Ever wonder how an Apple Genius receives training? The Gizmodo website answers this question by exclusively showing the filtered manual that Apple gives to employees when they start working at the Genius Bar. The goal is for the worker to become familiar with the values of the company and know how to treat all types of customers and learn to deal with different situations.
Apple encourages the employee to empathize with "emotions" of your customers. For example, if someone is thinking of buying a Mac, but the price seems high, the employee will always start with the sentence: “I understand you. At first I also thought that the price of the Mac was a bit high, but… ». Something similar happens if a customer is interested in buying an iPad, but the fact that a mouse cannot be used and the screen is tactile seems strange to him. The employee will respond, “I know how you feel. When I started using the iPad I also thought that, but nevertheless… ».
However, the ultimate goal of a Genius, after all, is to sell a product to that person who walks through the door of the store: "We attract customers through the sale of a product", you can read in the manual.
Finally, Gizmodo shows a series of behaviors that are not accepted. Employees are not allowed to be late from their breaks or to disrespect customers. They are also given a series of words to avoid when talking about the company's products. For example, the document says that employees use the expression "does not work with" instead of "is incompatible."
As can be seen, Apple takes care of even the smallest detail to improve the customer experience in stores.
More information - This is how Apple stores perform around the world
Do you try to improve the experience or endorse the product you have asked for anyway using "different" techniques from other stores? (I mean empathy, deep knowledge of the product, knowing how to be….)
Here is where they teach you to be a geek with three pairs of balls .. Because my goodness, every time you go to an apple store is like entering the world of warcraft, with its elves and its level 40 trolls .. Haha
I don't know if those guidelines work as a lake. I went into Xanadu's because of a problem with the plug. There were like 15 or 17 genius, of which 12 were talking to each other and told me that I had to make an appointment to be seen. Amazing.
But that does not have to do with empathy, to be served at any Apple Store you have to make an appointment, if you are lucky and there are no people they will give it to you at the moment but it is the procedure. In many places it is the same, «take a turn» and then they will attend you, since they will attend you then judge if the attention is good or bad 🙂
If I am not saying that the treatment was bad, in fact it was very good, but to send me to gargle, with many of them doing nothing. I am not from Madrid and I went for a while, it was not difficult for them to look at it, but hey, it is company policy, what will they do. For the next one I already know.
This is not empathizing with the client, empathizing with someone means putting yourself in their shoes, making their problems and concerns your own, etc.
The Genius have to sell the product (I suppose they will have sales targets), this is a manual to dismantle possible objections from the customer.
I work in a multinational company with a lot of name here in Spain and every 2 × 3 they give us courses (with their respective a posteriori exam) of this type: negotiation and closing of sales, emotional intelligence, time management and a long etc ...
And there are many, many companies in Spain that provide this type of training to their workers.
The first time I spoke with a Genius, I knew perfectly well from which courses each sentence that he said hahaha had taken me.
And as for Rabanero's comment, he is right, I also happened to arrive at an Apple Store, meet 10 Genius talking about what they had done over the weekend and have to admit that they gave me an appointment for an hour later , but that is also studied.
The objective is that you walk through the store, and buy something while they serve you.