Page 74 - The Apple Experience

cones, which are unique because we make them all by hand every

morning, right here in the store.

Customer: Sounds good. I’m not a huge fan of cherries, but I

like the idea of chocolate and the waffle cone. Let’s do that.
Thanks.

At this point it won’t matter to the customer that the ice cream treat he

did buy cost three dollars more than the vanilla cone. He did learn something

new, his eyes were opened to a new flavor combination, and he enjoyed the

relationship that began to form, just in a few short seconds.

We will discuss “probing” questions in Part II, but for now just pay

attention to the fact that the employee in the ice cream example connected a

recommendation to the customer’s likes. The employee didn’t say, “Oh, you
like vanilla. Have you tried mocha?” The same applies to the auto industry. If

a car buyer walks in and starts talking about her three children and family

trips, an astute car salesman won’t point her to a two-seater turbo. When I

walked into an Apple Store to shop for a new iPod, the specialist didn’t try to

sell me a Macbook Air. But he did introduce me to the iPod Touch because

after asking probing questions, he learned that I like some music apps like

Pandora. The iPod Touch, he said, would give me all the benefits and apps
of an iPhone, without the phone. The Apple specialist had learned—through

training and constant feedback—how to create an enriching experience for

his customer.

In another situation, I entered an Apple Store specifically to purchase a

new notebook computer. The Specialist who worked with me, “Carla,” was

one of the most enthusiastic people I had ever encountered at any retail store.

Carla was a middle-aged woman who was clearly a free spirit. She had a

purple streak in her hair and wore a beret. She made the buying experience a