I’ve spent a few days thinking about another blogger’s article entitled “Why Starbucks Lost a Customer,” written by Jamison Combs. The crime in that article is not the content but the unforgiving title which quickly creates a spirited knee-jerk reaction in many. Many people are not able to see past the harsh endpoint (a customer who states they are not coming back), and look at the meaningful discussion of what is the “Starbucks Experience,” and even more importantly, the implicit discussion of what should be the yard stick to know that we are getting it right. One single customer lost from the sixty million a week never sounds like a big deal.
I’m sure that I could stop going to Starbucks, (and my readers too) and there would be no financial consequence to Starbucks. My monthly Starbucks budget makes no difference to a billion dollar corporation. Therein lies the unfortunate blog title of “Why Starbucks Lost a Customer”
The core discussion of what is the spirit of the Starbucks experience, and who is personally accountable is the difficult conversation that should be looked at. Additionally, conversations about what is happening with the Starbucks experience inside the stores will occasionally make partners feel defensive, and those defensive feelings occasionally thwart the meaningful conversations that must be had.
Allow me to back up and recap some of the salient points of the Jamison Combs article: Mr. Combs is a Starbucks customer in South Carolina. (My apologies if I have incorrectly guessed that Jamison Combs is a “he.”) He went to a Starbucks and discovered that his local baristas were no longer handwriting drink orders and names on cups. This store in South Carolina now used a label maker. He believed that the personal touch of his Starbucks had gone missing, and called his local store a “glorified McDonalds.” Ultimately, Mr. Combs met with the store’s district manager and learned that Starbucks had not changed their policy as a whole, but rather his store had adopted a label maker. He writes, “Guess my passion for the company is a bit high.”
Whether Mr. Combs is really lost as a customer, I will never know. What I know is that we need customers with such passion for the company: They can help make it a better business if we’re really willing to think about big picture issues.
And now some commentary: Over one year ago I wrote an article called, “Deconstructing the Starbucks Experience into Three Pieces.” In short, I described that the Starbucks experience was the sum total of (1) the quality of the drink plus (2) the theater and romance plus (3) the felt-sense connection between barista and customer. The gravamen of Mr. Comb’s blog post really is the loss of the theater and romance of the Starbucks experience and some of the opportunity of the felt-sense connection.
Many people think, “Who cares? If we install label printers in every store, things will go faster.” Not every single customer is motivated by a faster drink. The Starbucks Experience is the sum of all its pieces. If you remove a piece, one by one, you remove the experience. The challenge is that many people cannot see any reason not to change one small little thing, but all those small little things add up. The Starbucks Experience IS the sum of its parts. It is something akin to this: Starbucks Experience = clean store + smiling baristas + baristas genuinely interested in connecting with customers + a speed of service that is neither too slow nor too hasty that something is missed + a handwritten order on a cup + a handcrafted beverage + a passion for coffee + knowledgeable partners + ethical sourcing + community involvement … plus much more. As Howard Schultz is famous for saying, “Retail is in the details.”
Rather than focusing on just the label maker, the larger question is the opportunity to ask: “What is the yard stick that every single Starbucks measures themselves up against?” Does Starbucks hope to be a little better than the McDonald’s down the road? In my humble opinion, if each and every Starbucks believes that the yard stick is the level of care and theater and romance and drink perfection to be found at 1912 Pike Place, then they have their eyes set upon the gold standard.
The heart of the Starbucks Experience must be preserved. I am not actually stating whether there should or should not be handwritten drink cups. That’s not the relevant conversation. The relevant conversation is ‘Does this affect the experience?’ and ‘how, when, and why can label makers be introduced or should they be introduced at all into the stores?’ Looking back to the thoughts on the yardstick we measure ourselves by, ‘how would you feel if you walked into 1912 Pike Place and the partner slapped a drink label on the cup?’
I am still not suggesting whether there should or should not be label makers at Starbucks. From what I have been told about my local area of Starbucks (downtown Seattle), the policy is that no label makers are used on drink cups in cafe stores. Label makers are permitted to be used at the drive through. My gut intuition is that this is probably the right answer for this issue of label makers: Drive thrus, yes. Cafes, no.
Handwritten cup orders are a very meaningful thing for lots of customers beside Mr. Combs. By the way, I know that once in a while I am absolutely charmed by what I will find written on my cup. A barista in Austin, TX made my day, with “Welcome to Austin” on my cup when I visited her store. Handwritten cups has come up as an issue at MyStarbucksIdea.com on many occasions:
And lastly, who is accountable for the Starbucks Experience? The Experience always happens at the level of one customer at a time. I’ll quote Howard Schultz, who in this segment was talking about his return as the corporation’s CEO in 2008:
I think what I was trying to do was to get everyone to understand that it’s not about Howard Schultz; it’s not about thousands of stores. It’s about one store, one extraordinary cup of coffee, and a comprehensive commitment by everyone who wears a green apron – the most important people in our company – to do everything we can to exceed the expecations of our customers.
****
I think rather than think about this in terms of whether Mr. Combs did or did not leave Starbucks as a customer, we should thank him for opening up the door to important conversations about what is happening in the stores. Reasonable minds may differ on whether there should be label makers in a Starbucks. The quality of the Starbucks Experience, however, should be the same whether you are in South Carolina, or happen to live in downtown Seattle.
The End.
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Melody I do not even know where to begin re this post. What an exceptional discussion on customer service issues. Thank you. Re first the label maker. There are two stores in my area that use them and I have no real feeling about it. I have had the experience over the years of having partners that know me hand write notes on the cup which for sure make me feel special and improve the experience. There is so much to say about the SB experience and to me it comes down to how the partners feel about their job, their store, and how they relate to the customer. Too many times they just do things without any feeling- no smile, no hello, etc. but there are times when they are chatty. I find it difficult when they are behind the counter chatting amongst themselves and they find these conversations more important than the interaction with the customer. I could go on and on. Thanks again. And as I have said before, I think districts should offer focus groups to customers so a SM or DM can learn first hand about the customer experience.
