Former Apple vice president Ron Johnson writing for the Harvard Business Review:
People come to the Apple Store for the experience — and they’re willing to pay a premium for that. There are lots of components to that experience, but maybe the most important — and this is something that can translate to any retailer — is that the staff isn’t focused on selling stuff, it’s focused on building relationships and trying to make people’s lives better. That may sound hokey, but it’s true. The staff is exceptionally well trained, and they’re not on commission, so it makes no difference to them if they sell you an expensive new computer or help you make your old one run better so you’re happy with it. Their job is to figure out what you need and help you get it, even if it’s a product Apple doesn’t carry. Compare that with other retailers where the emphasis is on cross-selling and upselling and, basically, encouraging customers to buy more, even if they don’t want or need it. That doesn’t enrich their lives, and it doesn’t deepen the retailer’s relationship with them. It just makes their wallets lighter.
That would fly in the face of what I’ve anecdotally heard. I can’t vouch for the veracity of the sources, but I’ve heard on internet comments that there is definitely pressure to move product, and though no one is on commission directly there is accountability towards making sales.
The fact that you can’t vouch for the comments or that the comments come from the internet makes the points all but valueless. Now from my personal experience, I have had
1) Advice from Apple employees about where to purchase power bricks that are cheaper than at the store
2) Options on getting a computer repaired quicker and cheaper with a reliable return date on a work computer.
3) I have never been pressured to by cases for iPods I have purchase. I have been asked and when I declined that was it.
4) I have never been pressured about extended warranty.
and this has been at 4 different Apple Stores.
Your experience may vary
Just 2 cents for the day
As you are an internet comment for which I can’t vouch either, then your input is equally as valueless, as are mine. So its value is all down to zero.
Statement of personal experience does contain value when attached to a name even when it is a “user name”. Using I heard on the internet does not add to the debate. Now if you had stated your own personal experiences the debate could continue.
Just a thought.
Statement of personal experience does contain value when attached to a name even when it is a “user name”. Using I heard on the internet does not add to the debate. Now if you had stated your own personal experiences the debate could continue.
Just a thought.