Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Inside Apple's Retail Store Operation

barnetty said:
wow...i thought this was an isolated thing that happened to me last year when i went to buy a MBAir.

I had already scouted all the versions and knew exactly the one i wanted so when i walked into the store i just said i want the Macbook Air ...with such and such. They guy then starts asking me stuff like "who is it for?", "what are they going to use it for?", "does that person currently own bla bla bla?" ...ultimately i got pissed and asked the guy if there was some reason why i wasnt allowed to just buy the one i was asking for and if i needed to fill some sort of requirement in order for him to allow me to pay him for the computer? then the guy got angry and told me that he considered himself a "salesman" and if he just sells me the machine then he is nothing but a clerk.

ultimately i ended up getting the one i wanted because if was a gift a buddy had asked me to get for his dad but geez i almost turned around and just walked out of there empty handed.
Click to expand...

maybe that guy came from Best Buy to work for Apple. Sometimes it takes time to wash that off.
 
Thunderhawks said:
In sales it doesn't pay to get mad at a customer.
There are certain things one cannot do.

If that was me, I would have congratulated you on your choice, thanked you in a humorous way for making my sales life easy and asked you to let me know if you needed or were interested in anything else.
Click to expand...

You need to talk to the car salesman that emailed me last week after bugging me with multiple emails and phone messages about when I was going to come into his dealership to see the car I inquired about. I sent him a curt reply saying "I will let you know when/if I continue to pursue this particular vehicle" thinking that he'd get the hint and back off.

His reply was so precious I've kept it in my archives. It was ALL CAPS, poorly written and punctuated, with a sarcastic tone ("WELL I WOULD HATE TO SELL YOU A CAR IF YOU WEREN'T SURE YOU WANTED TO BUY FROM ME SIR") and then went on to say "I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT, PERHAPS YOUR AFRAID TO COMMIT" [sic] :eek: :rolleyes:

Apparently he learned from the Biff Tannen school of sales training. Insult your customers and maybe you can embarrass them into give you their money.
 
Come to think of it, why would anyone not buy online? If you buy Apple products, you know what you want already. Why the hassle of starting the car? It's not like you go into the store wanting a laptop and come out with a music player.
 
un.titled said:
I didn't say that, but aside from price (which is what I mentioned), why would you buy a Dell instead? I enjoy the flexibility of running two OS's.
Click to expand...

You were fine up until this point.

Not everyone needs to run Mac OSX, so why would a customer that wants to game and nothing else need to run two OSes? Especially if they aren't going to ever boot into MacOSX.
 
*LTD* said:
Apple's numbers tell the tale. These stores aren't a retail success story by accident. They don't rake in insane amounts of money because the people who work there make customers feel like garbage, are dishonest, unhelpful, etc.

There's no miracle at work here. The places are well-run and they're effective. If you think there's some other force at play, do let us know.

But I'm sure your personal anecdotes are appreciated.
Click to expand...

Making large sums of money means you're good at making large sums of money, not that your customer service is great. Having a brainwashed customer base that is willing to spend ludicrous amounts of money without considering other options helps a lot. But wrap yourself up in that nice warm blanket of assuming Apple is the best at everything. I know you will.
 
MrSmith said:
Come to think of it, why would anyone not buy online? If you buy Apple products, you know what you want already. Why the hassle of starting the car? It's not like you go into the store wanting a laptop and come out with a music player.
Click to expand...

Lots of reasons

  1. Instant Gratification (No need to wait for shipping)
  2. Often times people cannot sign for delivery as they are at work
  3. Shipping always has a greater probability for risk
 
Digital Skunk said:
You were fine up until this point.

Not everyone needs to run Mac OSX, so why would a customer that wants to game and nothing else need to run two OSes? Especially if they aren't going to ever boot into MacOSX.
Click to expand...

If they aren't ever going to boot into OSX, then why are they in an Apple store?
 
I remember back in the days of CompUSA and working sales there. I hated it. I loved helping people get a computer they wanted, and loved the sales associates I worked with, but that was about it. I hated being told on a daily basis that if a customer didn't want a service plan or other items to go along with their computer to make them leave and go else where (kinda makes you understand why they went under). I treated a customer as they wanted to; if they want a service plan, they got one, if they didn't, no problem. I didn't heckle them. I told them my little story and that was it.
 
notjustjay said:
I think if a retail store wants to be truly revolutionary, they shouldn't even track "attachment rates". Train the staff to ask if they want AppleCare, or if they want to buy ___ with their purchase, sure. But if the customer says no, leave it at that. Don't divert employees for failing to sell "enough". Let them focus on being straight talkers.

