The Coffeehouse Becomes a MADhouse
I consider myself a casual coffee drinker.??During the week, I’ll have one latte a day, tops.??If I don’t have my cup of joe, I’m okay.??My world will not fall to pieces.
For a very long time, my go-to coffeehouse has been Starbucks.??I am not alone.??Today, Starbucks serves approximately 100 million customers a week at 31,000 stores around the world.??Founded nearly 50 years ago as a quaint neighborhood coffeehouse, Starbucks now employs 400,000 people and is one of the most recognized and iconic global brands.
It is a remarkable and well-known American success story for good reason.??Countless articles, news features and case studies have been published about the company and its leaders (most notably Howard Schultz) over the years.?
Back in the ‘good old days,’ Starbucks had a Cheers-like feel to it.??Instead of Sam Malone tending bar, you had friendly baristas who likely came to know your name and drink of choice.??It felt great, and for me, the experience justified paying a few extra bucks for what is essentially a hot fresh cup of caffeinated water.??Personalized service and a strong product (some very good tasting coffee) are what drove the company’s amazing growth.??It was what made me a loyal customer.
To better serve its customers (and sell more coffee and food), Starbucks introduced its app in 2010.??Five years later, mobile ordering and pay followed.??These were huge hits, including with me.??Today, the Starbucks app is used by 17 million people.??As with many other customers, I appreciated that the technology gave me something I value: choices.??I could now choose to avoid the ordering line and save five to ten minutes, or I could que up, enjoy some brief banter with my barista, relax a bit and take in the atmosphere.
This week, I walked into my local Starbucks and was stunned to see between 75-100 drinks on the counter awaiting pickup. That is a LOT of coffee and I assumed that someone must have placed a BIG order.??Nope.??It was the cumulative impact of numerous orders that kept coming and coming.???My coffeehouse had become a?MADhouse, as in
Mobile,
Automated and
Digitized.
I ordered my latte and watched as no less than eight baristas worked feverously behind the counter.???Not a single one was focusing on a customer.??No hellos, how are you or even a smile.??My fellow customers were not feeling good vibrations either.??They were angry and vocal and here is some of what I heard (the sanitized version).
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“Where is my mobile order?” Or if they ordered locally, “why do I need to wait behind a ‘mobile’ order?”??“That person is not here, so why can’t you make my coffee first?”
I felt horrible for the employees, who were clearly frazzled.??They couldn’t remember the names on each cup as the assembly line continued to pile up. It was as if the machines were in charge and the employees were the robots, heads down with no emotion, no empathy and definitely No Customer Service.??This went on for 15 minutes before I heard my name called out.?I stepped out from the crowd, grabbed my drink, said thank you and navigated my way out the door.??Maybe they were just having a bad day, but I doubt it.??And I hope it gets straightened out, as experiences like this could ultimately drive customers, including myself, to choose one of the many other options available to them as there is always other places around the corner (choices).??
As someone who often talks about the importance of customer experience AND the need to digitally transform everything we are doing (including making it touchless), this Starbucks visit struck me.??
We shouldn’t replace physical engagement with the customer or underestimate the impact of a smile or calling someone by their name.?There isn’t an app for that (or there shouldn’t be).??The human touch matters.
Technology should serve the customer and employees, not the other way around.??Sometimes, in an effort to be on the leading edge, we go over the edge and forget what makes our organizations good, if not great.??In this instance, a drive to provide positive customer experiences evolved into anything but.??I saw the consequences and didn’t like it one bit.
Finally, a little added perspective on the situation at hand – it is only coffee, for Pete’s sake.??If you get worked up from having to wait or because your name or order gets messed up, maybe coffee is something you want to dial back on (or at least consider switching to decaf).??
If this is happening over an order for a cup of coffee, I wonder and worry about broader applications of technology that could make the human experience less human.
Have you had similar experiences???Please share below.