My local Starbucks uses a label maker in the drive-thu, but marks cups for the cafe. It used to use a label maker for everything, but changed to the new system a few months ago. I always hated the labels, mostly because they’ sometimes get stuck to the hot cup sleeves and usually got wet and gross on the cold cups in the summer. If I asked, they’d happily leave the label off, but it was standard procedure to use them. They often struggle with the labelmaker printing off the edge (sometimes missing number of pumps of syrup or other important information), running out of labels in a rush and just plain not working. Does this speed up service? Only when the label maker works.
I really don’t think the labels make a difference to most customers. Those who aren’t used to seeing them are surprised to see them. Those who are used to seeing them hardly pay attention to them. Names can still be put on the cups, with or without labels.
I think Starbucks is an easy target to complain about . It’s easy to look at any changes they make and say they’re destroying MY coffee experience. Starbucks was built around pleasing the customer, but this has the unfortunate side effect of making many (not all by any means) customers feel entitled to getting their coffee their way. When Starbucks changes something, it means that these customers must either adjust to the new system or leave. People hate change. Any change is like to make some customers excited about it, some customers indifferent about it, and some customers angry enough to leave. I’m pretty sure there are plenty of other customers out there that become new customers or newly regular customers that Starbucks as a whole won’t miss the customers they cause to leave.
I think the experience really is a trickle down (and up) effect. There’s a certain standard that comes from the top (literally, in this case) Howard. The top level at Starbucks preaches the ‘one customer, one cup’ experience. This filters down through regional managers, operational managers, district managers, managers, assistant managers, shift supervisors and baristas. It goes both ways, obviously. That barista can teach (often unknowingly) anyone about the overall experience, and can really reach for the passion for that Starbucks Experience, since they’re having it on the front lines.
However, if at any point in that trickle down effect is that passion and committment to the Starbucks Experience lost, then it becomes harder and harder to achieve. A district manager or manager who is entirely focussed on sales goals might sacrifice the ‘experience’ for agressive selling, speed of service (label maker), overworked baristas etc. (Interestingly, I’ve found that if you start the flow with the experience, the sales will follow. A pleased customer is more likely to take the upsell than someone who you’ve already made feel like another number).
I guess what I’m saying is that EVERYONE becomes responsible for that overall experience. It’s up to the barista and everyone up that line to make sure that the customer’s getting their INDIVIDUAL experience. If that label maker is inhibiting Jamieson’s exprience, then my hope would have been that his baristas would have made that they’re opportunity to connect and find a way to make his experience what he wanted it. Adding his name to the cup, greeting him by name, or any number of things. A change to the store should never mean a sacrifice in that experience, it’s just up to the baristas to sometimes rise to the challenge.
I suppose the question is whether a customer is entitled to get a coffee their way? I always thought part of the experience at SB is that you can order whatever drink you want your way. Also, I think if you are a regular customer at one SB and do not show up for a bit and then come back, you will be missed if not by the partners then by the other regulars that you have gotten to know.
One more thing on experience:
There is nothing, nothing that frustrates me more than being in a starbucks where i don’t get a good experience. It’s a company that means a lot of me, despite me no longer being a partner. My home store is the first one I ever worked at and it’s still the one I visit most often (half of them are coming to the wedding, including their manager! scheduling that was hard, i’m sure) and I’m always guaranteed the best experience there.
But Starbucks has always been more than just a cup of coffee. A disappointing experience makes that perfect cup of coffee not quite so worth it. Obviously there are limits to customer entitelment, and obviously you can have a bitchy customer probably easier than a bitchy barista (let’s be honest, a customer isn’t getting paid to interact with thier barista) but I do think it’s the responsibility to every barista to make that experience happen, one cup, one customer at a time.
Kelly I love the way you think! My favorite RVP is fond of saying that, “Starbucks is just as much about the experience as it is the drink.” And you are right, from Howard down to the register barista, there can be roadblocks to good customer service. The vision of Starbucks will be totally thrown out of whack with a clueless DM who doesn’t understand how to teach, lead, and guide.
As to the topic of “entitled customers” – I don’t want to derail an interesting conversation about what happened here. What’s interesting in THIS blog post to me is that snapshot in time at the register with partner and customer, and why or how the customer was left feeling like his Starbucks experience had been short changed. Are the baristas at that store not empowered to grab a sharpie pen for some customers? Seems really unstarbuckian to have a robotic rule with no flexibility in thinking.
The conversation of entitled customers could be literally an entirely new blog post. It is one that I have thought about writing often. People are a constant. There is nothing different about people now than in the 1980s, 1990s, or 2000. There is nostalgic era of customers that suddenly never felt entitled. That’s a myth that people want to believe.
I have thought that customers now are savvy enough to realize that they may have a megaphone, or at least pretend to have a megaphone. Customer XYZ in the 1990s wanted free stuff too. That is human nature and it hasn’t changed. Customer XYZ in the 1990s had absolute high expectations of how baristas should act (occasionally I think the expectations were much higher then than now).
One thing that is different is that Customer XYZ — whoever they are — has a way bigger voice than ever before because of the internet. The web gives every customer a megaphone. It puts a spot light on what’s happening in stores in a way that never happened before. It would have been really bizarre in the 1990s if I had ever thought about what happened in a Starbucks in South Carolina, because there were no blogs. Unless something made the news, you just didn’t hear about it. Now you do.
So customers can sort of behave like, “if you’re not fabulous enough, I can make a big noise” because through the internet voices can be amplified, customer service addresses are super easy to find, sites like MyStarbucksIdea.com are easy to find and there are hundreds of blogs. The barista never know which customer really can command an audience and which cannot.
I have a lot more thoughts on this and have mentally been working on a blog post on this for a long time. Of course, blogs, websites, and so on can go the other direction too – it doesn’t have to be a megaphone for the bad experience, but often the case, (as with Mr. Combs) that is what happens.
That’s a snippet in my thinking on that, but don’t take away too much from that because this idea is still a work in progress.
