Page 36 - The Starbucks Experience

Make It Your Own

• Be considerate
• Be knowledgeable

• Be involved

To reinforce these concepts, Starbucks management devel-
oped a pamphlet that fits neatly into a partner’s apron pocket
and is appropriately referred to as the Green Apron Book.
This book offers concrete ideas on how to personalize rela-
tionships with customers by giving to, connecting with, and
elevating customer interactions.
In an article for Tom Brown’s bankstocks.com, David M.
Martin, chief training consultant of NCBS, an industry leader
in retail banking solutions worldwide, states that the Green
Apron Book, along with Starbucks Five Ways of Being, “truly
encapsulates the core philosophies of Starbucks. Cover to 21
cover, it may take five minutes to read . . . and that’s if you
pause to sip your coffee a few times. Think about it. In
essence, the company is marketing to its employees how
important the principles and philosophies contained in this
book are.”
David notes that Starbucks leadership has built an opti-
mistic message into the book: “Instead of overwhelming folks
with reams of minutiae and too-rigid instructions, it gives
guiding principles of the environments they hope to create
and legendary service they strive to provide.” This is leader-
ship at its best: simple instruction provided in an appealing
way, with a spirit that offers hope.
Since you probably don’t have a green apron, let alone a
Green Apron Book, let’s take a look at how Starbucks guides
its staff members into making the Starbucks Experience
uniquely their own.