10 things to learn
- Stop selling stuff. When Steve Jobs first
started the Apple Store he did not ask the question, “How will we grow
our market share from 5 to 10 percent?” Instead he asked, “How do we
enrich people’s lives?” Think about your vision. If you were to examine
the business model for most brands and retailers and develop a vision
around it, the vision would be to “sell more stuff.” A vision based on
selling stuff isn’t very inspiring and leads to a very different
experience than the Apple Retail Store created.
- Enrich lives. The vision behind the Apple Store
is “enrich lives,” the first two words on a wallet-sized credo card
employees are encouraged to carry. When you enrich lives magical things
start to happen. For example, enriching lives convinced Apple to have a
non-commissioned sales floor where employees feel comfortable spending
as much time with a customer as the customer desires. Enriching lives
led Apple to build play areas (the “family room”) where kids could see,
touch and play on computers. Enriching lives led to the creation of a
“Genius Bar” where trained experts are focused on “rebuilding
relationships” as much as fixing problems.
- Hire for smiles. The soul of the Apple Store is
in its people. They are hired, trained, motivated and taught to create
magical and memorable moments for their customers. The Apple Store
values a magnetic personality as much, if not more so, than technical
proficiency. The Apple Store cares less about what you know than it
cares about how much you love people.
- Celebrate diversity. Mohawks, tattoos, piercings
are all acceptable among Apple Store employees. Apple hires people who
reflect the diversity of their customers. Since they are more interested
in how passionate you are, your hairstyle doesn’t matter. Early in the
Apple Store history, they also learned that former teachers make the
best salespeople because they ask a lot of questions. It’s not uncommon
to find former teachers, engineers, and artists at an Apple Store. Apple
doesn’t look for someone who fits a mold.
- Unleash inner genius. Teach your customers
something they never knew they could do before, and they’ll reward you
with their loyalty. For example, the Apple Store offers a unique program
to help people understand and enjoy their computers: One to One. The
$99 one-year membership program is available with the purchase of a Mac.
Apple Store instructors called “creatives” offer personalized
instruction inside the Apple Store. Customers can learn just about
anything: basics about the Mac operating system; how to design a
website; enjoying, sharing, and editing photos or movies; creating a
presentation; and much more. The One to One program was created to help
build customers for life. It was designed on the premise that the more
you understand a product, the more you enjoy it, and the more likely you
are to build a long-term relationship with the company. Instructors are
trained to provide guidance and instruction, but also to inspire
customers, giving them the tools to make them more creative than they
ever imagined.
- Empower employees. I spent one hour talking to
an Apple Store specialist about kids, golf, and my business. We spent
about ten minutes talking about the product (a MacBook Air). I asked the
employee whether he would be reprimanded for spending so much time with
one customer. “Not at all,” he replied. “If you have a great
experience, that’s all that matters.” Apple has a non-commissioned sales
floor for a reason—employees are not pressured to “make a sale.”
Instead they are empowered to do what they believe is the right thing to
do.
- Sell the benefit. Apple Store specialists are
taught to sell the benefit behind products and to customize those
benefits for the customer. For example, I walked to the iPad table with
my two young daughters and told the specialist I was considering my
first iPad. In a brilliant move, the specialist focused on my two
daughters, the ‘secondary’ customer who can influence a purchase. He let
the girls play on separate devices. On one device he played the movie,
Tangled, and on the other device he brought up a Disney Princess
coloring app. My girls were thrilled and, in one memorable moment, my
6-year-old turned me to and said, “I love this store!” It’s easy to see
why. Instead of touting “speeds and feeds,” the specialist taught us how
the device could improve our lives.
- Follow the steps of service. The Apple Store
teaches its employees to follow five steps in each and every
interaction. These are called the Apple five steps of service. They are
outlined by the acronym A-P-P-L-E. They are: Approach with a customized,
warm greeting. Probe politely to understand the customer’s needs.
Present a solution the customer can take home today. Listen for and
address unresolved questions. End with a fond farewell and an invitation
to return.
- Create multisensory experiences. The brain loves
multi-sensory experiences. In other words, people enjoy being able to
see, touch, and play with products. Walk into an Apple Store upon
opening and you’ll see all the notebook computer screens perfectly
positioned slightly beyond 90-degree angles. The position of the
computer lets you see the screen (which is on and loaded with content)
but forces you to touch the computer in order to adjust it. Every device
in the store is working and connected to the Internet. Spend as much
time as you’d like playing with the products—nobody will kick you out.
Creatives who give One-to-One workshops do not touch the computer
without asking for permission. They want you to do it. The sense of
touch helps create an emotional connection with a product.
- Appeal to the buying brain. Clutter forces the
brain to consume energy. Create uncluttered environments instead. The
Apple Store is spacious, clean, well-lit, and uncluttered. Cables are
hidden from view and no posters on placed on the iconic glass entrances.
Computer screens are cleaned constantly. Keep the environment clean,
open, and uncluttered.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario