I could not have been more impressed by the process of buying a Mac and dealing with Apple. At it’s core (no pun intended) Apple is just another company trying to sell shit and make a boatload of cash in the process. They way they do this is not 100% different from every other retailer, I mean it’s not like they barter for product or only accept wooden tokens or anything. They make something you want, they offer a couple of channels to buy that thing and they separate you from your money efficiently.

I knew that that I was going to make the switch from a Windows PC to a Mac, so I started researching online. Apple offers pages and pages of content on their site about not only the benefits of owning a Mac, but also help for the transition.

I was ready to make the purchase so I walked into the SF Apple store with the intent to buy. It wasn’t my money, my new employer was paying the tab, so that offered me a little more freedom. I was greeted by an attractive 20-something blond girl who led me around the store for about 30 minutes. She really knew her stuff. I asked a few questions and she patiently answered them while demo-ing apps. She pointed out all of the attributes of the Apple Store including suppor, training, etc. The sales process really increased my confidence in my upcoming $2000 purchase.

Apple Stores are so well designed. The stores feel very open and inviting making them a destination as well as a point of purchase. It adds to the experience to have a lot of young people around playing with the product. An empty store would feel like Best Buy The staffing is also well done. Apple hires energetic, knowledgeable, attractive 20-somethings and they all really want to help. There’s a lot of them, so you can always just turn around and get a question answered.

So, I was ready to make the buy. The salesgirl walked me down to the cash-taking-area and completed the sale herself… another part of the puzzle that helps the experience. I was handed a well-designed box containing the MacBook as well as a box for the free printer that came with it. Walking out, I felt like I was part of some new club and I felt like people were noticing the MacBook box and thinking “wow, that lucky guy”. I was right, because on the BART train ride home some stranger congratulated me on the purchase noting that my timing was perfect since Apple just upgraded the MacBooks.

To my surprise, I received an email from Apple a few hours later with a PDF of my receipt. How did Apple have my address… I didn’t give it to he salesgirl. Ah! Apple has both my credit card and email address on file through my iTunes account.  Apple continued it’s “customer touch” over the next few days with welcome emails and online surveys.  I really appreciated this attention.

Yesterday, I visited the Apple store again for some tech support.  I was able to go online and book a reservation for one-on-one attention so that there was no wait.  I was helped by yet another knowledgeable and friendly  20-something.  While sitting at the Genius Bar, I watched a bit of a presentation on Keynote.  The theater is yet another great part of the Apple sales job… offer free, quality education for end users to turn novice user into power users because a power user is less likely to switch off of a Mac, is more likely to purchase additional software and accessories, is more likely to pay for an upgrade and is more likely to recommend Apple to their friends.