“Okay, I need a new laptop,” says Hayley.
She’s sitting there, pounding the ‘Enter’ key on her MacBook. Nothing’s moving.
I’m not surprised … it’s my old MacBook Pro from 2011, so it’s, uh, seen better days.
“But all you do is check emails!” I protest.
(The daggers in her return glance tell me she does not agree.)
“Fine,” I sigh.
Then — ding! — a lightbulb goes on above my head.
“Hey,” I say. “How about we both get a new laptop … for the same price?”
Hayley cocks her head to the side.
“Heh, well, you see, my current MacBook is from 2015,” I say. “So we could get you a new one … and then you’d get a new laptop and I wouldn’t. Or …”
“Go on,” says Hayley, looking at me as trustingly as a mongoose would look at a snake.
“Well … if I bought the new laptop, and gave you my current laptop, it’d be like we both got a new laptop … for the same price!”
I grin and hold out my arms, waiting for her to accept my proposal.
She … does not accept my proposal.
“You ALWAYS say this!!!” she says.
Hmmm … she has a point.
It might be true that I have said this for every single Apple product we’ve upgraded for the last five years 🤔
But hey — logic, right?
Eventually, though, she comes around … and off I go to buy myself—ahem, her—a new laptop.
I fire up the Apple website and go through the purchase process, picking all my fancy upgrades.
Yet just as I’m about to check out, I realise … there’s no place to enter my business name so I can claim it as a business expense.
Hm.
I go back and forth a few pages, but nope — there’s nothing.
So I do something that, as an introvert, I hate …
I fire up the chat.
A friendly person named Chloe answers me.
“Hope you’re having a great day :)”
Yes, yes, Chloe. Let’s get to business.
“I can’t put in my business name,” I say. “Am I missing something?”
“Oh … you have to call us for that,” she says.
… excuse me?
I, a millennial, have to CALL you?
As in … pick up the phone … and tell some shady person my credit card details on an unsecured line? Like Denise the 67-year-old dinosaur who thinks that the Internet is going to gulp down her money?
The very thought gives me the jitters.
But, inspired by the prize, I figure I’ll bite the bullet and call.
I glimpse at the clock. 4pm. Plenty of time.
I dial up … and get an automated voice.
“Thank you for calling Apple. Please listen to the following options …”
With a final superhuman burst of patience, I navigate the labyrinth of buttons I have to press, guided by Robot Voice.
Then — finally — I get through to the right place …
And get an Indian voice telling me I’ve called outside of office hours.
Even though it’s 4pm.
But if I’d like, he tells me, I can still purchase products …
… from the website.
Gahhhh!!!
I hang up the phone, annoyed and defeated.
I’m a customer with a debit card literally in my hand, ready to pay thousands of dollars.
But instead, I’ve just been stopped from making my purchase — and been given a terrible experience to boot.
The worst part is … Apple couldn’t care less.
(Which is a lesson in and of itself on building a business that’s so powerful, you can do this kind of stuff and people will still buy from you.)
But it’s also an opportunity for smaller businesses.
Yes, these tech giants — the FAANGs of Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google — might be crushing industries around the world.
But there’s always a place for businesses that offer good, old-fashioned customer service.
And for the right people … they might just be willing to pay a premium to deal with someone who has their back, rather than a giant faceless corporation.
(Especially people like Denise the 67-year-old dinosaur, probably.)
In fact, just this morning I was stunned by a gesture of customer service from a business I bought from … and it gave me an idea I’ll be implementing immediately into my coaching program, Inbox Detonator, when I open it later this month.
Smooth pivot, Daniel.
Oh, hey.
Since we’re talking about Inbox Detonator now:
(And don’t argue about that, {!firstname_fix}, because then we’d be arguing about Inbox Detonator, which would automatically make you lose the argument)
You can get on the waitlist to join that by clicking here joining my email list.
Because I won’t be launching it to my main list. First notification will go to that waitlist only. So be there, or be square.
And in other news:
I’ve spent the week so far working on my other product … a course on how I do market research.
And can I just say, if what I’ve done so far is any indication … it’s gonna be *high-pitched sing-song voice* awe-sooooome!
More on that soon, though.
Besides, it might yet take me a while to type it out on this 2015 MacBook …
Daniel Throssell