1. A re-invigoration of “Just Say Yes” and “Exceed the expectations of your customers”. Preserve the Starbucks Experience: What separates Starbucks from its competition is the relationship it has with its customers. In Starbucks’ own research, the experience between the customer and the barista is the largest reason why customers keep coming back. The experience is more important than the actual drink, in some cases. During the December 4th, Starbucks biennial investor relations conference, Matt Ryan (Global Chief Strategy Officer) said that Starbucks brand love is driven 47% by the customer – partner relationship, 26% from coffee love, and the remainder the brand reputation and brand goodwill. There’s been an alarming trend of “just say no.” I can give examples, but I don’t want to write a book. The real reputation of the brand is what people say about it once they’ve walked out the front door. At least very recently, the trend has been lower customer satisfaction at Starbucks. I’m not going to say that “yes” is always the right answer but “yes” usually is the right answer.
I realize this is the most controversial thing on this list. We’re in an era where it’s seemingly trendy to bash customers and dismiss the entire retail experience as some “first world problem” or “entitled.” This is not solely a Starbucks trend, but more generally true. There are blog articles, internet memes, and more in this vein. However, when the shoe is on the other foot, most people won’t open up their wallets without good reason. I love the Ray Kroc quote, “If you work just for money, you’ll never make it, but if you love what you’re doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours.” If you take care of your customers, profitability will follow.
2. Increase the length of time that brand new baristas spend in training. New Starbucks partners experience near trial by fire. They learn very little about corporate history, MyStarbucksRewards, the Starbucks experience, or even coffee and espresso beverages. Memorizing beverage recipes is critical but there needs to be much more. In my conversations with baristas, I’ve learned that usually by day three to day five, new partners are on the floor, on the register or on bar. Most partners tells me that there isn’t even a module on MyStarbucksRewards, yet it’s now a significant portion of transactions. If you want to create an “elevated” Starbucks experience, you’ll have to elevate the training. The current 21 to 25 hours of training isn’t quite enough.
I’ve also heard many store managers say that they wish they had longer to develop shift supervisors. One tenured store manager mentioned to me, “After giving a barista less than 20 hours of training, I’m handing my store over to him or her…”
3. Make time for coffee education including coffee seminars including customers. There isn’t enough time for coffee education and most customers never experience a tasting inside a store. One way to spread enthusiasm for the whole bean coffee wall is to share that love of coffee with customers. A person knows a subject matter well when they can teach it to others: it would be fun to create a customer coffee master program! (I would volunteer to be the first customer coffee master!) MyStarbucksIdea.com threads like this one show that there’s an untapped passion for coffee among customers. Fundamentally though, there should be time for partners to work through their coffee passports.
4. Weed out partners who just don’t care or have a bad attitude, regardless of their seniority. Nobody is entitled to a job. Success is earned. With more than 100,000 people donning the Green Apron everyday, no doubt, there are a very small percentage who disparage the Starbucks experience and just don’t care. You can’t hire 100,000 people and have all super stars. In the mix, there is bound to be a small percentage who roll their eyes at everything, act entitled and care about only their cute self, don’t care about drink quality, and much more. It may be difficult to weed these people out, but it would do some good. You want to have a beautiful garden? You really do have to do some weeding. Again, I recognize that may only be a tiny percentage of partners, but there will be a few bad apples out there.
5. Increase the amount of pay that the most tenured Starbucks baristas get. Starbucks should find some way to compensate that most valuable, long-term baristas. The current compensation scheme means that new partners may be getting hired in at close to what senior partners make. Pay caps cause this to happen. Not sure of the answer here, but the problem is adequately summarized in this petition: https://www.coworker.org/petitions/higher-wages?source=facebook-share-button&time=1423061976
6. Add more non-coverage time: I’ve heard this sentiment from partners often – “I would like to see specifically scheduled non-coverage time for education/training, coffee tastings, cleaning, and connecting partners with store managers. When I was first hired I sat down with my SM at least once a week and we connected over a cup of coffee. I think there is value in constantly assessing morale and performance.”
7. Bring back some kind of secret shopper. The current surveys simply don’t capture enough and there is value in an unexpected customer feedback with a guideline for certain standards. Or, another option would be to include an open-ended comment area on the surveys. The current surveys don’t have any way for a customer to leave a general comment about the store.
8. Fix the refill policy. The number one search engine query that gets people to StarbucksMelody relates to the refill policy. The current refill policy again puts baristas in the position of being mini-sheriffs. The default should be “just say yes” but there’s a better answer: Starbucks shouldn’t create this uncomfortable situation where baristas are asked to police customer refills. It should be tied to the Starbucks card. There ought to be someone to lift this tension from the registers: it’s not good for customers are baristas to have arguments that “that’s not a refill” when really it is, or vice versa. I’m not married to any particular result but the refill policy should be automatically tied to the card only. If you’re not using a card, this would give customers increased reason to register and use a Starbucks card. Starbucks has now said many times that the My Starbucks Rewards program brings both short term value and long-term loyalty in customers, and that MyStarbucksRewards is Starbucks largest driver of growth. It’s remarkably profitable for Starbucks to have customers who join MyStarbucksRewards!
