Go to Starbucks, Drink Coffee, Lesson learned

“We’re not in the coffee business serving people. We are in the people business serving coffee.”

 This company has become a regular on 'Best Places to Work' and 'Most Admired' lists. In 1987, Howard Schultz became Starbucks' chairman, president and chief executive. His passion for quality and being the best is shown when he writes*, "I wanted to blend coffee with romance, to dare to achieve what others said was impossible, to defy the odds with innovative ideas, and to do it all with elegance and style."

Today, there are more than 17,000 stores in 50 countries with the vision to provide the world's best coffee and seeking to help meet the need for human connection and a sense of community, whether the avenue is in Seattle or Malaysia or Hong Kong. I’m a coffee lover, I love to visits Starbucks just for the sake of sipping coffee after a long walk around the town. I know it's a bit expensive (Hey movie ticket is expensive too!) so I make an effort to go there once or twice per month ONLY. I love the warm welcome from their friendly staffs, smell of coffee in the air and when I mix the visits with a great book at hand... fantastic! What a memorable experience.

           

When I was a trainee as a supervisor for Customer Service, I find that most customers will come back over and over again not because of our store is one of the kind but because we treated them with a high value, deliver the best and offer them a quality service. My ex-boss favorites personality is Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin exclaimed, "The quality, not the longevity of one's life is what is important." The truth is I'm not into any business arena right now, but yet a decision for quality should also be applied to our personal lives as well.

"We are so fanatical about the quality that all coffee is tracked from the time it comes into the store. Since coffee is fresh for only seven days on the shelf, on the eighth day it goes to charity. There's no fudging. We donated more coffee last year than most companies roast." say Howard Schultz.

At Starbucks there is a passionate commitment to being the best. Bob Harrison writer of Power Point asked a question to his reader, 'Are you and/or your company passionately committed to the pursuit of quality and excellence?'

Enjoy your Cafe Latte or Cappuccino at Starbucks and reflect on how you can increase your quality. “The quality, not the longevity of one's life is what is important.” Have a great day. 

....................

 *quotes from Howard Schultz, Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time
 * quotes from Success Magazine December 2010