Apple's New SVP of Retail Went Undercover as Regular Salesperson

[VulchR]

The only thing I ever came away with from Curry's, Dixon's or PC World was an overwhelming sense of being unclean and wanting to take a shower... Ugh. (The only computer shop worse than PC World is the the Digital IT Centre‎ in St. Andrews, where the staff don't know even know what a micro-USB cable is....)

I hope consumer-vindictive rip-off Britain doesn't contaminate Apple.

 

[KeithJenner]

I am certainly no fan of PC World etc, and that comes after a good number of years when I used them a lot.

However, I wouldn't say that they are much worse than other companies of a similar size. The staff are fairly lacking in their knowledge, usually don't understand your requirements and try to sell you extended warranties for just about everything. That doesn't make them much different from just about every other large retailer that I have come across.

I've had a couple of good dealings with them over the years, and some appalling ones. There was a very good guy who worked at my local PC World for a few years, and I made sure I was served by him whenever possible. I have at other times had trouble finding anyone to serve me, and on the occasion that I contacted them by email after a particularly bad experience (I left the shop after waiting over 10 minutes for someone to take a security tag off an item I wanted to buy) I got no response other than an automatic response.

I now only use PC World for the occasional item (you can sometimes get good deals on Hard Disks if you order online for example). Otherwise I do almost all my purchasing from online stores.

I don't have any particular concern with the fact that this guy is from there, any more than I would have if he came from another large retailer.

However, there is still a concern. In my opinion the Apple retail experience is streets ahead of anyone else, for the reason that the staff do appear to understand that different people have different needs. My final computer purchase from PC World was actually for my Mother-In-Law. I had reserved the computer online as I knew what she wanted, but picking it up took almost 30 minutes, whilst the poor salesman had to go through reams of paper to show that he had been through everything with me. He understood that I knew what I was purchasing, but kept explaining that it was what he had to do. He really did seem to share my frustration with the process. The only reason that they didn't lose the sale was that I didn't have time to get to another shop and make the purchase.

A couple of weeks later I bought my first MacBook. The salesperson in the Apple Store spent about 15 minutes with me giving me a brief guide it OSX, and talking through options for Mac versions of software. I then had a play around with it for a while longer before purchasing it. Since then, whenever I have purchased a Mac I have just walked in, asked for what I want, paid for it and left. No hard sell of warranties, no checking that I understand what a hard disk is.

That for me is the big difference between the two experiences. In Apple stores I can get a lot of dedicated sales time, if that's what I need (when I bought Filemaker Pro I spent quite a while quizzing the guy there about it), or none at all if that's what I want.

As long as that doesn't change then that's fine by me. If a purchase from Apple becomes more like it was last time I bought a computer from PC World then I will have to think again about where I get my stuff from. However, I would be surprised if the employment of one person, wherever he came from, would have that effect, so I'm fairly relaxed about the whole thing.

 

[RobQuads]

My final computer purchase from PC World was actually for my Mother-In-Law. I had reserved the computer online as I knew what she wanted,

A couple of weeks later I bought my first MacBook.

Why did you not get a Macbook for your mother in law?

 

[KeithJenner]

Why did you not get a Macbook for your mother in law?

Because at the time I didn't use Macs, and her budget was about £400. She was paying, I'm not that generous.

 

[MonkeySee....]

And maybe, while us Brits accept that fact, a lot of people outside the UK grossly underestimate how bad Dixons and PC World actually are.

+1 The staff are horrendous.

 

[SirDaav]

"It appears, that he really pushed the limited whereas the others screwed up as soon as he left."

He's still there until April.

So your crap shopping experiences today are truly all his "success".

 

[KeithJenner]

Actually, the timing of the purchase of a computer for my Mother-In-Law and then move to Macs myself is quite relevant to the importance of customer service in the shops.

There were a number of factors that caused me to move to Macs, but one of them was a discussion with a friend about the experience of buying the computer from PC World. He was raving about the service he got in Apple Stores, which was one of the reasons why I started looking at them.

I'm sure I would have gone to Macs anyway (I'd got an iPhone a few months before which was another reason), but that shopping experience and subsequent conversation would have taken me into an Apple shop anyway.

 

[macchiato2009]

let's see in a few months what this guy will bring to Apple


not sure there's much he can do more or better than ron johnson

the guy spent 10 years creating apple retail

it's difficult to believe that a newcomer will improve the existing

 

[Tricksy101]

People do love to exaggerate haha.

Some of you moan that no one comes to talk to you. But then moan when they do! What do you expect them to do? Write down every customer in store to see who has been talked to?

Every one moaning here knows quite a lot about computers, no? Have you ever considered that probably most of the people buying don't know much about them?

They might want a little bit more help knowing about some of the stuff that you guys already know about.