9. Increase the awareness of the great things Starbucks does for local communities: Many partners and customers don’t know that Starbucks encourages local volunteering and anyone can find a community service project via the Starbucks Community Service website. Even fewer partners and customers are aware of “Community Stores” that share their profits with local non-profits. Bring awareness of these good things!
10. Slow down the rate of new licensed stores. Licensed stores are much harder to regulate in terms of brand standards.
That’s my list of ten things. Feel free to make a suggestion in the comments. I will decline to approve (or delete) comments that bash anyone, are just snark, or do not add to the conversation in a meaningful way.
(This article was inspired in response to this Business Insider article here.)
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You make some great points Melody! As a previous store manager for Starbucks , I agree with most of these. Training, non coverage and just say yes are all very important. the lack of these core values is actually part of the reason I left the company. And regret it all the time. I miss Starbucks, greatly. A lot of my fellow managers were some of the people that couldn’t stand to communicate with customers. Rolled their eyes and all that. I made me very sad to see my DM and RD team allowing this to happen. m lad that I’m not the only one seeing the issues arising in today’s Starbucks locations.
With the refill policy, I think it just needs to be explained more simply. If you stay in the store you can get hot or iced coffee or tea refills, with the swipe of you registered card, regardless of what was purchased initially. As long as the partners understand and follow this – there should be no policing neccesary.
Thank you again melody for voicing exactly what I think sometimes!! Love your blog!
Customer Coffee Master?! Yes please!! I’ve been trying to get a second job at any Starbucks, heck I’ll do this too!! And the refill policy… Ugh!! Starbucks has loaded my gold card on numerous occasions because of disagreements with store management about established policies. From my understanding, several stores have had refresher meetings about this. TheI customer experience is most definitely why I come back… Well, that and the delicious coffee. Thank you for bringing attention to these10 things!
As a 9 year partner I can tell you that the culture has changed greatly. Our new partners get less than 15 hours of training before they go out there. At my busy cafe store we often have TWO partners on the floor. No cleaning takes place during such a shift. With the significant labor cuts implemented in December, our customer satisfaction has diminished. I’ve experienced theft from folks who have waited a long time in line, and just get exasperated and grab something and walk out the door, and more than once had a customer say to me “this is not what Starbucks stands for.” I agree with them and offer apologies.
Licensed stores make way more money for Starbucks, which is why you will only see an increase in them.
Thank you. The refill policy puts us in a terrible position. I am so tired of “bottomless refills”. And we need more non floor time. Thanks melody.
Melody it seems like you covered the major points for how to get SB back to some of its original values. I like the idea of having a secret shopper because of late I see things at my local store that have gone down hill and depending on what partners are on the floor depends on how things are done. Partner connection to the customer is important to me because it makes me want to return. Some stores have partners that make that connection while other stores have no partners that take the time to interact with the customer.
What an excellent article Melody. as a barista myself I agree with a lot of it. Especially the training. I for one was hired at an odd time. The Christmas season. Which meant that I didn’t really have training. I was quickly shown the POS and how to write cups and because of the busyness of it all that is what I did for close to a month or longer. Luckily I was able to have a few sessions learning bar but all in all I missed out on the official training (aside from computer modules). But because I am one of those crazy love my job baristas I surpassed all that to show my passion and drive to make it happen!
I wish all SB baristas were required to read this article. I have definitely seen a negative change in my favorite location the last several months.
Just want to say, I started writing this article immediately after reading this:
http://www.businessinsider.com/this-longtime-starbucks-fan-is-losing-faith-in-the-brand-2015-5
That got me thinking about ways Starbucks could improve.
@Tracey – The policy is bottomless refills (regardless of original beverage purchased, hot or cold, doesn’t matter) so long as the customer has not left the store. Since the overwhelming majority of the business is to go (and a growing to go segment of the business due to more and more DT stores) and since profit margins are high, this really isn’t a big issue, cost wise. However, it’s not fair to put partners in the position to police this – who stayed in store and who didn’t??
i agree with a lot of these, and one thing i’d really like to see, to go along with #10, is a renaming of the licensed stores. by using the exact same name, people expect the exact same experience and the exact same products. it’s not the case! starbucks in targets are target employees, not starbucks employees, so the level of training isn’t the same.
also, with regard to weeding out partners who are “over it,” i have to tell you that it’s VERY difficult to separate a partner. offenses that are actionable have to be written up and i’ve only heard of one partner being separated for this behavior in my 7.5 years with the company. i wish it was easier, but it’s not.
