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Opinion: Why Apple’s sales-based retail reward scheme is a bad way to boost iPhone numbers

apple-retail-rewards

Mark Gurman revealed on Friday that Apple has introduced a new reward program designed to boost iPhone sales in Apple Stores.

The program’s goal is to push Apple retail employees to sell more iPhones by promising rewards and all-expense paid vacations to Cupertino, California to employees who sell the most iPhones in their region, according to sources.

I do, of course, recognize the pressure Apple is under following flat iPhone sales last quarter and the company warning that its revenue will this quarter see its first ever year-on-year decline since 2003. But Tim Cook has himself repeatedly claimed that Apple focuses on making great products rather than sales numbers, repeating this line earlier this month.

Offering staff incentives to push iPhone sales strikes me as a mistake with the potential to damage the company’s image …

Apple Stores are not always pleasant places to be. Those beautiful empty store images we see in architectural renders and publicity photos don’t reflect the often over-crowded reality of too many people in too small a space. Apple Stores are in many ways victims of their own success.

But Apple’s retail stores have always had one thing going for them: you know you’re not going to be subjected to high-pressure sales techniques. Staff are not on commission, and Apple Stores have always been a place where it’s absolutely fine to go in just to play with the tech, get some help, ask for advice or attend a workshop designed to help you get more from your Apple hardware and software.

To me, that’s an incredibly important reflection of Apple’s ethos. The company wants to make great products, and it wants to help people get the most from them.

macbook

When the 12-inch MacBook came out, I wandered into the Apple Store in London’s Regent Street to take a close look at one. I was particularly curious about the butterfly keyboard, so wanted to spend a decent chunk of time typing on one to at least get some first impressions.

I spent about half an hour playing with it. In that time, a member of staff asked me if I needed any help, and I said no, explaining my reason for being there. I was completely upfront about the fact that I was very happy with my MacBook Air, and couldn’t see myself buying the new machine, I was just curious. “Oh, cool,” he said.

He shared his own view that it takes quite a while to get used to it, and we chatted about Apple tech in general for a few minutes while I typed away. When he was needed to help another customer, he wandered off, saying he hoped I got what I wanted from trying it out. Nobody else bothered me.

There was a time when all the other demo MacBooks were in use, so I stepped back to let someone else play with ‘my’ machine until others became free, and then resumed my testing on another one. At no point did anyone question the time I was spending there, nor try to sell me anything.

apple-store-stockholm-03

There have been quite a few times when I’ve been waiting a little while in an Apple Store, and I’ve sometimes spent the time eavesdropping on conversations with staff. What struck me was that staff were relaxed, friendly and almost endlessly patient in the face of sometimes dumb questions. Not once did I hear anything remotely resembling pressure to buy something.

You could argue that a reward system with free holidays to California isn’t the same as putting staff on commission. But it kind of is: it’s giving staff an incentive to sell products. Sure, that doesn’t mean they will necessarily start applying high-pressure sales techniques, but it does mean they may be a little less inclined to spend ten minutes explaining iCloud, or pleasantly passing the time of day with a customer who has no intention of buying anything, when they could be using that time to have conversations that might win them a holiday.

You could even argue that it’s actually worse than commission, as you’re encouraging pushy sales at the same time as ensuring that only the smallest handful of staff will benefit.

That doesn’t strike me as the best recipe for retail staff morale. Especially if some of your staff feel that others are leaving them to do the grunt work while they gun for sales.

It’s not all bad. One of the metrics Apple will be employing in the program is customer satisfaction. But I do feel that rewarding sales at all is a step in the wrong direction, and one that has the potential to do a disproportionate amount of damage to the company’s reputation.

Or am I taking it all too seriously when it’s just a bit of harmless fun that will have little to no effect on the way Apple Store staff interact with customers? Take our poll, and please share your views – and your experience of interactions with retail staff – in the comments. We’d also love to hear from some of those who work in Apple Stores.

Photos: Reuters, Apple, Apple.

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Comments

  1. rogifan - 8 years ago

    I voted other because I can’t have an opinion on a rumor. i think its a bad idea but won’t chastise Apple over it until we know it’s been implemented.

