Apple Makes It as Easy as 1-2-3
Almost everyone knows the same aged old story when buying a new computer. When you buy your new computer it can be rather exciting, but then you have the challenge of moving existing data over to your new computer system. Sometimes even worse…you have to learn a completely new user interface since certain companies like to change the way things look with every new version. Some may think nothing of a change like that, like myself, but I think I might be biased. Overall however, I have found that that over 90% of my current customer base when surveyed, would rather stick with something that they know versus something completely new. That doesn’t come as such a big surprise when you factor in how fast technology keeps changing. Factoring this in, I would almost bet that a majority of Windows XP users were against moving to Windows Vista solely because of the fact that the system is so dramatically different than what they are use to and what they know. So you would think that with all the new changes to the operating system from version to version, that Microsoft would offer superior customer support…well my experiences speak differently.
As a general rule, I don’t like to “buy in” to television advertisements unless they can prove to be factual in some way or form, especially coming from a company like Apple who primarily runs their advertisement campaign to compete against the PC market. That being said, the video illustrated on customer service is painfully accurate as I can’t help but agree at how easy Apple has made the customer experience, after my recent visit at the Apple Store in the Menlo Park Mall in Edison, NJ. I went to the Apple Store with a simple question in mind: If I were to act as a typical business customer and show interest in purchasing a new computer from Apple, how hard would it be, and what would my experience be like?
Upon entering the Apple Store I was immediately greeted by several Apple employees whom asked me if they could help me out. I asked to speak with a business representative as I was planning a purchase of an Apple machine for my business. I was greeted by Scott Goldstein, who then asked me what brought me into the Apple Store. I explained that I was looking for a new notebook computer that I could use to do screen recordings for my blog here at InfoSource. I told him that I already had a PC that was setup for me to be able to do screen recordings, and was looking for a machine that I could use to do Apple Mac OS X screen recordings on. He let me know that every machine that Apple sells that comes pre-loaded with OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard” has the ability to do screen recording built-in to the machine using Quicktime X and then demonstrated what he was talking about to me. He asked me some fairly basic and simple questions and in no time, quickly helped me narrow my search down to the Apple MacBook Pro 13″ notebook computer system. I was encouraged to try the machine out that was on display, take note of its 7 hour internal battery life, and note that the machine could address up to 8 GB of memory for the stress that I would be putting it under. Finally, after a short while, Scott was able to check me out right from where I was standing in the store via his wireless checkout terminal. I was still trying out the demo machine at this time, and unlike most sales representatives, it is important to note that he took the time to ask me if there were any accessories I needed or questions I had before finalizing the transaction. From the point in which I met with the business representative to the time I checked out with my new Apple MacBook Pro 13″ notebook computer system, I had been given all the answers I came in looking for, had a chance to try out the computer system in which I was interested in purchasing, and was given enough time to absorb all the information relayed to me without any pressure to purchase anything! The entire staff was friendly, welcoming, and knowledgeable, all knowing who exactly would be best to answer specific questions that were directed to them. The entire staff worked so well that you would think that the Apple Store was a well oiled machine! You can see pictures I took from the visit bellow:
I don’t know retail outlets plan on handling the holiday rush that will be starting this Friday for Black Friday, but if I were looking to purchase a new computer, I would take the time to check out my nearest Apple Store as the experience I had was a pleasure!
James Zepp
November 25, 2009
Tags: Apple, Apple Store, Business, customer service, Edison, experience, infosource, James Zepp, MacBook Pro, Menlo Park, NJ, purchase, Scott Goldstein Posted in: Apple, Apple, Business, Consumer
Name: James Zepp
Occupation: CTO
Company: Acxsis
Age: 26
One Response
Thinking Outside "The Box" | InfoSource - November 25, 2009
[...] new Apple MacBook Pro 13″ notebook computer system that I wrote about in the previous post, Apple Makes It as Easy as 1-2-3, thinking nothing of it, I thought that its quite likely that some of you may never have had the [...]
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