When I tell Starbucks partners that I have a blog about Starbucks, I always get a huge range of reactions. Some people say, “I don’t read blogs.” I’ve learned to stop using the word blog because that one word causes so much misunderstanding. I now say, “I have a website about Starbucks.” A blog is any website that has regularly updating articles and content. In the year 2014, this now means millions and millions of websites, including mainstream news sites. It’s a web log.
Sometimes, partners will sound interested and say, “I’d love to check it out.” Of course, if they check it out just once, they’ll miss 99% of everything since I update three to four times every week. But I’m flattered they took a look!
What’s interesting to me is that on occasion, partners whom I don’t know will say things like, “Why would I ever read a customer website about Starbucks?” “I got all the information I need about Starbucks from inside my store.” “What do you have that I wouldn’t get from my store manager?” The first time or two someone said something like that to my face, I was taken aback. Now I realize it’s bound to happen.
To the partners reading this, I hope that you do get something valuable from this site. I may not be batting 100%, but I hope to provide interesting articles that relate to current offerings, test offerings, Starbucks history lessons, coffee and tea education, emerging brands, store design and locations, and community service and partnerships. If you like StarbucksMelody, tell your friends!
If there something you want me to write about, email me please!
Thank you.
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Melody I really like that you wrote on this topic. Very interesting. I find as has been said before on this site that there are so many partners that do not know what is going on within the walls of SB and not often do their SM know much more! I often get looks (because I get the info from here) from partners about how do I know this info? I also often get responses when I tell people about this site – one I know about it or two I do not really care. I appreciate hearing about things from this site and your readers because it helps me understand SB and lets me know what is on the horizon or what needs to be fixed. Thank you again Melody. And thank you again to your great community.
On more thought- I would think partners would want to hear about what customers think and how they feel! Isn’t part of the SB mantra to provide excellent customer service and doesn’t that mean to know the customer.
Not a partner, but as a shareholder, I enjoy and appreciate your time and enthusiasm. Thank you.
@GMB – Thank you!
Hi Melody,
Thank you for keeping up with your blog, I find it to be very informative and interesting. I am a 4.5 year partner and most of my time has been spent in the stores. I am currently on a TLA (Time Limited Assignment) at the SSC and have gotten to know a different side of the business. Everything is always so busy, sometimes I don’t know specifics within the company. I like that I can read your blog and learn about things I hadn’t heard yet! Thanks for keeping me in the loop! And thanks for investing your time and interest into Starbucks 🙂
You just keep doing what your doing… : )
Thanks for writing on this, Melody. Partners could learn so much if they would read this and I appreciate the ones that do. I offered the info for your site to my local store’s manager who is a coffee master. He looked at me in horror and said he never reads anything on the internet about Starbucks. He recently stepped down from his position and I’m interested to see what changes will happen at this store now.
Well I, for one, (also not a partner) appreciate what you post!
@BeckyE – Wow. If you really never read anything online about Starbucks, you’re missing an awful lot! I’ve also seen that some partners assume that their customers don’t know anything. That’s a dangerous assumption. There’s a wealth of information online if you start thinking about Facebook, Reddit, other Starbucks-related websites, Twitter, Instagram, MyStarbucksIdea.com, …and that’s to say nothing about whom the customer might know who works at Starbucks.
I wish I had a dollar for every time a partner says to me, I read through the coffee tastings to get ideas for a tasting I needed to do/getting ready to be a coffee master: http://www.starbucksmelody.com/category/coffee-tastings/
You constantly scoop Starbucks on their own promos. I find out more about my company from you then the Portal. I encourage all the Baristas at my store to follow you. We don’t get any information about non-store products or test store items. I love when I see your reviews on SBux sold grocery store coffees.
Keep up the great work.
i’ve been a reader since the very beginning and i am very thankful that over the past 5 or so years we have become friends! it is even more exciting now that i live so close to seattle also!
keep up the amazing work melody!!!!!!!! 😉
@Jocelyn – I’m really thankful we became friends too. 🙂 Thank you!
Melody seems like this post is right on! Great comments from everyone.
Since batting averages are taken to the hundredths percentage, you are batting close to “a thousand”, not `”100%”. And for those baseball fans out there, we know your slugging percentage is way over “a thousand” !! Keep up the excellent posts, product critiques, informative announcements, tasting tips, and all the rest.
From a coffee lover, not a partner, for those keeping score…
~ jeff from costa mesa, california
Well, I *do* understand and respect the idea of setting up boundaries – I spend a LOT of my own time answering partner questions on my day off, I rearrange my schedule to suit store needs etc. – that’s the case for a lot of SM’s, so if they feel the need to not read anything on the Internet about Starbucks, I can totally respect that. I am surprised that partners’ refusal to read the blog is couched in such, hmmm, shall I say unlegendary, terms. If I have no plans to read a book or blog someone recommends, I thank them sincerely for the suggestion, and leave it at that.
