Book Summary Preview : The Starbucks Experience

The Big Idea

Everyone is familiar with the Starbucks story. The eponymous American coffee chain has been part of peoples’ lives for years now. Among other things, the company has been recognized as one of the world’s most admired companies by Fortune magazine. And this has been reflected in the value placed in the company by its shareholders: since 1992, its stock has risen by an astounding 5,000 percent.

The genius of the company’s success lies in its proven ability to create personalized customer experiences, secure customer loyalty, stimulate business growth, generate profits, and energize employees – all at the same time.

WHY YOU NEED THIS BOOK

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

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

PRINCIPLE 1: MAKE IT YOUR OWN

Business leaders want their employees to be fully engaged in the work they do instead of simply going through the motions. Senior management must find ways to get its partners to fully engage their passions and talents every day, while ensuring that individual partners’ differences are blended into a good uniform experience for its customers.

It can admittedly be very awkward to find a balance between these two vital – yet sometimes divergent – leadership responsibilities. Through its principle of Make It Your Own, however, Starbucks has managed to create a model that encourages partners at all levels to pour their creative energy and dedication into their jobs and inspire customers in legendary ways.

This structure is known as the “Five Ways of Being” and is encapsulated in a pamphlet known as the Green Apron Book:

1. Be welcoming

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

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

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

2. Be genuine

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

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

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

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

3. Be considerate

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

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

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

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