After spending one year researching the Apple Retail Store, I reached the conclusion that the secret sauce to Apple’s astonishing success in retail lies in what customers don’t see—the way employees are hired, trained, motivated, and taught to communicate with customers.
When it comes to hiring, the Apple Store doesn’t care about how much you know as much as it wants to know how much you care. The ideal Apple Store candidate knows a little about computers and a lot about people. Ten percent of the hiring decision is based on know-how; ninety percent on personality, passion, and the ability to work well in a team. One Apple hiring manager told me he would prefer to hire a teacher who doesn’t know computers before hiring a computer expert who can’t teach. Hiring the right people allows Apple managers to lead rather than dictate or manage.
With the exception of the repair technicians who staff the Genius Bar, Apple doesn’t hire for technical knowledge as much as it hires for personality. Apple also celebrates diversity. Nose rings, piercings, tattoos, and mohawks are all welcome. There are no barriers to race, sex, age, or appearance because Apple has learned that customers appreciate passionate employees. Attitude trumps aptitude.
The soul of Apple
If you’re looking for a “job,” Apple doesn’t want you. Apple prefers to hire people who hear a “calling” to apply. Apple hires people who want to play a role in creating the best-loved technology on the planet. Apple hires people who take joy in helping others discover tools they can use to change the way they live, work, and play. Apple hires enthusiastic people who want to help others achieve their dreams.
Apple builds loyal customers because it hires for personality. The company cannot train for personality. No company can. The filtering process begins at the Apple website, which specifically states the company is only looking for people who want to change the world and who want to positively impact the lives of others. On the tenth anniversary of the Apple Store, the company created a poster that was circulated among its employees. It was meant to inspire employees and capture the spirit of the company. But if you read the poster carefully, it reveals much of the magic behind the brand and provides lessons for any company attempting to create a next-generation customer experience. According to the poster, “At the very center of all we’ve accomplished are our people. We recruit employees with such different backgrounds—teachers, musicians, artists, engineers—that there’s a lot they can teach us. We’ve learned how to value a magnetic personality just as much as proficiency.”
Walk into an Apple Store and you will not find a “cashier.” You will find a concierge, a creative, even a genius. But no cashier. A cashier is someone who exchanges money for a product. A cashier doesn’t inspire. A cashier doesn’t educate. A cashier cannot create magical experiences. According to Jobs’s biographer Walter Isaacson, “Jobs’s primary test for recruiting people in the spring of 1981 to be part of his merry band of pirates was making sure they had a passion for the product. He would sometimes bring candidates into a room where a prototype of the Mac was covered by a cloth, dramatically unveil it, and watch. If their eyes lit up, if he went right for the mouse and started pointing and clicking, Steve would smile and hire them. He wanted them to say wow!”
Ron Johnson once said that Apple wants to reach your heart instead of your wallet. If you can touch your customers’ heart, profits will follow. But no company can touch hearts with heartless staff. Hire nice, friendly employees who have a passion for service and enthusiasm for your product. Hire those who say “wow!” They are the soul of your company.