If you are reading this, please note, it is primarily for owners. It is good for managers; only if you are in a place or empowered to make suggestions about the nature of the business. Cool? OK.
Let’s talk coffee. For some Starbucks reigns supreme. It rocks. It is their oasis amidst a world of craziness. Yeah, not so much for me. I don’t like being corrected. More to follow.
OK, so a couple of weeks ago, I was working with a client and I mentioned I would be speaking about culture and would mention Starbucks. The CFO of this business came up to me and asked if I had read the book by Howard Schultz titled Onward. “No, I haven’t.” He then mentioned it was on his table for a reason as their business, their organization was and is going through a bit of cultural transformation. Cool.
So I go on my rant when everyone is back in the room. I think Starbuck’s lost a bit of its soul. In an effort to be operationally efficient, due to the queue, the lines ups, they lost something. That is what I think. They ask what you want and worry about the five other people in the line…cuz’ they’re thirsty too, right? Each barista has a focus; call it a very singular focus: move the line and make sure the customer has their exact concoction. At least this is what it seems to me. I ask for a small latte. Yes, that is right, latte. I worked in fashion and I have earned the right to drink lattes…oh yeah, and say the word fabulous. More on that in a different post. OK, I ask for a small latte and am told “tall” latte. I am being corrected. Big deal, right? Well, I am writing about it. Two points. One is the their “corrective-ness”. I ask for small and am told “tall”. It is not meant to be a smash in in the face (even though I take it that way), it just part of their vernacular. This is how they move the queue, the line. And two, this effectiveness mindset is definitely moving the line and losing a bit of of a certain cultural luster. I believe Starbucks started as that local coffee joint, that local coffee haven. People flocked not necessarily for the lattes but for the “ahhh”. We called it the “moment” when I worked for Polo. That moment when someone walked into a part of the store and became somewhat lost in the feel or the essence of the lifestyle. Starbucks, I believe lost its “ahhh”, its moment (as a retailer mind you, let’s not get too crazy or wigged out). And it was this point I made and the same CFO said, “Are you sure you haven’t read the book, cuz you just tagged the sub-title.” The whole soul thingy.
At a certain point, I believe some businesses lose their soul, their mojo. They lose what made them “them”. How does that happen? Well, scale or the size of the business contributes. Different or multiple heads at the fore-front can cause that. Also, consider the lack of interest in what the customer is saying, or the employee, or the industry. Even just change, the smallest can cause businesses to go “whiskey-tango-foxtrot”.
My thumb is on the aspect of when you get bigger and farther away from the epicenter of activity, you start to lose your “vibe”. When it was just you and the store, things rocked. Your hands were in the proverbial ooze of sales and transactions and moving your widgets. Now you are two or three or fifty stores and someone else decides what happens or maybe more importantly, how it happens.
When you get big-ger, something happens. I was with a client a couple of weeks ago. Passionate and envisioned. Growing and considered to be the or at least the fastest growing retail leader in wireless retail in the U.S. The owner himself said they had lost a little something, though still successful. His parents came on the stage, these initial owners both admittedly said they didn’t even understand what they were selling (wireless cellular hand-set stuff). And yet they still had a purpose and a “vibe”. Then they grew and grew and grew. And now the son, the owner is saying…”we have lost something. And our differentiator will be…” I will not say. That would be wrong. They know what they need to do. What about you? What is your differentiator? What is your trigger? Are you that small you haven’t thought about it or are you that big you now need to think about it?
If I walk into your store what happens?
This is a multi-part series. The first part is: “what is your vision?” Is it clearly expressed…clearly defined? Is the “you” you want to be portrayed:
- The right you
- The right process
- The right customer service model
- The right response when things are good or bad
If you had to write your vision right now (as owner and maybe even more importantly as a manager), what would it say? What words would you use? How would you phrase it?
Again, if I show up, what is it you want me to experience?
Are you still you?
Cheers