How to become an Apple Genius
Have you ever wondered what it takes to become an Apple Retail Store Genius?
I’m sure most Apple enthusiasts have — especially if you’re a dedicated user that feels like you know as much, if not more, than the genius working on your MacBook.
Today, Gizmodo gave us a look into what it takes to become an Apple Genius after they got their hands on the official Genius Training Student Workbook. The book is filled with hundreds of scenarios and how Apple Geniuses should react.
Gizmodo points out that, according the guide, Apple is more concerned about a positive customer experience as opposed to sales.
“The assumption, it’d seem, is that a happy customer is a customer who will buy things,” Gizmodo reports. “And no matter how much the Apple Store comes off as some kind of smiling likeminded computer commune, it’s still a store above all—just one that puts an enormous amount of effort behind getting inside your head.”
Becoming a Genius is more difficult that walking into a store or applying online. You need to go through the rigorous Apple Bootcamp, which includes classes from computer diagnostics to customer service-releated issues.
The guide is jam-packed with guides on specific situations. Example:
Customer: This Mac is just too expensive
Genius: I can see ho you’d feel this way. I felt the price was a little high, but I found it’s a real value because of all the built-in software and capabilities.
Not bad. It’s persuasive and to the point.
The main point Apple wants its geniuses to follow is not stay away from negativity. Instead of using terms like the computer crashed or has a bug, thy prefer phrases like unexpectedly quits and Condition or Situation.
The guide is quite deliberate and sometimes even pushes too far for positive customer expectations (i.e. telling customers that no Apple products ever get hot), but that does line up with late CEO Steve Jobs’ reality distortion field.