@Jenn in GA – Interesting you should say that because I recall that one partner mentioned to me, “We hire too fast, and it’s almost impossible to get rid of people.” I’ve heard that before. Seems like if you can be on time, and you get a job at Starbucks, you’ve got a job for life!!
1. I agree with the “Just Say Yes” but I do think it goes both ways between customer and partner. There are people out there blatantly cheating the system and continuing to allow some people to ask for (demand) some of the things they’re asking for for free only devalues what those of us are trying to accomplish behind the bar. I’m not saying it’s only a customer problem. Trust me, I’ve seen partners who have straight up lied to customers saying we don’t have a pastry because they didn’t feel like walking over to the oven to get it (I was sooooooo mad when that happened). But both customers and partners need to be reasonable about their expectations and honestly try to find the best way to solve the situation. Sometimes that’s “Just Say Yes,” other times it’s “Just this time, but next time…”
2. We’re supposed to get 21-25 hours training people? Seriously? I’m a Barista Trainer and I feel like I don’t even get close to that and that honestly I need more time with the new guys. There is so much on-the-job behavioral training that needs to happen (Like, when the oven dings…go get it…kind of stuff). I would love to see more training hours and maybe even on-the-job training take place not in an actual store but a “play” store. Get the practice without the anxiety
4. Weed them out. I could not agree more with this statement. I give 140% every day, all day; sometimes even on my 10, my lunch, after I clock out, and even when I visit other stores. Nothing drives me crazier than watching a partner play on their phone and obviously not care about their job. I left the store I was hired for because I could no longer work with two tenured partners who flat out refused to do anything to standard or even simply be nice to people. Could not continue to work in that environment.
5. This is a big one for me. I will celebrate my two years with Starbucks at the end of this month. I worked for almost a year in a licensed Starbucks before that. I was a shift for two+ years. I’m a Coffee Master. I’m a Barista Trainer. I do all of the promotional set ups and bust my butt every day to make my store beautiful and to keep my partners educated on what’s going on. I make almost a dollar less than what I got hired at because I chose to step down from shift supervisor to barista to spend more time with my husband while he went through chemo/radiation. I can’t get a pay increase until NEXT January. Even when I do, it’ll still be less than I was making two years ago. I’m all for the new benefits and pay structure but I’d like to see it tailored to fit actual partners, not a blanket idea for everyone. I’m doing the same amount of work I was doing when I was shift (now I just don’t do the orders or the deposits) but I’m still actively participating in mgmt conversations. Other partners ask me questions when something is unclear, not other shifts. I hate that I’ll have to wait several more years to even get back up to where I was. (The hubs is healthy now; I’ve chosen to not become a shift again and instead focus my attention on grad school and being a really good barista; someone that my SM can rely on who knows what’s going on). I know there are other partners stuck in a situation like mine. A fellow partner has a son who works at a burger joint down the street. Her 18 year old son makes more money than she does and she’s been a partner for 3 years.
As a store manager, I completely agree with 1-9. As far as training goes, it is nowhere near enough, especially if it is someone’s first job. For Shift Supervisors, the training hours give are also not enough and they are not ready to run the store without a fellow shift or manager there until many hours later. We don’t have time to connect the way we used to, with baristas or customers, and customers really miss it! The culture is too fast, and there are not enough hours given for labor tasks. It’s sad, because baristas see it as corporate deciding they just want to cut labor to pad pockets instead of giving it back to them or their store, and as managers, we just don’t have enough hours in the day to make as much of an impact as we want to.
@Claire – I can recognize that there are times that some customers are just trying to get something for nothing. I remember one time being the Pioneer Square Starbucks (363) in Seattle, and seeing a man (who appeared, seemingly, to be homeless) walk up to the trash can, pull a cup out, and go to the register and ask for a coffee refill. And I have no doubt, some of the confusion out there is much more honest confusion than we think it is. I’ve watched baristas hand customers a receipt and say “Hang on to your receipt so you can get refills all day.”
Though in the big scheme of things – 70 million transactions a week – the percentage of times when I customer has bad intentions, is just tiny. At the moment, the spotlight is right on that bad transaction happening at the register, but in light of thinking about the brand reputation and how millions and millions and millions of transactions go exactly right, I think there could be more “yesses” than there currently are. And the issue isn’t just the refill policy: It’s other things too. Will you cut my breakfast sandwich in half? Will you pull cheese out of it? I can’t think right now of many scenarios, but I just know there could be some more “yes” answers than currently out there.
And your store about the partner who wouldn’t walk to get something and just said ‘no’ just curled my hair.
WOW, Thank You Melody. I really can’t say much more. You have such a fantastic perspective.
And strongly enforce the Smoothie Cup requirement!!!
@Megan C –
What is the “Smoothie cup requirement”? Not sure I’m familiar with this issue.
