The Apple Experience: Secrets to Building Insanely Great Customer Loyalty

CHAPTER 4

Build Trust

Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Apple does not like to hire arrogant techies who think they know it all, because as star employees will tell you, you can’t know everything. Just when you think you have it figured out, the demanding Apple customer will throw you a question, concern, or situation you simply haven’t prepared to address. The goal is not to impress customers with knowledge. The goal is to leave customers feeling special and to enrich their lives.

Apple looks for personality and for those who can handle “ambiguity.” If an employee has internalized the vision, knows the messaging, has engaged in fearless feedback, and trusts her ...