Page 139 - The Apple Experience
P. 139
CHAPTER 9
Reset Your Customer’s
Internal Clock
Customers shouldn’t think of your business as a place
to buy a product or use a service. It should be a fun
place to be!
—Richard Branson
Time slows down in a busy Apple Store. Employees work on a
noncommissioned floor, which means there is no pressure to sell you a
product quickly and to show you the door. By reducing the pressure
customers feel when they’re in the store, Apple has built the world’s most
profitable retail experience. It’s astonishing that more businesses haven’t
caught on to this very simple principle! Some retail employees work for stores
that do not have a commission structure but their bonuses are contingent
upon meeting quotas. Managers at Apple Retail Stores know the monthly
numbers they are supposed to reach, but the pressure to make those numbers
rarely infiltrates the sales floor. The focus is on building relationships, and as
a result, monthly sales goals are often met or exceeded. Apple has figured out
what Isadore Sharp had discovered years earlier when he founded Four
Seasons Hotels: customers who feel happy and relaxed will reward your
brand with their business and their loyalty.