Hi Melody. Thanks for your post and this discussion. I was the guy, right behind you, at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders, who asked the last question … in a nutshell – “What ever happened to the focus on “third place” and Starbucks “experience.” This is a very important issue for our culture as Starbucks has become such a key “third place” in our culture, and the focus on connection is now gone. It’s all about getting customers in and out faster (drive thrus and now pay and go app), or as Stevi Hardy said above – “We don’t have time to connect the way we used to ….The culture is too fast, and there are not enough hours … baristas see it as corporate deciding they just want to cut labor to pad pockets instead of giving it back …” My novel – “The Starbucks Mission & The Siren’s Secret Brew” (www.StarbucksMission.com) imagines what’s possible is SBUX took their mission statement seriously … and how it’s almost (but not totally) impossible because as a publically traded company, the drive will always be for more profit = sell more, with less labor (etc) costs. I believe Howard is sincere in his aspirations but that he is now a slave to the system made him successful. It’s not a surprise that they cancelled the Partners Conference and that the new COO come from the tech world. When robots will more efficient and cost saving than human baristas (give it 5-10 years)…. I’m looking for insider readers of the novel for feedback. I can be reached via http://www.linkedin.com/in/starbucksmission. Thanks again Melody!
On point Melody! I am a 8 year partner and totally agree with this! I have seen many changes over the years (both good and bad) and I feel this list is going back to the heart of what Starbucks stands for.
Very well said, Melody. As much as we still love Starbucks, the experience has changed over the last few years.
These are all terrific points, Melody, and as a former SM I agree with you 100% on the need to invest in labor, training, and retention. It’s just really hard to get any publicly-traded company to spend money on labor that doesn’t directly and immediately result in increased sales.
But I think #4 is incredibly essential. I was in a store over the weekend that had 6 partners on floor. The entire focus was on shooting the shit with the other partners, and not at all on wait time in the dt or overall experience in the lobby. Plus the store was a mess — wrappers everywhere, no napkins at the condiment bar, spills on the handoff plane, etc. That store had plenty of warm bodies to keep standards in place, but nobody in that day who cared enough to make it happen.
As a SM in a busy drive thru in SoCal I agree 110% about training time. I found myself nodding as I read it. My poor partners end up doing the sink or swim at the end of training because it is just not enough time.
Great points, Melody. It would be so great to be able to hold more coffee seminars at more stores.
As a partner of 11 years. These are also my top 10 list of things that need improvement. 11 years ago we had a designated barista that would go around all the stores in the district deep cleaning anything from bathrooms, vents, dusting etc… They would spend about 2-3 hours a week at each store twice a a week. 2hours X 2 times a week X 10 stores per district= 40hours. Now that our stores get more foot traffic(that includes non-customers using are restrooms and asking for free water) and Starbucks as a whole makes a larger profit than 11 years ago, we invest less. I also trained for 2 weeks (80 hours). These things need to improve so that our customers’ experience and partner experience also improve.
Melody,
You certainly have some excellent points, but I must say that I definitely feel that improper training contributes to #1. Think of the old mission statement and Star Skills – points like “establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffees in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles as we grow,” and “maintain and enhance self-esteem.” If our partners are not properly educated, how can they feel empowered to know the delineation between “just say yes,” and “say yes at the wrong time and be disciplined for it”? I have worked for Starbucks since 1999, and while stores in Seattle are closer to the core and see less change, stores further out are a different beast entirely. In Seattle, we were empowered to be experts and respected for our knowledge, and we heaped our appreciation onto our customers. In the south (where I work now), I have seen partners berated and called names and even had beverages thrown at them, only to be told by management NOT TO REACT, and the customer got an apology and free beverages even though they mentally or physically abused a human being. At what point does ” just say yes” become “be a victim”? As a company, we need to address where that line is so partners don’t feel like they have to show up for a beating every day. Then, perhaps, they will CARE about their jobs and the Starbucks brand.
i can relate to a lot of these. What it’s coming down to in a lot of case is labor on the floor. As we have added products and processes we haven’t seen a big lift in the amount of time we get to do things in. I my store is a cafe store and that means we automatically earn less people on the floor than a dt store.
All of these are very good points Melody. I have worked for Starbucks for only 3 years and when I was hired I felt so lucky to have been hired because of my age. I was looking forward to learning about coffee and all the drinks and cleaning has never been a problem for me. Well everything I have learned I have fought to learn. I was trained by sitting me down and reading an incomplete training manual. Then I was put on a register and told to take orders. Thankfully I have been working in restaurants for about 40 years so I learned quickly and good customer service is the same anywhere. Now at 3 years I have been at my store longer than anyone else. The customers really want to know the people working there. They will ask who is on bar and love it when we know their drinks. I love working for Starbucks and the benefits are awesome. But it would still be nice to be able to earn enough to eat every day. I think the just say yes has had a negative effect on how baristas feel. They all know that however ridiculous what the customer wants that the company will back the customer and throw the employees to the wolves. So a lot of people feel like why bother? The company needs to invest more in their employees . While the benefits are awesome we still need to have pride in where we work . We need time to learn and time to clean and time to interact with the customers.