A really thought provoking article here Melody. Here in the UK we don’t use labelmakers, and when we ask if a customer is sitting in or having their drinks to take away – that dictates the type of cup they receive. Paper cups are not the standard, and in situations where we had no alternative – you’d be shocked at the amount of people who simply walk away because they can’t have their drink in a proper mug. Anyway, my point is – with ceramic mugs, we have to adhere to the standard that the drink label is removed before serving… and with a large volume of our customers here in the UK opting to sit in rather than take away – they probably don’t even know a label has been on their cup. To back this up – on three separate occasions I have had customers asking how we remember all the drinks that have been ordered – they had no idea that we wrote them down on labels and attached them to cups!
That’s kind of where my view stops on the whole labelmaker issue… I know fun cup marking for take away drinks is quite popular in the US and other countries… but it doesn’t really seem to happen here, the cups get marked with the drinks, very rarely anything else. Which is perhaps just the nature of the UK market, as fun markings is not something I think can be forced, either the people of a country embrace writing and receiving sweet messages when they buy their morning cup, or they don’t.
I totally agree that the experience should be the same worldwide, and this responsibility falls squarely in the lap of the Baristas. I do my very best to create meaningful experiences here in the UK, for every customer, that’s my job. Like @Kelly said above, it’s sometimes up to the Baristas to rise to the challenge. Challenge what our customers expect from us, continually improve, and exceed their expectations. I’m not going to be as harsh as to criticize another store or other partners, but if someone is willing to not return to a store over a label issue… then it signals to me that maybe there wasn’t a huge deal of emotional connection in that store for him BESIDES the labels… and that’s not nearly enough.
Not just one customer, it has to be every customer. We need to bring our A game, 100%, give it everything, every single day, and for every single customer… Otherwise we’ll lose them.
I agree that every customer needs to have that great SB experience and partners need to be there 100%. Melody, I also think it is an interesting point that with MSI and other internet sites people take advantage of their bad experience and sometimes put them out of proportion to what happened and write online about it in ways that can hurt the SB experience. I guess the conversation needs to go to how to use these sites in an effective manner to get results and not just rant. I look forward to your blog comments on what a customer is entitiled to and more on customer service issues in general.
@StarbucksDave and @Kelly – I am energized by yours and other partners willingness to commit (and in your case to do so publicly) to the brand experience.
@Dave – Comment Luv finally works on this blog! I can see you have a new blog post!! yay!
@purple1 – Someday I’ll get a blog post written on that topic but I’m still sorting most through it and I haven’t decided on the right approach. One thing for sure. Humans don’t change. Technology has.
Melody thank you for the well thought out break down of the experience
and i love the back and forth thoughts on it!
I personally like the label maker, i’ve seen them for years in NYC starbucks, what matters to me (to echo a lot of comments) is the smile, and warm feeling coming from the barista
I’m glad we’re talking about it, but i’m surprised the label maker wrankles some so badly, i can’t see that stopping people from saying things to brighten the customers day, or maybe adding notes in addition to labels
@Melody I noticed that! I had no idea what on earth what “Comment Luv” was until I posted my most recent comment and seen it in action, what an awesome tool!!
I think some people end up getting a little too empowered by Starbucks culture, I don’t mean they turn into crazy power hungry people… I just mean there’s sometimes the issue of “Partner Entitlement” as well as “Customer Entitlement” – where people can get so wrapped up in wearing the green apron, that they forget what the green apron represents… and actually, forget that the green apron behind the counter is only there because of the people standing in front of it.
Starbucks Dave your last comment really hit the mark re the issue of partner entitlement and partners forgetting what the green apron represents. Thank you. Well said for sure.
Melody, My store has had a drive thru label maker for several years. We recently had one installed for the cafe as well. It’s supposed to help the SOS, and probably does. However, I am concerned that new Partners are not learning how to mark cups. Maybe cup marking will go the way of checks and other medieval practices. Someday we’ll say, “Do you remember when we used to mark cups with Sharpies?” I wonder if the absence of cup marking will have an impact on the Sharpie company– maybe people will have to be laid off because Starbucks ceases to use Sharpies. What are the economic repercussions of using a label maker? (somewhat kidding of course)
Unfortunately, the “rise of the label maker” is just one of the new ways of being at Starbucks. Speed of service is the ultimate goal for every SM, DM, and above. It’s all they think about (besides Customer Voice and VIA) night and day. How many cars can we get through the drive thru in a half hour? How fast can you make those two Iced Venti, 2 Pump, Nonfat, With Whip, 2 Splenda , Stirred, White Mochas? The label maker is just a natural step in this “need for speed” mindset. Starbucks corporate is grasping at every straw they can right now trying to figure out what the next “big” thing will be, what new LEAN initiatives to send out to the stores, and what ridiculously high goals the stores have to try and reach. The erosion of the Starbucks experience started when the experience became less about the connection, and more about the speed and value of the connection…
And just to clarify, by value of the connection I mean how many more items can be tacked on to an order – VIA, tumblers, pounds of coffee, VIA, a pastry, VIA…
My store has a label maker for the DT and we mark cups in the cafe. If I recognize a drink with a drive thru label on it and I want to leave a note for that customer I will add it. There’s nothing (except for a lack of a writing utensil – which is usually the case) to stop me.
GAStarbucksGirl – I worry about partners not knowing how to mark cups too. What happens for instance when the labeller goes down? It’ll be a disaster….especially since there are some extremely funky cup marking codes in Simphony right now. Maybe they’ve been officially changed, but if that’s the case, Simphony is the only place that I can recall seeing the changes. (example – BSL. Everytime I see that I have to ask someone what it is…it’s not intuitive at all)
wow! I hardly know where to begin! This is an excellent post, BEAUTIFULLY wrtitten by you, Melody with comments that ALL seem meaningful to me.