  2. PMZanetti - 8 years ago

    I voted Good. You cited the problem the stores have of being ridiculously overcrowded with the filthy masses just there to wipe their greasy fingers all over the products with no intention of buying anything. It makes it impossible for actual customers to use the Apple store for what it is intended for…buying products.

    Maybe if people are hounded by sales staff a little more and not allowed to just sit there and occupy every single Mac and iOS device, actual customers will have a better chance of going in and trying the machine they intend to purchase.

    Sadly I send most people to Best Buy to scope out their Apple products, as I know the Apple store has become an unpleasant, claustrophobic experience.

    • escaperout3 - 8 years ago

      The reason the Apple Store is even remotely as successful as it is is due to the no-frills environment of the store. If we all of a sudden start throwing people out because they spent too much time in the store you are essentially killing that environment. By killing that environment you kill the incentive people had of paying for Apple Products at full price in the Apple Store, and they’ll go to Best Buy and other places that sell such products because most of the time there will be an incentive (ie. rewards or discounts) that will put those stores above the Apple Store.

      • PMZanetti - 8 years ago

        We’re already there. The Apple Store is a terrible experience. It can’t get any worse. Once sales people start to be a little more direct, the people with zero intention of buying anything will stop spending so much time getting in the way of people that do.

  3. jmiko2015 - 8 years ago

    To me, it feels like Tim Cook’s got some sort of schizophrenia. This will be bad for Apple.

  4. Lawrence Krupp - 8 years ago

    In an earlier life I was sales rep for a company whose products sold for 5 and 6 figures (not automobiles, okay it was church organs) and dealt with church committees. Most people, and committees, need a little nudge when it comes to spending significant amounts of money. An experienced, trained, friendly salesperson can provide that nudge without offending the customer. No product, not even Apple’s, can sell themselves. That’s why we have advertising and salespeople. At some point you have to ask the customer for the sale. The vast majority of people need to be asked at some point. A minority is offended by the idea of a salesperson even trying to influence “their” decision.

    So this CAN be done right with training and supervision.

    • escaperout3 - 8 years ago

      Can’t wait to see the dealership experience brought to the Apple Store, would love to have sales people telling me how much I need a new iPhone to the point that I walk out of the store and across the mall to the Microsoft store where they won’t bother me until I actually want to buy something

  5. RP - 8 years ago

    Yeah it’s a bad idea. Yes it’s traditional in the trade, but it’s always feels heavy handed. Especially when they try and steer you towards a specific product.
    I’ve always hated going into Verizon or any other store and being steered towards whatever the sales team were pushing that particular day..

  6. 2is1toomany - 8 years ago

    This rewards program is not going to be a set thing, it’s just a way to celebrate the retail staff that has worked so hard going above and beyond sometimes but never gets compensated. I think Apple sees that and wanted to create an opportunity for them to get something extra out of it. There’s stores that are typically not very busy and then you have stores that are just jam packed with people. Those really busy stores are already under a lot of pressure to help as many people as possible and being rewarded for that is a great idea.

  7. b9bot - 8 years ago

    Apple has never done any kind of commission based sales at there stores. I don’t think that would be a good idea because newer employees may get it wrong in how they service the customer. So I hope this is one idea that does not come to reality.

  8. John S. Wilson - 8 years ago

    The writer makes a huge and unwarranted assumption that just because sales staff will be rewarded for their efforts that will lead to a complete change of culture and a worse experience for consumers. It’s very doubtful. Apple knows how important their retail store is and also understands customer satisfaction is extremely important. At the same time rewarding the most productive employees is also important and those goals can coexist.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 8 years ago

      He doesn’t, you know … ;) “Sure, that doesn’t mean they will necessarily start applying high-pressure sales techniques, but it does mean they may be a little less inclined to spend ten minutes explaining iCloud, or pleasantly passing the time of day with a customer who has no intention of buying anything, when they could be using that time to have conversations that might win them a holiday.”

  9. Jake Becker - 8 years ago

    I’m against.