Melody these are all great points. As a seventeen year partner/shift supervisor I think some of the changes Starbucks has had over the last 10 years have been good , but some not so much. The training is a huge issue for all people involved. Starbucks really needs to go back to a training facility off sight, it could be used for training, meetings, offices for the district manager,and in some of the bigger areas a personal rep.As far as training it would free up partners from the stress of trying to train a partner while working, we would be able to cover much needed knowledge (like my rewards,coffee tasting, and beverage quality and how to connect with customers ) before they are brought onto the floor of a store.The coffee refill system is a big problem because it is a huge oxymoron, we should just say yes period. As a partner I totally understand that it is hard for us to know if you have stayed in the store or not, again it is just coffee so just say yes. The non coverage thing is ok , but as a partner I believe our store manager needs to be on the floor during all peak periods of business , you need to experience this in order to schedule for it. But yes we do need more time for store sit downs. My personal thought on pay is ” you get what you pay for” . If Starbucks in each district was able to have a personal rep that was trained on what Starbucks looks for in a partner we would not hire “warm bodies” , or people that are just in it for a paycheck. As a shift supervisor it is so hard to work with people that are at work to just collect a pay check, they do not care and it shows in everything they do.As a seventeen year partner I have been through a number of changes with Starbucks , I do not at all believe through any of these changes Howard has every lost his care, compassion,or heart for the Starbucks product ,but some way some how, people under him have lost it and that is what gets carried on to us in the store level and this needs to stop.The concept of licensed stores is crazy,( it my area it is getting better because they are trying follow and use the same concept as non licensed stores) but in some cases like at airports, the rest stops, and others need to be retrained from the people that work in them to the person whom operates them.
@Lisa and many people above me. I’d run through a draft of this in my closed FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/279426065540737/ – And I heard several partners say things like, “We desperately need to get back to some our old school culture…” and I think a lot of these comments echo that sentiment.
IMHO, this is your best post ever. Too bad Starbucks is no longer listening.
@DadCook – One way to get Starbucks to listen is to get some virality out of this. Lots of shares, tweets, and more. I’m counting on readers to share this. (I don’t know how much SSC partners are reading this post or not, but I do believe when something goes viral, it helps – please share, however you can!)
Is there room for improvement regarding our stay while visiting a Starbucks? Is there anybody that doesn’t find seating to be frustrating? It may not seem important to some people, but it’s something I would strongly disagree. I have noticed here in Chicago, that seating has gotten worse. It is due in part to the fact that stores are more crowded than they used to be. I think part of the crowding can be blamed on longer wait times, as more people are left standing around. When it comes to customers wanting to stay, the stores just are no longer big enough. Partners and SM’s are quick to acknowledge the inadequate space, but admit Starbucks is not willing to lease out any more space than they need too.
Starbucks is growing, but their stores are not. Speaking only for the stores in Chicago, the 3rd Place atmosphere no longer exists. Things have changed drastically when it comes to lack of seating, but the one thing that has not changed is the ignorance regarding those who take up a lot of space for one person and set up an office. We all know who these type are, and some will argue it’s part of the Starbucks way of doing things. Starbucks isn’t that place anymore IMO, so I see a need for improvement or change to seating and some store sizes. I do realize this is tricky. I admit that this probably can’t or shouldn’t be done at every store, but it’s of my opinion that Starbucks is ignoring a huge problem at busy stores. I live it everyday, and weekends are just horrible. I don’t know how they can fix it, but they just can’t have multiple people camping out and setting up an office on a daily basis, at the expense of other people. I think it’s time for some rulesregarding seating. That’s just my 2 cents. The visit has always been just as important to me as everything else.
@Melody – I believe that this is one of the best of the best you have covered.
@Melody I loved your “I don’t want to write a book” on the reasons of the refill policy. As a partner who is just about to start and has an incredible passion for coffee and handing off a beverage that will be enjoyed by the customer. I think Starbucks does need to improve. I realized all 5 stores that just opened are all DT stores. My regular store is a Cafe store and that really is the ONLY place where I feel that “third place” environment. It feels like a local coffee shop. Everyone knows my name and knows I always love to try new coffee. I as a customer and soon to be partner have shared rare coffee and done coffee tastings with them. I want to point out, every other stoee I go to. I feel like I am not treated as a valuable customer but more like a customer with a $$ above my head. The refill policy, just stop. Educate partners about it. I have done much research and feel bad when I correct them with the official policy. Just last Friday I was charged for two Tall hot tea refills at a regular price of $2.25. Now, when I confronted the partner he argued that “Refills are only done for Iced Coffee and Tea.” Ridiculous! I do really hopeStarbucks goes back to its roots.