I will say: I have had zero experience with a ‘labeled’ drink. My understanding is that in many places they are used only in the drive-thru, and to date, on the few occasions that I go to a drive-thru store, I NEVER use the drive thru. and I also never noticed any labels. But, I know they’re out there. I wrote quite awhile ago on MSI that it’s something I wouldn’t prefer. And, that human error can occur anywhere along the line, always. But, I realize this post is NOT actually about the labels. (and, btw, I’m in an area …Chicago…..where I’ve NEVER ever seen a name written on a cup….altho I know that seems to be the practice elsewhere. So, that too has not been a factor for “my experience”. I would actually rather hear my drink repeated back to me at the pick-up point than see my name.) altho generally my name is known to them…
The whole experinece, really, in essence, goes wayyyyy back in time to (sorry, I know I have brought this up before) the 150yrs+ that Marshall Field’s operated their stores based on one sentence that Field himself, (early 1900’s?) said to a clerk who was bantering back and forth with a customer: “Give the lady what she wants”. And that was the premise of all things Field’s for over 150yrs. The customer comes first, along with quality, courtesy, kindness etc. And, he treated his employess the same…..he really DID ‘do unto others’. The entire shoping event at any Marshall Field’s was an experience focused on “you”. Sbux isn’t doing anything new at all. And of course there are tons of other stores (well, maybe not enough any more) that still operate this way.
Right now I’m in the midst of kind of enjoying myself ‘less’ at Sbux. About half of the baristas at my regular store have either moved up and on or are just gone for various reasons. That means there are many times when I might really only “know” one barista who is on. They’re mostly young and very busy learning so….it’s changed things alot for me. (at least my time at Sbux!) It’s just not so comfortable. Of course, there are Sbux all over that I could go to but this was my home store. and of course one day, I would guess, they will (mostly) be knowledgable and I may come to know them. But this is a perfect example for ME of how much the “experience” is worth…. (alot). The interaction with the partners, how they all know my my drink, what’s new to talk about etc. It all makes a hge difference because right now, generally I get my drink to go. and, of course, the physical care of the store is reflected by this new group, learning and I’m sure feeling quite overwhelmed much of the time…so some of the other things take a back seat. (nothing huge…..just kind of overall)
That’s all I can add for the moment but I think this is totally one of the BEST threads filled with very thoughtful comments. I can see this staying up for a while…?
denise – it’s unfortunate that your store is going through turnover. I have had a lot in my store over the past year and I know it makes the regular customers uncomfortable. I just try to make sure and introduce all the new baristas to the regulars so that they get to know them ASAP. Of course, I can’t hit every one, but I do try my best.
@Denise – Generally how long I wait before I put up the next article depends on the response an article gets, though I try to post a minimum of three times per week. The funny thing is that I am not very good at predicting what kind of blog post will be interesting to others. But if the blog dies off and people stop leaving comments, then I get itchy to throw something else up, sometimes when I don’t even know what it will be. I wrote this hastily this morning.
The experience is worth tons. I dropped by 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea today which has had huge change over in partners. One favorite partner who has been there for ages was working, and we had great conversations. This particular partner is perhaps THE most knowledgeable person I know (outside of any SSC partners) about coffee. We chatted for a while about the difference between shade grown mexico as a pour over versus a clover, and she made me a handtamped single origin macchiato that curled my toes. That is the only Starbucks to get a macchiato at, period. But it just wouldn’t have been the same if she hadn’t been there, and likely I would have left in 10 minutes if she weren’t there. Instead I stayed buying things, and having fun. We taste tested OSGM a couple of different ways – That coffee is one of the best from the Clover. It was the first time I even noticed a visible difference in the body of the coffee from the Clover versus the PO.
I know what you mean that a store is “not so comfortable” when the partners change. One of the stores that I go to downtown has gone through dramatic barista turn over in the last few months. It’s a little surprising. It’s especially worrisome when it is your home store! I worry when a whole new crew of partners come in. I’m dumbfounded when the young young crew seem really uninterested in talking with customers because they don’t think they know anything about Starbucks – Like as if because we don’t work there, we don’t know much. Some of us are walking history books. 😉 Okay, well maybe that is an exaggeration. A big exaggeration.
In any case, I wouldn’t have a heart attack to see a label maker. I remember the first time I saw one, I was super happy that it had the partner’s name on the label and I thought that it would help me learn partner names. But it’s been years since I’ve seen a label on a cup in Seattle, so I don’t know what is on them now.
@Baroosta – I would if speed of service is more of an issue outside of Seattle. I remember hearing once (and I have NO clue where) that 54% of the US business is DT. That’s amazing. In Seattle, it must be about like 10% or less since there are so few DT stores. I don’t even see partners doing much to try and upsell. Where do your stores get this pressure? Is coming from the DM? From the RD? From the customers themselves? Is it a culture driven by the DT and label makers? 🙂
I’ve rambled way too much.
@Michelle – Starbucks needs to clone you. Every comment you make is so right on.
I have had anstore manager do that and it helps a lot. In fact my store that has had massive change in the past 6 months has had a consistent manager who has done many things like stop me and say, “Hey Melody, have you met Shiboo? She’s new and I want you to meet her.” Funny most managers don’t do that, and she’s the only one who does that but I really appreciate it. Just makes it very nice to be actually introduced to partners.
I do honestly believe that there is something wrong with the Starbucks Experience as a whole. I am barely a month-old partner, and not once have I been coached on customer connections or creating the Third Place. It’s fortunate that I knew about the concepts beforehand, because I wouldn’t be pleasing people as well as I am right now.
And personally, my store does lack the Third Place environment. We have our regulars, and we’re nice to them. But the tourists and first-time customers rarely get special attention. I do try to go above and beyond, but it’s hard when the partners around you have been there for multiple years and don’t exactly act Starbuckian. Some of our partners are flat out rude. I’ve overheard customers talk about it multiple times, and I always make an effort to chase them down as they’re leaving the store and try to connect with them and figure out why their experience went sour.
