“The job of Apple Retail Store employees will begin changing in profound ways next month. In order to showcase and sell the Apple Watch, retail employees will be trained to provide personal fashion and styling advice to customers, according to employees briefed on the plans,” Mark Gurman reports for 9to5Mac. “Until now, Apple Retail has been tasked with recommending iPads, iPhones and Macs with few styling options aside from limited color options.”
“Apple is pushing for retail employees to initiate conversations that build trust,” Gurman reports, “enabling the employee to serve as a valued fashion advisor during the purchase process, similarly to how traditional watches are sold.”
Gurman reports, “Apple Watch sales training programs will take place for Apple retail staff over the course of the next two weeks, teaching entirely new sales techniques to encourage iPhone upgrades, assist with gifting, and guide customers in watch and strap choices.”
The full article, in which Gurman details how employees will provide fashion advice to customers and Apple’s multi-part plan for selling Apple Watches, is here.
MacDailyNews Hint: If you need fashion tips from an Apple Retail Store employee, you might be beyond hope. 😉
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
Below is my short script for Apple Retail Store customers who are approached by Apple Retail Store staffers attempting to “build trust” in order to offer “fashion advice.”
“You don’t know me, but nice t-shirt and lanyard. I’ll take that Watch with that band and my receipt via email. Thank you for your time.”
What an a**hole. They must really love you at a party. Yeah, right!
And for someone who has the ego to refer to himself/herself as a “superior being”, how did you miss the the fact that Apple retail employees haven’t worn lanyards since last autumn?
Why don’t you spend less time looking down your aristocratic nose at others, and more time doing something meaningful with your life? That being said, you may now walk up the stairs from the basement and suck on your mum’s tits.
Here in Portland I would be taking fashion advice from someone with face tattoos, a pierced nose, and ear plugs. Yeah, right!
Gotta love Hipsters, right?
As a Baby Boomer, I will never get the fascination Hipsters have with Tattoos. It still smacks of Carnies, Truck Drivers, Marines and Trailer Park Queens to me.
That reminds me. Note to self: find and destroy all photos of me from the 70s wearing far-out bell bottoms. ✌️
April 10, 2015 12:01 am…..Cuppertino Time…….
Apple.com……..express pay enabled, Watch pre-selected, press BUY NOW button……
Go back to bed…………………
April 24 Fedex brings Watch to front door……….then go to Apple Store and view the mayhem……..Send pics to MDN……!!!
Following in your footsteps 😉
God knows all this Apple Store watch effort isn’t for or needed by most of the regulars here at MDN. 🙂
Me doing same. 💥😜👀😃
Same here… 🙂
Press buy. Spinning beach ball. Servers overloaded. Sorry, no watch for you.
Love that photo. Where is that store where there’s just a few customers and I can have a nice, quiet conversation with the blue shirt?
Never mind. That would be a Microsoft store.
I would bet for one of the main Stores in New York, NY ( the one on 5th Ave )
Tod,
Conway Comms (UK) Ltd.
http://www.conwaycomms.com/product-category/store/
Fashion advice from a dork in a blue T-shirt. Uh huh.
Four groups of situations/ fashion advisors from now on:
1. any impressions the customer receives before entering the story from friends and family.
2. any impressions in the media, social media and advertising
3. Apple Store employees, hopefully not in T-shirts
4. Other people in the store at the time.
As unfortunate as fashion consulting might or might not turn out to be in regular Apple Stores,… it is what it is until new Watch Stores come out.
When iPods (and zunes) came out, then people responded in different ways. Now people’s actions are commonplace.
When Google Glass came out, ……… we know what happened there.
So, Watch fashion will settle down after some time.
“Profoundly change”, indeed. Now rather than solid wood tables with products on top, they will have hallowed wood tables with the products inside.
There’s that f-word again (fashion), intruding into the holy space of tech. The napping curmudgeons are waking up indignant, frowning and muttering. It’s too funny.
Meanwhile, in the Microsoft Store, they are hiring Facist advisors…
As long as their pay is being increased with the increased responsibility, it’s all good.
The thought that first occurred to me.
In a break with the historical practices of the high-end fashion watch seller, in which the sales person is paid a commission, the Apple Store employees will continue to get minimum wage and fewer benefits than Costco or Starbucks employees. That is going to be an astounding transformation, all right.
Alternatively, they could switch to commission based compensation. Then we will be greeted with a mob of supercilious twits, each trying to assess if we are there to buy, in which case they want to be our new best friend, or just to examine the goodness of Appledom, in which they won’t get paid if they spend time answering questions.
Third possibility, the sheep and the wolves will live together under one roof. Commission-compensated wolves, going after whatever prey happen through the door and sheep working for minimum wage to clean up after the wolves. How is that going to work out as a customer experience?
Apple holds records for retail sales volume per square foot, based on a model in which every employee was expected (and willing) to assist any person who came in the door select from a pretty limited number of products. The selection process to buy any Apple Watch will be completely different from all other Apple products. I don’t often get to a place where I can visit an Apple Store. Hope I’m still worthy the next time I show up.
I have no idea how things will turn out in relation to selling the Apple Watch, though I hope it’s better than some of what you’ve described.
Me too.
I may be an orangoutang.
Speaking of style. It’s time to retire the collarless shirt with the Apple in the center. Put a collar on and move the Apple logo off to the side.
I think changing their style does not matter while they offer quality products!
Yes the prominent outlet / look is important
but not as much important as their attitude, their service and products.
Regards,
Tricia
Personalised Cardboard Cutouts UK
Fashion advice from t shirt wearing geeks. I think not.