Starbucks and the customer experience

The recent memo from Howard Schultz is interesting. He, unlike most executives, is keenly tuned into the customer experience.

I've often chuckled at Schultz's vision of Starbucks replicating the experience of an Italian coffee shop. Having traveled to Italy countless times I can tell you a coffee shop there is nothing like Starbucks. However, Starbucks has created a great niche and I give Shultz credit for recognizing how important the small things are.

It reminds me of an article I read many years ago regarding McDonald's. They couldn't figure out why same store sales were dropping. All sorts of analysis yielded nothing. But the then CEO went on a tour and discovered two things: the stores were filthy and the servers never smiled.