Questions by guadalupe20 - Page 51

Training at Apple Stores147Apple prefers to hire people who are passionate about Apple products to work in its retail stores. Passionate employees who personally like and use its products help enhance the cus-tomer experience. Apple Store employees helped make it the fastest-growing U.S. retail chain in history to reach sales of $1 billion and consistently rank among the most profitable retailers.Apple designed its stores by first creating mockups in a warehouse to ensure the ulti-mate stores were optimally engineered for what customers would need. Everything from the music to employees interactions with customers is very well planned. Apple intensively controls customer interactions and forbids employees from prematurely acknowledging any glitches. Apple Store employees have no sales quotas and receive no commissions, although employees must sell service packages with devices, or they will be retrained or moved to another position.Apple Stores rely on training to create very controlled and consistent employee interac-tions with customers. Extensive employee training includes a series of podcasts explaining to new hires that selling is all about the approachhelping customers solve problems rather than selling something. Employees are also trained by watching other employees get cus-tomers permission to ask some questions to understand their needs, then probing to iden-tify which products would be the best solutions. New hires also attend classes on Apples customer service principles and learn how to work together because customers notice when employees arent getting along. Technology support staff, called "Geniuses", are even trained to say, "as it turns out" instead of "unfortunately" to sound less negative.1.How does Apple Stores training help it achieve a competitive advantage?2.What are the downsides to Apple Stores training approach?3.Are you a good fit with Apple Stores approach to training? What do you like and dislike about it and why? What would make it a better match with your preferences?