Page 91 - The Starbucks Experience

PRINCIPLE 2

ering the drink in such a nice way and said that though she
personally never drank Starbucks, it was the only thing her
husband could stomach after his chemotherapy.”
The trick for management, therefore, is to get employees
to see the bigger picture and understand that small compo-
nents of their day-to-day tasks can actually have a transfor-
mational impact on customers and the people with whom
they work, not to mention on the company’s overall mission
and reputation.
When staff members execute details consistently, they are
often rewarded by unexpected appreciation from customers.
Regional director Carla Archambault tells about a barista,
Susan, who was moving to another store. “As is often the
case with our partners,” explains Carla, “Susan was getting
flowers from customers on her last day. While working at
76 that store, Susan had made a commitment to try to get a par-
ticular customer, who could best be described as a grumpy
guy, to smile. It might seem like a little thing, but to Susan
it was important. Susan said, ‘I don’t know what’s going
on in this man’s life, but I’m going to make him happy.’
And so she would always connect and have a smile on her
face, but he never smiled or showed any joy in response to
her efforts.”
“On the day Susan was leaving,” continued Carla, “that
man overheard that it was her last day. He came back before
her shift was over and brought her a card. The words in the
card were powerful; they read, ‘I just want you to know how
much it’s meant for me to come into your store every day. I
want you to know that I came in here specifically to see your
smile and that you made a difference in my life.’” Susan took
the time to do the little things necessary to demonstrate that
this challenging customer mattered to her.