We need to put ourselves in the shoes of our customers. That is my new battle cry. Live and breathe Starbucks the way our customers do.
Interpretation
Understanding customers' perspectives is essential for success.
This quote emphasizes the importance of empathy in business, particularly in understanding customers' experiences and needs. Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, advocates that to serve customers effectively, one must deeply immerse themselves in their viewpoints and lifestyles, echoing a commitment to prioritizing customer satisfaction and connection.
In practice
In a team meeting focused on improving customer service, one could refer to this quote to emphasize empathy.
The rules of engagement around building a brand have changed significantly over the past 10 to 15 years. Where companies at one time could spread their message through traditional marketing, consumers now seek an enduring emotional connection with the companies they patronize. The foundation of that connection is the most important characteristic of building a world-class brand: trust. Trust with your people and trust with your customers.
The future of America is not an entitlement. We have been given a treasure chest of gifts and opportunities, but some people are being left behind, and success is not sustainable unless it is shared.
Starbucks is not an advertiser; people think we are a great marketing company, but in fact we spend very little money on marketing and more money on training our people than advertising.
While their service is ending, our responsibility is just beginning!
In life, you can blame a lot of people and you can wallow in self-pity or you can pick yourself up and say listen, I have to be responsible for myself.
When I first discovered in the early 1980s the Italian espresso bars in my trip to Italy, the vision was to re-create that for America - a third place that had not existed before. Starbucks re-created that in America in our own image; a place to go other than home or work. We also created an industry that did not exist: specialty coffee.
You should not build your customer service system on the premise that your organisation will never question the whims of your clients.
In business, you're trying to make a buck. God was good to me and blessed me. I made some money and started this foundation years ago, and it has grown in size. With the foundation it's a lot different, because the bottom line isn't how you can make more money or get a better return, it's helping the projects that you feel strongly about move forward.
Banking is very good business if you don't do anything dumb.
Entrepreneurs have only the murkiest picture of the future in which they are making their bets, and also there is ambiguity: they don't know when they push this lever or that lever that the outcome is going to be what they think it is going to be - there is the law of unanticipated consequences.
Thinking about starting a small business? Assume everything will cost twice as much and take twice as long as you think it will.
One thing more dangerous than getting between a grizzly sow and her cub is getting between a businessman and a dollar bill.
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