Apple Retail Store Employee on Product Launches, Store Culture, and Customers

[kiljoy616]

It is all about the tiny box (APP/MobileMe/ProCare) add-ons.

Most employees are some of the best people you'll ever find. Most of the management would rather you give up a vital organ than not sell an attachment.

But what business is not like this? Its all about the extras that is where the real money is, look at Best Buy or once upon a time Circuit City or my favorite which I was a short time employee of, Tiger Direct what a mess and yes it was like a cult when it came to the training and motivation. I can't even imagine what Wal-Mart must be like.

 

[acfusion29]

Another interesting viewpoint.

http://crapplestore.blogspot.com/

i click the site, first post is suspect. totally discredit the rest of the site and close the window.

 

[iMikeT]

No surprise by any of the findings. It is an electronics retail store... I think you'll have similar practices at any other brick & mortar, I recognize some of the same practices from when I worked at Best Buy.

 

[Laird Knox]

I attended Apple's service training classes for the Apple ][, Mac and original LaserWriter. I think my retail experience is out of date.

 

[gkarris]

^^^ ha, ha, mine was Apple Classics and the "new" PowerBooks...

Wow, reading all these posts makes me happy I didn't get a retail job with Apple and ended up having to leave IT all together...

 

[apple1990]

About the Crapple blog, either he works for the most appalling, outrageous management team in Apple Retail or they are a compulsive liar.

Some of the stuff on there is just unbelievable and incomprehensible.

 

[kiljoy616]

+1

Roughly 10 years ago I used to work at Circuit City and people would get literally upset if they found out you didn't have a degree in computer science yet were selling a computer. Sorry, but if I had a computer science degree I wouldn't be working at Circuit City.

I read this part and , no wonder the planet is such bad shape, people really are in their own little world. Yes people are plane loco when it comes to expectations its all the brainwashing we get as kids.
Do they think that Realtor's have master degrees in Architectural Engineering also.

 

[0815]

somehow I fail to see any news or rumor here ....

It is basically saying customers in the Apple Retail Store behave like customers in a retail store and the sales people in the Apple Retail Store have to do what sales people are doing in retail store, trying to sell and add upgrades to the sales package?

 

[firewood]

Your store? I had no idea you owned it. So you made minimum wage to make Apple executives richer.

If he owns 1 share of AAPL stock, either through some employee purchase or retirement savings plan or purchased on his own, he's a part owner, just like the executives. Your parents might even be owners indirectly if they are into any of a zillion investment/retirement plans.

But he was probably just referring to the store number on his pay stub...

 

[Stridder44]

I worked at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square about 7 years ago. The store manager was worried about sales and called a mandatory employee meeting at 8:00am on a Saturday. He informed everyone that in three months, the doors would be closing and that afterward, we would all be out of jobs. Everyone was freaking out. The guy then says, "But am I serious? Those of you who worried about your future and not the future of this company, should leave. Everyone else, let's get this store back on track!"

There are no surprises in retail stores. The only surprise would be if management wasn't a bunch of a$$holes.

Wow, just yikes. Then again, I shouldn't be surprised. Retail is still and will always be retail.

 

[apple1990]

Minimum wage in the Uk is £5.93, Im earning nearly double that and add into that the 82 shares I've accumulated through the employee stock purchase programme.

I consider it my store because I was part of the team who opened it. Most of us are still here.

 

[4nNtt]

It's a pretty fine line between a cult and company culture. I don't really see a problem with it personally. If you look at the opposite extreme. A work environment where everyone is different and clash all the time. Or the middle ground where it is just a 9-5. You put your time in for the man with little enthusiasm and then go home. You know what you are getting in to. People who complain that something is a cult are really complaining that it isn't their cult. I hear companies being referred to as cults a lot. People need to grow up.

On Apple: Certainly there are some similarities, but different parts of Apple certainly have a different Company Culture. It shouldn't be a surprise that aspects of the Apple Store culture are sales oriented.

 

[Stridder44]

working for any large corporate entity is super weird and cult-like. My wife tried it and after about a month had had enough. I work in a small corporate environment and that's weird enough for me.

