Automatically pulled from Google Starred

Ron Johnson, the CEO of J.C. Penney and the former senior vice president for retail at Apple, ran a guest post detailing his Apple tenure over at the Harward Business Review blog, accompanying a monster interview which appears in the December 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review magazine.

Apple doesn’t owe its success in retail to shiny products, he said. “You don’t need to stock iPads to create an irresistible retail environment”, he said. “You have to create a store that’s more than a store to people”. Even though Apple products can be purchased for less elsewhere, people visit Apple’s stores for the experience, not products, he argued:

People come to the Apple Store for the experience — and they’re willing to pay a premium for that. There are lots of components to that experience, but maybe the most important — and this is something that can translate to any retailer — is that the staff isn’t focused on selling stuff, it’s focused on building relationships and trying to make people’s lives better. That may sound hokey, but it’s true.

Steve Jobs wanted his retail chief to become personally involved so Johnson oversaw every store design and interviewed every manager who ever worked in an Apple Store. Why? “I wanted to build relationships with all of them. They came to understand who I am and what I value. I don’t know if I’m a great selector, but I’m a great connector. The people I hire trust me because of this personal connection.”

So Johnson created the culture where store employees aren’t on commission, therefore aren’t incentivized to up-sell people to pricey products or services they have no need for:

Their job is to figure out what you need and help you get it, even if it’s a product Apple doesn’t carry. Compare that with other retailers where the emphasis is on cross-selling and upselling and, basically, encouraging customers to buy more, even if they don’t want or need it. That doesn’t enrich their lives, and it doesn’t deepen the retailer’s relationship with them.

Even department stores can flourish in this brave new world of retailing. “There’s a problem with the execution”. Retailers are not aware of their store environments and they often approach customers unimaginatively, he explained.

Automatically pulled from Google Starred

Ron Johnson, the CEO of J.C. Penney and the former senior vice president for retail at Apple, ran a guest post detailing his Apple tenure over at the Harward Business Review blog, accompanying a monster interview which appears in the December 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review magazine.

Apple doesn’t owe its success in retail to shiny products, he said. “You don’t need to stock iPads to create an irresistible retail environment”, he said. “You have to create a store that’s more than a store to people”. Even though Apple products can be purchased for less elsewhere, people visit Apple’s stores for the experience, not products, he argued:

People come to the Apple Store for the experience — and they’re willing to pay a premium for that. There are lots of components to that experience, but maybe the most important — and this is something that can translate to any retailer — is that the staff isn’t focused on selling stuff, it’s focused on building relationships and trying to make people’s lives better. That may sound hokey, but it’s true.

Steve Jobs wanted his retail chief to become personally involved so Johnson oversaw every store design and interviewed every manager who ever worked in an Apple Store. Why? “I wanted to build relationships with all of them. They came to understand who I am and what I value. I don’t know if I’m a great selector, but I’m a great connector. The people I hire trust me because of this personal connection.”

So Johnson created the culture where store employees aren’t on commission, therefore aren’t incentivized to up-sell people to pricey products or services they have no need for:

Their job is to figure out what you need and help you get it, even if it’s a product Apple doesn’t carry. Compare that with other retailers where the emphasis is on cross-selling and upselling and, basically, encouraging customers to buy more, even if they don’t want or need it. That doesn’t enrich their lives, and it doesn’t deepen the retailer’s relationship with them.

Even department stores can flourish in this brave new world of retailing. “There’s a problem with the execution”. Retailers are not aware of their store environments and they often approach customers unimaginatively, he explained.

Automatically pulled from Google Starred

Ron Johnson, the CEO of J.C. Penney and the former senior vice president for retail at Apple, ran a guest post detailing his Apple tenure over at the Harward Business Review blog, accompanying a monster interview which appears in the December 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review magazine.

Apple doesn’t owe its success in retail to shiny products, he said. “You don’t need to stock iPads to create an irresistible retail environment”, he said. “You have to create a store that’s more than a store to people”. Even though Apple products can be purchased for less elsewhere, people visit Apple’s stores for the experience, not products, he argued:

People come to the Apple Store for the experience — and they’re willing to pay a premium for that. There are lots of components to that experience, but maybe the most important — and this is something that can translate to any retailer — is that the staff isn’t focused on selling stuff, it’s focused on building relationships and trying to make people’s lives better. That may sound hokey, but it’s true.

