skygrp's Profile

  • Dec 31, 1969
  • 7
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Latest comments made by: skygrp

  • I like playing pong on my powerbook 150. Now thats and exciting GUI!
    skygrp had this to say on Jul 23, 2003 Posts: 7
    Panther: All Metal All The Time
  • I think some people have expressed that they work in retail. The complaint I hear most is that the employees are busy doing nothing! And when there is actual business, they are slow to respond. Couple that with less than desirable people skills from some of the employees and you can understand the frustrations. Read the thread a bit more closer. As stockholders and buyers, I believe Apple does owe us more accountability and choices in the individuals they shoose to provide the experience in the stores.
    skygrp had this to say on Jul 21, 2003 Posts: 7
    The Apple Store: Bad Customer Service at Your Local Mall
  • It starts with the hiring process. You want to hire people who are passionate about Apple and want to help people make choices. You then must make sure your managers are on the floor with the employees guiding them and giving feedback and encouragement as well as holding accountability. You must also focus on the importance of connecting and discovering what the customer wants and this can only happen if the team member has the ability to focus on creating a trusting interaction. Being smug or condescending is ridiculous. It's about connecting with human beings and adjusting your style to the customers skill set. This is succeeding in some of the stores I visit but more often it is not the case. When you staff with excessive amounts of associates, you create a bloated and not productive environment where people just get plain lazy or are never challenged. As for the assistant manager who said, "sorry we only hire computer nerds," when responding to a customers complaint about rudeness, that is the wrong kind of leadership the stores need. Apple should look long and hard at what Starbucks can do with 6800 stores worldwide and still have the ability to be on the winning side of customer service. Now that's a challenge.
    skygrp had this to say on Jul 12, 2003 Posts: 7
    The Apple Store: Bad Customer Service at Your Local Mall
  • This is what I am talking about in all of my responses. They have an obscene amount of staff and there is no sense of deployment, awareness, urgency, or for that matter people skills in some of the stores. Those employees like the above are stepping up to the plate. If the management fires people for ideas or speaking up, I believe Karma will prevail. After all isn't Jobs into Karma? Doesn't he remember being fired from Apple himself? Maybe the employee above will be the next store manager, regional retail director or for that mater on the board of CEOs! It takes courage to change the course of companies and I applaud the employee.
    skygrp had this to say on Jul 11, 2003 Posts: 7
    The Apple Store: Bad Customer Service at Your Local Mall
  • Euro? To me it looks like a high school metal shop project! At least put a logo on the front!
    skygrp had this to say on Jul 10, 2003 Posts: 7
    The New G5: Speed Is Good, Ugly Is Bad
  • The apple employee is very brave to speak out. What does this say about the retail leadership when an employee is afraid to give a suggestion? My management style has always been to motivate and inspire employees to bring ideas to the table and to always create a positive and non-threatening environment. I believe that the some of the best ideas come from my staff and I celebrate it with acknowledgment. It also garners a greater respect for me from my staff and shows I am confident in my management style.
    skygrp had this to say on Jul 10, 2003 Posts: 7
    The Apple Store: Bad Customer Service at Your Local Mall
  • I am astounded at the amount of employees I see at the stores. I work in a very successful retail business and wonder how they can support such large staffs. I know it is great to have sufficient help but the help in the Apple Stores are an overkill. I wonder how Apple can profit when almost every store I visit (And that is at least six different stores in California and two in Texas) are overstaffed and I don't see a lot of purchasing going on. Again I want to say that it is a good gesture on Apple's part to provide plenty of help but I don't see the need most of the time. The funny thing is when the stores happen to be busy and it is time to buy they have only two registers which is ridiculous. I have waited up to 15 minutes to buy an adapter. Apple needs to utilize time management, multi-tasking, and deployment to its fullest instead of creating non-productive staffs who can't respond when it gets busy. No wonder the stock is floundering!
    skygrp had this to say on Jul 10, 2003 Posts: 7
    The Apple Store: Bad Customer Service at Your Local Mall