I do not personally would buy a coffee from Starbucks as Americans have no idea about coffee but it was interesting to participate on this seminar and get some great intakes that any other brands might be able to apply on their businesses.
THE FIVE PRINCIPLES:
MY PERSONAL TAKE AWAYS FROM THIS SEMINAR
PEOPLE. Employ people who genuinely have a passion for the product and great affinity to it. Once you get the right people, the experience for the customer will be far richer.
PRODUCT. Keep the basic right. Before anything else is the "Coffee". Train your employees to know all the process of developing your product. In the Startbucks culture, the baristas should feel they cannot let down the amazing process to get a coffee bean on their machines.
PROCESSES. Great organisations create repeatable processes that allow people to be great at their jobs. I do not totally agree on this one as I do believe processes tend to kill creative people. For some other people processes work ok.
VALUE. People will pay premium if you offer an "experience" that no other competitor offers. Build emotional value: Create experiences that resonate with your customers. Experiences that make people say: "This is who I am, they care about me".
THE STORE WALK-THROUGH. At Startbucks, every morning, an employee walks through from the parking lot to the store tables and see the store from the customers "lense". The employee audits all aspects that influeces the customer experience ie: tidiness, cleaning, signs, etc. All the items get logged and fixed.
Starbucks Store - The Store Walk-Through
LOVE TO BE LOVED. Customers are more demanding and expect quick responses. Startbucks apply MIT Professor Peter Senge theory. The concept of love is not a fluffy idea. Love is focusing on the growth and the development on the ones you serve. It needs to be genuine. Starbucks have a section on their website about job interview tips, etc.
Starbucks Facebook page - Multi-channel Relationships and Technology
REACH FOR COMMON GROUND. Starbucks close many shops in Australia when they first came in 2007 as it tried to imitate US coffee culture and were not sensitive to local coffee culture. Reaching for common ground means defining the common and different aspects of each local culture that defines value. Finding and growing strategic local partnerships is key.
BE LOCAL. It is all about understanding the local cultures and the rituals each local culture has around enjoying a coffee. Customers want comfort, variety, want to be seen, to be heard, to be cared about.
What's your name? Strategy - Startbucks
"WHAT'S YOUR NAME?" STRATEGY. Connecting to the uniqueness of your customers in a way that is authentic. Asking for customers names in UK was not well received at the beginning with a lot of media debate however, in the long run it worked out quite well. The more you discover about your customers, the more you will be able to offer what they need and want. What sort of experience, content do they want? Then you can create relevant experiences and content for them.
TECHNOLOGY BRINGS CUSTOMISATION and MOBILISE CONNECTIONS. Technology that offers real time tracking and a close system between loyalty and payment allows for very customised offering. Starbucks allow customers to tweet a coffee (instant gift), consumption history allows for customised suggestions.
AMPLIFYING EFFECT VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. Leverage the social and cultural values of local communities to be top of mind via social media engagement.
BE WHERE YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE. Starbucks offering coffee machines for office and home.
INNOVATION. We love to keep doing the same thing that works. It is selling, we know how to sell it. It is hard for some business to get out there and offer something new.
SOCIAL LEADERSHIP. Starbucks foundation. Creating job opportunities to allow people buy more coffee. it makes sense.
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