Steve Jobs wanted his retail chief to become personally involved so Johnson oversaw every store design and interviewed every manager who ever worked in an Apple Store. Why? “I wanted to build relationships with all of them. They came to understand who I am and what I value. I don’t know if I’m a great selector, but I’m a great connector. The people I hire trust me because of this personal connection.”

So Johnson created the culture where store employees aren’t on commission, therefore aren’t incentivized to up-sell people to pricey products or services they have no need for:

Their job is to figure out what you need and help you get it, even if it’s a product Apple doesn’t carry. Compare that with other retailers where the emphasis is on cross-selling and upselling and, basically, encouraging customers to buy more, even if they don’t want or need it. That doesn’t enrich their lives, and it doesn’t deepen the retailer’s relationship with them.

Even department stores can flourish in this brave new world of retailing. “There’s a problem with the execution”. Retailers are not aware of their store environments and they often approach customers unimaginatively, he explained.

Automatically pulled from Google Starred

Ron Johnson, the CEO of J.C. Penney and the former senior vice president for retail at Apple, ran a guest post detailing his Apple tenure over at the Harward Business Review blog, accompanying a monster interview which appears in the December 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review magazine.

Apple doesn’t owe its success in retail to shiny products, he said. “You don’t need to stock iPads to create an irresistible retail environment”, he said. “You have to create a store that’s more than a store to people”. Even though Apple products can be purchased for less elsewhere, people visit Apple’s stores for the experience, not products, he argued:

People come to the Apple Store for the experience — and they’re willing to pay a premium for that. There are lots of components to that experience, but maybe the most important — and this is something that can translate to any retailer — is that the staff isn’t focused on selling stuff, it’s focused on building relationships and trying to make people’s lives better. That may sound hokey, but it’s true.

Steve Jobs wanted his retail chief to become personally involved so Johnson oversaw every store design and interviewed every manager who ever worked in an Apple Store. Why? “I wanted to build relationships with all of them. They came to understand who I am and what I value. I don’t know if I’m a great selector, but I’m a great connector. The people I hire trust me because of this personal connection.”

So Johnson created the culture where store employees aren’t on commission, therefore aren’t incentivized to up-sell people to pricey products or services they have no need for:

Their job is to figure out what you need and help you get it, even if it’s a product Apple doesn’t carry. Compare that with other retailers where the emphasis is on cross-selling and upselling and, basically, encouraging customers to buy more, even if they don’t want or need it. That doesn’t enrich their lives, and it doesn’t deepen the retailer’s relationship with them.

Even department stores can flourish in this brave new world of retailing. “There’s a problem with the execution”. Retailers are not aware of their store environments and they often approach customers unimaginatively, he explained.

Automatically pulled from Google Starred

Ron Johnson, the CEO of J.C. Penney and the former senior vice president for retail at Apple, ran a guest post detailing his Apple tenure over at the Harward Business Review blog, accompanying a monster interview which appears in the December 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review magazine.

Apple doesn’t owe its success in retail to shiny products, he said. “You don’t need to stock iPads to create an irresistible retail environment”, he said. “You have to create a store that’s more than a store to people”. Even though Apple products can be purchased for less elsewhere, people visit Apple’s stores for the experience, not products, he argued:

People come to the Apple Store for the experience — and they’re willing to pay a premium for that. There are lots of components to that experience, but maybe the most important — and this is something that can translate to any retailer — is that the staff isn’t focused on selling stuff, it’s focused on building relationships and trying to make people’s lives better. That may sound hokey, but it’s true.

Steve Jobs wanted his retail chief to become personally involved so Johnson oversaw every store design and interviewed every manager who ever worked in an Apple Store. Why? “I wanted to build relationships with all of them. They came to understand who I am and what I value. I don’t know if I’m a great selector, but I’m a great connector. The people I hire trust me because of this personal connection.”

So Johnson created the culture where store employees aren’t on commission, therefore aren’t incentivized to up-sell people to pricey products or services they have no need for:

Their job is to figure out what you need and help you get it, even if it’s a product Apple doesn’t carry. Compare that with other retailers where the emphasis is on cross-selling and upselling and, basically, encouraging customers to buy more, even if they don’t want or need it. That doesn’t enrich their lives, and it doesn’t deepen the retailer’s relationship with them.

Even department stores can flourish in this brave new world of retailing. “There’s a problem with the execution”. Retailers are not aware of their store environments and they often approach customers unimaginatively, he explained.

