Education is the Star at Starbucks

I avoided caffeine for many years. But with so many flights and late, late nights, I recently tried ‘just a sip’. The next day I dunked a Danish pastry. A few days later I asked for ‘half a cup, please’. In very little time, I was enjoying café latte for breakfast!

Much has changed in the world of coffee in the past few years. Waiters used to ask, ‘Would you like cream with your coffee? Will that be one sugar or two?’ Now baristas enquire ‘Cappuccino wet or dry? Solo, doppio, soy, low-fat, not-too-hot, extra-hot, full or half-pump mocha?’ The menu can be overwhelming.

Except at Starbucks. Starbucks is an extraordinary example of a company with loyal customers and vigorous global growth. One reason is their devotion to quality service. Another is their fanatical commitment to cultivating customers through attractive and persistent education.

With my latest café latte I took a copy of each brochure sitting on the counter. Here’s the rundown of what you can get simply by taking what’s freely offered:

1. The Story of Good Coffee – 12 panels detail the growing cycle, roasting, color and freshness of beans. Eight levels of roasting explained with clear graphics and text. It takes 4,000 beans to make one pound of coffee. The coffee bush takes five years before it yields a single crop.

2. The World of Coffee – another 12-panel tutorial on bean varieties around the world, including descriptions of 24 popular beans in four ‘coffee categories’ for your tasting pleasure. Also a primer on ‘The Four Fundamentals of Brewing’. Ninety percent of your tasting ability is based upon your sense of smell. Ten grams of coffee and 180 millilitres of water is the ‘classic recipe’ for a great cup of coffee.

3. Espresso. What You Need to Know – I didn’t know what I didn’t know! Eight panels on ‘Grind, Dose, Tamp and Rate of Pour’ with additional insights and graphics on properly steaming milk. The ideal temperature for steamed milk is 66–76 degrees centigrade. Foamed milk is a few degrees cooler due to ‘incorporated air’.

4. Experience the Perfect Cup – an 8-panel treatise with cut-away schematics revealing the ingredients and precise architecture of the five most popular drinks. It includes company history and a sidebar on ‘additional choices’.

5. Try One, Try Them All – a 2-panel flyer encouraging you to try Starbucks new iced drinks – three unique blends in eleven different flavors.

6. How Are We Doing? – a 4-panel customer survey form with postage paid to return your comments to the waiting eyes and ears at Starbucks.

Starbucks understands. They are not just selling coffee. They are educating and creating loyal customers, building a long-term clientele, increasing understanding while promoting the industry, the products and the brand. This company knows the power of attraction is not just in the drinks, it’s in the experience they create – and the rich, steamy, full-bodied education they provide.

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Copyright, Ron Kaufman. Used with permission.
Ron Kaufman is an internationally acclaimed customer service training educator for quality service. He is author of the bestselling series "UP Your Service!" and founder of "UP Your Service College". To enjoy more customer service training articles, visit www.RonKaufman.com and www.UpYourService.com

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