A long time ago, I worked at Best Buy. Once a month (I believe it was once a month, again it was a long time ago) every Sunday morning at like 8 am we'd have store meetings. That part sucked but that wasn't nearly as bad as the overall cult-like attitude there from some people. They'd feed us some Costco breakfast and we'd all watch a video on being a team and how this store employee (paid actor) loves customers and Best Buy and life so much. And the store managers would cheer us on and we'd all do group cheers or company slogans. At least half the store would really be into it, you could always tell the people who were "life'rs", meaning that they'd be there 10+ years. All I could think of was why am I up on a Sunday morning this early and don't these people realize they're all still getting paid $10 - $12 an hour with no commission? Where am I and what am I doing here?

That said, their employee discount was amazing. That's probably the one thing that kept me there the longest. Everything was 5% above cost. Meaning you paid 5% above however much that item was going for at wholesale price. You'd be surprised how much some equipment like Bose is overcharging for.

 

[merc2605]

Retail work sucks in general, but Apple is by no means the best retail employer out there. Of the four retail jobs I worked, Apple was by far the most stressful and least satisfying. They may pay pretty well per hour, but unlike some other retail employers I worked for they don't pay commission or yearly bonus, so the pay doesn't necessarily work out any better than any other place.

On top of that, Apple require their staff to have a lot more knowledge and commitment than most other retail jobs, and because it's such a customer facing job you constantly have to deal with angry customers, and repeated questions about forthcoming Apple products. All in all, you can do much better than working at an Apple store, even within the retail sector.

 

[GoKyu]

I applied to the Apple store awhile back, and I gotta say, the atmosphere is pretty cult-like. The employees all seem really nice during that session, but many act very differently when you see them "under fire" in store.

I read somewhere that statistically it's easier to apply to and make it into Harvard than it is to get a job at the Apple store. They really are incredibly selective, and sadly the finalists seem to be picked more for their looks/personality than for actual computer knowledge. If you're young and hip, yet don't know much about Apple or computers, you seem to have a better shot than someone who actually already knows something about the products. Product knowledge will get you the invite, but their process is *EXTREMELY* secretive, and that really bugs me.

I didn't make it to the interview round, but after experiencing everything we went through just for a chance at working in Apple retail, I'm honestly kind of glad I didn't make it. It IS still retail after all (which I'm already part of), and with no commissions and to still be expected to sell add-ons...what was my incentive for selling them again? Just to keep my job? Thanks, but no thanks.

 

[Project Axial]

Work Different...

There are people who are clearly qualified for roles but aren't promoted to them because managers don't like them. There are people who have been working for years only to continue to be paid less than new hires. There are people who have committed the time and energy and worked long and exhausting shifts only to have hours cut back.

Yeah, it's retail. But it's also what pays our bills. And despite the **** that gets crammed down our throat about metrics and attachment rates and the like, we truly love doing the job we do. While we are the face of Apple, we just get the **** treatment.

Many employees read this blog and will see... (some of them read it on the clock from cashwrap or the genius bar!) it's time to work different.

Stay tuned.

 

[0815]

...
On top of that, Apple require their staff to have a lot more knowledge and commitment than most other retail jobs, and because ...

Well, I would consider this as a good thing for a retail store (you make it sound as a bad thing). Customers can expect good knowledge and friendly service. Retail stores are about selling stuff - so a good customer experience will result in more sales. In fact every retail store should provide that.

I for example stopped buying anything at Best Buy because it seems they have only unfriendly idiots and the knowledge of the sales people is limited to what is on the tag next to the machine on display, they can't even figure out in decent time if they have a specific item in stock - they only push for selling what they were in told has 'to go' and is stacked in the store and it seems too much to ask if they have another specific model in stock. Luckily I have enough knowledge to know what I want and that I don't want what they push for.

Lets face it, a customer that buys a high priced item wants customer service that matches that.

I understand that most people in this thread don't see it from the 'customer experience' side but from the 'sales people' side - but than, if you are not willing to provide good service, you shouldn't work there. There are retail stores where you get away with bad attitude to the customer - but this is not how it is supposed to be.

 

[ava182]

The Retail Side Sucks the Life Out of You.