I do agree that the label printers dilute our Experience. There’s no way to debate that as it (currently, at least) lacks the personal touch that handwritten drink calls provide. I understand the Speed of Service concerns for DT stores, and I fully support the decision to implement labelers there to help out the DT1 partner as well as the store team as a whole. As long as most cafe beverages can still be handwritten, it won’t be the worst problem. I believe that if you’re driving through a Starbucks, you aren’t too worried about customer/partner connection anyway.
The Third Place is definitely missing in many areas, company wide. I’m not one to pretend there’s not a problem, but neither am I one to pretend there isn’t a solution. With growth comes change, and currently we plan on growing again. All of our partners need to strive for that ideal balance, is all. Great discussion, Mel 🙂
@therootinator – Hey your comment reminds me of something that I have heard about … It has come up in conversation at my local Starbucks store that somewhere out there, there is a training vid called “bob not bob.” I have never seen it. (I would love to though). The only reason it came up in conversation is that apparently it was filmed at my local Starbucks (store number 101). The premise, so I understand, is teaching partners NOT to single out regulars and to make EVERY customer feel like a special person. I see my local partners really practicing this. When I walk in, they are not going to call across the room, “Hey Melody” many times – I can see that they don’t want to make the unknown person in line feel “not Bob.” The idea is “HEY THERE”S BOB” who probably glowing with attention, but what about “not Bob” who is standing in line?
I’ve never actually seen the video (and as I said, I would LOVE to), but I love that basic premise. I think your store needs to work on Bob Not Bob skills, from your description above.
I know the third place is missing in some places. All I have to do is go home to Southern California, and I can experience first hand a much more roller coaster ride Starbucks experience. Sometimes it’s amazing, and some times partners seem really uninterested in customers, as if it is a bother to take an order.
@Melody – you know what they say – the SH** rolls down hill. In my area (The Midwest), our RDs, etc. are focused on one thing – and one thing only – and that’s sales and speed. I think I remember reading a report that said in one week our area alone sold over $500,000 of VIA – this was about a year ago. I think it really depends on how much the RDs and above in an area stick to the Ways of Being, and unfortunately, I don’t think this happens. I always said to myself “I think Howard thinks all we do all day long is coffee tastings and active samplings.” There is so much “fakeness” at Starbucks that it’s not even funny. Days of preparation are in order when a corporate visitor is to stop by a store, so much preparation that this corporate visitor has NO IDEA what really goes on every day in the stores. I think that the biggest problem at Starbucks is the ultimate disconnect that happens between corporate and retail…it’s a different world in the stores but not many corporate partners know about that. It’s a lot of hush hush and those who do speak up…well they don’t last long! I no longer work at Starbucks, but as you can tell, I am still very interested in reading about and contributing to the Starbucks community.
Baroosta – So many interesting points above. I’m going to try and dissect your comment a bit and ramble less than usual.
“RD and above” – There really aren’t that many RDs and above. There are like 75 or so RDs in the corporation and I would take a wild guess that there are about 10 RVPs or so but that’s quite a guess.
One thing I’ve noticed at Starbucks is that messages about what is supposed to happen in a store are communicated like a game of operator. By the time a concept or idea gets from RVP to register barista, it’s gone through a lot of filtering, if it even gets there at all, and the end result are all these flailing legs of an octopus- Or at least it can be that way.
I absolutely believe you that there is a ‘dog and pony’ show for when an RVP is dropping by a store. There are only a few of them, and they are high enough to command a huge force, that it does happen. Maybe the few stores that are fortuitously located near the home of an RVP don’t feel that because they are used to that, (or other stores near exec homes), but the overwhelming majority of stores probably don’t even like RVP visits. It’s amazing that RVPs can ever get an accurate vision into what is happening in stores. And they’re too busy with work to be bombarded with tons of direct customer feedback.
It’s funny I just met a bunch of RDs from the midwest. There was an RD conference in Seattle and it turns out that many were staying at a hotel near the 7th & Pike Starbucks – which is also the Starbucks near where I live – and one day I dropped in for a usual morning stop on the way into work, and discovered that that store had an entire line of RDs, one of whom recognized me and began introducing me to many others. They all seemed like very nice people. Of course, I get that a two minute meeting with several RDs in a Starbucks in Seattle tells you nothing about what it would be like to work for them.
When sales and speed become the FIRST priority then things are a little out of whack. I can honestly say with a straight face that I really don’t think Seattle is as out of whack as what you’re describing above. Notice my blog post about our RVP. I can totally say, with 100% honesty, that I think Seattle right now has a fabulous area RD and RVP. I really mean that. I don’t think every district is created equally. I hear murmurs of a couple of unhappy spots in Seattle, but overall, I really do think THIS is a great place to be for partners.
In my mind, it’s not a terrible problem if an area has got problems IF people can speak up and fix it. It worries me that you say that those people don’t “last long.” Isn’t there still some ‘mission review’ program? What can a store level barista do if there is a problem in a store? What if the DM is not one that you can easily talk to? Are partners comfortable just talking to an RD? Here in Seattle, the RD is so amazing that I do think there is a lot of candor between the RD and the store level partners.
In this story above – sharpies and a cup and a label maker – what if the store partner had her own sharpie handy and just had used it in addition to the label? If she is not empowered to do that, and not given at least that little bit of freedom for fear of her job … well, THERE is the real problem. Partners make really poor customer service choices when they feel that there is a coercive force above them that makes them behave inconsistent with what would be the friendly or benefit-of-the-doubt or welcoming way of acting.
Maybe the answer entirely is that company-wide there needs to be a renewed commitment and belief in the five ways of being.
OMG what a discussion! Let me just dive in here…
My store does about 70% of our business through our drive thru window. I have worked in this store both with a label maker for DT and without. I find that the flow, the SOS, and my ability to connect with customers at the window is DRASTICALLY improved by that sticker. Sure, you don’t get the personal experience of my handwriting on the cup, but you do get me, in person, able to talk to you, because I don’t have to run and grab a cup to mark your drink. So in that regard, as a person who LOVES working DT, that the labeler helps me improve the experience because it gives me more time to connect.