Personally, I don’t read your blog for information about Starbucks (though I do get lots from it) – I started reading because, even before I became a partner, Starbucks fascinated me. You write well, have a good variety of articles, and good discussion in comments.
The added bonus is that now, as a partner, I love the customer perspective that is to gained from reading your blog. I also now have a resource I can direct other like-minded customers and partners to. I also get to find out fun facts about test markets, that I *could* find out with a lot of digging on the portal, but it’s way easier here 🙂
Without your “website about Starbucks” I would not have learned about the Pour-over. My husband and I love this more than our French Press. I enjoy your stories and I find it keeps me in touch with other things going on at Starbucks aside from the wonderful texts I receive. Since I am usually a”drive-through” customer I often do not have a chance to look around in the store and chit-chat with the wonderful partners. Keep the information flowing!
Hi Melody!!!!
I am a Store Manager for Starbucks in Phoenix AZ and I follow your website religiously! I love it!!! It has excellent information, history, ideas, feedback, and it is fun! Plus I grew up in Seattle and I love seeing all of the coffee seminars you attend in the city!!! Thank you for you genuine dedication and sweet spirit! Take care!!! Onward!!! Steph
@Melody, let me follow up on my earlier statement by saying that the manager’s problem was that he didn’t want to read anything negative about Starbucks. I assured him that your site was informative and positive and fun. He still wasn’t interested and he changed the subject. I could talk to him about coffee and a lot of other outside interests so it’s not like we rarely spoke. He definitely knew his immediate job at hand but he could have learned a few things by looking beyond whatever information Starbucks sends to him. I like him a lot as a person but knew his interest in the business was limited.
Hi Melody, I’m so glad you posted this. I stumbled across your “blog” or website by accident last year (I think) and I can honestly say (from a 15 year partner perspective) that your “blog” is actually more important to me as a partner then whats posted on the company “employee only” portal. Why? Because you give a “very loyal customer” point of view that’s not shaded by corporate standards. The customer Experience is what this is all about and you provide that from the customers point of view. The EXTREME CUSTOMER VOICE. It’s an honest “big-fan-of-Starbucks” website. I’m a big fan of Starbucks as an employee which can, at times, hurt when I read things about our company elsewhere. People have opinions and that’s cool but I was so happy to find this site because it’s honest and positive based. Please keep up the amazing work because I personally look forward to what you post on a weekly basis AND I share it with my partners. They’ve been talking up the sparkling soda drinks since last year and when Sun-Belt and Las Vegas releases them later this summer our customers have had the advantage because of you! So I thank you. (same with Oprah Chai)
Hi Melody,
I am also surprised that partners would not be interested in hearing things from their customers’ point of view. By the way, those partners may want to review “Service Basics”. There are some behaviors they are exhibiting that are contrary to their training. I agree with Patrick above on almost every point. In addition, I live in Phoenix (hi Stephanie!) and enjoy when you share your visits to the SSC and Seattle experiences. This makes me feel a little closer to the Siren’s home. I am also a partner, a coffee master, and am fanatical about our customer experience. Learning what our customers think, obstacles they have to overcome and what they are excited about is FUN! Thanks for all you do. Cheers!
Hi, Melody.
I’m a relatively new partner with less than 4 months of experience with me but I wanted to say that I absolutely agree with the other partners here. Your website is in fact one of the sources I keep myself updated with regarding the Starbucks world. I often even impress my own manager with things that I learn from your site since you often post things long before they’ve reached the surface for most people. I really appreciate what you do here and completely enjoy reading basically everything that you post. Thanks really!
Joseph, Patrick Coffee Master, Stephanie, Cindy, and everyone (I don’t want to miss anyone) just want to say thank you for the kind words!
I think my interest in Starbucks has grown since I’ve become a reader of your blog, Melody. You have opened up a world of coffee tastings, black aprons and collectible gift cards to me. Things I had never paid attention to before. I definitely have shared your blog with my local store and I think some of them have become readers.
Amanda thank you! I appreciate when people spread the word about this site. In the big scheme of things, it’s a small site. 🙂
I’m not only a customer but I’m also a Coffee Master/Barista/Shift Supervisor and I LOVE reading your blog!!! You keep me up to date on Reserve Coffees which my store doesn’t carry and I always enjoy hearing about coffee tastings you’ve been a part of. I think your blog is accurate, informative, fun and inspirational!! Keep it up!! <3