According to Apple, “Our stores are a happy place to shop, learn, create, and get help.” It reminds me of a conversation I had with former Apple Store executive, George Blankenship, who now oversees the customer experience for Tesla. Apple Store employees are trained from day one to do what they have to do to make you happy. According to Gizmodo, “A fundamental part of their job-sans sales quotas of any kind-is simply to make you happy.” There’s no question about it. Apple employees get people excited about their technology by using it themselves. Apple Stores are also experimenting with an iPhone app that lets customers scan their own products and pay for them without ever speaking to a salesperson or visiting a cash register. Apple started EasyPay to “showcase the technology” and today it is being used by many other retailers. Employees check out customers on the sales floor with a mobile point-of-sale tool called EasyPay, attached to iOS devices. You can even request in-person help through the iPad. An iPad is positioned next to each Mac with more detailed explanations about its features. When you walk into an Apple Store a ‘specialist’ will check you in using an iPad. It seemed like you were rushing through the interaction, and the customer had additional questions." I was concerned with how quickly you spoke to the customer. "You did a great job resolving the customer's iPhone issue. I overheard your conversation with your customer during the last interaction and I have some feedback if you have a moment. Gizmodo quotes the following sample conversation from the training manual as an example of fearless feedback: Apple Store managers who are considering a job applicant are told to ask themselves this question: could this candidate have gone toe to toe with Steve Jobs? In other words, the Apple Store wants employees who have an opinion and are not afraid to express it. You simply cannot improve the customer experience without managers who give and solicit feedback and employees who ‘fearlessly’ offer feedback as well. Apple Store Geniuses are trained to give and receive “fearless feedback.” Feedback is a word that came up repeatedly in my research. Although I explain the five steps in much more detail in this article and video, the steps are: By the last step the customer should feel welcomed, empowered, happy, and eager to return. According to Gizmodo, “Selling is a science, summed up with 5 cute letters: (A)pproach, (P)probe, (P)resent, (L)isten, (E)nd.” These five words correspond to five specific steps that employees are trained to walk a customer. After reviewing Gizmodo’s article on the secret manual, I found seven ways that Apple has reinvented the customer experience and, as a result, become America’s most profitable retailer.įollow five steps of service. But it’s interesting to note that the internal Apple Store training manual for Apple Geniuses spends as much time on communication as it does on process and technical knowledge. When a company hires a troubleshooting specialist, clearly that candidate needs to have more technical know-how than a salesperson. From the way you are greeted when you walk into the store to the way Genius Bar experts (technical/troubleshooting specialists) communicate with agitated customers, Apple carefully considers the experience its customers have at every touch-point.Īpple likes to say it “values a magnetic personality” as much as-if not more-than proficiency. It reinforces the fact that nothing at the Apple Store is taken for granted. It’s a penetrating look inside Apple: psychological mastery, banned words, roleplaying-you’ve never seen anything like it.” This description alone should teach you a lot. According to Gizmodo Senior Staff Writer, Sam Biddle, “We read Apple’s secret Genius training manual from cover to cover. The title, How To Be a Genius: This is Apple’s Secret Employee Training Manual. One such piece was recently leaked and posted on the tech site, Gizmodo. However, sometimes people leak information that can teach all of us a lot about running a successful business, communicating brand messages effectively, and enhancing the customer experience. After spending one year of research into every aspect of the Apple Retail Store for my book, The Apple Experience, there’s very little new information that surprises me.
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