  10. I dunno, maybe it’s just my local area stores, but I’ve found the salespeople to be super-pushy to purchase stuff for at least 2 or 3 years now. So in theory, if this shakes out to be true, I don’t think it will change very much overall. Gone are the days when the average person walking in knew a bunch already about the tech and just wanted to play- most people coming in now are much less familiar with Apple’s offerings beyond the iPhone, which forces people on the floor to change their tactics in talking. I don’t think they are necessarily trying to be more pushy, but that’s what comes across when you’re talking with someone who knows more about the product than the salespeople.

  11. Scott (@ScooterComputer) - 8 years ago

    Ahhhh…and Apple resorts to SPIF(F)s just like it did in the late ’80s/early-’90s. Talk about history repeating itself. Is there NO ONE at Apple who has a handle on the history of the first Downfall? SPIFFs were a bane…BMW-snob pushy Apple Sales Reps only giving two shits about how many SPIFF sales you made, not the fact that Apple was pushing shitty computers.

    Apple Macintosh Performa 6112CD with a grossly-overpriced junk 12″ RGB, a Sears Exclusive! Oh yeah, CRAPTACULAR! SHIP IT! It isn’t selling? SPIFF IT!

  12. bdkennedy11 - 8 years ago

    As soon as I feel pressure that I’m being pushed into something I don’t want, I walk away and leave without saying a word. I learned to do that by buying cars. If Apple wants to keep me out of their stores, this is one way to do it.

  13. telecastle - 8 years ago

    This is how Apple can boost the sale of mobile devices as well as Macs. Provide free iCloud storage equal to the size of the flash storage in mobile devices with an activation key that can be used for any iCloud account. Do the same with Macs by providing free iCloud storage equal to the size of SSD storage in the purchased Mac. Do this for 3 years for every purchased device. For folks who own multiple Apple devices, make the total free storage to be cumulative of all flash and SSD storage on their devices for 3 full years. So, if I buy a 128 GB iPhone and a 512 GB MacBook Pro, and a 128 GB iPad, my total free iCloud storage for three years is 786 GB. If this is not enough, folks can purchase additional iCloud storage.

    Done!

  14. charismatron - 8 years ago

    This plan will end badly, as the article states, because of the negative impact it will have on sales floor culture and how consumers *don’t* respond to that. In-store, relaxed attitudes will turn competitive, co-operation will turn competitive, and inter-store relations (leaders, managers, sales) will become competitive. That competitive/commission streak is toxic to Apple’s approachable environment. The whole thing is to make tech super-friendly, right?

    Although the article references how this will reflect poorly on customer satisfaction, it’s a fact that most customers *don’t* report dissatisfaction. Companies are lucky when customers do, because they can make corrections. But most customers just: a) stay away, and b) bad-mouth the brand based on a single pushy commission-based interaction with Apple. Toxic, toxic, toxic.

  15. pdixon1986 - 8 years ago

    i love these polls — i am always curious to see the outcome…lol

  16. André Hedegaard - 8 years ago

    Angela Ahrendt at foul play here. Wondered when it would happen and its starting.

  17. Matt Micheletti - 8 years ago

    The thing that bothers me the most about this is that while in theory it rewards salesmanship, it really just furthers favoritism with management. Sales employees are “zoned” to sell phones, computers, accessories, etc. As a former Apple employee, I could tell you that I knew exactly who was going to “earn” the prize in my region without it ever being a competition. Management would just ensure that they spent as much time zoned in iPhone sales as needed to beat out everyone else.

    Of course, they’d play up the competition with everyone else to improve their sales numbers, but in the end it would be rigged. So sad to see something like this implemented in such a way that it doesn’t actually reward those who work the hardest.

  18. yojimbo007 - 8 years ago

    Something to consider before calling apple sales were flat.
    I disagree eith this comment.
    The problem was the spike in 2014 holiday season and the following q due to introduction of the larger phones and massive pent up demand for them.

    If one tasks that into consideration and normalizes the last few holiday season and following quarters.. On can easly see that apple would have shown a good 15% growth last holiday season..and thats against cuurancy headwinds or it would have been even better.
    The anomaly was last years extraordinary spike due to release of larger phones… Not overall appl growth slowing.

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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