When you walk into a retail Apple Store, aside from being overwhelmed by the style of the architecture, you may have noticed that there is a certain vibe inherent in the experience. Each encounter with an employee feels consistent with the previous one. There is a nice, relaxed atmosphere present that makes visiting the store a pleasant occasion. Well, it turns out that that's entirely by design.

The Wall Street Journal had a gander at some of the official training materials and compiled a report that details, at least in part, the methods behind the success of the over $12 billion franchise, including (and we paraphrase):

• Be helpful, don't upsell
• Respond simply and be reassuring
• Don't correct customer mistakes
• Listen to problems and concerns, and offer solutions that can be implemented while in-store

The report also mentions interesting items like the fact that Genius Bar employees get paid about twice what sales staff does, and that if an employee is over 10 minutes late three times in six months, they get fired. That last sounds draconian, but is pretty much in-line with reports of the way Steve Jobs runs Apple proper.

To be clear, we're not saying that everyone's experience will be, or has been stress-free. The next time you visit an Apple Store in person, however, take a look around, eavesdrop on some customer interactions, and see if the staff is putting into practice what their training is supposed to have taught them.

Via BusinessInsider