Also have you ever thought that some people might want to extend their warranty? Of corse you might not want it but some others might.

Also as far as I am aware they are not on commission. So I find it funny when people bang on about that haha!

 

[KeithJenner]

Some of you moan that no one comes to talk to you. But then moan when they do! What do you expect them to do? Write down every customer in store to see who has been talked to?

What I expect them to do is be available within a reasonable time if I need serving, but not follow me around when I have told them that I would like to look on my own.

Quite simple, and usually managed, but extremely frustrating when a salesman doesn't seem to grasp it.

As for people wanting to know more about their prospective purchases, or wanting extended warranty, absolutely, and a salesman who can't help with that isn't much good at their job, but you should only need to say no a maximum of two times.

As I said in my post above, Apple staff consistently manage it. Other stores are rather more inconsistent.

 

[RobQuads]

Because at the time I didn't use Macs, and her budget was about £400. She was paying, I'm not that generous.

Which is sort of the issue. There are working with much smaller margins than Apple are and thus cannot be expected to produce the same experience.

 

[AustinIllini]

let's see in a few months what this guy will bring to Apple


not sure there's much he can do more or better than ron johnson

the guy spent 10 years creating apple retail

it's difficult to believe that a newcomer will improve the existing

I don't know that there's a lot he has to do in the US, more like all across the globe. Although I do wish there was a downtown ATX Apple store with live music venue. Make it happen!

 

[mandis]

Showcasing part of John Browett's dedication to customer service, MacRumors reader Paul Harmer passed along this story of a run-in he had with Browett in the UK:

Quote:
Just a quick note about John Browett -

About a year ago I was with a friend in our local branch of PC World (part of the Dixons group) looking at plasma TVs. We were assisted by a really charming and knowledgable assistant, who I must admit appeared slightly better-dressed and older than most in the store. He must have spent at least 30 minutes with us, explaining the pros and cons of LCD vs plasma, and the best deals available. An excellent impression.

Turns out it was John Browett making one of his regular store visits, but we had to prise this out of him.

Hope he does well, genuinely impressive bloke, and this ties in with your comment about his passion for customer service. He means it!

Paul

What kind of BS PROPAGANDA is this?? Who the heck do you think we are? Soviets???? Please stop trying to mush people's brains...

 

[Risco]

I just don't get how Dixons could have continually been so bad up until the point it went online only, with this guy in charge, if he was so good.

Dixons, for years (and this goes back into my early 20's) had a reputation for being a morbid shopping experience, full of unknowledgeable staff and a sales pitch which made the suggestion of an extended warranty feel more uncomfortable and unwelcome rather than convenient and useful.

My point being, Dixons were like this BEFORE he joined and continued to be this way during his time and until they went online only. I bought my first iMac from PC World, part of the same group, and when I suggested I'd like an iMac the salesman insisted I try "this amazing Advent PC" instead. When I said no, he lost interest and literally walked away from me. At that time there was no Apple Store in Glasgow.

I applied to work Part Time at PC World during my time as a student (this is going back to 1999/00) and at the interview I was asked to describe to the manager, in "dumbed down terms" what RAM, a CPU, and "the upcoming DVD" was. I explained as simple as I could, in my eyes, and he said I had been TOO detailed. There are other details, such as how the view people who come in for one product and are "nudged" toward another, more expensive one with features they don't even need, but I won't go into that.

A truly horrible shopping experience and I can see nothing good from Dixons or PC World that this man can bring to Apple's already excellent retail stores. I mean, if the warranty system and forced attempts to make customers take out credit is the way forward for Apple, then I'm out.

Yup, Dixons group has the same reputation over here that Best Buy has in America if anyone wants a comparison. So I am unsure what he can bring to Apple. Unless his hands were tied, he certainly had no effect on the disinterested, bland and lack of knowledge it's staff has. Couple that with the worst aftersales service in the history of man.

If does bring any of Dixons to Apple, expect staff to start blaming the customer for hardware faults and Apple becoming unwilling to swap faulty products unless threatened with sales or goods act or similar.

 

[teasphere]

This kind of thing infuriates me as someone that worked retail briefly when I was younger... if a regular employee would have spent 30 minutes with just a single customer and done exactly what he did to sell a single TV they would have been severely chastised and "good customer service" would not have entered into it. When these big shots roll up and play pretend and do whatever the hell they want it is spun as some major positive thing. If every employee did this they'd need 10x the employees and you can bet they'd be pissed off to no end and implementing maximum time limits and all kinds of other inane rules to end it quick. FFS.

 

[KPTChristopher]

PC World

I visited PC World yesterday and every single Mac had a password protected screensaver. It was like this a few years ago when I last had a look at the Macs there and after reading about the customer service focus that John Browett has thought that this anti-Mac bias maybe had changed. No, still the same. None of the PCs are password protected.

