Starbucks wants to talk to you
[Originally posted by Kelly LaVaute on What's the Diff?]
The age-old question for growing any company is: what do our customers want?
While Starbucks isn't exactly in the developmental stage, there's always room for growth. Sometimes growth, when you're that big, is ignoring the executives and hitting the streets – or the message boards.
MyStarbucksIdea.com is Starbucks' newest venture into the minds of people like me – the enticing scent of decent coffee beans makes me check the time to see if I'm ready for another fix. Don't get me wrong, I stray from time to time – but the green circle logo gets me giddy like no other.
The site offers 4 avenues to "help shape the future of Starbucks" - share, vote, discuss and see. "See" claims to be the portion where Starbucks intends to keep their end of the bargain – implementing the most popular ideas. The site is relatively new, so right now, "See" only offers a welcome and some words of encouragement.
But activity from the inside is visible in other spots. The most popular idea now is for a free drink after a set amount of regular purchases – like buy 9 drinks, get the 10th free. In the subject line of the idea is etched: **UNDER REVIEW**. So, they're listening.
Two ideas I'm in favor of – free wireless internet (caffeine inspires me….duh) and happy hours (for the post-lunch coma).
