Page 154 - The Apple Experience

CHAPTER 10

Sell the Benefit

People don’t just want to buy personal computers
anymore. They want to know what they can do with

them, and we’re going to show people exactly that.

—Steve Jobs

My mother-in-law, Patty Cook, expressed an interest in buying an iPad for

her husband, Ken. As we approached the holiday season, she contacted me

for advice. Sensing a unique opportunity to do some observational research, I

told her that we should visit the Apple Store and ask a Specialist for advice. I

purposely avoided offering any input, and I did not say a word when we

walked into the store. It was important for me to watch the interaction and

how it impacted Patty, without influencing her decision in any way. Patty is

friendly and talkative, so it should not have been difficult for an Apple

employee to walk Patty through the steps of service. She also knows very

little about Apple products or computers in general, so she needed basic

information. We had two conversations with two separate Apple employees.

The results were very, very different.
The first thing I learned was that Apple gets it right more often than it

gets it wrong, but it gets it wrong from time to time. Everything in this book

is aspirational. The concepts you’re reading will help you create an

exceptional experience for your customers whether you sell a product or a
service in-store, on the web, or over the phone. It’s my contention that Apple