The Hindu Business Line : <I>All about a third place </I>

Be welcoming, be genuine, be knowledgeable, be considerate, and be involved. "Simple words, but they distil everything you need to know about Starbucks and the people who work here," writes Jim Alling, President, Starbucks US Business, in his foreword to `The Starbucks Experience' by Joseph A. Michelli (www.tatamcgrawhill.com) .

The book is full of stories about a company named after the first mate in Herman Melville's Moby Dick, and founded in 1971 as `Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spices' in Seattle's Pike Place Market. If you had invested $10,000 in the Starbucks IPO on the Nasdaq in 1992, your investment would be worth approximately $6,50,000 today, says Michelli. A 5,000 per cent growth in stock price, that is, compared to a 200 per cent rise that S&P could achieve since 1992.

"Starbucks is more than a Wall Street Cinderella story," notes the author. "In a stunning contrast to most Fortune 500 companies, Starbucks consistently spends more on training than it does on advertising," discovers Michelli. Michelli's book is based on an 18-month exploration he did of the company, listening to its leaders and watching what they do, `as an outsider with no personal stake in Starbucks future'. What did he find? `Five key business principles' behind the `phenomenal success' of Starbucks: Make it your own, everything matters, surprise and delight, embrace resistance, and leave your mark. Each of these is explained in a chapter.

The five ways of being, we started off with, are what help Starbucks partners (`commonly known to the world as employees') to bring out their individuality, says Michelli. Welcoming gives a positive start to the customer's visit, explains the author, about the first way of being. "Many important questions are answered in the first moments of a business interaction. Do the staff members care to get to know me? Do they remember me? Will they take care of my needs? Do I matter? Am I invisible?" The thing that works universally is the notion of `third place', the in-store experience, Martin Coles, Starbucks International president would say.

What does being genuine mean? "Connect, discover, and respond." Michelli decodes the words: "Customers aren't looking for best friends; they just want a positive connection, and they want their needs to matter. They resent being treated as if they were just wallets with humans attached. In order for a connection to occur, a person has to feel heard. Genuineness requires listening through both verbal and nonverbal channels... "

A book that has profound messages for those who would care to listen.

http://BookPeek.blogspot.com

D. Murali