• The average Aussie coffee drinker did not like the taste. Starbucks tastes burnt.
• They also resented paying $4.00 for coffee and not being served. Its competitors take your coffee to your seat once it is ready. You do not have to stand ideally by waiting for your coffee.

This is something Starbucks should have noticed and leveraged had it been listening.
A friend posted this on her blog while traveling in Australia:
“I’ve learned, since, that Australians are much more particular about their coffee than us Canadians and they’re pretty proud of it. You don’t come to Australia to find a brewed cup of black coffee, you come for a superior shot of espresso in a cappuccino, or a latte and it’s presented as if it’s a work of art. Anything less is unheard of.”

…….presented as if it’s a work of art………………..
Starbucks never got this about Australia. Coffee is serious business. It would be great if more companies presented their service ….as if it’s a work of art!

The third choice may be to ‘wait it out’, but that would put too much faith in the thinking that it’s going to be business as usual on the other side of this recession.

The problem is at a District and Regional level. I was employeed for 5 years, starting at barista and working up to Assistant Store Manager. I had good experiences with all of my district managers until my last one. I was fired for leaving money briefly un-attended while dealing with various customer and partner problems that day. I was never disciplined prior to that day for that violation. It was frequently something that people do because of the nature of the business. It was something that I had seen from ALL managers, in each store I worked at from time to time. Not only that, after I was fired, I found out she had an embarrassing personal situation that I think she thought I knew about, and somehow disliked her for it…but I digress.

Obviously the Starbucks Experience has been declining in the past year or more. Customers are more routinely dissastisfied with the product and service, and it is directly related to the high turnover rate at the barista level. This however has been fueled recently by the need for Starbucks to re-allign its management(salaried)/hourly ratio from a 40/60 to a 20/80. So now they need excuses to fire managers, preferably higher paid, and thus often the longer tenured ones. The problem is, they were often the only ones enforcing the standards that made the company popular and sucessful to begin with. I understand at will employment, and the need for accountability to the stock holders. I understand that I wasn’t garunteed a job for life even though I thought that was what I had. The fact is, wether it was personal or strictly managing from a district P&L level, they fired a very loyal dedicated and hard working employee, who was commited to raising the level of the experience of his customers, specifically by bonding with and developing the newest baristas to uphold the same standards I was taught over 5 years ago. Now they have a bigger gap between the upper management and the hourly partners, which results in a more drastic varience between individual visits. If the Manager, or District Manager are in the store, perhaps people are on their best behavior. If not, you’re likely to get a bad experience. The turnover they have created has destroyed their credibility in the market, which has in turn caused declining sales and customer count.

I’ve seen customers from the stores I worked at thoughout the years, and most frequently I hear “it’s really gone down hill since you left that store.” I’m not saying this because I think I was the BEST worker, but merely because they felt like they were always put first, cause they were. I was the guy that stopped doing stuff cause the line got too long, instead of ignoring the elephant in the room cause I had to make sure the display had all the mints and gums facing the same way, or I just needed to finish some paperwork before going home, or even worse because “I was supposed to be off at 2:30p.m and its already 2:45!” I was fired in by a District Manager who had been with the company atleast 2 or 3 years less, with my Regional Director being at the position for about the same amount of time as my District Manager (based on the employee numbers they used). The fact is they fired a good one (and without good cause according to the EDD).

When I was fired my stock was worthless. They offered no severance package. I was told I was being fired for “something we routinely seperate managers for.” When I responded, “it’s something that every manager does,” she replied “we’re gonna get ‘em too.” Right. Call it for what it is. The product has outlived its “trendiness” and the people who went for the experience just aren’t getting it anymore. The baristas don’t care, cause most dont have stock in the company, and don’t plan on doing more than working for a quick paycheck and to give out free drinks to friends. Even worse, the new class of upper and middle management isn’t as heavily committed or invested in the stock so who cares about declining sales and customer count, as long as I still have a signed paycheck, right? I had no animosity towards the company or anyone personally until the day I was fired. I was even ammused when the same position in the same area was posted online only 2 months after I was fired. I’m glad I worked there for the time I did. I got great training, learned some valuable skills, and also had some great customer/employee friendships. I also learned that politics and budgets mean more than investigation and introspection. For a company that promotes “dignity and respect” as its first guiding principle, and “create enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time,” as its fourth, it would appear that in the trying times the sixth principle is more important: “recognize profit is essential to our future success.”

Is the experience you got today, or last week, really worth the money you have to work hard for? If you have to work hard your money, shouldn’t they? Don’t let upper management blame declining customer counts, sales, a catasrtophic stock drop, and bad customer experiences on poorly trained, under paid, hourly baristas. No other company holds the lowest common denominator accountable for the its financial collapse like Starbucks is trying to. Obviously I no longer go to Starbucks. I would hope that others that I share my story with will join me in boycotting Starbucks. But if you insist on going, try to work out a tips for coffee swap with your friendly hourly barista, so you’re not stuffing some hypocritical RM, DM, RVP or CEO with bonuses built in that are paid for by budget related terminations like mine.

FYI, I included a reference to your post in a blog post I wrote (including link back to yours).

http://www.amazingleadership.com/blog/roy/dont-add-take-away-business-lesson-karl-von-clausewitz-and-tim-ferris