I'd love to see any evidence that you are more intelligent than the average Apple Store employee.
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Apple Asks Retail Employees for iPhone Sales Advice
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I'd love to see any evidence that you are more intelligent than the average Apple Store employee.
Whoa! Don't add new elements to the equation. Who said anything about whether the ideas had to be evolutionary or revolutionary? Also I never said a word about Apple using market research; I explained how this call for ideas is not that.
And my whole point about the App Store is that it IS what fueled the iPhone's growth, and was not in Apple's original plans (that we know) for the iPhone. Let's not kid ourselves -- the growth chart is there. And then there is the iPad which could not have come to market w/o an App Store.
This has already been said, but it's a point that is not getting enough notice. I see this as a great thing. Who has spoken to more customers regarding the phone than those who are in those stores? Day in and day out.
Find out what they hear and actually listen to what they have to say. Personally I think this is a fantastic idea.
Find out what they hear and actually listen to what they have to say. Personally I think this is a fantastic idea.
Well I can give them some feedback. Don't waste money on adding a lot of new features. Just give the customer a little bit more each time so they will continue to come back and upgrade.
I bet tomorrow Apple could release a "new" iPhone 5 with the only difference being a new color and consumers would go wild over it and start lining up days before release. That's what is so great about the iPhone. No matter what people will never stop going crazy over it.
Desperately?
Verizon is the largest carrier in the USA and they are only expected to sell half of what agreed to buy from Apple. That means Apple thought they were going to sell "$23.5 billion worth of iPhones in 2013" thru Verizon but it is looking more like they are only going to be selling between $9.5 to $11.5 billion worth of iPhones in 2013.
source: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1608962/
Two spaces between sentences!
Anyone else bugged by the fact that they put two spaces after the first and second sentences in the overview paragraph? No...no one else bugged by this? Just me? OK, I'll go back to arranging my rubberbands in order of length.
Anyone else bugged by the fact that they put two spaces after the first and second sentences in the overview paragraph? No...no one else bugged by this? Just me? OK, I'll go back to arranging my rubberbands in order of length.
Can this crap please stop now? Please explain to us all how getting ideas from people closer to the customer is being "lost"? Steve wasn't a god. There's always those few users here who seem to think that he was never wrong.
Apple cannot continue to rest on what they once were. They have to begin with who the want to be and get there soon. The Apple experience at Best Buy was fresh and innovative 5 or more years ago. The Apple display is tired and dated. Samsung's new in store experience really stands out now. They took a great idea and made it better. Doesn't that sound familiar.
Just listening to casual tech conversation from average users has a different ring to it now. Folks are talking about what Samsung is doing. What crazy features that the new devices have. They may not use them but its generating discussion and interest in Samsung products. Apple cannot rely on being the old Apple anymore.
Reaching out to the ones who interact with the customers on the frontline is a great first step. Keeping older values that makes Apple special is fine, but not stepping up to the school yard bully isn't going to bode well in the long run. You can only outsmart them so long before you have to take action. There was a glimpse of this moxie during the Mac Pro announcement but there it went just as fast.
If Apple is happy with growth then plateaus, then things are moving according to plan. If the are as passionate about who they are, as most think, they need to reverse this trend soon. There may not be another company saving device out there for them to invent.
Just listening to casual tech conversation from average users has a different ring to it now. Folks are talking about what Samsung is doing. What crazy features that the new devices have. They may not use them but its generating discussion and interest in Samsung products. Apple cannot rely on being the old Apple anymore.
Reaching out to the ones who interact with the customers on the frontline is a great first step. Keeping older values that makes Apple special is fine, but not stepping up to the school yard bully isn't going to bode well in the long run. You can only outsmart them so long before you have to take action. There was a glimpse of this moxie during the Mac Pro announcement but there it went just as fast.
If Apple is happy with growth then plateaus, then things are moving according to plan. If the are as passionate about who they are, as most think, they need to reverse this trend soon. There may not be another company saving device out there for them to invent.
The Answer to Madsci's Question
I can tell you from personal experience the answer as to why this was specified. And you're right, it sticks out like a sore thumb. The reason is that if an employee were to write up or develop his/her ideas while not on the clock, the company would be obligated to PAY the employee for their time, which they have no desire to do.
The thing that's absurd about it is that, let's say I'm an employee and I want to focus on my job and write this up on my own time and I DON'T MIND not being paying for that time, it doesn't matter. The company has to cover their ass- they would *still* be obligated to pay you for the time you spent on it outside of work. It's basically all just legality. It works this way everywhere. It's not an Apple thing.
