Hard OPINION

It would seem that there some very upset people in the SW Florida area.

We were recently emailed a copy of a coupon that appeared in a local newspaper by an irate customer who tried to use it at a store other than the one shown on the coupon and was basically told to get lost – the coupon was unauthorized and therefore not valid.  So much for the “say yes” policy.

Our sources tell us that this not the first time this store has placed coupon ads in a local newspaper.  Sources say that this form of advertising is strictly forbidden by Starbucks, but it would seem that the Store Manager (SM) responsible has had nothing but a ‘mild slap on the wrist’ from the District Manager (DM) for that area.  Is this a DM who is understanding of the economic times and secretly admiring the SM’s inititive at trying to stimulate business or one who is oblivious to company policy? We emailed the company for comment, but have not received a reply.

If this type of advertising is not permitted by stores as a way of driving business to a particular store, then it begs the question “how are SM’s supposed to increase business and customer count?”  Clearly there are some ways:

1. Up-sell to increase the value of each transaction – BUT – many Batista’s don’t see themselves as ’salespeople’ and don’t know how to sell in a way that the customer would find non-pushy and that the barista would feel comfortable about doing.
2. Managers should be out in the community local to their store to build relationships with businesses and their employees.  They are after all the very people who are or could be regulars.  BUT – there is a major problem with this idea.  With all the cutbacks on staffing at stores, SM’s are forced to work in their stores, on the floor,  effectively becoming overpaid Batista’s!
3. Advertise a Coupon – why not – it’ll only cost you a slap on the wrist and it could produce hundreds more customers – just like the GoldCard!  This option clearly is not for the squeamish or faint of heart!

So, SM’s don’t have time to develop local business, which brings us back to option 1 – BUT – SM’s aren’t allowed training hours to train their teams in soft selling skills, and even if they could train their staff they don’t have the staffing required to allow for this to happen – seems like a “Catch 22″ situation!

BUT, don’t worry about it, just make sure ticket values are high and that you run a ‘LEAN’ store operation and make profits.  Never mind that your teams don’t know how to sell effectively, are under trained and that your DM doesn’t want excuses (regardless of how real and plausible they might be) just give the DM the numbers, stop whining about being ‘micromanaged’ and overworked (you didn’t really think that your mangers contract that said you got paid for 40 hours per week actually meant that you only worked 40 hours – did you! FOOL!!!) and you just might get to keep your job!