Page 38 - The Apple Experience

much you know as much as it wants to know how much you care about people.
Apple understands that a person with a lot of technical knowledge can hit the

sales floor and lose customers if he or she has a lack of passion, a surly

attitude, or an inability to communicate the benefits of a product clearly.

Apple wants its customers to leave saying, “I just had an amazing experience.

I can’t wait to go home and get started!”

Shortly after leaving the journalism profession as a television anchor (and

before I started my company), I worked for several years as the vice president
of a global public relations agency specializing in messaging, media training,

and presentation coaching. Early in my tenure at this particular PR firm, I

was taken aback by a question my boss asked me in the elevator: Are you

overservicing the client? Overservice? I had never heard of the word. It didn’t

exist in my vocabulary. I always thought PR firms were in the business of

developing relationships. Clearly not. My boss had heard that for one new

client—a large agribusiness company—I put in a few hours over and above
what it called for in the contract. I had made the decision that our work with

the client was not quite done, and I wanted to make sure they were

completely satisfied with the experience.

Fast-forward four years later when I left the firm to start my own

communications practice (not in the PR industry). This particular client left

the PR firm because I was no longer there and has been giving my practice a

substantial amount of business ever since. While reviewing our company’s

revenue one year, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the client—and the

clients who came to us based on its recommendations—accounted for 20
percent of our revenue. Two hours of “overservice” had paid off. You see, the

PR firm failed to realize that long-term relationships are based on hiring

passionate employees who care about the client and who are given the

freedom to satisfy the customer.