Apple…The Ultimate Customer Experience
It is Sunday May 27th (Memorial Day Weekend) 9:40pm in New York City, and I need more memory for my iMac. Should I:
a) Order 2×512MB chips on-line
b) Wait until the next morning to drop off at Comp USA (and pick up a few days later)
c) Go to the Apple Store on 5th Avenue
d) Procrastinate for another 4 months
If you picked “C”, you are correct. And not only is it amazing that this (and others) are open 24 hours a day, but when I got there, 150 people were touring, playing and… YES… buying (the most important take-away).
Within 15 minutes, I had my “new and improved” computer. They were only too happy to help. Why is Apple one of the few companies who really get it?
A recent New York Times article offered a few clues when it discussed how Steve Jobs kicked Apple’s aesthetic considerations to the curb in favor of creating the kind of in-store conditions that would harness the power of the ultimate customer experience. What Steve Jobs knew that his competitors had yet to figure out was that his stores weren’t just selling products, they were selling satisfaction. And it doesn’t take glitzy stores to deliver that feeling. With plenty of available stock, one-on-one consultations and expert post sale service, Apple quickly took the lead.
Let’s compare Apple to Sony. With huge stores and a depth of product availability that should boost Sony’s popularity, stores remain understaffed and under-visited by the public. A walk through a Sony store quickly proves that staff not only outnumbers customers, but the staff seems less preoccupied with stellar customer service. Although the Vice President of Sony, Dennis Syracuse, dismisses allegations that Sony is ill-equipped to compete with Apple, stating that Sony stores were conceived as a fashion boutique for women and children that incidentally happened to carry electronics instead of clothing, Sony has failed to impress retail consultants, who easily see the difference between the two retailers in ‘shopability’ and the emotional connection to customers.
Apple has created an environment where people look forward to spending their money. By contrast, Sony has built stores full of stuff that people have not made an emotional connection to. As always, the proof is in the pudding. Apple released results for the quarter ended March 31. More than 21.5 million people visited its 180 stores for a 34% increase in sales that totaled $855 million. It’s hard to argue with numbers like that.
Tags: Apple, Customer Experience, New York Times