The Power of Simple

So if you read my first post you know that I believe that many of us have lost our way and forgotten that to have a job we must be relentless in our pursuit of creating value; and that in order to create value we must be laser focused on what constitutes value in the mind and heart of the customer (or employer).  So… many companies are struggling right now and Starbucks is one of them.  Closing stores, changing merchandising strategies, contemplating new products (instant coffee?) and getting creative with pricing (bundling coffee and a danish?) all an effort to right the profit ship and get back those customers who recently decided that a $4 latte was just too much.    Starbucks apparently believes that creating more value, for the consumer and the shareholder, lies in changing the product, reducing the price, and fixing the distribution.  I believe they are missing the point.  When difficult economic times appear consumers are far more discerning about which brands they stick with and which ones they walk away from.  And the stickiness motivators can be very tangible (Target is crushing Macy’s right now) or in some cases intangible (my neighbor hardware store are nice people so I am not going to Home Depot to save five bucks).  Which raises the question, is Starbucks in the goods or services business, selling the tangible or the intangible?   Coffee is the number one commodity in the world.  It’s tangible.  But the experience is actually what defines the Starbucks brand.  The intangible.  How you feel when you walk in the store, the gestalt of the environment, the people in the store, the coffee smell, the way you’re served…which brings me to the value issue and their opportunity.  I have been going to the same Starbucks for 2 years.  Every day, same time, same order:  “A large Vente Bold please.”  And pretty much the same servers behind the counter.  And every day I get pretty much the same blank stares, the same no attempt to acknowledge that I am a customer, let alone a gold card customer.  They make no effort to suggest that they know me, that they remember what I want, and that they are happy to help me start my day.  A couple of months ago I was in the store and the door to the store room was open.  I could see a white board which had scrawled on it the following: ” The latest customer surveys are in and we ranked last for satisfaction among our group.  We need to be nicer.”  Need to be nicer?  Yup.  But you don’t get there with whiteboards.  You get there with hiring people who care about their jobs, their company and their fellow man.  People who want to serve, who are relentless about creating value.  People who know that “Room for cream?” is not the way to say “It’s good to have you back”.