Page 83 - The Starbucks Experience

PRINCIPLE 2

set the stage for everyone to appreciate what’s happening in
the scenario.
Before the interaction between the person playing the cus-
tomer and the person playing the partner begins, the cus-
tomer alone reads the inside of the card, which explains the
internal experience she is to act out. The customer may use
body language or words to communicate her internal expe-
rience, but she cannot actually say what she is feeling. The
partner attempts to handle the situation empathetically and
gets feedback from the customer, and from observers, on how
well he connected with the Green Apron behaviors. At this
point, the designated customer reveals what was actually hap-
pening on the inside, for her.
In the game, each round is “won” if the customer feels that
the partner connected with what was most important to her
68 at the time of her visit and if a memorable experience was
created. An example of a game card is as follows:

Visual cues from the customer
You are humming holiday tunes
and seem to be cheerful, but are visibly in a hurry.

What is going on for the customer on the inside?
You couldn’t resist stopping for a beverage, but you only
have 20 minutes before you’re supposed to be back to work
for the holiday potluck. You haven’t picked anything up yet
for the party and still have to stop at the grocery store.

When this game was introduced as a training tool, Star-
bucks leadership presented it strategically, one group at a time.
Jennifer Ames-Kerreman explains, “We first debuted the game
for management teams. They played it by picking somebody