Soft skills for Apple geniuses – shocking?
Did you hear the brouhaha around the supposedly secret training manual for the Apple store employees who work at the Genius bar? [This post originally referred a Gizmodo post dated 8/28/12, which appears to be no longer available. See other commentary here and here] I must say that I was quite curious to take a peek at the Genius Training Student Workbook — and (naive me!) quite surprised at the reaction it got in the press.
The indignation about the audacity of training people to work better with customers is puzzling. Are the outraged thinking that Geniuses are born that way, ready to say the right things to customers? Does suggesting phrasing for difficult situations turn people into robots? Does Apple have any secrets that we soft skills training providers need to learn? This post reveals answers to all these questions — and more.
Exhibit 1: blameless apology
Geniuses are (shockingly, per the brouhaha) told to directly acknowledge the customer’s emotions. In other words, if the customer is upset that his/her hard drive is kaput, the suggestion is to say “I’m sorry you’re feeling frustrated”. Evil interpretation: big brother does not want to acknowledge any fault, hence demands using roundabout phrases.
FT Works’s interpretation: this is called a “blameless apology” in our training classes and materials and it allows the customer to feel validated and heard. There’s no evilness in this; in fact, it’s a proven way to create an emotional bond.
Exhibit 2: feel felt found
The Genius training manual advocates the old technique of feel/felt/found, as in “I can see how 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.” Evil interpretation: they are manipulating customers.
FT Works’s interpretation: and you thought sales was about something else? (Privately, I’m a little disappointed to find such an old relic in this training manual. It has been purged from our materials for some time.)
Exhibit 3: body language
The Genius training manual suggests that people give many clues about their feelings through their body language and gives several examples of when someone may be angry (clenched fists) or relaxed (opening their jacket). Evil interpretation: don’t unbutton your jacket in an Apple store, or you will be assaulted by salespeople.
FT Works’s interpretation: one of the first points we make in our soft skills training is that body language is the most important way we communicate with others. Alas, we in standard support situations rarely see our customers, and therefore have to rely more on tone of voice and choice of words. But when face to face, it’s absolutely essential to leverage non-verbal clues! A literal interpretation of the clues is silly, of course (maybe the customer is just too hot to wear a buttoned jacket) but clenched fists and a dramatic complaint should suggest a blameless apology (exhibit 1) rather than an abrupt descent into troubleshooting.
Exhibit 4: danger phrases
Get that: Geniuses are encouraged to say “stop responding” rather than “crash” and “warm” rather than “hot” (hhmm… I think my Mac is indeed “hot”, and not only in the metaphorical sense…) Evil interpretation: they are led to lie to the customer.
FT Works’s interpretation: there is such a thing as a danger phrase and it’s quite reasonable to avoid them. And over-sharing (a la “sure, we see lots and lots of crashes with this model”) is not good for anyone — and covered abundantly in our own materials.
Exhibit 5: fearless feedback
Here, the brouhaha gets really loud and self-righteous. The Genius training manual encourages an open dialog whenever anyone (and not just managers, which I think is the rubbing point) has feedback for someone else. Evil interpretation: institutionalized passive aggression (I’m not making this up!), backed up by quotes of geniuses testifying that they do not like fearless feedback.
FT Works’s interpretation: negative feedback is never comfortable, but it does not mean that open feedback is not a wonderful tool to accomplish this difficult task. Moreover, the process that is modeled in the manual (do it in private, ask if it is a good time, state the issue, get to a solution, say thank you at the end) seems eminently reasonable. Sure, the dialog as quoted is stilted. But the manual seems very careful never to script anything completely (I approve!) so the quotes are just a starting point. Practice makes perfect.
No exhibit: cheap layout
The brouhaha focused on the content of the Genius training manual but please allow me to rant a bit about the layout of the manual: so very boring and “basic”. I would have expected more of a design-conscious firm, even for an internal document. Even little FT Works does better than that, I think — I hope…
Do you have a soft skills training curriculum? (If not, we can help!) Are you shocked by the Apple approach? Please comment.
A recent interaction with the “Genius” guy convinced me that they’re some of the best in the support business. Deep product knowledge, resolution process experts with some real decision-making power, and a great person-to-person interaction. I think the “evil naysayers” are a by-product of our extreme reliance on technology, especially when that reliance interferes with our human relationships.Support people can all learn from this.Thanks for a great article!