Comments on: Reputation Management: Starbucks Offers A Simple Lesson In Good Customer Service

By: Work Happy Now! » Give Employees the Power to Impress Customers

Work Happy Now! » Give Employees the Power to Impress Customers — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:12:05 +0000

[...] Starak’s blog post of his experience at Starbucks makes for great advertising. Starbucks empowers their employees to [...]

By: Mel

Mel — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 09:29:30 +0000

Some years ago there was a popular belief among marketing “gurus” that a dis-satisfied customer might tell as many as 22 others about their bad experience,

And that a happy customer might tell only some 3 or 4 people of their experience.

And therefore bad experiences should be avoided if at all possible.

I don’t recall if they explained how these numbers were determined.

By: Dina

Dina — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:52:01 +0000

Hi Yaro, and all the group,

WOW, what a fantastic point to blog about and an fantastic discussion. Enjoyed reading it all.

I think customer service can make or break a business. What starbucks has done is create “raving fans”, and that really is what customer service is all about. And, just think of the benefits of their “word-of-mouth” marketing… no money can buy that spontaneous market presence.

With that little freebie, they have lost nothing, and gained everything. It’s easier to sell (and sell again) to a customer who has already bought from you. A loyal and repeat customer is like gold…

By: Eva White

Eva White — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:50:58 +0000

I agree with you Christen. It is embarassing to be caught in the wrong and that is what puts people on the defensive. Yet if you can ingrain them with the correct attitute and training you can monitor the overall service that you as an organisation provide.

By: Home Office Organization

Home Office Organization — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:40:52 +0000

Yaro, Great article and thought-provoking. Not only did Starbucks respond with fantastic customer service, they also raised your expectation of the same in the future. One thing we have to remember whenever we deal with customers is we must manage the customer’s expectations so they don’t have unrealistic ones. If we manage expectations well and then exceed expectations, it’s a win-win.

Maya Angelou said and I paraphrase – People may not remember what you said or did, but they will remember how you made them feel.

Sherri

By: Cedric Canierro

Cedric Canierro — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:44:44 +0000

i love their culture in giving their customer the service that they deserve. It reminds me of Wendy’s slogan “Quality is our recipe”

By: Christen

Christen — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:36:21 +0000

Well said. Often we are so “embarrassed” by our own mistake that we forget to respond enthusiastically to fix the situation for the customer.

I think this is a great example of exceeding the customer’s expectations.

By: Kelvin

Kelvin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:50:46 +0000

Hi,

Think this is a great article.
Although the immediate thought that strikes me is how good customer service can help enhances the company’s branding and build customer relationships, on further pondering I feel that the gesture of giving out freebies to customers for slip-ups contributes more to the marketing aspect of the business (besides the customer service aspect).

Though freebies are a really good way to help appease most irate customers, the strongest long-lasting impact this gesture brings about is the “good-will” feeling that will likely be generated for the customer in the aftermath of the unhappy incident. This feeling of “good-will” will then subconsicously build a closer customer touch for the company and thus enhances its customer loyalty, making the loyal customers an additional marketing channel for the company (i.e. “word-of-mouth” marketing).

By: Philip

Philip — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:18:38 +0000

As a once upon a time barista at Starbucks I can confirm the commitment that this company makes to their customers, and customer service. It is company policy that a customer shouldn’t have to wait more than three minutes to get their drink. This is from the moment that the customer enters the door. Our first response to a customer who said that their drink was wrong or didn’t taste the right way was to offer to make them a new one. As my manager explained when I was hired each espresso drink only costs Starbucks pennies so tossing a mistake and serving a new one wasn’t going to bite into profits. The most important thing was for the customer to go away feeling that we had given them exceptional service.

By: Ron Meledandri

Ron Meledandri — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:42:12 +0000

Having the POLICY of excellent customer services is the easy part. I would guess that every company would clain to have that policy. Getting employees to FOLLOW THE POLICY is the difficult part.