The Starbucks Experience

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The Starbucks Experience by Joseph Michelli isn’t, as you might expect, a biography of Starbucks. Instead, the book details five principles for “turning ordinary into extraordinary”, with the principles being taken from the structures and systems Starbucks have used throughout their relatively short history.

The second principle, “Everything Matters”, is one that I see missing from many companies and organisations – that details go a long way to forming perceptions. That’s true of both parts of a business: that which customers interact with, and that which goes on behind the scenes. Starbucks apparently use checklists throughout the stores to help workers keep track of the details. Apparently, the brewed coffees Starbucks serve would be good for five hours, but they are rebrewed every hour, on the hour to ensure that the coffee is fresh and hot. Although it may seem hard to believe (especially if you’re not a coffee drinker), the book relates a story that a customer noticed the difference when the rebrewing occurred after one hour and ten minutes – which is why you need to pay attention to details.

Some of the stories that are told in the book didn’t quite ring true for me, but I suspect that’s mostly because the experience of a Starbucks in the US and in the UK are quite different, in terms of customer service (the drinks and environments are pretty much identical). It’s just hard to imagine some of the stories happening here in the UK, especially all the stories that involve free drinks! I think that fact, combined with the slightly fawning attitude towards Starbucks, perhaps explains why the book didn’t really inspire me as other books of this sort have. That said, however, it was still an interesting read which triggered one or two ideas for my own work.

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