By Dale Wolf
The darling of the "customer experience movement" -- Starbucks has hit a wall of sorts. It just reported its first ever drop in store traffic. As we have counseled before, the true test of customer experience comes when customers send signals that they are not happy. One way to show that is to stop buying. So store traffic at Starbucks is an important measure of customer experience delivery.
In this case, has Starbucks for the second time lost its way on the customer experience tread, or are they just a victim of an economy that is starting to squeeze out frills in place of necessities (read that as "gas has gone up faster than our salaries') so we have to cut corners in our buying.
Now here's the impressive thing about the situation at Starbucks. Whether they have lost their way or they are the victims of a gas-depressed economy, they are taking action.
And the first instinctive action they took was to shore up the in-store experience. This is exactly the reaction that managers should take and Starbucks is leading the way in teaching business what customer experience really means. So what did they do? When other managers would cut back on marketing and shave a few customer experience tactics to save money and reward Wall Street with an immediate sense of all's well at Starbucks ... Starbucks did just the opposite.
They announced a 4-part strategy: The company will offer more training to new baristas, give field managers more time in stores and introduce new drinks less frequently. The fourth strategy of launching their first-ever national advertising campaign is in my opinion just window dressing compared to the first three stategies.
- The barista is critical to the Starbucks experience ... and maybe in the surge of new store openings ... the quality of delivery from the baristas has sagged. So immediately there's to be more training so these key employees can deliver an experience that is so personal that it points out the clearest difference between Starbucks and all the grocery stores and fast-food restaurants who are trying to grab a share of the espresso and latte market from Starbucks.
- They put their managers back in the stores with more intensity and focus ... because managers must monitor to make sure the famous experience remains valued and consistently delivered.
- And they set a focus on the current menu by slowing the introduction of new items ... stay focused on what the customer already values and on the reasons we come to Starbucks.
- They launched national advertising to remind us that despited the gas-induced economic depression, we all still need those little rewards to make life worth living and that Starbucks is one of those personal treats we owe ourselves.
In the end, what is impressive is that as soon as the metrics indicated trouble in River City, the gang at Starbucks was on top of their business strategy and that their instinctive first moves all involved shoring up the customer experience.
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