- HOWARD SCHULTZ, STARBUCKS’ CEO, WALL STREET JOURNAL 2011
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Creating Inspired Moments
The Importance Of A Customer Service Vision Statement
“ Putting our feet in the shoes of the Customers, [ we understood ] what they were dealing with and [ their ] anxiety... We were growing the company with such speed and aggression that we lost sight of the Customer experience.”
- HOWARD SCHULTZ, STARBUCKS’ CEO, WALL STREET JOURNAL 2011
Several years back, I had one of the highlights of my consulting career: Starbucks asked me to help them re-create its Customer Service vision statement. I have worked with Starbucks in the past, but this was different. I knew this was going to be something that would live for a long, long time in Starbucks. Starbucks has always been one of my favorite companies, both as a Customer and as a Customer Service Consultant. I was so excited! I knew that no one helped create better Customer Service vision statements than The DiJulius Group. I knew we were perfect for this project. I was so excited about taking on this project, until I asked them what their current vision statement was that they wanted to change:“ To inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.”
I thought to myself, Wow, that’ s pretty good. I honestly didn’ t know if we could improve on that. I asked Craig Russell, Senior Vice President of global coffee, why he felt that statement didn’ t work for Starbucks. He replied,“ We love the statement; those are Howard’ s [ Schultz’ s ] words. It is more of our purpose. As far as a Customer Service vision, it is too big, too aspirational. We want something that’ s actionable, trainable, measurable.” As I thought about it, he was right. If someone comes in and orders a venti soy latte, and the barista gives it to them exactly how they ordered it, in ninety seconds, did the barista inspire or nurture their human spirit? Probably not. That is something that takes dozens and dozens of positive experiences. I believe Starbucks does that. But it doesn’ t happen one time.
So we did what we do with all our consulting clients when making a Customer Service vision statement; we started with scripting a day in the life of a Starbucks Customer. A Starbucks Customer is easy to relate to. Virtually anyone reading this book can relate, whether you actually frequent Starbucks or not. Starbucks customers are people with discretionary income who are battling the hustle and bustle of their busy lives, trying to balance everything they have going on personally and professionally— people dealing with
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