Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Posts: 6309
| Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 5:33 am Post subject: Starbucks using PA type pressure on associates & custome | |
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A Businessweek article by Susan Berfield tells how Starbucks has their baristas/store associates under PA type pressure to sell their new instant coffee(3 packets for 2.95). The pressure is such that customers and the baristas are complaining.
How can someone or a company/product that relies HEAVILY on it's service/experience and speed bog down the employees and customers with a hard sell? Many describe the mandatory sales pitch as strong arm tactics. Starbucks made it's reputation with the ' to go ' customer but how can you go when you have to tolerate an unwanted sales pitch. That's just like when they put the 4 register central aisle cashiering/registers in Sears. It was so a customer could just walk up to any register,pay and get out. But Sears bogged down it's employees & customers with the credit,pa,spps,heroes,email etc so now the fast hassle free checkout is non existent. Sounds like Starbucks must have some ex Sears management in their midst. Pray for their employees if they do. Interesting read @ http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_47/b4156033031118.htm |
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Joined: 18 Aug 2008
Posts: 95
Location: Massachusetts
| Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 4:07 am Post subject: | |
| Yawn old news. Every business is doing this because in this economy every business is trying to squeeze extra revenue out of new stuff. Funny how when I said this about Starbucks in the other PA thread people said oh no Sears is the worst worst worst. | |
Joined: 23 May 2008
Posts: 373
| Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 4:18 am Post subject: | |
| Yep the economy is really making everything a hard sell everywhere you go. Frankly I think it is annoying people and making them go to stores and restaurants even less. Lets face Starbucks is rather expensive and probably lots of them are getting ready to close worldwide. You can buy an 8 ounce jar of instant store brand coffee on sale for around 4 bucks or so. | |
Joined: 26 Aug 2008
Posts: 306
| Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 6:59 am Post subject: | |||
Actually no, not every business is doing this. The businesses that are successful during this tough economy had based thier businesses on sound practices. As a matter of fact, the businesses that are successful are actively going after new customers, not trying to squeeze blood from a turnip from the few customers they have left. Starbucks is circling the wagons due to over-expansion. Sears hammers on it due to 34 quarters in a row of same store sales declines. |
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Joined: 18 Aug 2008
Posts: 95
Location: Massachusetts
| Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:03 pm Post subject: | |
| Go into a store where they don't ask you to open a charge card or join a rewards program. OH YEAH THERE AREN'T ANY. | |
Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Posts: 6309
| Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 5:52 am Post subject: Consumable | |
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Alot of restaurants ask if you want to up size or get the larger order for... But apparently they are actually supposed to push the sale a bit. It's a little more than a mandatory ' do you want the biggie size for an extra 25 cents'.
There are several problems here which also occur at Sears. First one is that a Starbucks or restaurant is likely to have real regular customers. Most people don't like the same questions asked again & again. The second is that in many cases by asking/pushing the customers to buy that coffee you're basically doubling a customers' bill( 4$ coffee + 3$ instant). In a way this violates the 15% rule on an optional agreement pricing. SBUX is already loosing a price war to McDonalds now they are asking the remaining loyal customers to increase their spending? |
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Joined: 28 Apr 2005
Posts: 2174
| Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 5:27 pm Post subject: Re: Consumable | |||
Where have we seen this tactic before  SBUX must have taken some cues from Sears.
I go into stores all the time without be accosted about reward programs or anything else. Even when they offer a reward program, usually the only sales pitch is a brochure placed near the cash register. Sure some companies are more aggressive, but the limit is typically one question about one program. I suspect most companies have enough sense to realize they can't sustain a high pressure sales environment with low wage staff and high turnover. SBUX is getting desperate and so they are starting to adopt Sears dying company tactics. |
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Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Posts: 6309
| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 6:37 am Post subject: scary similarities | |
| I've been reading the comments and it seems Starbucks has kool-aid drinkers too. Take out the words coffee and barista and you would think they were talking about PAs. | |
Joined: 28 Apr 2005
Posts: 2174
| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 6:13 pm Post subject: | |
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Someone made the connection in the first comment:
"Sounds like Starbucks baristas are working in an appliance store where they are trying to sell you the extended warranty. I know they write you up at places like Sears for not selling/pushing enough service contracts Starbucks in particular cannot ruin the experience or become a used car lot to it's customers." |
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Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Posts: 6309
| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 6:49 pm Post subject: it's their fault | |
| The commenter Jaime sounds like the typical SGM trying to guilt trip you into pushing more PAs because YOU have cost the company by not selling enough of them. The baristas that are filling customers orders as they wish and respecting their desire to be NOT hard sold anything are the ones actually making the company money day in day out. Same tor Sears associates. | |
Joined: 28 Apr 2005
Posts: 2174
| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 6:57 pm Post subject: Re: it's their fault | |||
Yeah it does sound like typical Sears BS. Blame the front line employees for the downturn in the fortunes of the company. Here's the comment: All the baristas that are complaining about seeling are the ones that had inevitably caused the downfall that starbucks has suffered. They have been unwelcoming, arrogant and don't want to do what they are paid for... making sure they are meeting their customers needs. Shame on the complainers... they will be left behind in the dust of innovation as the rest of us go laughing to the bank.. with a hot cup of VIA in our hands! |
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Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Posts: 6309
| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 7:19 pm Post subject: Declining sales | |
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allhands- blame the frontline employee
The commentor Jaime says the baristas should be worried about '...meeting their customers needs' -yeh , EXACTLY. And if their customer's needs include a pleasant hassle free experience you give it to them, you don't pepper them with hard sales pitches. The thing that puzzles me about Starbucks strategy is that alot of their customers are regulars so there will be plenty of oppurtunity for the customer to find out about their now over priced instant coffee. Sears is similar in that Sears has a loyal customer base as small/dwindling as it may be but still they know about the service contracts/PAs. |
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Joined: 26 Aug 2008
Posts: 306
| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 10:46 pm Post subject: | |||
Actually there are. I've never been asked at Target. I have never been asked at Walmart. I just bought a bunch of stuff from Lowe's yesterday, wasn't asked if I wanted to open a account. Want some more examples? You miss the point anyway. So I go to a store and get offered a rewards program. It costs nothing, and is only designed to KEEP my business. Now, contrast that to what Sears does. Sears hassles customers for more things, more aggressively, than ANY other retailer out there, period. What Sears does is try and milk each customer for every penny they can, rather than focus on bringing in new customers to actually sell more stuff. It's not the associates fault, they are only doing their job. |
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