Now, that being said, I would hate to have a labeler for the cafe. I like marking cups, and I like being able to add a personal touch when I can. However, I wonder if I would feel differently working in a higher volume store. Does the time it takes to mark a cup detract from the cashier’s ability to connect? If there’s a long line, there is pressure to get everyone’s order quickly. Does that mean that the cashier feels unable to have a moment of conversation because they have to grab a cup, mark it, make sure no mistakes are made on the cup, take the person’s money and move on to the next person? I don’t know.
I do know the pressure of a DT that isn’t adequately staffed – and without the label maker, I very frequently left work wanting to cry because I felt ineffective.
So, it’s a tough thing to say. I don’t think necessarily that adding stickers can totally ruin the Starbucks experience, but that relies on the fact that the other pieces are in place. Personalize, Create, Connect, Own. Those all have to be there.
(Also, Michelle, I have been wracking my brain for ten minutes and CANNOT figure out BSL, please tell me before my head explodes… wait, is it Blended Strawberry Lemonade?)
@Melody – you are spot on! Some things though can’t be understood unless you’ve been in the belly of the beast! I guess it is just a different world depending on what part of the country you’re in. I respect all of your comments Melody and appreciate your insight into the situation! As far as “speaking up,” it doesn’t happen a lot in this area. The lines of communication are either closed or broken down to the point where it would come off as an attack on the person you were talking about. Word travels quickly in the land of the Bux, and unfortunately, partners know this and don’t want to speak up. (Maybe I just worked in a really, really bad area with less-than-stellar leadership!)
@baroosta – This is how I’ve ended up feeling about my area, a bit. Apparently there are management sides and retail sides of certain stores, and you have to pick which side you’ll fight for and stay loyal to. And I really want to crack that division, if it’s there. Partners shouldn’t be scared to raise concerns, especially if it’s for the better of the team and district as a whole. Getting one store fully on game can slowly lead everyone else to do the same, I think. Then again, I’m only a month old. So maybe I’m not the best one to speak with.
I too have to add again this blog piece is one of the best ones you have done Melody. The comments are just amazing. There still is so much I could say. I especially like the idea of introducing new partners to regulars. We have had a turnover in our local SB and it has taken awhile to get comfortable with the new partners. I have introduced myself to some of them while others just do not seem interested in chatting. I have not seen the SM on the floor in quite a bit and I know he is not on vacation. I guess to me the ultimate question is how can SB bring back the customer experience to the level it once was at while upgrading and changing systems? I just wonder perhaps as SB expands into the retail market, are they forgetting about the customer experience at the store level?
I know all about the loss of the personal connection that is created by using a cup labeler. My store stopped marking and calling cups for about a 6 month period. During that time we saw a drop in the number of customers that were staying and making out store their Third Place and our customer voice numbers dropped drastically. We are now once again marking the cups. What we have experienced in my store is the fact that the customers do want those cups marked with special little notes no matter if they are regulars or travelers heading south on vacation. As a result of hand marking our cups, we are experiencing a large number of people who are experiencing the customer connection and there are times that there isn’t a seat open in the lobby or outside on the patio. Our customer voice has risen to a 90% this past month and all is good. I know that not marking the cups may work for some places, but I saw the change that occured in my store and maybe that was just a coincidence, but creating that Third Place with the Starbucks Experience isn’t an option in our store.
I oops that lost line should say NOT Creating that Third Place and the Starbuck Experience isn’t an option in our store.
so many excellent comments and thoughts in this thread. best yet, I think. (and I agree with almost every word by every one, even when they seem slightly opposed to each other. I just feel a sense of yes! yes! yes! here….in this whole thread)
@baroosta @therootinator it’s so upsetting to me to see baristas who are unhappy or who aren’t getting to experience how amazing and fantastic starbucks is to work for. obviously bad shit happens, and there were days when i didn’t like my job, but overall i’d tell anyone who was looking for a job to try starbucks. i think it’s such a good company, that treats it’s employees very well. it’s heartbreaking to me that this isn’t every baristas experience. 🙁
Wow! Quite a flow off a single gripe! Personally, I don’t get the sturm und drang over labels vs handwritten names at all. Maybe it is that whole engineer thing in me. Of course, just about all I drink is black drip coffee, so, there’s no real need to put a label on it; just pour it and hand it to me. Now, I DO enjoy it when I get the occasional name / note on the cup from a friend, but, just to have my name on the cup from someone anonymous doesn’t mean a thing.
Now, if I could just enjoy my cigar indoors with my coffee instead of out in the Dallas 105 degree heat…
Kelly – You were lucky to work in such good stores where they get what Starbucks is supposed to be. If only every store would really strive for that.
By the way, @therootinator or anyone – Has your store talked about the “bob not bob” concept?
@nvrsubtle Welcome. That’s really amazing what a difference cup markiings can make!
Reminds me of a story that just happened within the past week or maybe 10 days or so … I was at work, and over the lunch hour time frame dropped into a Starbucks near my court. I grabbed a Venti Passion Tea, and the barista at store #101 wrote on the cup something like, “Melody thank you for coming to our store” or “thank you for being a customer” – something like that. I was in a hurry and didn’t even notice it right away.
I walked back to Seattle Muni Court and to a regularly scheduled lunch meeting with a team of people. We were in the meeting, and in the middle of it, the assistant city attorney looks at my cup, stops and says, “Melody do they write that on your cup because you’re Starbucks Melody because they don’t write anything like that on my cup at my Starbucks”
Everyone at the table cracked up.
I just came back from a SB that I usually do not go to and something they are doing reminded me of a customer experience that is not done often anymore. This store is in a different district than my local regular store. This store continues with the customer of the week/month and partner of the month. I remember what positive feedback this program got and it is a shame many stores have discontinued doing this. Surely, a connection not only with the customer but a boost for the partner?
Melody what an interesting response from the asst city attorney to the writing on your cup. I think this hits home to a lot of people. The connection and the bit of time a partner takes to write a note on the cup means so much and makes the SB different from another coffee shop. Does it make it or break it for the customer? I guess that is an individual response. I wonder what SB store the city attorney goes to.
