Apple, Inc. is world renowned as the most successful and historically significant technology corporation in the world for its revolutionary contributions to computer hardware, operating systems, and seamless user interfaces that are focused on consumers. From the beginning, Apple’s co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs stated “You’ve gotta start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology” (Isaacson, 2015). Under this philosophy, Apple has managed to establish a humble line of products which have introduced entire new sectors to the industry and completely surpassed any existing solutions (Isaacson, 2015). Given the astronomical success of the iPhone, iPad, Macintosh, iPod, and Apple TV hardware product lines, one can clearly observe that the Cupertino based consumer electronics organization has mastered the art of customer relationship management (CRM).
By definition, CRM includes the guidelines, practices, and principles that an organization follows during interactions with their base of consumers. Extending well beyond service, sales, and other financial transactions, CRM is the deep understanding of a customer’s wants, needs, points of pain, and priorities. Although Jobs believed that CRM is the core of any company’s success, he also operated under the notion that customers do not truly know what they want or need until a product (symbolizing the solution) is finally introduced to them. This philosophy has also contributed to Apple’s influence in the field of Information Technology, as Jobs once urged companies to “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close, in fact, that you tell them what they need before they realize it themselves”.
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Consistently topping customer service charts, Apple has surpassed all competitors in the personal computing industry for the seventh straight year, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) produced by the University of Michigan. Instead of leaving primary interactions to random staffers of big retail chains, Apple invested in created its own line of private stores (Toolbox, 2009). By establishing an environment devoted to selling its own unique products, Apple achieved a competitive advantage such that they were able to monitor and manage every detail of customer interaction. At every Apple store, a Genius bar is hosted which allows customers to interact with employees to get their questions answered and problems solved. According to training manuals, employees are trained not to focus on sales but instead to comprehend every single need of the customer including those of which they may not realize they have (Toolbox, 2009).
In addition to constructing what is perhaps the most valuable brand existing in the world today, Apple stores are noted for being the most profitable spaces in retail of all time, generating over $5,500 per square foot (Toolbox, 2009). Despite this, the majority of consumers that enter Apple stores do not make purchases. This group, primarily composed of young adult professionals, middle-aged parents, and teenagers congregate to hang out and experiment with Apple’s innovative new products. Without pressuring customers into purchasing products, the employees focus their energy on creating a knowledgeable, passionate, and friendly atmosphere and encourage the product’s experience (Toolbox, 2009). Furthermore, the customer service evolves from the core of the business model. Quality control is asserted at fundamental levels, from the veil of secrecy that clouds knowledge of exciting new products to the heavily regulated App Store and its mobile operating system known as iOS. Through the ownership of the retail and online shopping experience to command of all products’ software platform, Apple’s unprecedented control has allowed them to rise to a new class of service quality and CRM.
Specifically, the App Store, a shopping platform for proprietary software built solely for Apple’s products is the single most regulated market in Information Technology. Every single application (“app”) that attempts to earn a place in the store’s digital catalog undergoes a severe process of vetting on behalf of Apple to guarantee functionality, quality, safety, and security for the sake of the customer (Toolbox, 2009). Jobs personally went as far as banning the implementation of Macromedia/Adobe Flash on all Apple devices; multimedia software that was once necessary to view over 75 percent of the video content across the entirety of the internet, for this very reason (Isaacson, 2015). Although customer management is traditionally perceived by tech companies as an expense to be minimized, Apple has always viewed it as an investment for the long term development of both the brand and customer loyalty. Other notable customer focused decisions include Apple’s refusal to relocate its North American phone service support offshore and maintain a simplistic approach to the replacement of broken devices (Toolbox, 2009).
While such choices are what set Apple apart in satisfaction, the true mark of the silicon valley kingpin’s success is their dedication to only a handful of products. Following Jobs’s perspective, perfection and completion is only achieved when one narrows their efforts to less than 5 or 6 goals. By continuing to refine their smartphone, tablet, personal computer, smart watch, and television solutions, Apple has maintained leadership in multiple sectors of the industry (Heisler, 2015). According to engineer Balaji Viswanathan, part of what catalyzed Microsoft’s failure with their mobile phone is the fact that the organization was working on up to 40 different products and technologies, even though it had a smartphone blueprint well before the introduction of the iPhone (Heisler, 2015). Unfortunately, Microsoft entered the market too late, and the Windows Phone never managed to steal customers away from Apple and Google’s Android devices (Heisler, 2015). Knowing that the key to mastering CRM is for any customer, regardless of background or intelligence, is to be able to answer the question of “What is our business”, Apple continues to lead in productivity, satisfaction, and innovation (Isaacson, 2015).
- Heisler, Y. (2015, August 3). Microsoft engineer exposes the inside story: Why Windows Phone was doomed from the start. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from http://bgr.com/2015/08/03/windows-phone-failure-microsoft-engineer/
- Toolbox. (2009, October 1). 11 Effective Strategies Apple Uses to Create Loyal Customers. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/11-effective- strategies-apple-uses-to-create-loyal-customers-53510