Automatically pulled from Google Starred

Ron Johnson, the CEO of J.C. Penney and the former senior vice president for retail at Apple, ran a guest post detailing his Apple tenure over at the Harward Business Review blog, accompanying a monster interview which appears in the December 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review magazine.

Apple doesn’t owe its success in retail to shiny products, he said. “You don’t need to stock iPads to create an irresistible retail environment”, he said. “You have to create a store that’s more than a store to people”. Even though Apple products can be purchased for less elsewhere, people visit Apple’s stores for the experience, not products, he argued:

People come to the Apple Store for the experience — and they’re willing to pay a premium for that. There are lots of components to that experience, but maybe the most important — and this is something that can translate to any retailer — is that the staff isn’t focused on selling stuff, it’s focused on building relationships and trying to make people’s lives better. That may sound hokey, but it’s true.

Steve Jobs wanted his retail chief to become personally involved so Johnson oversaw every store design and interviewed every manager who ever worked in an Apple Store. Why? “I wanted to build relationships with all of them. They came to understand who I am and what I value. I don’t know if I’m a great selector, but I’m a great connector. The people I hire trust me because of this personal connection.”

So Johnson created the culture where store employees aren’t on commission, therefore aren’t incentivized to up-sell people to pricey products or services they have no need for:

Their job is to figure out what you need and help you get it, even if it’s a product Apple doesn’t carry. Compare that with other retailers where the emphasis is on cross-selling and upselling and, basically, encouraging customers to buy more, even if they don’t want or need it. That doesn’t enrich their lives, and it doesn’t deepen the retailer’s relationship with them.

Even department stores can flourish in this brave new world of retailing. “There’s a problem with the execution”. Retailers are not aware of their store environments and they often approach customers unimaginatively, he explained.

Automatically pulled from Google Starred

Ron Johnson, the CEO of J.C. Penney and the former senior vice president for retail at Apple, ran a guest post detailing his Apple tenure over at the Harward Business Review blog, accompanying a monster interview which appears in the December 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review magazine.

Apple doesn’t owe its success in retail to shiny products, he said. “You don’t need to stock iPads to create an irresistible retail environment”, he said. “You have to create a store that’s more than a store to people”. Even though Apple products can be purchased for less elsewhere, people visit Apple’s stores for the experience, not products, he argued:

People come to the Apple Store for the experience — and they’re willing to pay a premium for that. There are lots of components to that experience, but maybe the most important — and this is something that can translate to any retailer — is that the staff isn’t focused on selling stuff, it’s focused on building relationships and trying to make people’s lives better. That may sound hokey, but it’s true.

Steve Jobs wanted his retail chief to become personally involved so Johnson oversaw every store design and interviewed every manager who ever worked in an Apple Store. Why? “I wanted to build relationships with all of them. They came to understand who I am and what I value. I don’t know if I’m a great selector, but I’m a great connector. The people I hire trust me because of this personal connection.”

So Johnson created the culture where store employees aren’t on commission, therefore aren’t incentivized to up-sell people to pricey products or services they have no need for:

Their job is to figure out what you need and help you get it, even if it’s a product Apple doesn’t carry. Compare that with other retailers where the emphasis is on cross-selling and upselling and, basically, encouraging customers to buy more, even if they don’t want or need it. That doesn’t enrich their lives, and it doesn’t deepen the retailer’s relationship with them.

Even department stores can flourish in this brave new world of retailing. “There’s a problem with the execution”. Retailers are not aware of their store environments and they often approach customers unimaginatively, he explained.

Automatically pulled from Google Starred

Ron Johnson, the CEO of J.C. Penney and the former senior vice president for retail at Apple, ran a guest post detailing his Apple tenure over at the Harward Business Review blog, accompanying a monster interview which appears in the December 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review magazine.

Apple doesn’t owe its success in retail to shiny products, he said. “You don’t need to stock iPads to create an irresistible retail environment”, he said. “You have to create a store that’s more than a store to people”. Even though Apple products can be purchased for less elsewhere, people visit Apple’s stores for the experience, not products, he argued:

People come to the Apple Store for the experience — and they’re willing to pay a premium for that. There are lots of components to that experience, but maybe the most important — and this is something that can translate to any retailer — is that the staff isn’t focused on selling stuff, it’s focused on building relationships and trying to make people’s lives better. That may sound hokey, but it’s true.