It’s interesting to read all the responses here. It’s really nice to see such a polite conversation about this on the internet of all places. There are so many great points that I find myself as confused as ever.
This discussion is also intriguing because it seems that all of us who are passionate enough about Starbucks to come here, are passionate enough to come inside.
Would any of you ever consider using a Starbucks Drive Thru? Truthfully, even working in a DT store, I’ve never used our DT. I love being the person at the window, but for me, the Starbucks Experience doesn’t happen in my car.
It’s also even harder for me to think about the experience as just a customer, because I have friends working at both of the Starbucks I frequent (from before we were all partners), so the experience is completely different for me.
This blog made me stop and think longer than usuall. As I read this blog and type my post, I’m on my 1/2 hr break and It made me stop and watch the goings on on my floor… Is the “human connection” we endeavor to make everyday over the perfect cup dependent on what is written or printed on the side of the cup? Back in the day, Starbucks didn’t write on cups at all. Depending on how the cup was set on the bar was how the Barista knew what drink was to be made. Did that lessen the “Starbucks Experience”? Does my visit to My SB mean more to me when my name or a “thanks a latte!” is written on the side of the cup? Certainly the attention to detail is appreciated… I personally care more when I’ve had a legendary connection with my favourite Barista(s). I’ve had cup labels on my drinks & worked in both DT & Cafe stores where I’ve used labels… At the expense of sounding full of my self it was my legendary customer service skills that were commented on. Conversely, I never have had a customer say that there day wasn’t made because of a label.
I personally like writing messages on the cups and a label hasn’t stopped me. I think speed of service can sometimes inhibit that, however that’s never an on going issue. Perhaps during a major rush it can fall by the wayside, but by no means does that happen all the time.
I know that this post is more of a self musing about my experiences than a comment, however I’m glad I could take pause for a moment and think how a label printer has affected my customer service both recieved and given.
Customer service is a moving target. Consumers as a whole are more demanding than ever, and rightly so. So delighting repeat guests depends on raising the bar with every visit. Gone are the days of the Industrial Economy, we’ve past the peak of the Service Economy and have transcended into the new age of the Experience Economy… Customers want memorable experiences and companies must become stagers of those experiences…although the WORK of an experience perishes soon after the VALUE lingers. It’s a very ephemeral thing.
As stagers of the Starbucks Experience exceeding guests expectations is our standard call to duty. It is more involved than face-to-face service. Understanding the needs and wants of our guests and committing every aspect if of the company is essential. That means balancing the human touch with the need for speed and accuracy. In the end I think it’s the human connection that trumps any label maker and makes a visit to Starbucks truly legendary or not.
When our store first opened, it was designed to have cup labelers in Cafe and Drive, but our Manager pulled the Cafe one immediately. He stated that using it in the Front of the House detracted from the experience and took away just a small piece of the theater of making coffee. This wasn’t a decision that out DM was happy with, but he eventually got over it.
Marking cups isn’t the Starbucks experience, but it is a small piece and an simple one for newer partners to get into the groove of. It’s the first step of many in creating a perfectly made handcrafted beverage and it is a good foundation to begin on. Speed of service isn’t an issue, because one can write a cup just as quickly as typing in the order on the register. But it does become an issue in the Drive Thru (that’s a whole other discussion about the Starbucks experience for a later date).
I HATE the label makers. We have one in our DT & some days when it goes down, it’s obvious to us as baristas that for some reason it’s just faster for us to handmark than to triple check labels, and some things aren’t even in the system to key in. Until they’re able to give us every possible marking, why use them? Though, I also see the side of having one in a DT, but in a cafe? Seriously? one of my favorite things about going to Starbucks is the name on the cup. MY name on the cup. It makes the experience so much more personal and helps the barista find a starting ground to have that great customer connection, you know? It’s part of what makes the company so great and part of the Starbucks experience. After all, doesn’t the brand new Starbucks Espresso commercial have a cup marking with a name and everything? It just seems like something that, once its taken away, will just be a first step to losing the magic of the Starbucks Experience.
@Kate, LaireLandon, Kitenarie, and jetblue and all: The comments in this thread are amazing.
@Kitenaire – I think one (of MANY reasons) this site has polite conversation is that it is relatively small. I mean it’s actually big for an ordinary person’s blog, but it’s small in the big scheme of things. Probably MSI gets thousands and thousands of visitors each day – The more people that are sharing one sandbox, the more opportunity for conflict. There’s more thought on this, but that is one factor.
@jetblue – I am totally impressed that your store manager stood up to the DM!! That is a great story.
@Kate – Overall I look the sharpie markings too. Downtown Seattle briefly experimented with label printers but there are no drive thru stores here, and that just didn’t last. The only thing that was great about the label printer was that the register partner’s name was on the label. Helped to put a name and a face together. But now with Simphony, they’re on the receipts.
Our labels in DT only say what the drink is, they don’t even have a name or any way to customize besides whats on the order screen. The only thing it’s really improved is our ability to be able to see what the drink is because we don’t have to decipher any handwriting!
WOW Melody and Post Participants, sure struck a passionate nerve with this blog post.
As a customer, I would really feel more comfortable in a “foreign” store with a label on my drink (to ensure it is mine a correct; yes, a brewed bold can be messed up 😉 ).
I totally agree with the comments that warn of new Partners not learning the written cup code.
I also agree that the bottom line is still maintaining that “personal experience” feel and dialog. I consider the small premium that I pay for a Starbucks to be justified by not being treated as just the next person in line (do you want fries with that).
I particularly liked that jetblue has a store manager that is willing to stand up to the DM (as I have said before, the DM is Starbucks weakest, least productive, and out of touch link).
This whole thing still seems so alien to me. Here in the UK personal messages on cups just don’t exist, and for drinks that are to have sitting in have no labels on them whatsoever, they are all served in ceramic mugs as standard.
