If you read this blog even a little bit then you know I’m a huge Starbucks fan. And not just of their coffee and teas, Starbucks as a brand gets a lot of things right, and here’s one. In my local Starbucks, I’m assuming something similar is in every location world wide, is a sign that reads “Love your beverage or let us know. We’ll always make it right”. This is what they call they Barista Promise.
The barista promise sign does a few things for Starbucks.
- Builds trust in the brand by owning up to…hey we’re not perfect and we might serve your beverage too hot, too cold, too sweet, too strong, or too whatever, but it does not matter because we’re going to do it again until you love it.
- Encourages you to try something new because, hey even if you goof and order something you can’t stand, we’ll do it again until it’s right…and that builds loyalty.
- Shows respect for the customer…even if the customer was wrong.
- Allows Starbucks to make more promises in the future…because they’ve made good on the ones made in the past.
Improve Your Customer Service Offer…The Starbucks Way
Everyone already knows that you can’t always be right. So why not just go on record and admit it? It’s likely the best investment you can make in your customer service program…and it’s absolutely free…plus it’s already proven to work for a major player like Starbucks.
When a brand acknowledges they did not get something right, they are simply saying we set an expectation, but we failed to live up to it…this time.
