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I came here meaning to be all snarky and cynical. I was going to say there's no way Apple trained him to do that, and they'd probably fire him when they caught

I came here meaning to be all snarky and cynical. I was going to say there's no way Apple trained him to do that, and they'd probably fire him when they caught on to what he was doing. Thanks for posting this and letting me know I was wrong. I still am puzzled. Apple is not shy about squeezing the bucks out of consumers. But this shows a level of customer-orientation that I didn't expect to see.

joonix 13y ago
Google does this as well. My dad's small business was shelling out thousands on AdWords per month. Their rep reached out to us, without solicitation, and offered to optimize our ad campaigns. They did so, and saved us at least $1,000 a month. This was a few years ago but I hope they're still the same.
- sksksk 13y ago
  So does Amazon, someone reached out to us and told us that we could save around $10,000 on our hosting costs if we went with reserved instances
  - australis 13y ago
    My bank did this to me. Called me to say if you close and re-open your internet based savings account you will get the higher "intro" interest rate for 4 months. I explained that I had always wondered about this loop hole... Before I even got around to visiting a branch close/re-open, I read on my statement that the bonus interest rate has been applied.
    - zellyn 13y ago
      This sounds more like someone boosting their personal numbers than company policy.
- robryan 13y ago
  This can go both ways, often the reps don't have enough domain knowledge to offer you anything that will actually improve ROI. Assuming you already know your way around the adwords basics. They may actually suggest broader terms and higher bids which will cost you more.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
Legion 13y ago
You can make more money from lifetime customers than you can one-time customers. One thing Apple has excelled at over its history is building a base of lifetime customers.
- masklinn 13y ago
  > You can make more money from lifetime customers than you can one-time customers. Exactly. And not only that, as TFAA did you may well get free advertisement to friends, family and the internet at large about how nice and human the experience was likely bringing in multiple lifetime customers.
- megablast 13y ago
  That is why it is annoying that people used to say that the only reason Apple is popular is because of marketing. Apple does so many things well.
  - dasil003 13y ago
    Yes, it's similar to how some people claim Android is just a cheap knock-off of iOS despite the obvious philosophical differences. There's always a very vocal minority that put so much ego into their tech choices that make it very unpleasant to try to have a public discussion about the pros and cons of various platforms.
    - mortenjorck 13y ago
      Yeah, unfortunately, it's just tribalism, a natural human inclination. Much of the discussion space of the internet seems to be devoted to this same sort of investment = identity problem; "fanboyism" is a common label for it, but it stems from the human need for group identification, and is alas a very easy, though shallow, way to achieve it.
  - kbar13 13y ago
    Like customer service such that customers perpetuate said marketing.
  - 13y ago
Nekorosu 13y ago
Actually it's a long-term strategy. Happy customer is returning customer.
epo 13y ago
Happy customers are repeat customers. Apple understand that perfectly.
yojimbo311 13y ago
Apple is most definitely shy of squeezing the bucks out of customers and they've proven that they have been willing to go to bat for customers to get a reasonable price. Not the lowest, not the best, but reasonable enough to keep things within reach of as many people as possible. They've even fought tooth and nail to create whole new economies that might not have existed at all even if it means kicking the doors open for competitors. Not just for you and me, not just because there's competition, but because their strategy as a whole demands it and I think it's proven very effective for them. If they really wanted to bleed customers to maximize their profits you can bet that we would have seen SIGNIFICANTLY higher prices for things like music and iPods etc. They work hard to keep prices as low as they can without sacrificing quality. It's not like it's some nefarious plot to create lock in either. It's simply a long term business strategy that I don't think the industry as a whole ever truly understood or appreciated until things really got tight. Apple's not the only one playing the satisfied customer game either, nor is it some novel concept, which is why it's always baffled me that folks who are interested in the long game don't bother to do the same thing on a consistent basis. Looking out for and providing customers with the best/most cost effective solutions you can offer to solve their problems creates a virtuous cycle. Sure, you may never see them again, but treat a person well and chances are very good, especially in a market like hardware and software, that you will and/or you'll see their friends.
calinet6 13y ago
"Squeezing the bucks out of consumers" leaves them dry. Apple wants them to stay customers. There are a lot more bucks in the long term. Really anything else is an extremely short-sighted business model.
addlepate 13y ago
> I came here meaning to be all snarky and cynical. I was going to say there's no way Apple trained him to do that, and they'd probably fire him when they caught on to what he was doing. And now for the real challenge: Figure out why you were convinced that there was no way that was true. I know you won't actually do this, who has the time? But it's worth considering nonetheless.
bane 13y ago
It also gives the sales person a genuine feeling that draws customers to interact with them for help instead of the typical kind of confrontational relationship in a customer/sales person interaction. Across the entire customer population it probably sells more stuff in aggregate than if the confrontational approach is used...
rsynnott 13y ago
Likely a long-term customer satisfaction thing. Someone who buys a Macbook Air and comes back and buys another one two years later is worth more than someone who buys a Macbook Pro, and, feeling ripped off, gets a Dell next time.