Contact Center Professional Services, Obsessed with Customer Success
3 年I think the KPI's you choose to measure will make this conundrum much clearer: 1. CSAT - How satisfied your customer is with the experience, this is insanely subjective and totally dependent on your industry. Important to get the voice of the customer and ask what factor of the experience most influences their feedback. 2. NPS - How likely are they to recommend - I think this is more about the product you deliver vs a service experience. 3. Customer Effort - this is my favorite KPI to measure experience. Customers want EASY, fast, low touch, etc. Coffee house is a mad house, but wow is it so much easier to order ahead and just grab my coffee without having to make eye contact with anyone. But if you're selling Bentleys or Ferraris, maybe your customers don't want "easy and low touch," they may want the white glove experience with the "human touch" you mentioned earlier. At the end of the day, you have to put your customer at the center of everything you do and then look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, what kind of brand are we? and is it who WE want to be? and is it who our customers want us to be?
Executive Vice President - Chief Sales & Marketing Officer
3 年We could talk for hours on this one. Digital can be trendy and low cost but there are hidden pitfalls. Low cost doesn’t necessarily mean high margin. Less customer interaction leads to lower sales efficiency. In our relationship sales industry, customer experience is paramount. Analysts and investors can overweight digital transformation at the expense of experience and ultimately - sales. We must continue to invest, innovate, and leverage technology where it improves customer experience. Digital automation may lower transaction cost, but it can also lower conversion, lower up sell opportunity, and lower ability to overcome objections.
I see you really do still go. ????
Qualitative Researcher || Conceptual Artist
3 年I was in Starbucks yesterday with heightened mindfulness about this topic since reading what you wrote. Upon entering from the outside, I was greeted, "Thanks for coming in!" Just a few moments later, I reached for the door (from the inside) to be helpful to a hands-full woman carrying an overloaded to-go tray. As the door closed, the baristas (looking down at their busy hands) in automated unison said, "Thanks for coming in!" Of course, I had never left and I was not re-entering -- I was the impromptu volunteer door-person. At that instant, their insincerity screamed louder than their attempt to provide any warm welcome. If anything, they validated that they had no idea I was there in the first place and had no sense of how I was helping a woman at her moment of experiencing difficulty. They had become automated even in their attempt to connect, and this dehumanization is perhaps the worst and most offensive outcome of present "customer service" protocol....well, maybe cashiers who ask "how's your day going" as you are entering tip information is the worst... [ Should note in contrast that one of our first return to normal post-C19 experiences was visiting a local coffee shop (the "Behind the Museum Cafe") here in Portland, Oregon. The owner delighted in seeing how much my daughter had grown during the past COVID year lockdown. There was a moment of pause - a shared moment of eye smiles above the masks and an authentic exchange of words - there was a true (re)connection. Our time away was acknowledged and our presence was honored by her comment to my daughter: "Oh my, look how you've grown up over the last year." My daughter (and I) felt noticed and validated - our presence was authentically celebrated. It made my daughter's day. After we left, she said, "I can't believe she still remembers me. It's been so long." My daughter didn't need to say the next words aloud for me to know the impact, but she did: "That made me feel so special." There's an opportunity for reconnection and the whole world is all teed up to make the most of the return to human presence and face to face interactions. What we do with this opportunity is up to us.
Product Management | Speaker | Product Analytics, Instrumentation and Leadership for Tech Startups and Early Scale Companies
3 年Good observations here! This problem is puzzling because Starbucks coffee is not *great* coffee (at least for those of us who are avid drinkers) and for years, the premium paid for their cups was associated with the "experience". If the experience has been disrupted by a combination of technology and consumer habits, it either calls for a lower price or a complete rethinking of the SB concept. To their credit, I've heard they are actively working on that transformation. Also, is this an opportunity for a digitally native coffee house to come in at a lower price point and even slightly better quality, focusing on those mobile-order customers alone? Thanks for sharing!