Steve Jobs wanted his retail chief to become personally involved so Johnson oversaw every store design and interviewed every manager who ever worked in an Apple Store. Why? “I wanted to build relationships with all of them. They came to understand who I am and what I value. I don’t know if I’m a great selector, but I’m a great connector. The people I hire trust me because of this personal connection.”

So Johnson created the culture where store employees aren’t on commission, therefore aren’t incentivized to up-sell people to pricey products or services they have no need for:

Their job is to figure out what you need and help you get it, even if it’s a product Apple doesn’t carry. Compare that with other retailers where the emphasis is on cross-selling and upselling and, basically, encouraging customers to buy more, even if they don’t want or need it. That doesn’t enrich their lives, and it doesn’t deepen the retailer’s relationship with them.

Even department stores can flourish in this brave new world of retailing. “There’s a problem with the execution”. Retailers are not aware of their store environments and they often approach customers unimaginatively, he explained.

Automatically pulled from Google Starred

Ron Johnson, the CEO of J.C. Penney and the former senior vice president for retail at Apple, ran a guest post detailing his Apple tenure over at the Harward Business Review blog, accompanying a monster interview which appears in the December 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review magazine.

Apple doesn’t owe its success in retail to shiny products, he said. “You don’t need to stock iPads to create an irresistible retail environment”, he said. “You have to create a store that’s more than a store to people”. Even though Apple products can be purchased for less elsewhere, people visit Apple’s stores for the experience, not products, he argued:

People come to the Apple Store for the experience — and they’re willing to pay a premium for that. There are lots of components to that experience, but maybe the most important — and this is something that can translate to any retailer — is that the staff isn’t focused on selling stuff, it’s focused on building relationships and trying to make people’s lives better. That may sound hokey, but it’s true.

Steve Jobs wanted his retail chief to become personally involved so Johnson oversaw every store design and interviewed every manager who ever worked in an Apple Store. Why? “I wanted to build relationships with all of them. They came to understand who I am and what I value. I don’t know if I’m a great selector, but I’m a great connector. The people I hire trust me because of this personal connection.”

So Johnson created the culture where store employees aren’t on commission, therefore aren’t incentivized to up-sell people to pricey products or services they have no need for:

Their job is to figure out what you need and help you get it, even if it’s a product Apple doesn’t carry. Compare that with other retailers where the emphasis is on cross-selling and upselling and, basically, encouraging customers to buy more, even if they don’t want or need it. That doesn’t enrich their lives, and it doesn’t deepen the retailer’s relationship with them.

Even department stores can flourish in this brave new world of retailing. “There’s a problem with the execution”. Retailers are not aware of their store environments and they often approach customers unimaginatively, he explained.

Automatically pulled from Google Starred

Ron Johnson, the CEO of J.C. Penney and the former senior vice president for retail at Apple, ran a guest post detailing his Apple tenure over at the Harward Business Review blog, accompanying a monster interview which appears in the December 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review magazine.

Apple doesn’t owe its success in retail to shiny products, he said. “You don’t need to stock iPads to create an irresistible retail environment”, he said. “You have to create a store that’s more than a store to people”. Even though Apple products can be purchased for less elsewhere, people visit Apple’s stores for the experience, not products, he argued:

People come to the Apple Store for the experience — and they’re willing to pay a premium for that. There are lots of components to that experience, but maybe the most important — and this is something that can translate to any retailer — is that the staff isn’t focused on selling stuff, it’s focused on building relationships and trying to make people’s lives better. That may sound hokey, but it’s true.

Steve Jobs wanted his retail chief to become personally involved so Johnson oversaw every store design and interviewed every manager who ever worked in an Apple Store. Why? “I wanted to build relationships with all of them. They came to understand who I am and what I value. I don’t know if I’m a great selector, but I’m a great connector. The people I hire trust me because of this personal connection.”

So Johnson created the culture where store employees aren’t on commission, therefore aren’t incentivized to up-sell people to pricey products or services they have no need for:

Their job is to figure out what you need and help you get it, even if it’s a product Apple doesn’t carry. Compare that with other retailers where the emphasis is on cross-selling and upselling and, basically, encouraging customers to buy more, even if they don’t want or need it. That doesn’t enrich their lives, and it doesn’t deepen the retailer’s relationship with them.

Even department stores can flourish in this brave new world of retailing. “There’s a problem with the execution”. Retailers are not aware of their store environments and they often approach customers unimaginatively, he explained.