Getting close to your customers

I was running a workshop yesterday and one of the topics up for discussion was the importance of forming strong customer relationships.  One global company has succeeded more than almost any other in turning its customers into raging fans, despite the fact that not all of their offerings are anything like as trouble free as we might be lead to believe.  Apple has people queuing at its stores as I write to pay full price for its latest offering; the new iPhone 6 will fly off the shelves in its millions in the next few days… Why?

Well one reason is its in-store employees are trained with the following acronym A.P.P.L.E. that gives them a step-by-step guide to keep customers smiling:

• A pproach with a personal, warm welcome
• P robe politely to understand the customer’s needs
• P resent a solution the customer can take home today
• L isten for and resolve issues or concerns
• E nd with a fond farewell and an invitation to return

If you think about this it is just common sense, but not by any means always practiced.  I’d argue that you should Listen before you Present your solution, but I’m sure they do that. 

So maybe an APPLE a day will keep your customers here rather than away..

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 9th, 2014 at 08:19 and is filed under Communication, Hints, Tips & Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.