Page 66 - The Starbucks Experience

Everything Matters

ble pillars. Although the ceiling was not protected by local
planning codes, Starbucks leadership understood the impor-
tance of incorporating that unique, historic charm into its
Parisian Starbucks Experience.
In order to maintain this special connection with cus-
tomers, leadership at Starbucks is continuously searching for
new ways to improve all aspects of the store environment.
Starbucks started playing music in its stores simply to set a
comfortable atmosphere. The former store manager and cur-
rent programming manager in Starbucks Hear Music divi-
sion, Timothy Jones, was encouraged to take music to a
higher level. Rather than simply being in the background,
music emerged as an important detail in creating a truly
unique Starbucks Experience.
Timothy, who had previously owned a record store, was
given the latitude to use his music background to actively 51
explore ways to enhance the customers’ time in a Starbucks
store. Timothy enthusiastically explained: “With the blessing
of management, I started programming the playlists for our
in-store music. The idea was that customized selections could
provide a unique, warm, consistent enrichment to the cus-
tomer experience. I think leadership realized that people come
in for coffee, but we can give them more while they’re there.
If we can entertain them and send them out with an idea, a
tool, something to discover, then we’re a bigger stop than just
a cup of coffee.” That is the essence of great business lead-
ership—finding ways to deliver existing products and serv-
ices in ways that make the brand more significant to the
customer. In Timothy’s words, we must make the experience
“a bigger stop.”
To create this bigger stop, Timothy explains how Starbucks
managers start with an unwavering commitment to the