Things learned in a Starbucks!

January 16th 2018 is a day that will forever be etched in my mind. For that is the day I ceased to be a partner (that what Starbucks calls it's employees) of the siren! Bitter day to be sure cause it wasn't my choice to leave the company. (another blog about that in the future?) I hold no ill will towards the company, and in fact would welcome working with them again. No, my bitterness was due to leaving the best company that I had worked for. I was blessed to have learned many lessons while wearing a green apron. Today I would like to share a couple of those lessons for they apply to coffee and to life in general!

We make connections with our customers

I have worked in retail my whole career and all my employers have paid lip service to providing a great customer experience. Until Starbucks, I really didn't know what passionate customer service looked like! I remember in my training store and a barista, Shane, would start making the customer's drink when he saw their car pull in. This was customer service I hadn't seen. The front line team was invested in their customers. They knew their habits, their favorite drinks and their lives!

As my career at Starbucks began to unfold I was assigned to a café that would be closing within a matter of weeks. The outpouring of customer love and support was something I hadn't seen. I soon decided we should have some forum for customers to put down their thoughts as clearly this was upsetting to the community in which the café served. Soon the green board was full of stories, well wishes for the team and of the memories of the café. This made me realize how powerful the Starbucks brand and how strong the link of the café to the community in which it served!

If you are a customer of Starbucks you hopefully know what I am talking about. Recently I got to feel what it was like from the other side of the counter. It occurred during my training with Rexall. I was stationed in a office building with a Starbucks as our neighbour. I would regularly visit and soon the staff came to know my name and my drink order. It felt special and different to other places I frequent. It takes passion and hiring the right person to bring that special feeling to customers consistently. Having been on both sides I can truly say that Starbucks is all about connection.

"It's all about the people!"

As I went through the interview process at Starbucks I was dreading THE interview question. The one question that would probably torpedo my chance of working for such a great company. "What's your favourite coffee?" I was shaking at the thought of that question. How can I tell them I don't like coffee?

First interview with the HR representative and no coffee question. Second Interview with a District Manager...still no coffee question. What's going on here? Had they forgotten to ask it? Then "Steve we would like to offer you a job with our company." What, they hired me and here I didn't like coffee? I was puzzled, so puzzled that during my first sip (what Starbucks calls the first day of a partner) I asked "Why didn't anyone ask me about my coffee knowledge or passion for coffee?" The District Manager sat for a second and then said "We hire people for their behaviours, their personality. We can train coffee knowledge we can't train people to be out going and friendly if they aren't already."

This struck a chord with me. So much so that when it came time for me to hire I would always look for personality and behaviours during the interview. As for me? Well I now have coffee knowledge and came to appreciate a good cup of joe! I even have started drinking a coffee every morning!

Hiring is so crucial, but even more so in a business where you see the same customers day after day. Are you the type of person who likes to host parties? Do you enjoy chatting with people? (a lost art for some!) I really looked to draw out the candidate's personality during an interview. Could I picture them chatting to a customer with the apron on? At the start there were some misses, but eventually I came to be quite good at hiring the right person.

When I left I was proud of the team that was working for me. It was a diverse group that reflected the community that we worked in. I was so happy when my team started doing what Shane did with his regulars. ("Oh is that Gord in the parking lot? Lets get his drink started!") Our customers started to notice too. Our customer satisfaction score started to climb and in December the busiest time of the year our café managed to lead our district in customer satisfaction!

If I hadn't known the importance of hiring the right person before, Starbucks really brought crystal focus to this crucial detail!

As former CEO Howard Schultz once said "We are in the people business and we happen to sell coffee!" I couldn't put it any better.

Two lessons learned working in a Starbucks! They will always be with me as I move forward in my career. I was blessed to work for this company and honored to wear the apron for 3 years. I shall forever grateful for Starbucks to hire this non-coffee drinker and allowing him to raise his customer service and hiring skills. My lessons didn't end there, more to come. As Howard would say when signing off

Onwards!

Steve