Leading the Starbucks Way

The Risk of Excellence: Avoiding Customer Experience Mediocrity

Some years ago, I had the good fortune of working on an article draft with John Timmerman and Curt Coffman. John is currently Executive Director of Digital Transformation at Gallup and Curt has co-authored perennial bestselling books like First Break All the Rules and Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch. The article we worked on together…

View Post about The Risk of Excellence: Avoiding Customer Experience Mediocrity

{Infographic} Customer Value – Expanding across the 12 Standard Forms of Value

                                                                                           

View Post about {Infographic} Customer Value – Expanding across the 12 Standard Forms of Value

Customer Value: Expanding Across the 12 Standard Forms of Value

Great leaders often ask me to help them create “customer value”, while others ask me to help them create “profit.” For me, the only way to generate sustainable profit is by developing a core competency for customer value creation. Chasing profits is a tiring and stressful endeavor – creating value is an innovative and energizing pursuit.…

View Post about Customer Value: Expanding Across the 12 Standard Forms of Value

All Business is Personal – Consistency with a Twist

Dating back to my early work with Starbucks, (reflected in my first book about the global coffee leader titled – The Starbucks Experience), I have been asserting that ALL BUSINESS IS PERSONAL. I often note that the next customer might be your 50th routine interaction of the day but for them, the contact will likely…

View Post about All Business is Personal – Consistency with a Twist

The Future of Customer Service: Human Intelligence (HI) or Artificial Intelligence (AI)

I have been slow to accept that, from a service perspective, humans will ever be replaced by computers.  I’ve suggested that customers will resist “robots” and I’ve based my thinking in part on the “uncanny valley” hypothesis which postulates that the more robots look like humans the less humans will feel comfortable with them. I…

View Post about The Future of Customer Service: Human Intelligence (HI) or Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Make a Mouse: The Power of a Culture of Customer Experience Excellence

I’ve often said anyone can create a mouse. All you have to do is put a copious quantity of food and cloth scraps on your floor and, over time, a mouse will appear. The same can be said for great service cultures. Leaders are responsible for “creating the right environment” for world-class customer experiences to…

View Post about Make a Mouse: The Power of a Culture of Customer Experience Excellence

Which Should Come First? The Employee or the Customer?

Ok, I admit the issue of employee versus customer primacy falls into the category of   unanswerable debates such as which came first the chicken or the egg. That said, many leaders continue to articulate a mantra that either the customer or the employee “comes first.” While I personally like to side-step this looping debate by…

View Post about Which Should Come First? The Employee or the Customer?

Make the Experience Faster and More Personal

I have been involved with Starbucks since 2004, beginning with initial research I conducted for my first of two books about them (The Starbucks Experience). During my more than a decade relationship with the brand, I’ve never ceased to be amazed by the commitment of Starbucks leaders when it comes to continuous improvement for both the customer…

View Post about Make the Experience Faster and More Personal

FREE RESOURCES

The Starbucks Experience: Leadership Tips eBook
Elevating Care in Healthcare: Lessons from the UCLA Health System eBook
How to Win Every Customer, Every Time, No Excuses! Article