Page 16 - The Apple Experience

breaking them down into a simple approach that anyone can follow. I’m
constantly asking myself, Why does Apple do what it does, what other brands do

something similar, and how can I teach these principles to others?

I don’t bill myself as a “customer service expert.” I’m a communications

coach, speaker, and journalist. But what does it mean to provide

extraordinary customer service? Well, if you study the brands that do it well

such as Disney, Four Seasons, Zappos, FedEx, Nordstrom, Apple, and

others, you will discover that it all comes down to communication: how you
talk to your employees and how they, in turn, talk to your customers. In fact,

Apple did not invent many of its customer service principles. Steve Jobs has

acknowledged that the Apple Store was inspired by the Four Seasons (which

is why the hotel chain and other brands are discussed in this book). But

Apple has refined and improved upon the principles it learned from others.

Apple has, in turn, inspired many brands that touch your life. AT&T made

changes in its retail store experience with input from Steve Jobs himself.
Disney, Nike, T-Mobile, Tesla, J.C. Penney, and other brands have done the

same. You can, too.

The principles in this book work for Apple, and they’ll work for you, too.

I’ll show you the parallels, but it’s up to you to adopt the techniques. Each

chapter reviews one principle. At the end of each chapter, “check out” the

activities that will force you to think differently about the experience you

provide and how to apply the techniques in the chapter. You will also see real

customer reaction quotes throughout the chapters. If you are not hearing the

same enthusiastic feedback from your customers, then you need to dedicate
yourself to implementing the tactics discussed in the chapter.