joonix 13y ago

Google does this as well. My dad's small business was shelling out thousands on AdWords per month. Their rep reached out to us, without solicitation, and offered to optimize our ad campaigns. They did so, and saved us at least $1,000 a month. This was a few years ago but I hope they're still the same.

sksksk 13y ago
So does Amazon, someone reached out to us and told us that we could save around $10,000 on our hosting costs if we went with reserved instances
- australis 13y ago
  My bank did this to me. Called me to say if you close and re-open your internet based savings account you will get the higher "intro" interest rate for 4 months. I explained that I had always wondered about this loop hole... Before I even got around to visiting a branch close/re-open, I read on my statement that the bonus interest rate has been applied.
  - zellyn 13y ago
    This sounds more like someone boosting their personal numbers than company policy.
robryan 13y ago
This can go both ways, often the reps don't have enough domain knowledge to offer you anything that will actually improve ROI. Assuming you already know your way around the adwords basics. They may actually suggest broader terms and higher bids which will cost you more.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

Legion 13y ago

You can make more money from lifetime customers than you can one-time customers. One thing Apple has excelled at over its history is building a base of lifetime customers.

masklinn 13y ago
> You can make more money from lifetime customers than you can one-time customers. Exactly. And not only that, as TFAA did you may well get free advertisement to friends, family and the internet at large about how nice and human the experience was likely bringing in multiple lifetime customers.
megablast 13y ago
That is why it is annoying that people used to say that the only reason Apple is popular is because of marketing. Apple does so many things well.
- dasil003 13y ago
  Yes, it's similar to how some people claim Android is just a cheap knock-off of iOS despite the obvious philosophical differences. There's always a very vocal minority that put so much ego into their tech choices that make it very unpleasant to try to have a public discussion about the pros and cons of various platforms.
  - mortenjorck 13y ago
    Yeah, unfortunately, it's just tribalism, a natural human inclination. Much of the discussion space of the internet seems to be devoted to this same sort of investment = identity problem; "fanboyism" is a common label for it, but it stems from the human need for group identification, and is alas a very easy, though shallow, way to achieve it.
- kbar13 13y ago
  Like customer service such that customers perpetuate said marketing.
- 13y ago

Nekorosu 13y ago

Actually it's a long-term strategy. Happy customer is returning customer.

epo 13y ago

Happy customers are repeat customers. Apple understand that perfectly.

yojimbo311 13y ago

Apple is most definitely shy of squeezing the bucks out of customers and they've proven that they have been willing to go to bat for customers to get a reasonable price. Not the lowest, not the best, but reasonable enough to keep things within reach of as many people as possible. They've even fought tooth and nail to create whole new economies that might not have existed at all even if it means kicking the doors open for competitors. Not just for you and me, not just because there's competition, but because their strategy as a whole demands it and I think it's proven very effective for them. If they really wanted to bleed customers to maximize their profits you can bet that we would have seen SIGNIFICANTLY higher prices for things like music and iPods etc. They work hard to keep prices as low as they can without sacrificing quality. It's not like it's some nefarious plot to create lock in either. It's simply a long term business strategy that I don't think the industry as a whole ever truly understood or appreciated until things really got tight. Apple's not the only one playing the satisfied customer game either, nor is it some novel concept, which is why it's always baffled me that folks who are interested in the long game don't bother to do the same thing on a consistent basis. Looking out for and providing customers with the best/most cost effective solutions you can offer to solve their problems creates a virtuous cycle. Sure, you may never see them again, but treat a person well and chances are very good, especially in a market like hardware and software, that you will and/or you'll see their friends.

calinet6 13y ago

"Squeezing the bucks out of consumers" leaves them dry. Apple wants them to stay customers. There are a lot more bucks in the long term. Really anything else is an extremely short-sighted business model.

addlepate 13y ago

> I came here meaning to be all snarky and cynical. I was going to say there's no way Apple trained him to do that, and they'd probably fire him when they caught on to what he was doing. And now for the real challenge: Figure out why you were convinced that there was no way that was true. I know you won't actually do this, who has the time? But it's worth considering nonetheless.

bane 13y ago

It also gives the sales person a genuine feeling that draws customers to interact with them for help instead of the typical kind of confrontational relationship in a customer/sales person interaction. Across the entire customer population it probably sells more stuff in aggregate than if the confrontational approach is used...

rsynnott 13y ago

Likely a long-term customer satisfaction thing. Someone who buys a Macbook Air and comes back and buys another one two years later is worth more than someone who buys a Macbook Pro, and, feeling ripped off, gets a Dell next time.