Why I love Starbucks

Many are sick of hearing my blather about how great Starbucks is, but I got another one. I'm lucky enough to have a drive-through one a minute from the house, so I'm there frequently. The other day there was clearly a newbie at the window. He was very flustered, and as we've all had our first job I understood what the morning rush was likely doing to him. After a long wait I was offered a handful of drinks that didn't look like mine and kindly passed on them. Finally I got one that appeared to be mine...100 yards down the road I determine that someone is drinking a plain iced coffee and I have their choca-mocha-boysenberry-frappé-crap. Anti-lock brakes are now applied.

As I return to the counter the manager sees me and immediately reads the situation. "I'm really sorry, what can I get for you?" He proceeds to get me my order in the highest speed available, while assuring me with the appropriate amount of "I'm sorry to waste your time." Finally I get my coffee and a nice little card that formally apologizes and offers me my next order on them. And that is what I love.

Everyone makes mistakes, period. There system of high quality interaction extends to the mistake. If they simply gave me my money back the economic implication of their act would have been the same to Starbucks Inc., but they didn't do that. By creating these little cards (a very nice fold over job that was cleverly designed) they told me that they understand that failure happens, that they know what form it's likely to take and have a process for addressing it. They also reinforce the brand messaging of quality, intelligence and service ideals. The manager didn't need to reinvent the wheel, an employee didn't need to go off script, they all simply needed to follow the game plan.

In modern life we all interact with countless organizations a week and experience numerous failures-it's no big deal. Starbucks took this normal situation and turned a failure into the best $2.36 (my coffee) every spend on marketing.