Apple: Overcoming Objections

Apple did not establish expectations for its sales people in terms of the amount of revenue they generated; the company wanted to cultivate a low- or no-pressure sales environment for its customers.  However, they did establish expectations for the percent "attach rate" for ancillary services sold with every device.

As a new employee, I learned about these services, but was actually completely unaware of the importance of attaching the services to each purchase.  When I would mention AppleCare, Mobile Me, or OneToOne to a customer and they would shrug it off, I simply kept moving forward with the hardware sale.  It was not until a manager brought my poor metrics to my attention that we realized there was a problem.  I did not want to be a "pushy" sales person and so I did not work to change customers' minds about the benefits of Apple's services.



My manager challenged me to learn how other sales people were "overcoming customers' objections," and then distill this information into a presentation to help other Specialists to better overcome customer objections.

The after-hours training session also included a Family-Feud style game designed by one of my coworkers, where players would try to name the most effective means of overcoming objections from customers.  The training included product information and content from Apple, including the "Apple steps of service," as well as external information about persuasive negotiation tactics from Situation Management Systems, Inc.

After the training, follow-up conversations with participants found that their "attach rates" had improved across the board, and employees felt confident and empowered to do their job more effectively.

Overcoming Objections pptx