Leaked Genius Training Manual Reveals Apple's Psychological Techniques

An Apple Genius Training Manual leaked to Gizmodo reveals psychological techniques used to make customers feel happy and sell Apple devices.

Apple employs an (A)pproach, (P)robe, (P)resent, (L)isten, (E)nd technique to selling:

Go up to someone and get them to open up to you about their computing desires, insecurities, and needs; offer them choices (of things to buy); hear them out; then seal the day in a way that makes it feel like the customer has come to this decision on their own.


Genius are told to be empathetic not sympathetic:

Geniuses are directly told not to apologize in a manner anyone would call direct. If someone walks in sobbing because their hard drive is fried, you'll receive no immediate consolation. "Do not apologize for the business [or] the technology," the manual commands. Instead, express regret that the person is expressing emotions. A little mind roundabout: "I'm sorry you're feeling frustrated," or "too bad about your soda-spill accident," the book suggests.

The book also tells Geniuses how to identify a person's mood by how they are acting:

Using your "chair back as a shield" is apparently a sign of "defensiveness," as are "locked ankles and clenched fists." Some make a little less senes: a "cluck sound" is equated with confidence, "unbuttoning coats" too means "openness," "rubbing nose" is a giveaway for "suspicion or secretiveness."


Apple employees are never to directly disagree:

Negativity is the mortal sin of the Genius. Disagreement is prohibited, as are a litany of normal human tendencies outlined on page 80, which contradict the virtue of empathy: consoling, commiserating, sympathizing, and taking blame are all verboten. Correcting a mistaken or confused customer should be accomplished using the phrase "turns out," which Apple says "takes you out of the middle of an issue," and also makes the truth seem like something that just arrived serendipitously.

Much more at the link below...

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