'm a fighter, I'm resilient,

I can get through anything.

I'm pretty much invincible.

With Marc taking the last place,

EE now have four candidates in the final.

Carphone Warehouse, Three Mobile, Tesco and Fonehouse all have two.

I keep saying it over and over again.

"Keep calm, don't get flustered...plant your feet."

Everyone's going to go out there and say, "I want it more than anybody else."

But I know how I feel inside, it's like exploding out of me.

No offence to anyone in there

but I know I'm a better salesman than all of them, to be fair.

Little bit nervous, excited, apprehensive...aroused.

Head judge, Christian, is joined by mystery shopping expert Mike Dalloz

and Sunetra Chakravarti, the editor of Mobile Choice magazine.

-I wonder how nervous they are.

-I bet they're bricking it.

Yeah. And they're going to be really worried,

"I've got this far, if I don't deliver today, what's it been for?"

The candidates will face three punishing rounds

which will test their sales skills to the limit.

OK, guys, you're here, this is the grand final of Shop Idol.

If I'm honest, I haven't seen the complete package yet.

We put a number of you through following not fantastic performances

but we saw quite a bit of potential.

Now, today isn't about potential,

nobody's going to win who's going to show potential,

somebody's going to win who's going to deliver

and that's what today's all about.

The first round is the five-phone challenge

which will test candidates knowledge of phone specifications.

-I'm looking forward to this.

-I think it'll be good today.

-Yeah.

I think it'll be exciting.

First to go will be Jake from Carphone Warehouse.

Going to be some fun, isn't it? It's going to be tough but...

23-year-old Jake has come a long way

after a difficult upbringing in Birmingham.

How you doing, folks? You all right, yeah?

Bloody hell, it's a mess.

This is me nan, say hello.

This is me dad and me grandad, they're buried together.

Basically, when my dad's mum passed away,

he took it really bad

and then went down the crime route, so to say.

And from there he was in prison a lot.

But that was my dad, he was that tough guy,

no-one would mess with my dad.

I really need to get him a headstone.

When I'm regional manager, I'll get a regional bonus

and that'll pay for this, won't it? Yeah.

I'd like to think he'd be proud of me.

He always thought I'd turn out to be the naughty little rapscallion,

but I haven't, I've turned out all right.

My loved ones.

For Jake, success would prove he was right

-not to follow in his dad's footsteps.

-Go on, Jake.

Hello.

-Hi, Jake.

-For your first task today, I have five phones here for you.

-Yeah.

-I'd like you to arrange them

in decreasing order of camera megapixels.

And you get 20 seconds. Time starts now.

BELL DINGS

-Do you think you got it right?

-I should hope so.

-What phone is this?

-Looks like a...

Oh, it's a Mini 2.

I'm trying to be the best but when you're put under this pressure,

your brain goes against you, doesn't it?

I had a brain fart again.

There are more than 150 handsets on the market

and each has its own specifications.

-How do you think you did?

-OK.

A top sales rep is expected to know them all.

Just really tough. Oh, yeah, it should be the other way round.

Probably wasn't expecting that.

That'll do me.

So, you got three points. One, two, three, yeah?

-Three out of five.

-You have 20 seconds, not ten.

-So, take your time.

-Yeah.

I'd been trying to win it, hadn't I?

But after that, like, I might be goosed.

It's really nerve-racking to be here.

Like, all of these guys, these are amazing

but I also now have to see them as my competition.

23-year-old Holly is one of the competition's outsiders.

After all, she doesn't even have a shop.

She has a pod...in the Haverhill branch of Tesco in Suffolk.

OK, so we've got the main station here.

I've got my iPhone station, my iPhone 6 and my 5C.

And then only recently, so you're very lucky to see this,

my pay-as-you-go stand got moved here.

Cos our new store manager's just turned round and said,

"I want this on the phone shop, it only makes sense not to have it all the way down there."

And that's roughly it, this is my little station.

It's very lonely being here by myself.

This is Holly's first time in Shop Idol

but she's hoping to go all the way.

You know, some people's got that shelf full of awards

that they've done, like cheerleading or football.

-Yeah, that's not me.

-Your time starts now.

Maximum on that end. Minimum on this end.

BELL DINGS

Were you not listening when I said maximum on this end...

I just completely forgot. I literally just...

-You got them all right.

-Thank you.

Unlike Holly, Carphone Warehouse sales rep Claire from York

actually does have a shelf full of awards.

