BizCoachDeb's BizBuzz -

Posts Tagged ‘Starbucks’

The coffee lover in me has a hard time resisting news about, well, coffee shops in the news. It appears Starbucks has bitten the java bean and will finally offer free Wi-Fi in their some 6,700 stores around the U.S. For any of you that have gone before, you know the big pain getting online can be at their shops.  The question though: how many years have the corner coffee shops already been doing this? When will the copy-catting end? Does this mean their coffee will get better, too? Okay, one mountain at a time.

Now, the true test in serving customers will be when they cease with the coffee lingo snobbery and stop correcting the way I order my coffee, or at least keep said correction to themselves.

“I’ll have a medium sugar-free vanilla latte with skim milk.”

“So that’s grande skinny vanilla latte.”

“Never mind.”

Is it any wonder I drink at local coffee shops whenever possible? 
Photo Credit: Bionic teaching

There you have it, the whole reason for even having a social media program in your business, all tucked into a tiny little nutshell. If only…with such a complex web of interaction possible, why do you think most businesses even consider social media? In a word, “money”. Many believe that if they are there, some how the customers will magically part with their hard-earned cash, then everyone goes home happy. Right? No. Not right, not even close. The common mistake right now for a lot of business models is using social media to pump out information chronically on your company and ignore the customer. What does this method say? It says, “It’s all about US, we don’t care what you have to say.” Once a business buys into this line of bull and moves forward with it, they have are doomed to fail with their social media endeavor and they make it harder on other businesses trying to get started. Want an example of this mistake in action? I have asked Starbucks no less than 6 times why they discontiued their Almond syrup flavoring; I’ve asked through Twitter, through my own blog, and their blog, and their “tell us” website. No response, nothing! This is truly bad form. Purposeful outreach through  social media means creating a touch point with your customers that should be built carefully and with the commitment to serve.
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