Apple Rave

God bless Apple and their I-Pad. And their employees.
There’s nothing like having a problem with a product to test their mettle. I purchased an I-Pad (a very pleasant experience) but it wouldn’t charge properly. Hauling it back to the Apple store, I knew this could go one of two ways.
Sydney met me at the door and asked if she could help. I surveyed her piercings and dying and wondered just how long it would be until the big day when she got her driver’s license. Saying ‘no’ to the Old Man inside, I said sure and told her my dilemma. Sydney took the thing and plugged it into one of their chargers in their brightly lit, open showroom. It worked. She then plugged my charger into the wall and tested it. It didn’t work.
She took a charger off the wall, ripped it open and hooked it up. Scanned the box with her phone and made a few notes. Problem solved! “Can I help you with anything else?”
Sure, a car charger. Once again she acquired the desired object, slid my card through her phone and asked me if I wanted a paper receipt, e-mail or both. Just e-mail is fine.
I left a happy customer, and well on the way to a loyal one.
Why? Lots of reasons, but the big one is that Sydney is an Empowered Employee. She took care of the entire thing. No taking it to ‘returns’, no handing me a box to send to Taiwan for six weeks, no giving it to a technician and queuing it up in a line.
Speaking of lines, there were none. No lines, no cash registers, no speakers overhead calling for help in the charger aisle, no wandering around the store, lost. Sydney did the entire thing with her sunny disposition, her skills and a phone the size of a… well, a phone.
Now I know why Apple has faithful, loyal customers.
Can you imagine it in health care?
You walk into the clinic and a nurse named Sydney greets you, holding a cell phone. She slides your card and knows your medical history. (Imagine health care without a pen and clipboard. Really. Try hard.) You describe your symptoms; she takes you to a room and examines you. Refers you to dermatology. You walk across the courtyard, and a doctor greets you by name, as he’s gotten the info from Sydney. He hooks you up.
No daytime TV, watching peoples’ pathetic lives, no plastic chairs, screaming kids, or six month old magazines. Imagine!
Imagine being a loyal health care customer.
Wouldn’t that be cool?
Hats off to Apple. They are doing it right.