Page 116 - The Starbucks Experience

Surprise and Delight

most: the minds and hearts of your customers. Your brand
literally becomes the standard by which other companies are
measured. For example, regular Starbucks customers who
choose to visit other coffee providers run the risk that they
will not get what they have come to expect and may feel dis-
appointed when their experience “just isn’t Starbucks.”
With consistency comes customer trust. Consumers gain
stability when they know that they can depend on having a
reliable experience. For customer William Stewart, Starbucks
provided the stabilizing force he needed to get through a chal-
lenging time. As he explains,

I recently had to take an emergency trip to Houston to
visit my father, who had developed a heart condition
while on a business trip and was in the hospital. The day
of the flight was extremely stressful. When I finally got
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to the hospital and saw my father recovering, the next
thing on my mind was Starbucks. I cannot tell you how
calming it was to have a taste of home when I was many
miles away.
Consistency is crucial for success in a world that is unpre-
dictable. Given interruptions, intrusive phone calls, and unex-
pected deadlines, most of us are looking for a familiar and
comfortable refuge. Many find it in a morning cup of coffee
from Starbucks; some secure it in the work of a favorite
author; still others relish a few minutes of quiet time before
bed. People come to trust that these sources of delight can be
relied upon, both in their simplicity and in their constancy.

Creating Predictability in Experience
Predictability is difficult to achieve. We all know that it is
hard to get comparable service from the same person two