Page 120 - The Starbucks Experience

Surprise and Delight

Sometimes staff members just don’t know what they can
do to help a customer, because they have limited options at
their disposal. One customer who had purchased a quality
French Press from Starbucks came into his local store expect-
ing that he could purchase necessary replacement parts. His
barista realized that she could not meet his expectation and
that he would probably have to buy another French Press.
After initially struggling to resolve his needs, the barista
asked for the customer’s patience as she tried to find an alter-
native solution.
As she puts it, “I told him that we didn’t have any parts,
so I ran into the back room to double-check with my man-
ager [to ask] if I could just give him a new French Press even
though his had been well used. . . . I came back and told him
that I would be happy to exchange it for a new one. The
look on his face was priceless. He kept asking me if I was 105
sure, then said that he felt bad because he didn’t come in to
get a free one. I kept reassuring him that it was fine and it
wouldn’t be a problem to exchange it. After the exchange,
he asked to speak to my manager. He was so impressed with
our service that he wanted to know where he could send a
letter or call to inform corporate. I could just tell that we
had really made his day; it’s a nice feeling!” Even when ini-
tial breakdowns occur, leaders help their teams find solu-
tions that will delight others and maintain constructive
long-term relationships.
Delight can also come from the staff attending to things
that go wrong—on the customer’s side of the relationship.
Laura Vernier experienced this firsthand. A regular customer
at Starbucks, she remembers stopping by her local store on
one particularly rough day to order a grande sugar-free