Ugh. Never seen that site before, so I checked it out.

What a bunch of whiny low-lifes. Get a new job if you don't like working at an apple store, criminey.

Most of the people working at Apple retail are actually not "low lifes." They are all quite intelligent people for the most part. A vast majority are college students or graduates. I worked there for a 3 years some of which when I was in college.

One thing for sure is they pay you well enough not to want to leave the job. There is no other job that will pay you as they do unless you have a degree in something. Well that is of course you could even find a job. Especially in this economy.

I took a risk leaving my full time job at Apple to pursue my career and luckily it worked out for me. I can't say the same for other co-workers at Apple. Some have even returned because they cannot find anything else.

So when you say whiny "low lifes" remember they help you out until the end. You won't get them complaining to you but they do need to vent. Believe me it isn't the easiest place to work at, especially with demanding customers and management.

 

[0815]

I applied to the Apple store awhile back, and I gotta say, the atmosphere is pretty cult-like. The employees all seem really nice during that session, but many act very differently when you see them "under fire" in store.

I read somewhere that statistically it's easier to apply to and make it into Harvard than it is to get a job at the Apple store. They really are incredibly selective, and sadly the finalists seem to be picked more for their looks/personality than for actual computer knowledge. If you're young and hip, yet don't know much about Apple or computers, you seem to have a better shot than someone who actually already knows something about the products. Product knowledge will get you the invite, but their process is *EXTREMELY* secretive, and that really bugs me.

I didn't make it to the interview round, but after experiencing everything we went through just for a chance at working in Apple retail, I'm honestly kind of glad I didn't make it. It IS still retail after all (which I'm already part of), and with no commissions and to still be expected to sell add-ons...what was my incentive for selling them again? Just to keep my job? Thanks, but no thanks.

sounds like you are still not over it that you didn't qualify for the job ... maybe it's an attitude problem rather than the looks.

 

[apple1990]

Well done, you Googled it and found 3 other people in the world noticed the same thing. Don't try and outsmart the Genius team, they don't appreciate it.

Love this though, it is spot on!

 

[apple1990]

http://blogs.twincities.com/yourtec...g-room-in-uptown-woos-business-clientele.html

 

[nptski]

I have been in retail for almost 40 years. I owned one of the best ski shops in the west as was evidenced by the sales and the long time customers that came back year after year. We did it about as well as anyone could do and set a high standard of service. We built the business around the hardest part, ski boots. We had the most advanced fitting system around including a 3 axis robot cutting custom footbeds and a scanning system to match boot lasts to foot shape.

We were known primarily for service so I understand the culture of a business and how important it is to create one that includes the employees interests as well as the customer's interests. I believe I know a lot about retail and I have to say, I have never seen anyone do it as well as Apple on a large scale such as they have. Single stores can run very well because the owner is there and cares. This is why governments don't run well, it is not their money and if they do care, they are soon reduced to the performance of the lowest droid.

Apple has done an amazing job and electronics is not easy, by a long shot. They do not talk down to their customers and do a very good job of making the experience comfortable and easy. Look at the posts in the forum, how comfortable would the average guy be asking a question here? The tech level is high and they would feel stupid. Tech guys always want to display how much they know. Apple understands most don't care, they just want to be able to make the thing work. Simple.

 

[Project Axial]

I worked at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square about 7 years ago. The store manager was worried about sales and called a mandatory employee meeting at 8:00am on a Saturday. He informed everyone that in three months, the doors would be closing and that afterward, we would all be out of jobs. Everyone was freaking out. The guy then says, "But am I serious? Those of you who worried about your future and not the future of this company, should leave. Everyone else, let's get this store back on track!"

There are no surprises in retail stores. The only surprise would be if management wasn't a bunch of a$$holes.

The real surprise is how many people will soon be standing up to it.

 

[Fraaaa]

+1

So the Apple Store doesn't sound any different than the BB I worked at.
What a surprise.

Same for the restaurant where I work.

 

[DaREdBaRoN]

Doesn't surprise me at all. Sounds just like best buy. Non-commission but deeply competitive, since all sales are tracked and posted for all to see.