- Starbucks is holding three-hour training sessions to implement the CEO’s ‘return to Starbucks’ strategy.
- Training focuses on customer service, new workflows and changing the chain’s open door policy.
- Employees are also being taught how to reduce conflict with customers.
Starbucks is teaching staff how to reduce conflicts involving customers breaking its new in-store policies.
As part of new CEO Brian Niccol’s vision to make its stores places people want to hang out again, Starbucks is giving three-hour training sessions to US store employees.
In a segment of barista training documents seen by BI and verified by Starbucks, employees are told to “utilize de-escalation tactics” if regular customers refuse to comply with the company’s recent change to its door policy open. It previously allowed non-paying guests to use store facilities such as bathrooms, indoor common areas and courtyards.
The Seattle-based coffee chain said earlier this month that starting Jan. 27, those spaces will be reserved only for staff, customers and people accompanying shoppers.
According to the documents, as part of the training, bartenders are given a scenario where a regular customer who frequents the store sits in it for an “extended” period of time without buying anything.
He goes on to say that when the staff member tells the guest that the seating area is only for customers who purchase something, they say they don’t think they have to make a purchase to stay in the store.
The training advises that if the regular customer refuses to comply, employees should “listen to the customer’s concern and kindly reiterate the intended use of our space.”
Staff should then “use de-escalation tactics to prioritize empathy and understanding.”
“Request assistance from the shift supervisor or store manager if the conversation continues,” it said.
A store partner in Florida who attended the training said there were clear instructions on how to handle difficult customers. “If there’s a situation that’s escalating, step aside, get your manager,” the partner said. The message was clear: “Don’t take it yourself.”
Brian Niccol, the new CEO of Starbucks. Starbucks
One of the documents also sets out what bartenders should do if a regular customer who doesn’t make a purchase asks for a refill of their water bottle.
“Politely share that water is available to customers making a purchase,” the document says.
“Note that we have bottled water for purchase,” he says. “Please share that you would be happy to provide water if they make a purchase.”
The BI partner he spoke to said that in some circumstances, the easiest way to avoid conflict would be to give customers water. “Some of these people, it might put them off,” the partner said.
A Starbucks spokesperson told BI that, like other orders, water should be requested when making a purchase to avoid interrupting baristas while they are preparing drinks. They said this was a matter raised by the employees.
They added that stores that want to ensure easy access to water or have high demand have the option of setting up self-service stations.
Starbucks’ new training sessions are taking place across the company this week. They are intended to help implement Niccol’s “return to Starbucks” strategy, which corporate communications director Jaci Anderson told Business Insider means making “tangible changes” to stores “to create a welcoming environment and to win back customers”.
Store managers will receive 40 hours of training to learn the new service standards and how to train staff to bring the new vision to life. Store employees, whom Starbucks calls “partners,” will participate in three-hour sessions to discuss customer expectations, new workflows and service standards.