Loosen the handcuffs on your people’s ability to deliver exceptional customer experiences

“We are taking steps to ensure this doesn’t happen in the future. This does not represent the experience we hope to create for any of our customers,” Starbucks wrote in response to a stream of Facebook comments regarding an incident at one of its Philadelphia locations.

What are they apologizing for exactly?

A police officer entered a Starbucks location and asked to use the restroom.  A barista refused to allow the officer access to the restroom, stating it was company policy to only allow paying patrons to use the facilities. The officer took to social media to express his frustration and (not shockingly) the story went viral. Media outlets across the country featured the story; Twitter and Facebook were full of posts from people criticizing Starbucks for being disrespectful.

But again, what is Starbucks apologizing for? Are they just trying to hush the chatter? After all, the company’s corporate policy does dictate exactly what the employee stated (although it does sound like she did so in a less-than-friendly manner). Does this mean the company policy is wrong? How does a brand like Starbucks create standards to ensure the same customer experience across locations while allowing local team member discretion to adjust according to need?

For a brand to survive and thrive at a high level, the organization must create a framework guaranteeing a customer’s expectations are met no matter where or how they come in contact with said brand. Controls need to be put into place to maintain and deliver on the promise the brand offers. But, is there room within those controls to allow for local thought execution? Should those controls also include the ability for front-line team members to protect the brand by using their discretion to alter the framework when needed?

I understand you don’t want everyone who needs a restroom to freely walk in and out of Starbucks. This would create a chaotic atmosphere, while costing the company money. But, companies must trust employees to not only follow the rules set forth by the brand framework, but also the freedom and discretion to solve a guest’s problems. There needs to be both a framework and freedom. This creates consistency on what an organization stands for and how it’s done (framework) while establishing trust in its people and their creative potential to make a difference in a customer’s experience (freedom). When a person who is laying their life on the line for your safety asks to use the bathroom, civility should dictate the next move and open the bathroom door.

Unfortunately, many companies default to strict policies and scripted communications. They often don’t believe it is possible to alter the standards that are the foundation for a consistent and exceptional guest experience. Here are several ways to use a “framework and freedom” combination to have consistent standards and infuse individual care and discretion.

1. Start with purpose. Most of us are inspired to be part of something bigger than ourselves and make a difference in the lives of another human being. The north star of a security company that “keeps families safe” guides all interactions as much as a toy retailer strives to “put a smile on the face of children.” It is still stunning to me how often people invigorated by a shared purpose create memorable experiences without needing a script, or they work around a script when it is in the way of delivering on a higher purpose.
2. Be transparent on your operating beliefs. One well-known service business claimed they were customer obsessed. Yet during a moment of self-reflection, the leadership team revealed, “We say we are customer obsessed. But in reality we are finance obsessed, and don’t trust if we took the controls off our people that they would do the right thing.”  A huge constraint to scaling care and creativity is the unspoken belief that organizations don’t trust the discretion of their people to address customers’ problems. Beliefs define behaviors for running and building the organization for the future. A powerful operating belief often looks like this: “We believe our people, inspired by purpose and guided by core standards, best create memorable guest experiences by using their care and discretion to solve special problems and seize unique opportunities.”
3. Stories and examples make it a way of life. Care and discretion can’t be deployed through rules and regulations. Stories and examples of what great care and creativity in action look like can make it easier to give your people the freedom to be a powerful additive force for differentiation.
4. A guidance system can help. We can confuse our people by not being clear what we want. For restroom usage: is it strict adherence or discretionary effort? For safety, it is adherence. For a mom with a daughter or a policeman, it is a special opportunity to use discretion. Try this approach – hard lines, guidelines, or no lines.

• Hard lines are the areas where we do not make exceptions, such as food safety.
• Guidelines, like the bathroom use, might include “guardrails” that allow people to ensure the bathroom is clean versus start restricting access.
• “No lines” involves inviting your people to use their special talents to create a fantastic customer experience. They can do this by bringing their unique skills of humor, care, friendliness, or compassion to the guest experience.

We all want authentic special human experiences and dislike scripted engagements that scream, “We don’t trust the care and discretion of our people.”