Melody, as a ten year starbucks employee, I often am rejuvenated and reminded of why I was excited to work for starbucks. This list is spot on, and helps baristas across the country know what matters. Our DM reminds us all the time that we arrested a huge multi-million dollar global company, we have earned the right to just say yes, and to not worry about the profit loss or Symantics surrounding th policy. If baristas would be less offended by special request and just say yes, it is less work, less argument, and we have found often improved tips.
In the same vein, training is lost and needs to be a focus for the company. At our store we have annotated and had several meetings to try and fill the gap in the training materials and reality. The training materialis not being maintained with new routines or standards. This is unacceptable and causing many Linder paid employees to spend time fixing their mistake.
The pay is a constant battle for me, I am a dad with a family of four to support and I would love to invest and make starbucks my career. I am constantly pulling side jobs in order to make ends meet and often find myself feeling over worked due to my schedule. I struggle to be ok with doing what I’m paid to do and what I know would help our store, our partners, and our customer. I know our customer experience and store cleanliness, and moral would go down if the shifts at my store stopped doing all the extras. It is encouraging to know I’m at a store that does say yes, and one ight to improve as many of these things as we can, but to feel used when the pay check comes s not right.
Thank you for being a solid and continued once of reason and reality for this brand. It is often other customers I see daily, just like you, who remind me that it’s more than great coffee. We are in the people business and we have coffee that is pretty top notch too. Thank you for that constant reminder.
I’m a green bean, having only been a partner for almost three months. I was hired to a store that was understaffed because people either left or was let go. Our SM went on early maternity leave literally one day after I started. I still to this day have improper training. So I couldn’t agree more with your sentiments on more training. I desperately want to succeed at my job, but I rarely get the chance to do it because I’m still trying to catch up to where I should be at this point. I love my store, and I love my coworkers, but it’s very frustrating!!
As a former partner, the main thing I would like to see improve is accountability for SMs and above. I came from an area where the DM and RD did not care at all about how terrible conditions were in-store, despite numerous calls to partner resources, as long as numbers were being made.
As far as just say yes goes, this would be easier if corporate would give clear answers to questions. Can you cut my sandwich in half? Actually, no. We don’t have the food handling license to manipulate the food in any way. But I’ll do it for you because I don’t want to get screamed at, and I’ll just pray you’re not a health inspector.
Weeding out? I was singing hallelujah. It is straight impossible to get rid of a partner for underperforming. As long as they’re on time, they can move as slow as they want with no repercussions.
Pay–again, on point. I was hired before breakfast sandwiches, before La Boulange, I launched refreshers and sodas, and saw the advent of ridiculously complicated Frappuccinos–I thought the mocha cookie was bad until I saw the caramel ribbon, and don’t even get me started on the smores. Though the workload probably tripled in my time with the company, performance based raises stayed meager. It took three years and a promotion before I made it more than a dollar over my starting wage, and I never made it to two dollars over starting.
My final point is a restatement of my first point–the insane disconnect between corporate partners and store-level partners. This is evidenced in unnecessarily complicated beverages, completely inadequate labor allocations compared to performance expectations, and CSRs who don’t know policy and end up confusing customers further and criminalizing baristas in the process.
Bravo on the article. On point.
When I was in college, I worked at Safeway as a courtesy clerk (aka a bagger). Safeway had, at that time, a school we had to go through to learn how to bag groceries, and other key aspects of our jobs. I am surprised Starbucks doesn’t have something like that to train their staff on coffee, customer service, etc.
I have to say I agree 200% with everything on this list except 1. The experience and culture has changed so much in the 7.5 years that I’ve worked for the company. I know what I’m gonna say may not be agreed with, but because of my own experiences is why I feel the way I do about the ‘just say yes’. The company used the be the place you’d get to go for some coffee and enjoy the people making it and it really was the third place. Over the years no one can deny the explosion of Starbucks popularity, which to me is why the JSY has made it really hard some days coming to work. People demand (hey they’re paying what they’re paying, I get it) with no ounce of manners or acknowledgement they we are people too, people literally yes at us if we are attempting to hold up policy’s that were stated by corporate – so we do cave and JSY only to have created a “monster” because they will now pressure the next barista who tried to uphold that policy, and there are now blogs and websites created specifically to scam and get items for free at Starbucks. Now don’t get me wrong, I know this goes both ways, if more baristas were passionate and cared then we wouldnt have so many angry customer’s, if we had more baristas on the floor then we would have the time to make the connections. I guess what I’m saying in a round about way is that when we truly had the third place environment; before Starbucks’ popularity exploded, it was easier to connect and truly believe people had the best intentions, mostly because then they showed us the same compassion we showes them.