 

[50548]

I don't think many Brits suffer from delusions of grandeur these days - at least not one that stems from being British! If anything we suffer from the lack of the sort of strong, positive national identity that places like Canada or Switzerland enjoy.

If you think Hackney is anything like the worst neighbourhoods in the US or Brazil then you haven't seen a lot of bad neighbourhoods. These days it isn't even the worst neighbourhood in London, not by a long shot!

My sly comment about the empire shouldn't be taken seriously, of course...

But I can definitely tell you that visiting Hackney on foot (mind you, on a Sunday afternoon) made me feel awfully unsafe for me and my wife (notably in terms of suspicious juvenile characters), and much more than similar places in equally large cities like NY or São Paulo.

So if UK neighborhoods are going in the same direction, my condolences...you guys definitely have a lot of work to do.

 

[Roheryn]

The only thing I ever came away with from Curry's, Dixon's or PC World was an overwhelming sense of being unclean and wanting to take a shower... Ugh.

Ahhh.....memories of the Bad Old Days ! Bought my first Mac in the Richmond Dixons in 1995. Browsed around the Isleworth PC World on a regular basis and was just as regularly ignored by pimply youths masquerading as salemen for looking at Mac software. When I was checking out the Performa 6500, which came with a creative suite (still unmatched as a bundle to this day, IMO) one sneered
"And what are you going to do with THAT?"
"Edit video" I replied.His jaw dropped and he shut up.
And so I did - years before I ever saw anyone do it on a home PC. And I bought it through a job-related scheme with no tax.

 

[Lankyman]

Wow, people in the UK sure do like to whine and complain a lot.

Here is an idea, why don't you complain or suggest improvements to those stores instead of coming here to complain? Or even better, get off your arse and create a better competitor in the marketplace.


I suppose complaining directly would require some effort and possibly require some actual "proof" that you were a legitimate customer in the past which is why it is much easier to just complain anonymously on sites like this.

I'll take your rudeness for what it is i.e rudeness. I have holidayed both in Canada and the USA and consider you do customer service really well. Believe me you would not be happy shopping at DSGi We do have a retailer, John
Lewis who is the equal of any retailer including Apple. It's because we care about Apple that we Brits are horrified by this appointment. To the poster who thinks we're jealous this guy is leaving the UK, what about Jonathan Ive?

 

[KeithJenner]

Which is sort of the issue. There are working with much smaller margins than Apple are and thus cannot be expected to produce the same experience.

Very probably.

I'm talking about my experiences, not the reasons for them. Hopefully this is a reason why Apple will be able to continue their customer service levels.

I will say though, I used to work for a company who produced Advent computers for PC World. It was a while ago, but the margins they were working on then weren't too bad (not Apple levels, but pretty good)

 

[satcomer]

That's pretty cool. Sounds like undercover boss.

Maybe this is just an executive that actually wants to know the WHOLE business he/she is in charge of.

 

[MuppetGate]

Yes John Lewis has a better experience but its a whole different ball game. Its a much more expensive shop. (yes they price match) but they can use a very good profit margin to help the electronic sales side of things.

Exactly. Moreover, John Lewis is a partnership; the people who work there own the company so they have a vested interest in it being the very best it can be. They work hard, are reasonably well-paid and very well looked after, which makes for a much better shopping experience. If you go to work for JLP then there is a fair chance you will retire there.
Staff at DSG work long hours for retail pay. They don't see much of the company profits and have no plans to spend their whole working lives there. This is something Browett inherited and I'm not sure how he could change this.

Personally, I'm not as concerned with Browett's appointment as I am with Apple's reaction to the backlash. I think it was a mistake to respond to all this whining from people who, as far as I believe, have little experience in running a multi-million pound retail operation during a recession. If Jobs were alive he certainly wouldn't have wasted time on bunch of armchair CEOs second-guessing him.

The idea that the bloke's going to come in and turn the Apple Stores into Dixons just defies logic.

 

[GreatBoo]

If Jobs were alive he certainly wouldn't have wasted time on bunch of armchair CEOs second-guessing him.

The idea that the bloke's going to come in and turn the Apple Stores into Dixons just defies logic.

I think in your need to come across as diplomatic you are dismissing the concers being raised. I don't think anyone's trying to be an armchair CEO, but rather trying to understand how the disperate experiences of shopping at Apple and Dixons are going to marry under John Browett's guidance.

 

[Hughmac]

Must have been having a bad day ... apologies for my silly comments

Cheers

Hugh

 

[Lankyman]

My first post, and my last...
So sorry to all the normal people, but the bitching and continual arguing on here has totally tainted the experience.

Going back to Mac-forums where I belong

Cheers

Hugh

Ah yes the forum where no dissent from the strict Apple is great script is allowed and if you do then immediate suspension follows.