12 hours ago
- APPLE is an acronym used by Apple store employees: Approach customers with a personalized warm welcome, Probe politely to understand needs, Present a solution to take home today, Listen for and resolve issues, End with a fond farewell and invitation to return.
- Mitchell Hashimoto attributes the success of his side projects (a passive income business sold to fund HashiCorp, Vagrant, and IRCRelay) to applying the APPLE method.
- Being respectful, welcoming, polite, and attentive to customers is more important than immediate outcomes; the example of handling a cancellation request from user Brian shows probing for issues and presenting a systemic solution rather than a quick fix.
- The best solution goes beyond a simple response; for IRCRelay, Mitchell implemented a change to automatically handle nickname conflicts, demonstrating genuine care for user experience.
- Ending interactions with a fond farewell and invitation to return reinforces good customer relations, even if the customer does not immediately re-engage.