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Starbucks-you either love them or hate them.

I love to go to Starbucks because not only can I enjoy a good cup of coffee, but I also have a complete positive experience. From being treated well at the counter when I am ordering, to sitting down at a table with my laptop getting some work done away from my home office, which allows me to think better and clearer most of the time…I also enjoy the ambiance; the atmosphere.

Whether you are a Starbucks fan or not, either way, you have to admit: Starbucks has made its mark on the world’s social scene. Just 3 years ago, Starbucks opened its very first location in China. Today, there are more Starbucks in China than there are in the United States.

Their stocks have risen over 5,000 percent since they first stepped foot in the scene back in 1991. Again, you must admit-any company that can increase their gross profits by 5,000 percent in ANY time frame is doing something right!

So, just how do they do it? I mean, it can’t just be that their coffee tastes better or is of that much better quality than any other? Geez, at any given day, Rosy, my wife can brew a cup of coffee that will run circles around a Grande Caramel Macchiato (my Starbucks favorite).

Surely the price point isn’t their secret, since I can buy 4 cups of coffee at the Dunkin’ Donuts down the street for the same $3.85 that I drop down on that Macchiato…

It seems to me that the corporate culture of Starbucks is focused on something that allot of entrepreneurs could easily learn from and apply to their own business.

I’m convinced that the reason I (and millions of other consumers) are more than willing to pay four times the price for a commoditized item such as a cup of coffee is not just for the coffee itself, but for the experience that Starbucks allows me to enjoy.

It is this “over the top” experience that the big wigs at Starbucks Corporate are banking on to take them higher and higher up the profits food chain. And if any of us SBO’s (small business owners) are paying attention, we could gain allot of insight into their recipe for success and apply it to our own businesses.

4 Qualities To Focus On To Create a Starbucks-Like Experience In Your
Business:

1. Dedicate yourself to Exceptional Customer Service: This is at the top of the list for Starbucks and it should be for every SBO out there too. Your business will only grow in direct proportion to how good your customer’s positive experience grows.
2. Always make it a habit to under promise and Over deliver at every step of the process, not just In the Sales process.
   For example, if you expect to deliver your product or service on Wednesday, tell your client that you will have it delivered on or by Thursday, and then do your best to deliver it by Tuesday, if at all possible. The key to this working is proper planning of your process before hand. Making under promises and over delivering the norm in your company and not the exception will take you farther than you can imagine.
3. Set an Expectation of Excellence for Your Clients: When you go to a Starbuck’s there is a certain expectation in the mind of the customer. They expect it to be clean. They expect for there to be a good atmosphere. They expect a good cup of coffee. For any of these things to be different for a regular Starbuck’s
   Connoisseur it would be shocking! Set a positive expectation in your business. Let it be predictable by others.
4. Be Original. Be Different. Obviously Starbucks didn’t invent coffee. They also didn’t invent the coffee house. But what Starbucks did is refine the experience for avid coffee drinkers. In that, they are original and different. I have always said there is no need to reinvent the wheel, just make it roll smoother, faster, make it shine better!
   Even if you are in a commoditized industry or market you can make “your wheel” a better experience for others to enjoy.

Implementing these 4 qualities into your business will surely improve your company’s bottom line. Whether you are a Small Business Owner or an employee of someone else, you
cannot go wrong with focusing on these four principles of assured success and implementing them into your client’s overall experience.

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