The Apple Experience: Secrets to Building Insanely Great Customer Loyalty (25 page)

To show you how to apply these four steps, Table 13.1 shows how Apple could have created a message map for the iPhone 4S.

Figure 13.2 shows step four—all the content from the first three steps listed in Table 13.1 positioned in the appropriate place on the message map for the iPhone 4S.

And there you have it. Message mapping is one of the most powerful communication techniques you will ever find. A message map can provide the foundation for a thirty-second elevator pitch, a ten-minute conversation, or a twenty-minute presentation. Best of all, every member of your sales staff can speak from the same playbook. Keep in mind that every spokesperson for the brand should be encouraged and given the flexibility to use different examples and stories that mean something to him or her and that are relevant to his or her customers.

Figure 13.2
Complete Message Map for iPhone 4S

If your company carries only a few products like Apple (Macs, iPods, iPads), then you should have a message for each product or at least each product category. But what if your brand carries hundreds of products like the soap company Lush? The brand does spend a lot of money sending new products to the homes of its employees so they can talk about the products from personal knowledge, but it would be impossible—and unpractical—to create a message map about each bar of soap. So in a case like Lush, the company could create a message map to share its brand and core values—a messaging template that would apply to every product in the store. Figure 13.3 shows what a message map could look like for values that the Lush brand represents.

This message map has only three key points that reinforce the headline. Three is a good number. Four is acceptable, but try to avoid creating a message map with more than four supporting
messages. Make it easy for all brand spokespeople to remember and deliver the story.

Figure 13.3
Brand Message Map for Lush

In Chapter 8 we revealed the Apple five steps of service. Step three is to “present a solution.” The solution includes a clear description of the benefits. It answers the question, “What product is right for me, and why should I care?” You and your staff will have a hard time explaining those solutions clearly and persuasively without a script. Rehearsing a script does not imply that your employees must stick to a predetermined template (that’s why car salesmen and phone solicitors annoy us so much). But it does mean that everyone—every customer facing employee—knows the key messages, internalizes the narrative, and delivers the story consistently.

O
n the days following the passing of Steve Jobs, the clean and uncluttered glass windows that are a hallmark of Apple Stores were suddenly filled with sticky notes from millions of people around the world who left handwritten expressions of sympathy. Nearly every one of the 360 Apple Stores became makeshift shrines to the visionary leader:

 

• Toronto:
  “Thank you, Steve.”
  
 

• San Francisco:
  “iSad”
  
 

• London:
  “Steve, you were the role model for our generation.”
  
 

• Hong Kong:
  “Steve, thanks for pursuing what you wanted to do in life.”
  
 

• China:
  “The one and only Steve Jobs, remembered forever.”
  
 

• Japan:
  “You’re a genius, a legend, a fighter, and my hero.”
  

At the Apple Store in Tokyo’s Ginza district, a woman placed a bouquet in front of the store, backed away, and stood silently in prayer. Dozens of flowers had already been placed on the ground. Personal sentiments such as, “Steve, thank you for your genius,” were left behind. People even left red apples carved to show a depiction of Steve Jobs. Other apples simply had a bite taken out of them to mimic the iconic Apple logo.
¹

As I watched this display of emotion on YouTube clips that people had uploaded from around the world, I thought, “How could one man inspire such a show of affection from millions of people who never met him?” The former president of The Ritz-Carlton, Simon Cooper, once told me that people never fall in love with a thing. They fall in love with people who make them feel special. The mourners who were laying flowers in front of Apple Stores had lost someone who had created an experience that made them feel special, and they chose to display their emotion at a symbol of that experience—the Apple Retail Store. People may enjoy their
iPods or iPads, but nobody is going to spontaneously write a note or lay flowers in front of a store because they like its products. Yes, those people were honoring Steve’s legacy, but the location in which they chose to display their emotions carries a special place in their memories.

Mourners in China.
Source: Getty Images

People are the heart of an Apple Retail Store, and the heart beats consistently from store to store. If you step into the Apple Store in Tokyo or Paris, you’ll meet friendly people who are committed to creating an empowering and enriching experience for each and every customer. Visit an Apple Store in San Francisco or Hong Kong, and you’ll meet Geniuses who don’t fix computers but repair relationships instead. And whether you buy a Mac in Manhattan or Madrid, you will be introduced to Creatives who empower customers to find solutions for themselves.

In every store, “the staff is exceptionally well trained, and they’re not on commission, so it makes no difference to them if they sell you an expensive new computer or help you make your old one run better so you’re happy with it. Their job is to figure out what you need and help you get it, even if it’s a product Apple doesn’t carry,”
²
said Ron Johnson. “Compare that with other retailers where the emphasis is on cross-selling and upselling and basically, encouraging customers to buy more, even if they don’t want or need it. That doesn’t enrich their lives, and it doesn’t deepen the retailer’s relationship with them. It just makes their wallets lighter.” Regardless of which Apple Store you visit, you will find:

 

• Friendly people who follow the Apple five steps of service, beginning with a warm welcome as soon as you step through the door
  
 

• Employees positioned at the front entrance during new product launches so they can cheer and clap for customers when they walk out with their new devices
  
 

• Smiling staff who distribute bottled water or pizza slices to people in line during the aforementioned product launches. Some even hand out umbrellas on rainy days
  
 

• Sales associates who complete transactions with iPod Touches equipped with credit card readers
  
 

• Interactive areas where kids can play with computers loaded with games and educational software
  
 

• One to One training tables where Creatives teach customers to use Apple products and software
  
 

• Genius Bars where highly trained employees troubleshoot concerns or malfunctioning products
  
 

• Personalized setup areas where Apple employees provide customers with assistance in getting their new devices up and running. The setup provides customers with an incentive to buy products in the Apple Store, and it also reduces problems when people get home. It also reduces frustration. Setup issues are the most common reasons for visits to the Genius Bar.
  

Customers will pay a premium for excellent service and for the consistent delivery of that service. In one survey, nearly 75 percent of customers said that businesses do not value their customers enough.
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They also said they are willing to pay a 10 percent premium for excellent customer service. I agree. In 1996, I bought my wife’s engagement ring from Tiffany & Co., knowing full well that I was paying a premium for its Fifth Avenue location, its quality, and for the joy of seeing her face light up when she saw the blue box. But it was the service that ultimately sold me.