Max Zanan

“We’re talking about sales as the front line, so it’s the person who can approach the client with the ability to listen and react in a very helpful way, and eventually anticipate those needs, that is valued above someone who already has the IT expertise but is without the necessary people skills. Again, there are other departments better suited to the tech-minded person with an inward personality. We need sharp, reactive, social types on the floor making the sales and retaining customers. We need intermediary-type personalities weighted toward the technical on the Genius Bar for repairs and tweaks. The customers need the best people for each kind of job, and we see to that. But customer service is everything here. Without it,” he smiled, “we would not be Apple.”
― Max Zanan, Perfect Dealership: Surviving The Digital Disruption

“Anyone could apply for work here as a salesperson. What I mean is that you don’t need to have expertise in computers. We’ll train for that. What we look for first is a modicum of intelligence, so the person can get the expertise, but what we really prize is strong social skills. Apple realizes that sales is the front line, that it is all about what type of person you put out on the floor for the customers that walk in the door. “The salesperson who is sensitive to the importance and needs of the client is the better choice. These are extremely technical products, and the techs have their departments, and obviously they are absolutely essential to the business. But, you know, the detached, inward, introverted personality would be better off working on the machines away from the sales floor.”
― Max Zanan, Perfect Dealership: Surviving The Digital Disruption