Starbucks values all of its employees and many times when partners are underdeveloped, we would rather try and develop them more than terminate their employment. I am a strong believer in that extra training hour ours would help in this. If new baristas were given 50 hours of training rather than 20, I feel like it would benefit them more, and they would in turn have a more positive/enlightened outlook on the company. This being said, there wil still be a few that slip through the cracks and we need to be a position I allow those partners to realize that this may not be the best place for them to grow. I have also had the benefit of working for a licensed store for a short time and i believe Starbucks should look at the overall company to make sure that it’s values are in line with the same as their own. Would you want a company selling/representing your product that doesn’t provide the culture you want? Are those companies able to provide the Starbucks experience? Licensed stores represent a huge percentage of stores now and that is the experience many customers/shareholders are getting. This is our stock and we want it to succeed so we need to invest time into all stores in training to make sure all of our customers are getting the best possible experience.
Great article, Melody. I also agree with so many of these issues. I kind of hate the just say yes policy because I think too many people tend to take advantage. Then it becomes a vicious cycle of people expecting (or hoping) it’ll to be wrong, baristas feeling overwhelmed with complaints, and the lack of training to make it a situation that just shouldn’t even happen in the first place. My daughter works downtown Cincinnati. When she started there 4 years ago as an intern she enjoyed going to the Starbucks down the street. They knew their customers and what they wanted. They’d be pleasant to new customers and learned names. Now she doesn’t even go into that store because of the bad service and just overall change in attitude. She searches out indie coffee shops when she travels, which is often. She used to collect the city mugs but it’s just not as important to her anymore because of the change in the Starbucks experience. I usually only get to my local Starbucks on weekends and sometimes evenings. I rarely recognize anyone working and if I do see someone that was working the time before, I rarely see a smile or even have eye contact. One big problem we have here is that names are not written on cups and the drink is not called out loudly at the hand off. Hope it goes back to the way it was as I’ve not given up on them yet!
@Becky – That’s a very good comment. No eye contact and no attempt to get to know customers. I’ve heard that story many times. Just Say Yes wouldn’t be such a big deal if all the other things that could elevate the experience were put in play with it.
I don’t know where this comes from but many partners active as if Starbucks is domestic violence victim that they are trying to protect.”No we can’t give the customer an extra cup & lid if the customer wants one… it’s too much for Starbucks if we give out an empty cup now and then” — But Starbucks is the furthest thing in the world from a victim. It’s the same power struggle over so many things like the “light ice” drinks that are handed to the customer not full. As if Starbucks is a weak little victim that will be crushed over 3 cents worth of tea.
Why partners don’t see Starbucks as a BIG billion dollar company, I don’t know. They should trust that Starbucks will step in and make changes where needed: An example of that is that Starbucks did step in and make changes to the policy of how to charge for matcha and water. But until that happens, partners never need to get fixed on a few cents worth of tea or a plastic cup.
@Melody – I am going to lay the biggest part of the blame for Starbucks disappearing customer focus right in the laps of the DMs and RMs. I have sat too many mornings listening to a DM (sometimes with an RM watching) as they chew out the SM for missing stupid goals that they have set (like too much paper towel use, too much cup use, too many recovery coupons, not enough returned surveys, etc.) The DMs sit and watch the Partners when they should be watching the customers. It is not did the customer get what they ordered but did the Partner get it to the handoff. I have not met a DM or RM in more than 5 years who has come up through the Starbucks ranks. Most have no experience in the fast food industry (that is the industry Starbucks is classed in). Most come from far away, first job in this state, a good number from the East Coast with the accompanying attitude that is incompatible with the West Coast.
When Starbucks was just the new thing on the block they acted like a global company that could do anything. Now Starbucks is acting like…, well I better not say 😉
Hmmm – sooo much to comment on/think about.
I think I agree with you about the heart of the issues – baristas don’t know (or perhaps care) enough about the company/promotions, they are not creating inspired moments with customers, licensed stores are diluting brand image etc. but I don’t agree with all your proposed solutions.
For example, my issue with barista training is not the number of hours or the fact that training is done on the floor, but rather in our hiring practices. The training was not meant to be an end all – be all “you’ll know everything you need to know about your job and be fantastically awesome” type of training, but an introduction to the basics, and a chance to practice those basics with a barista trainer. However, what I’m seeing is stores hiring too late – they’re hiring when they need a body on the floor *tomorrow* and they’re not giving these new partners a chance to do the training properly. Or they’re doing the training at times that are just impractical for partners and customers alike. So while I’d love to get more time to train people (I mean, who wouldn’t?) what I’d really like to see is SM/DM/RD involvement in fixing the hiring process. Higher management has plenty of reactive feedback when we don’t get hiring right, for whatever reason, but there’s not a ton of proactive coaching on hiring ahead of time.