Mind you, you could still do it on your own time. You just can't TELL them you did it on your own time. You'd have to say you did it while on the clock. It's pretty absurd stuff.
But that's your answer.
I can tell you from personal experience the answer as to why this was specified. And you're right, it sticks out like a sore thumb. The reason is that if an employee were to write up or develop his/her ideas while not on the clock, the company would be obligated to PAY the employee for their time, which they have no desire to do.
The thing that's absurd about it is that, let's say I'm an employee and I want to focus on my job and write this up on my own time and I DON'T MIND not being paying for that time, it doesn't matter. The company has to cover their ass- they would *still* be obligated to pay you for the time you spent on it outside of work. It's basically all just legality. It works this way everywhere. It's not an Apple thing.
Mind you, you could still do it on your own time. You just can't TELL them you did it on your own time. You'd have to say you did it while on the clock. It's pretty absurd stuff.
But that's your answer.
Exactly. This idea that only Steve knew best and if Apple deviates from that they're doomed is absurd.
It's never a bad idea to listen at the grass roots level. The people that sell iPhone are the ones that hear a lot of complaints and/or customers who can't figure how to do something or wonder where a feature is (that doesn't exist).
Maybe in the past this hasn't been Apple's "way" - but I don't see it as a doom or gloom statement. I do see it as an element of a new "era" so to speak where the execs aren't convinced that only they know what's best.
p.s. If anyone here works for Apple and wants to take my idea (below) and write it up for the program - please do.
Simply put - there should be a way to select multiple emails (i.e a range) without having to tap each one to send to trash or put in a folder. You should be able to do something like double tap the first email and then triple tap the last one and everything between gets highlighted.
I don't know or care what the gesture is (I just gave an example) - but this feature has long since been wanted by me (and many I know).
Maybe in the past this hasn't been Apple's "way" - but I don't see it as a doom or gloom statement. I do see it as an element of a new "era" so to speak where the execs aren't convinced that only they know what's best.
p.s. If anyone here works for Apple and wants to take my idea (below) and write it up for the program - please do.
Simply put - there should be a way to select multiple emails (i.e a range) without having to tap each one to send to trash or put in a folder. You should be able to do something like double tap the first email and then triple tap the last one and everything between gets highlighted.
I don't know or care what the gesture is (I just gave an example) - but this feature has long since been wanted by me (and many I know).
All I've read is the highest rated comments on this thread. I'm not sure if it's been said, but this is not a bad thing.
Apple is trying to find ways of selling more contracted phones in their stores. The number of people going to carriers to buy iPhones compared to an Apple Store is huge. Which can lead to a bad experience down the line. Carriers aren't nearly as educated on iPhones as an Apple retail employee, because they have to know all the features of many other devices.
AppleCare+, Personal Setup, the Genius Bar are all things a customer could be missing out on. Apple just wants to find ways of getting more people to buy iPhones in their store, so they can have a much better experience in the long run.
Apple is trying to find ways of selling more contracted phones in their stores. The number of people going to carriers to buy iPhones compared to an Apple Store is huge. Which can lead to a bad experience down the line. Carriers aren't nearly as educated on iPhones as an Apple retail employee, because they have to know all the features of many other devices.
AppleCare+, Personal Setup, the Genius Bar are all things a customer could be missing out on. Apple just wants to find ways of getting more people to buy iPhones in their store, so they can have a much better experience in the long run.
Well coming from the sales side, apple pays out less than all of our other devices. We try to drive other products to drive our gross profit. Start by offering the same credits and we will be less opt to try and get customers into different devices that do a lot of the same if not more functionality wise.
It's interesting you bring this up because it's a double edged sword for carrier stores. Yes - more profit with other manufacturers. But higher "penalty" on a corporate level for not selling the guaranteed amount (see article about Verizon's 2013 shortage).
So - as a store manager - do you try and toe the company line to minimize liability - or do you increase profits (which then really only go to pay off the liability). Catch 22. And yes - I realize I am simplifying the relationship/scenario.
Haha I wondered how long it would take for someone to spin it this way. Why would getting input from retail employees be a bad thing?
This may not be a bad thing but the OP did not call it a bad "thing". He called it a bad "news". There is a difference. Somehow for many years Apple management was able to grow sales without asking retail employees about their ideas. The fact they felt a need to do it now seemingly indicates that iPhone sales are not doing well now.
Yes but that CEO also lied* as it has been documented that Apple did, indeed, conduct focus groups.
*Lied might not be the right word because I'm not 100% he ever was quoted publicly stating that Apple didn't.