The thing I find difficult is… we still create a great Starbucks Experience for our customers, without fun little notes on cups. I can see why they may enhance someones visit, but I’m really struggling to grasp why they are such a large part of the theatre and “magic” of Starbucks. Label makers would honestly make no difference to our customers, because a label is effectively exactly the same as what we would have written on the side of any paper cups.
We also don’t ask each customers name for their drink, which seems to be quite common in the US too… During Happy Hour this year we *had* to start asking to avoid confusion, and people were genuinely concerned… “why do you want my name?” “does it have to be my real name?” “I’ve never been asked this before” “what are you going to use it for? I just want my drink, why do you need to know everything about me?” were all comments I got back from customers after asking.
I’m guessing the two above issues are maybe just cultural differences… but I don’t know. It just seems like such a nonissue to me as we’ve never done any of these things, but it seems if customers are used to these things it can mean a LOT when they’re taken away.
In terms of SOS, I’m happy to say that at a recent meeting with my RDO he said the speed of service is not what’s important, its about connection, greeting our customers the second they come into our store, and properly run shifts so that they aren’t waiting very long before speaking to someone. Not sacrificing customer service in order for faster service, but rather better managing of shifts/properly use of line calling in order to give the baristas the time at the register to talk without the customers behind them in the queue feeling like they’ll never be served.
There are definitely districts out there that have problems, and I’ve forgotten who, but someone mentioned that there is a lot of “talk” in Starbucks but that what transpires is often a different story. I ultimately feel that every partner is responsible for their own actions. I know it can be tough if you’re in a store where interaction isn’t the main focus, and customers come second… but why let them win? I honestly believe that it doesn’t matter what store you’re in, if you love Starbucks, and love providing great customer service, you can choose to do what you love, or you can choose to just go with the flow.
We have very loyal customers, and if I’m honest, Starbucks customers are also the best at letting you know when something is wrong, but they can let us know when things are right. Partners sometimes don’t realise the effect they can have on a customer, be it a bad experience, but more importantly a good one. I’ve received some emails in my 4 years at Starbucks from customers where I have done something they thought to be outstanding or worthy of recognition. Was I touched that they took the time to email Customer Care about me? Incredibly. That’s my benchmark. Those days when those customers felt I deserved recognition is what I hold myself to, and try and aim for every single day.
For me the Starbucks Experience has very little to do with cup markings, it’s all about the partners and the effort they make.
@Kate – do you really have that much trouble with the labels? With Simphony, pretty much everything you can think of is on some screen or another, and barring that, there is an “Ask Me” key for things that I can’t find. I’ve never had trouble getting all the specifications on a label, but I did have to spend some time exploring all the screens first.
@Dave – Agreed on pretty much everything you said. I hold as my standard whether customers are happy to see that I’m here (“Oh, I’m so glad you’re in today!”), getting mentioned on a customer voice by name, or the rare occasion when someone takes the time to write or call about me (I’ve had that happen twice, and one of the letters made it all the way to the director of all the NE stores, who put it in his weekly newsletter – that was probably my coolest Starbucks experience ever).
Now, would the fact that I wrote on the cup vs had a label printed detract from the experience of my remembering a man who visits once a week because we’re halfway between his home in NYC and his girlfriend in Philadelphia? Would the label detract from my going out of my way to try to replicate Chantico for a customer who missed it desperately? I doubt it.
If the partner makes the service memorable, the way the cup is marked isn’t as important. Bottom line for me is this – it’s the people that make the service legendary, not the cup.
[…] post has caused much chatter/debate/yelling/kicking/cussing/conversation at StarbucksGossip.com and StarbucksMelody.com. I tend to side with the views expressed on StarbucksMelody.com: “The heart of the Starbucks […]
Marking cups helps you learn and remember names, it helps customers feel important, and honestly is one of my favorite things that I think of when I think of Starbucks. It’s one of those things I look forward to when I go to another store, and always have since before I was even old enough to work with the company. YOU may not have a problem connecting with customers, but in my store there are several baristas who without cup marking and names wouldn’t even seem like they gave two cares about the person on the other side of the counter. Sure, that’s another issue all together, but it’s why to me cup marking is important. I’m big on giving people a way to connect. Also, labels are sloppy and quite frankly– impersonal. It’s a slow fade. Starts with a label, turns into baristas not caring about customers because all they are, are words on a register screen and shots in a cup and a thank you at the bar. During our busiest times, which is almost every hour were open, the speed our managers expect from us and WCCS expected from us would drop without being able to put that name marked by the register barista. Without wing able to say “grande white mocha for Susan” it turns into “I have a grande white mocha for…. All 15 of you standing at the hand off plane” Labels just look to much like you’re putting customers in a factory line up, nothing special. maybe not for you, because you’re awesome and can create that amazing third place environment, which is great, but a lot of times the WCCS gets lost in the shuffle and names and hand markings makes it all seem a little more real rather than just another crank in our day to day machine-like lives.
@Kate – I definitely see your point. I actually said in an earlier comment that in a cafe, I prefer the marked cups, but the labels help so much with drive thru. More of my point than that though is that, if marker vs labels is such a big issue, than there is a bigger customer service issue within the company. If not having a name on the cup (which, I’ve never actually been told to do either at the BN cafe or at Starbucks proper) can completely ruin the experience, what does that say about training? Is the focus in the right place?
I’m really asking. I worked in a store that was grossly understaffed up until about a month ago, and those labels were such a godsend for our DT.
I wonder if the key is that it can’t be the same everywhere. What helps one store seems to hurt another.
i hate to say it, but we definitely may have some customer service issues in our store. we’re working on them one shift at a time, but for us, marking the cups really does help. I would hope one day were all in a position to offer amazing customer service even if we have to use a label machine, but right now it’s just not the case. On my shifts, I try to inspire partners to have that connection per customer, and if asking for a name helps with that, it works! We were understaffed until a month or so ago as well, and while the helped us keep things in order in the DT, if a label was misprinted it was just a hassle. I guess it’s just a good learning experience for all! One plus on the labels is they have time stamps so if you get out of order at the cold bar and cant see the DT screen you can build them the right order!