For that matter, they should take that "solve the customer's problem" to the very end and, if it really sounds like the customer really ought to go buy a Dell PC, then the associate should be free to say so. Despite the doctrine, Macs can't be 100% for everybody.

Establish a store with a reputation of honest straight talk sales staff with absolutely no pressure. Apple could pull it off, too, because of its philosophy of designing products that WOW you. Let the products sell themselves. THAT would be revolutionary.
Click to expand...

I completely agree.

There is nothing more annoying than a pushy fondamentalist.
 
barnetty said:
then the guy got angry and told me that he considered himself a "salesman" and if he just sells me the machine then he is nothing but a clerk.

ultimately i ended up getting the one i wanted because if was a gift a buddy had asked me to get for his dad but geez i almost turned around and just walked out of there empty handed.
Click to expand...

If I was you, I would have not had the same patience and composure. If he had said that to me, I would have looked him straight in the eye and said "Well, salesman... you just lost a sale." and walked right out the door.
 
MrSmith said:
Come to think of it, why would anyone not buy online? If you buy Apple products, you know what you want already. Why the hassle of starting the car? It's not like you go into the store wanting a laptop and come out with a music player.
Click to expand...

I try not to go into an Apple store to buy stuff. I'll go in if I need service or if there's a new thing out I want to play with, but the one time I bought something there (an iPad I'd reserved), it was because there had been a rash of them with faulty screens and I wanted to make sure mine was fine. What should have been a 5 minute in and out turned into 15 minutes of "wait for the pushy salesman to be free", followed by 15 minutes of "pushy salesman trying to sell attachments" before they would permit me to purchase said iPad.
 
WhySoSerious said:
A successful salesman never takes "no" for an answer. It'll work on the weak ones, but the ones who are good at their job and make a living off of it, they treat "no" as "tell me more". :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

It has less to do with the salesman and more to do with how you say no. I assure you, no matter the salesman, my no is never interpreted "tell me more." If yours is, you need to reevaluate how you communicate.
 
Aduntu said:
It has less to do with the salesman and more to do with how you say no. I assure you, no matter the salesman, my no is never interpreted "tell me more." If yours is, you need to reevaluate how you communicate.
Click to expand...

LMBO :D

So true!

I personally like seeing them run. If they ask if I need help, I'll say, "SURE! Can you show me where the Apple earbuds are?" just to have them walk me around the store showing me things I already know.

Keeps them on their toes.
 
wordoflife said:
The guy who sold me my MacBook Pro was rather pushy but I'm glad Apple is not promoting that.
Click to expand...

I remember when I purchased my first MacBook Pro in 2006 or so, the guy at the Apple store was actually trying to down-sell me into a regular MacBook. The difference in price had to be at least $500. Pretty weird to say the least.
 
Wow, I'm surprised by some of the things I'm hearing in this thread, only because my experience has been so different.

I live in SoFla, a high traffic tourist area. We are used to being pressured for up-sales and add-ons. I will not shop at Brand-smart and I stopped shopping at CompUSA altogether because of how bad it got.

Both of my local Apple Store are pretty no pressure. Ofcourse, they always ask if I want AppleCare and MobileMe. They are always ready to discus when I have questions, but the moment I say "no," they drop the topic instantly.

The one time I went with my brother to get him a back-to-school special I had to keep reminding the man all the thing he could sell us. He brought out the free iPod, but I had to ask for a printer, MobileMe, and iWork.

Now, I will say one time I went into the store knowing what I wanted to buy, and they asked me to wait between fourty-five minutes and an hour for someone to check me out. Needless to say, I did not wait.
 
Last edited:
WhySoSerious said:
A successful salesman never takes "no" for an answer. It'll work on the weak ones, but the ones who are good at their job and make a living off of it, they treat "no" as "tell me more". :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Then you say **** NO" and tell them to pound sand.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
reden said:
They should work on how annoying it is to have employees blocking the entrances, and asking you if they can help you with anything all the time as soon as you put a foot in the door. It causes tension more than anything on the customer. They should just do what other stores do... If the customer needs help, let them ask for it.
Click to expand...

I agree. I feel like I have to explain myself to even go in the store at times. That is not welcoming. Plus it is always so busy it becomes overwhelming immediately.
 
un.titled said:
I'm not really sure what you're trying to say?
Click to expand...

iPhones, iPad, iPods, iTunes, Mobile Me, Mice, keyboards, hanging out with friends, being curious about Macs or any of the above products, just to piss off a Specialist, tech support, etc. etc. etc.

Most of the customers I dealt with when I worked there were Windows users with iPhones or iPods.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back