Today I’m going to write about Starbucks, and never mention coffee.

I have always enjoyed Starbucks both the company, and consuming their products. When Starbucks’ strategy was to be “your third place” (first place being home and second place being work), things were going well for Starbucks. They have been credited for taking a basic commodity beverage and making it a premium item (insert you own joke about $3.50 lattes here). I believe their true success was taking coffee from an “on the go and sipped from a blue cup from the diner” into “sit down and enjoy your time”. They created true customer based brand equity. I went to Starbucks because I felt good about having a Starbucks beverage. It was an enjoyable experience, and I was willing to pay the premium for that experience. I think they may have opened a few too many stores, but a lot of companies would like to have their sales volume.

On day I noticed that the customer service at Starbucks was declining. Okay that’s being nice. The customer service tanked. I would order a venti no-fat hot chocolate, a black iced tea with classic sweetener, or a Grande vanilla bean blended crème (based on the season of course). For about a year, in any location I went into, I really had no idea what I was going be served. I tried; I went to multiple locations across multiple states. I did drive-thru, store front locations, airport kiosks, even the shops inside Target and Stop-and-Shop. The service was going downhill. After six calls to customer service and being sent free beverage coupons, I just gave up going to Starbucks.

As a company they are having additional challenges. I’ve read the articles and heard the analysts:
 they removed the fresh ground beans and the smell of fresh beans is why people came to Starbucks;
 they started making sandwiches which made them more like fast food places;
 the weather was warm and more cold beverage orders means more prep time and longer waits;
 they shouldn’t go into movies and music.

Those are attempts at expanding the brand equity. The strategy people are supposed to develop line extensions and category extensions. Somewhere along the line the customer service aspect was lost. You remember when they used to call out your beverage?

I’m writing this in the Starbucks in Somerset, NJ. I had not been in this Starbucks in about a year and wandered in the other day. They have completely re-modeled; I love the display board with the music they are playing. Most of all I got the drink I ordered, and made properly. I always wondered how people were able to foul up iced tea. I wanted to sit here and have an experience. Exactly the feeling Starbucks would want me to have.

I see this company doing the right things for the customers, their procedures, and their investors. Today is my third trip back to this Starbucks location. They got my order right, promptly, and friendly. I noted that the area behind the counter was reorganized and supported the customer service process. The company’s commitment to controlling expansion and adjusting staff, those things will make stock analysts happy. Once the free wireless access arrives, I’ll have a place to go for lunch everyday. Starbucks is working its way back to being the third place, for me and for a lot of their fans.