As for elevating the customer experience, I don’t think bringing back JSY would do that. The longer I’m with the company, the more I believe that JSY does not accurately describe legendary customer service for the generation of baristas that I’m hiring. Just Say Yes trusts that the partners understand the nuance behind it. And with soooo many of my new hires, that nuance is not understood. I’m glad we got rid of it, and have focused instead on creating inspired moments. What I don’t like is that in so many stores, that focus is not there.
And I’m going to agree with DadCooks as to why – it is not the focus of the DM/RD. It is not what I hear about as an SM, day in/day out. I hear about targets, and metrics and goals and and and… I have daily sales calls, and waste metric check ins. None of these are inherently bad things – some of them are quite good in fact – my daily sales calls are really empowering my shift team and helping them feel ownership of the store, and I’m seeing better connections with customers, a cleaner store, more sampling etc – BUT sometimes too many good things choke out the ability to do the best things.
IF we believe what we say – that if we get the basics right, the results will follow, we should stop talking about the results and execute the basics with excellence. Happy partners, clean stores, good coffee – that’s what keeps me coming back to some Starbucks stores, and the lack of those things keep me away from others.
One of your best articles to date 🙂
I agree with the above, especially points 2) and 5) about the training time and the more pay for tenure.
It looks like a lot of “old-timer” Partners are commenting. Thank You Melody. Though I doubt the
“powers that be” are reading this. Sure they’ll let us show our tattoos but forgot to fix the refill policy and/or re-think the “disco spectacular 1970’s” ten cent discount on your personal cup…really? Ten cent? 2015? 1971? OH Kay!
These 10 points are spot on! I could not agree more
There are so many great points in this article, I certainly agree with you that we are no longer given enough time for training, and are often lacking staff on the floor. I am a shift at Starbucks (and have been for two years) and it feels impossible to continue to make a great work or coffee environment for my partners or my customers. The cut in hours that happened last December has certainly had a very negative effect on many aspects of daily operations, including training, the human connection, qasa, and team/morale building.
The one point I just can’t agree with is the “just say yes”. We experience many customer interactions in a day and while I agree that the right answer is almost always yes. Sometimes we have to stand up for the integrity of the company too. Just this is week corporate put out a notice about “matcha water”. They have put their foot down on selling a cup of water with matcha as a modifier (69 cent charge), now it’s a custom tea. However that then expect us to “just say yes.” We have similar experiences with lactose free milk or soy milk – customer who want it for free. The company creates policies and then puts us in the bad guy position. And expects us to give the customer what they want by just saying yes? You can’t have it all. It puts us in the worst position. The other issue is these customers are “repeat offenders” they come in day after day. Give them what they want one day and you’re a bad guy if you don’t do it everyday. Another example is one of my best customers (3 times a day) comes in and if she might have to wait three or four minutes for her latte she has a fit (insisting she has better things to do than wait.) I just feel as though the just say yes policy can back fire sometimes (not always!) and creates entitled customers. (How many times have I heard “I’m calling Starbucks to complain!” after I had to charge for a grande sized tea even though they only want one tea bag?) these are company polices. Not my polices. I feel as though the just say yes can have negative effects on the integrity of the partners and the company.
It has been quite interesting to read all the comments as others have said. One of the comments mentioned the difference between stores in Seattle and elsewhere. One thing I see and do not totally understand (yes I realize corporate is in Seattle) is why there has to be a difference. It is sort of sad that the customer service, products and programs offered in Seattle are not instituted in other stores outside of Seattle. Certainly, the continuity is not there.
@Melody, you mentioned that we sometimes act as if the giant corporation we work for is a victim. As a two year partner I can verify this. The issue is ttwo-fold. We don’t want to be wrong or receive corrective action for Just Saying Yes to the wrong thing, and our perception has an element of concern that if the company can only pay us $8 an hour, can’t staff us properly (because responsible adults can’t survive on $8 an hour so responsible adults don’t apply), and can’t afford to have enough of us on the floor, then maybe the company can’t afford the regular who pays $3 less than he should several times a day because he pitches a fit.
People who have experienced generosity are more willing to be generous themselves. The partner benefits are great, but there are large portions of the workforce who aren’t eligible to take part in the college program because they already have a degree, and they just want to pay their rent.
Pay is the one benefit everyone can enjoy. Pay us well, and we’ll work well for you.
I think DadCooks and lyn got the nail on the head. It’s easy to forget that we are held to standard in terms of waste, target sales and use of inventory too. The company expects more and more from us with every passing day, while offering us less and less. Please don’t assume we don’t care. We are being tugged in every direction, and it’s easy for the customer to see it as is not caring or being difficult. This is not the case. Upper managment has high expectations of us. Anybody ever miss a weekly sales goal by a few hundred dollars? Your SM or DM will be sure to remind you that just a few more extra espresso shots, syrups or pastries could have brought you to your goal.