How to Fix Your Personell Issues on the Sales Floor
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I was in the Apple Store today, and was having a really hard time finding help just getting a copy of iWork I wanted for my laptop. I usually don’t ask questions at these stores and generally know what I want - I’m an easy sale. The thought came to me as I was standing in a really long line of customers that Apple could solve this with a simple solution.
Most of the customers taking up associates’ time were just asking simple questions about their Macs, or what type of Mac they should get, etc. What if Apple were to offer a commission to their customers for every sale brought to the Cashier resulting in a customer helping another customer? I would be happy to stick around longer personally just for a little bit to help other fellow customers if I was given an incentive to do so.
Using this method would ensure the easy sales like me were taken care of, and those with just questions can get their questions answered by those actually using the product. We had a whole group of fellow geeks standing around in the store today talking about our iPod hacking experiences - I’m sure we could have been put to good use. This solution could apply to almost any electronics store, and I’m sure could save thousands to millions of dollars in employment fees and customer satisfaction.
September 14th, 2007 at 9:59 am
There is no reason behind your logic. If any commission were given, extra pressure would be put on the customer to buy. It would deviate from Apple’s vision of its store experience. And if commission were granted based on pure quantity of sales, the cashier would only be half-way listening to you since they would be mindful of their NEXT customer. What if your question DID take time to answer? Then the associate would be frustrated because they’d really rather be paid then sit around answering your question. Furthermore, sometimes “simple” questions are not that simple. Many times a simple question may take longer than the customer expects to answer based on the amount of options he/she has. And in terms of those “fellow geeks standing around in the store talking about iPod hacking experiences”, there is no benefit to that for Apple since none of that information could be discussed about with the customer.
Sure…your logic COULD apply to almost any electronics store. But the Apple Store isn’t just “any electronics store”.
September 14th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Anonymous, wow - I feel as though I hit a nerve with you. I’m not sure the reasoning behind your logic either. The average user at an Apple store I would argue is smarter than that at “any electronics store”, so I would argue why not put these nerds to good use? The commissions go out anyway. I was expecting a simple “thank you for the tip! I’ll take that into consideration!” Oh, and why hide your identity?