Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service

A few weeks ago I read a case study of Harvard Business School about Starbucks (Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service). It was generally about the expansion of Starbucks and the results. Starbucks has always been one of the companies that really impress me with the importance they give to customer service. So I want to share my views about this study with you.

I think this case study is trying to tell us two things.

First of all, regardless of how big and how good our company is, we should be careful about company expansion because it is a hard thing to maintain the same environment and culture in each branch. It is also stated in the book ‘Discovering the Soul of Service’ as “Maintaining effective internal company communications, reinforcing the company’s vision and culture, and delivering consistently high quality service – essential success factors – are challenged by expansion.”

Second idea is we should never see a customer oriented investment as an expense. In my interview with Zappos, they also told me that they are doing anything to give a good service to the customers without thinking about the expenses. This may be harmful for them in the short-run, but they are never concerned about the short-term outcomes; what they are interested in are the long-term advantages.

After this case study I started to think that expansion or being everywhere are not the main indicators of success. We should first realize a pace in the existing branches and after that we should think about an expansion. Because the important thing is to have the same culture, same environment in each branch and the main aim of the expansion should be reinforcing the company’s vision.

Another thing that attracted my attention is the process between being a barista and then a manager. It is said in the study that 70% of the company’s store managers were ex-baristas and about 60% of the district managers were ex-store managers. I think this is not only good for motivating the baristas, but also it is a good technique to have the managers understand the importance of customer service. Again for this situation, Zappos is an example of this application; all the new employees are working four weeks in the call center and one week in the warehouse to understand the importance of the customer service. 

I noticed that most of the successful companies have a common aim, customer satisfaction. To sum up, a company should never forget the most important thing is the satisfaction of the customers and they should always be careful about the customer satisfaction gap and service gap and they should not let these gaps grow.  Therefore I think that, giving importance to customer service and company culture, and employee satisfaction are significant steps in the way of success of a company. 

 

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Happy Birthday sunshine!

It's my sister's birthday today..I love her so much..To all these special kids..

Do you really know what Down syndrome is?

Down syndrome is the most common genetic disorder. While normally, a human cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes equally inherited from each parent, in Down syndrome some or all of the cells have an extra copy of the chromosome 21.

Most common form of Down syndrome is trisomy 21 and cells of the individuals with Trisomy 21 contain 47 chromosomes instead of the usual number, 46. Trisomy 21 occurs because of an error in cell division called nondisjunction. Error first occurs in the embryo when the 21^st pair of chromosomes in either sperm or egg fails to separate and after that as embryo develops; the extra chromosome is replicated in every cell of the body.

Another and least common form of Down syndrome is mosaicism which occurs after fertilication. For mosaicism, the situation is more different compared with trisomy 21 because this time, there are both 46 chromosome and 47 chromosome cells in the body. According to a research conducted to 30 typical Down syndrome children and 30 mosaic Down syndrome, IQ of the mosaic children is 12 points higher than the typical Down syndrome group.

One of the forms of Down syndrome is translocation that occurs during the cell division because of the 21^st chromosome’s breaking off and attaching to another chromosome.

The reason of Down syndrome is still unknown, but it is known that the cause of the extra chromosome is neither environmental factor nor anything the mother does before or during her pregnancy.

Some bullet points:

• Today, more than 400,000 people in United States have Down syndrome.
  
• The chance of having a Down syndrome kid is higher for a younger mom because of higher fertility rates.
  
• Most of the Down syndrome people have IQs that is enough for public and private educational programs.
  
• People with Down syndrome have feelings like everyone else.
  
• People with Down syndrome date, socialize, and marry.
  
• Down syndrome people are today working at banks, hotels, restaurants, etc.
  
• Research is showing that, the genes that cause Down syndrome are going to be identified and it will be possible to prevent or improve the problems.
  
  

I love a Down Kid..Do you?

It may be difficult to be perfectly optimistic in the beginning. But it is very easy to gain this optimism as you get to know your kid. You’ll realize that you have the most special child; you’ll start not being able to describe your feelings by just the word 'love'. Because it is not just love..It’s attachment, responsibility, self sacrifice, happiness, hope, warmth, patience, a smile, and to feel…It’s the life itself, and it’s yourself..