Page 113 - The Starbucks Experience

PRINCIPLE 3

son’s drink. That person decided to keep the surprise going
by paying for the drinks of the car behind him. This went on
for 11 cars; everyone was touched, and I was about in tears.”
Surprise and delight over and over again, for 11 cars in a row.
But 11 cars is nothing compared to one Starbucks drive-
through that reported 33 consecutive cars’ worth of similar
surprise moments. Jim Alling, president of Starbucks U.S.
Business, noted at a shareholders’ meeting that these “pay-it-
forward” stories reflect how surprise and delight can all start
from the actions of a Starbucks partner simply “over a cup
of coffee.”
Starbucks creates surprise experiences. Those experiences
represent the prize that keeps its partners engaged and its cus-
tomers returning. But what about the caramelized popcorn?
That’s where consistency and delight come in!
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Create Your Own Experience

• From your most loyal customer to an absolute stranger,
how can you create an experience of surprise?
• Surprise can occur spontaneously or with a well-developed
plan, playfully and meaningfully. What will resonate most
with the people around you?
• What’s your investment to serve up joy and the
unexpected?

• Look inside your company. How can you share your joy
with employees or coworkers? How can you use surprise to
give them the extra motivation they need to share that joy
with others?