Starbucks Isn't About the Coffee

There's plenty to not like about Starbucks – after all, it muscled its way into every corner of western civilization with an unquestionably aggressive saturation strategy; as the big box store of coffee shops, it put a lot of local places out of business. Its coffee is notorious for being "burnt" in flavor, and it has redefined "the price of a cup of coffee." But it wouldn't still be thriving after more than a decade of rapid expansion if it didn't provide lots of people with something they want... and it's not coffee.

Starbucks has one of the better brands of the past 20 years. You can tell by how generally happy and engaged its employees are, and how pleased its customers are to buy their daily espresso drinks and pastries. It helps to be the main cafe in town, and to provide something that people are addicted to. But any coffee shop does that... What is Starbucks' Hot Truth?

Starbucks listens. It's got a great system for customer feedback. Because employees (of which the lowest rank is "partner") are encouraged to engage with and listen to customers, and allowed to make suggestions creatively up the chain of command , the Starbucks entity is able to adapt to customers fluidly. Starbucks knows its customer well, because of how well it listens and changes. I am a fan, but I wouldn't be if Starbucks treated its growers and suppliers like it does its competition. If Starbucks didn't apply itself in as many ways that it does as a positive social force, I would choose some other cafe.

Starbucks doesn't kick me out for hanging out all day. It provides me with a comfortable and accessible place to work on my laptop, for as many hours as I choose. Other places are just not set up or willing to provide such ample customer care, missing the details or delibartely discouraging me to loiter.
Starbucks is happy to make me happy, and doesn't treat its coffee like a precious commodity. If anything is wrong with my drink, it gets replaced. This puts employees and customers at ease. And the payoff is that Starbucks can better hear what customers actually like and dislike.

There are books written about Starbucks as a brand, so I'll close by saying that Starbucks has found the emotional, visceral reality behind the cafe experience and amplified it. Because for Starbucks it's not all about making a quick buck, they make a ton from loyal customers.