Time to Refocus on the Experience

The past year has not been kind to the Starbucks brand. In the week that Starbucks has yet another new product introduction, there is hope that the customer experience has not been forgotten in Seattle. Could CEO Howard Schultz and company be going back to their customer experience roots out of necessity?

Hot Breakfast Sandwiches

First, the new product: hot breakfast sandwiches. Customers can choose from a variety of wraps, padinis or english-muffin type sandwiches. Sandwiches. currently only available at stores that were opened after October 08. These newer stores received ovens to warm the sandwiches as they were being built. As you may remember, Starbucks had plans to drop breakfast sandwiches last year when Schultz still had what he called a "laser-focus" on the customer experience. Evidently his laser malfunctioned because sandwiches are back.

The picture above is a fetta-spinach wrap I had at a Starbucks in Round Rock, Texas. It was good, not great. A good choice for breakfast on the run. But that's what McDonald's is for, right?

Tuning in the Experience

Now on to the good news. While vacationing in Philadelphia last week, I spent my mornings in the Starbucks on Market Street using the free WiFi. One morning a threesome of Starbucks executives stood at the end of the bar watching employees and customers. One of those execs was Starbucks regional director Krista Kondravy. Kondravy and her team, which included the store manager, were observing customer and employee behavior and interaction.

I eavesdropped for a while before introducing myself. Sneaky, I know. Kondravy and her team discussed ways to make the workspace more efficient. and the customer ordering process friendlier. Kondravy told me that one of her responsibilities was to enhance the customer experience. She often went to various Starbucks locations just to observe the customer. She also asked for my opinion and suggestions for improvement.

CEO Howard Shultz has recently said that there will be fewer product introductions this year. That's a good thing. Product introduction has done nothing for the Starbucks stock price and has devalued the brand. Maybe Schultz and company will now focus on the experience that he promised when he took over as CEO.