Hi there.

She's an ex-line-dancing world champion.

So, how long have you been competing for in dance?

Since I was 14. So 11 years.

But I guess it was just the strive to win,

and then after I had started winning

it became an addiction to keep winning.

After nearly four years selling phones,

she's become a queen of technical knowledge.

Every place I've worked,

there's always been that customer that walks in

and thinks you're just the person on the door,

the meeter and greeter and goes straight to the men.

I want to at least do the best I can

to stand up for female geeks everywhere.

Ahh.

Most, least.

OK.

How many is that?

-I want to say 20.

-That's 13.

-Yeah.

-How much is that?

-16.

Yeah, yeah, I realised.

Claire scores a solid three out of five.

-Marc...

-You got it right.

-..Nick...

-BELL DINGS

and Gemma...

all get full marks.

The last contestant is Hungarian Roland

who works for Three Mobile in Norwich.

On his route to the final, he was plagued by performance anxiety.

What is the ideal phone for someone

who wants to watch and stream TV and films on the go?

So, before the regionals, he enlisted the help of a drama coach.

-BOTH:

-Ba, bay, be, bo...

And it worked.

I would recommend Sony Z3, the reason is why

because it has Vivid display.

That was a solid product recommendation.

It made me very, very happy.

In his preparation for the final,

Roland has compiled a secret dossier on his main rivals.

And they are all there. So, you can see Nick there.

Nick is a kind of geek.

Gemma, she's fine, she was in the top three last year.

Claire, Claire is good as well.

-Did you prepare this yourself?

-Yes, I made it.

Yeah, just always like to know who am I facing, you know.

Know your enemies.

BELL DINGS

Roland scores a perfect five out of five.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Yeah!

Great!

-There's more.

-OK, that's fine, I'm ready.

I wouldn't rejoice too early if I were you.

But the five-phone challenge has two stages

and the second stage is a lot tougher than the first.

I'd like you to arrange the phones in order of decreasing battery size.

While most reps know the approximate battery life of handsets,

only those who've really done their homework

will be able to put the phones in order of battery size.

What's the battery size?

-I thought it was 27.

-Thought?

That's still better.

-HE MUMBLES INDISTINCTLY

-Yeah.

Which one is this?

-The numbers in my head are all muddled.

-Yeah, I can tell.

BELL DINGS

-Can I change?

-No, you cannot.

-Go on.

-You got it wrong.

That's a bigger battery than that, is it?

You're having a laugh.

For Andy, who chose to miss his nan's funeral,

a place in the final six is starting to look doubtful.

Say if I go home now, I'll not use that as to why,

you know what I mean?

All the way through I've never used it once.

It's in the back of me mind, like.

-While some of the others falter...

-No comment.

..one candidate is beginning to stand out.

For this round again - five on five. So, perfect score on both.

Well done.

Nick, who was dubbed Mr Perfect after scoring 100%

in his mystery shop, lives up to his nickname

with a perfect ten out of ten.

I didn't see that it was that big of a deal,

I mean, it was good but I enjoyed it, I didn't see it as stressful.

-Onwards and upwards?

-Absolutely.

As the afternoon session gets under way,

some of the candidates have broken away from the pack

but everyone's still in with a chance of making the final six

and the pressure is mounting.

-SHE SIGHS

-The anguish, the tension,

the stress and the unknowing.

I don't have a lot of confidence, I'm quite nervous.

So, for me, this is...this is hard.

Gemma had a disaster in the quiz round at the regional heats.

I would have expected you to get a 100% score

on your product knowledge.

-You didn't get that.

-No.

You did worse than you did last time, actually.

Last time, I remember, you were one of the top ones.

I know I've buggered up on my knowledge

and that's going to haunt me for a long time.

-Gemma.

-But what Gemma and the other contestants don't know

is the next round will test whether they've learned from their mistakes.

Hey, Gemma, we're going to ask you some questions

that you got wrong at the regional stage of the competition.

Here we go.

The back-facing camera on the Sony Xperia Z3 is 20 megapixels.

How many megapixels is the front-facing camera?

-2.2.

-That's correct.

What is the pixels-per-inch density on the HTC One M9?

1,080.

-That's 441 PPI.

-Sorry.

How many colour options are available

for Motorola's Moto X Second Generation smartphone?

Moto X?

Four.

The answer's 25.

Gemma scores two out of six.

-I'm surprised and a little disappointed.

-It's so disappointing.

