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THE STARBUCKS EXPERIENCE

5 PRINCIPLES FOR TURNING ORDINARY INTO EXTRAORDINARY

By Joseph A. Michelli

The Starbucks Experience discusses the unique blend of “home-brewed” ingenuity and people-driven philosophies that are behind Starbucks’ success. Author Dr Joseph Michelli gained access to Starbucks personnel and resources and discovered that the company’s success is driven by those who work there – the “partners” – and the special experience they create for each and every customer.

Dr Michelli makes use of real-life insider stories, eye-opening anecdotes, and step-by-step strategies to condense Starbucks’ working philosophies into five key principles in order to enable readers to learn from the best – and be the best.

(1) PRINCIPLES 1: MAKE IT YOUR OWN

Senior management must find ways to get its partners to fully engage their passions and talents while ensuring that individual partners’ differences are blended into a good uniform customer experience.

It can be tough to find a balance between these two leadership responsibilities, but Starbucks has managed to do so through its principle of Make It Your Own. It has created a structure known as the “Five ways of being”, which is encapsulated in a pamphlet known as the Green Apron Book:

1.    Be welcoming

At Starbucks, “being welcoming” is an essential way to get the customer’s visit off to a positive start, and is also the foundation for producing a warm and comfortable environment. It lets partners forge bonds with customers.

“Being welcoming”, at its essence, is defined as “offering everyone a sense of belonging”. Partners should do all they can to create a place where people feel that they are a priority and where their day can be brightened, at least for a moment.

Welcoming people by name and remembering them from visit to visit is a small thing, but it counts very much. People fear just being another member of the herd; they want to have their uniqueness recognized.

2.    Be genuine

At Starbucks, being genuine means to “connect, discover, and respond”. Focusing on these three elements in each customer interaction forms a quality relationship:

Connect: Legendary service comes from a desire and effort to exceed what the customer expects. Customers have repeatedly shared experiences of Starbucks partners making a connection well beyond some formulaic greeting. Individual staff uniqueness gives them a special way to connect with others.

Discover:  Business success requires the discovery of each person’s needs and individual situation. Discovery is essential to developing a unique and genuine bond. The special qualities and needs of each customer must be determined.

Respond:  A lot of businesses do manage to achieve the first two elements, but they don’t always act on what they learn. Starbucks employees not only listen to their customers, but also take action immediately based on what they hear and learn from these experiences for future customer interactions.

3.   Be considerate

Starbucks partners look beyond their needs and consider the needs of others such as customers, potential customers, critics, co-workers, other shareholders, and even the environment. In sum, the entire universe of people and things Starbucks affects.

At the corporate level, “being considerate” means exploring the long-term well-being of partners and those individuals whose lives the partner’s touch – while being mindful of the earth’s ability to sustain the demands placed on it.

Thoughtfulness should become a part of a company’s culture. Leaders should place a priority on consideration and encourage their staff to put their own twist on the concept.

4.   Be knowledgeable

Starbucks partners are always encouraged to love what they do and share it with others. Partners are encouraged to enhance their expertise in coffee and customer service. Value is always added to partners’ efforts when they gain work-related knowledge. In addition, as they become more informed, their value to the business, self-confidence, and the impact they have on others all increase.

Starbucks upper management also offers formal training opportunities to develop their knowledge of coffee that can lead to personal insights for customers, and also give out incentives for partners to undertake such training.

5.   Be involved

This means nothing less than active participation in the store, in the company, and in the community – a “yes, I will” attitude where breakthrough products and service are created. There must be a move away from a “bare minimum is OK” mentality.

Partners look around the store for clues on how to make the customer experiences and the business better and to improve the manner in which customer needs are served.

The management makes it a point to listen and respond to the ideas and suggestions of partners – as a result, partners frequently take responsibility for suggesting and championing new product ideas based on the inputs from their customers.

Lastly, there is community involvement, which can take many forms – from creating a community meeting place to staff volunteering in community-related activities, all of which are encouraged and supported by Starbucks leadership.

(2) PRINCIPLES 2: EVERYTHING MATTERS

All business is detail. When details are overlooked or missed, even the most patient customers can be frustrated and costly errors can occur. A small detail can sometimes make the difference between success and failure. Something as simple as a little 7-cent valve did more than its share towards making Starbucks a publicly traded company. Important details live in both that which is seen and that which is unseen by the customer. There is absolutely no way to hide poor quality in anything. Hide it though some may try, it always becomes evident in the end.

Store environment, product quality, training, the development of a playful culture (a playful and positive work environment produces vital and engaged staff members), and a social conscience all matter a great deal.

The “Starbucks sensation” is driven not just by the quality of its products, but by the entire atmosphere surrounding the purchase of its coffee, the openness of its store space, interesting menu boards, the shape of its counter, and other things besides.

The art of retailing coffee – and indeed many other things as well – goes way beyond product. The details of the total experience matter, from napkins to coffee bags, store-fronts to window seats.

Lastly, not only does everything matter; everyone matters as well.

(3) PRINCIPLES 3: SURPRISE AND DELIGHT

            At Starbucks, it is critical to deliver consistent product and service to delight customers. But on top of consistent quality, Starbucks partners look for ways to surprise and engage consumers in a process of discovery. In an example of the importance of surprise, Starbucks gave out free cups of “Calm” tea on April 15 in anticipation that their customers would be frazzled by the tax deadline.

            In that vein, delight is the caramelized popcorn – the basic product customers get – while surprise is the prize they get! Customers want the predictable and the consistent, while hoping for an occasional positive twist or added value thrown in. Customer delight comes from surprise as well as predictability.

(4) PRINCIPLES 4: EMBRACE RESISTANCE

Embracing resistance involves a complex set of skills that can enable businesses and individuals to create business and relationship opportunities when confronted with irritation, skepticism, and/or wariness. This principle requires leaders to distinguish between customers who want their concerns to be resolved and those individuals who just can’t seem to stop complaining or seem to find it impossible to be satisfied. Embracing resistance is more than simply placating these groups; it focuses on learning from those individuals who don’t always make it easy to listen.

To work with resistance effectively, you must distinguish between those people who really do want their concerns resolved and those who simply want to complain.

For some concerns, listening is all that is required. It offers space for commentary and constructive discussion.

For other types of resistance, direct action is required; management should know when listening is simply not enough.

(5) PRINCIPLES 5: LEAVE YOUR MARK

            This is particularly significant in the world of business, where managers’ actions have profound effects on individuals and societies. Some leaders are content with hitting the firm’s product goals and cut corners on everything from employee benefits to capital expenses. Others believe that an important part of their business success is linked to the powerful and positive impact they have on their communities.

Successful leaders realize that a key component of their success is leaving a powerful and positive mark in the communities in which their businesses operate.

People want to do business with and work for companies that are socially conscientious. In addition to their corporate philanthropy and grant-giving, Starbucks encourages its employees to be involved in their communities; matching cash contributions in support of their partners’ efforts. Furthermore, Starbucks leadership makes business decisions in accord with their social values.

In conclusion, The Starbuck Experience, Dr Michelli uses that episode to illustrate the system Starbucks has in place to handle public relations issues. In the end, Starbucks was able to use the incident to its advantage by bringing attention to its philanthropic donations. And each one of us should apply on every each of the principles in order to become better worker.