If someone asks you where to find the best coffee the answer unanimously will be STARBUCKS. The brand with a twin-tailed mermaid as its mascot is basically a US based coffee shop which is famous worldwide for its remarkable and unbeatable coffee. The CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz gives the following 12 hot business lessons for its success.
Mission Along With Vision
According to him, having a vision for the product is of utmost importance. Starbucks has one simple mission – To inspire and nurture the human spirit–one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time. Having a mission helps you serve better to the community. This has been Starbucks’ mission since its inception and has helped draw and build a lot of customer relationships.
Starbucks has served many- people of diverse age groups, professions and locations. Some drop by just to relax over a cup of coffee or maybe to have a small business conversation – Starbucks has been a popular choice.
Inquisitiveness About Customers
In order to fully satisfy their customers, Starbucks employees often ask questions to the customers regarding their choice of items they wish to purchase. This is a good way to build customer relations. Not only they get to know about their customer, but also are able to help them out with their final choice or decisions.
Know Your Customers and Employees
It always pays to know your employees and customers. If a customer is a regular, knowing about his likes and dislikes would help you serve him fast and better, especially in this era where there’s a shortage of time. It creates a good impression regarding the service and to experience it again and due to the credibility, the customer returns back again.
Knowing employees proves to be advantageous as you can tap or extract the maximum potential. You never know what they are capable of achieving. For example, Starbucks’ popular – Frappucino was an employee’s brainchild.
Let Innovation Take Over
What innovation could one think of when it comes to selling coffee? If you’re of this opinion then you’re mistaken. It’s best for a company to remain true to its roots, but innovation once in a while does magic. Realizing that presence of internet would increase the number of people stepping in, Starbucks let innovation step in by introducing WiFi at all its cafés. Another example would be allowing payments through iPhones and delivery services for coffee. Who would not want their loved coffee to reach them without actually going to the café? These strategies were undoubtedly sales boosters.
Be Responsible For Your Own Action
If ever a customer is served the wrong order at Starbucks, it is ensured they get the right order without any questions or hassle. No one is perfect. Everyone commits mistakes. The difference here at Starbucks is that mistakes are accepted with a smile and rectified immediately with unbeatable professionalism. It makes the overall customer experience more pleasant and results in repeated visits by the customers.
Choose The Path Less Taken
Starbucks has chosen to go against the grain. Most eating outlets follow traffic patterns, competition strategies and even demographic factors to choose the location. Starbucks, on the other hand, has chosen a different path. They have centers at every corner. Faced by the danger of self cannibalization, they took the risk of setting up cafés in clusters. It resulted in a domination of the brand amongst the customers. Instead of loss, all they incurred was more and more profit. Playing safe always is not the right thing to do.
Embrace Social Media
Social media has a very important role to play when it comes to brand image building or publicity. It is one factor that might create or totally destroy the face of a company. Starbucks has very gracefully embraced social media. It has used Instagram as the means to communicate its story, to build its image by showing people gleefully sipping Starbucks coffee. Most of its image building has been through clever images being shared on social media sites and apps. It’s something to rely on, not something to be afraid of.
Avoid Overlooking
Starbucks firmly believes that everything, from the coffee to the snacks, from the furniture to the decor, from the hand wash to the toilet paper – everything is important to make the overall customer experience memorable. Nothing should be overlooked or classified as unimportant.
Collaborate, But With The Right People
Starbucks believes in the virtue of collaboration. When you expand and have more people and perspectives on the team, work is better and easier. But it is imperative to choose the right people to collaborate with. With the right people on the team, be it a nonprofit or a complementary business, you are bound to gain.
Consistency
Being consistent about the quality and service is crucial. Whichever store you enter, you should have the same welcoming customer experience as well as the delicious food quality. It plays a critical role in building and nurturing customer relations. It acts as a source of credibility and helps create brand loyalty.
Brand With The Surroundings
Starbucks has this unique ability to serve the exact same product in totally different ways depending upon the surroundings. For example, a café in Disney land will serve in a way totally different from a one at the beach giving an impression that it’s more of a local brand than a national brand which resonates with its mission.
Choose The Right Leaders
Choosing the right people to lead is imperative. It frames the direction where the company is headed. With the right leader, you can reach great heights of success whereas not having a one might result in downfall.