-Not good enough.

-Do you think that's ruined your chances?

-Possibly.

I just got to hope that everyone else has fluffed up worse.

The back-facing camera on the Sony Xperia Z3 is 20 megapixels.

How many megapixels is the front-facing camera?

It's 2.1.

2.2.

Another two out of six.

When you see these guys' faces come in here and they're like...

Bit by bit, you know, bricks of their structure

has just been kind of taken away from them.

What is the pixels-per-inch density on the HDC One M9?

SHE MUMBLES

It's gone. I'm sorry, it's gone.

One out of five.

At the same time, is it an opportunity

to really up my game?

Got to keep my poker face a bit, you know.

What is the screen size on the Nexus 9?

That was the tablet, wasn't it? Erm...

Seven-inch, sorry, eight-inch display.

-8.9.

-Ah.

Two out of six.

What is the name of the Sony customer loyalty and content app

where you can win prizes to go to gigs

and watch exclusive interviews?

Backstage Pass.

Xperia Lounge.

One out of eight.

One of the attributes we're looking for in our Shop Idol

is a real sense of personal development.

We were really looking for somebody

who would've embraced those questions

and really sort of developed their thirst for knowledge

to make sure that they really understood the right answers.

That hasn't really happened here today, has it?

DOOR SLAMS

-How you feeling?

-Sick.

-Come out and have a chat with us?

-No.

-Make you feel better.

-SHE CRIES

-It really wouldn't.

Next to face the judges is the frontrunner, Nick.

Break a leg and two arms.

NICK LAUGHS

I'm nervous, don't get me wrong.

If you're not nervous, you're a fool.

I think I'm a little bit less flappable

than some of the other components...

competitors, shall we say.

What is the name of the Sony customer loyalty app

where you can win prizes, go to gigs and watch exclusive interviews.

It's Xperia Zone.

-It's Xperia Lounge.

-Xperia Lounge, OK.

What is the size of the camera's aperture

on the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge?

Pass, don't know.

-F1.9.

-OK.

On the Xperia Z3, how much exterior noise is blocked out, out of 100%?

I said 75% last time, so I'd say 90%.

It's 98.

Nick fails to get a single question right

and with even Mr Perfect striking out,

the stress of the day is beginning to tell on everyone.

Hi. Sorry about that.

-That's all right, how you feeling?

-A little disappointed in myself.

Cos I honestly...

I went home, literally I looked up on all the questions I got wrong

and then as soon as I walked into the room,

just my head went completely blank

and then it made it seem like I didn't revise them.

I literally spent all last night and the last three, four days doing it.

Yeah, I'm just trying very hard not to cry again.

I was very disappointed in myself. And I have no doubt...

I have no doubt I won't get to the final six,

or however many the finals is.

Cos for me, that isn't something that...

I thought...I thought I'd do better than that.

Three out of six.

They want to break everybody but they're never going to break me.

You watch me...

One out of six.

..walking out with the biggest face, ear-to-ear face...smile.

Like that.

With everyone else coming up short, Roland spots an opportunity

to secure his place in the final six.

Which LG handset has a Snapdragon 810 processor

and a 13-megapixel camera?

Which LG phone.

It's the LG G3.

No, it's the LG G Flex 2.

I didn't really expect that.

Roland only has one answer correct.

They said they want to see the passion, the energy.

I gave them the passion and the energy,

but unfortunately failed on the knowledge.

But the knowledge is the stuff that you can always improve.

Always improve.

With one round left to go,

every one of the candidates has crashed and burned.

Round three, the toughest test of all, is about to begin.

But who's got what it takes to turn things around?

I just want it. I'm not giving up without a fight,

and then at least, if I do have to go home and not get through,

then, can't say I didn't try. There.

I don't know. Oh, it's awful. I just want to go to sleep.

I'm hoping that I don't throw up, more than anything.

Look at it. You can see it's clearly a fault of the phone, yeah?

You can see... It's rubbish.

-This phone is only...

-Calm down for a second, sir,

-and take a step back.

-Don't tell me to calm down!

The angry customer is unleashed.

I just want you to change this phone.

Half the finalists are sent back to the shop floor...

..and the champion is finally crowned.

CONTEST PRESENTER: And the winner of Shop Idol 2015 is...

# I'm on my way

# I get around

# Not too sure about what I do

# Feel I've got to stop a second just to think it through

# And so I stop

# I'm on my way

# Yeah, I get around. #