Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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when your customer connection score drops to 26 🤩 (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by WrensPotion
seriously our manager put our trends on the wall in the back to shame us 🤠 lowest in the district babey!!
Js_On_My_Yeet 243 points 2y ago
Idk man. Like everybody getting a low ass score. Doesn't that mean customer connections aren't working? Customer connections should not be a work related thing, because we only get awarded with praise and nothing else. I could care less if we have a low ass score: We can't force a customer to connect with us. This policy is probably one of the stupidest things I've ever heard.
bryceofswadia 155 points 2y ago
fr. most customers act super annoyed when i try to make small talk. i do have good convos occasionally but most just want to get their drink and leave.
Jadenvicious1 25 points 2y ago
It's hard with mobiles especially
MonstrousGiggling 53 points 2y ago
Not to mention the way its rated. Half the customers I have excellent interactions with pay with cash so they don't even get the survey. Then half the people who get the survey don't do it. Then positive scores only count if they're like 9's and 10's (so I've heard don't quote me on that).
It's just such a jank system to try to evaluate how well we are connecting with customers.
Most of our customers are busy college kids and business people who I doubt have time to click that Starbucks email and take a survey, only they're total Karens or total Sweethearts.
You can just so easily tell whoever came up with this system has never worked customer service or they didn't have the real experience, i.e they only did it to get their allowance from their parents/their parent's own the store, you know shit like that.
It's just such a jank system to try to evaluate how well we are connecting with customers.
Most of our customers are busy college kids and business people who I doubt have time to click that Starbucks email and take a survey, only they're total Karens or total Sweethearts.
You can just so easily tell whoever came up with this system has never worked customer service or they didn't have the real experience, i.e they only did it to get their allowance from their parents/their parent's own the store, you know shit like that.
Used_Thought4672 26 points 2y ago
Straight 7s or it doesn’t count. The absolute bane of my existence
greyplains 6 points 2y ago
I was told of the 7-10 questions the only one that is weighted and determines the score is 'Did the Barista make an attempt to get to know you?', the rest are just for padding and don't count in the final results. In short it's Whack!
NileECoyote87 1 points 2y ago
Yep that one question determines your CC score. The others determine your store ops score - cleanliness, speed, quality, etc. But once the stopped offering the incentive to take the survey, most people will only participate if they’re pissed about something. So if wait time is long, drink is wrong, the store has modified operations for covid, or anything else, you’re gonna get a low score. My stats classes showed me easily that surveys are inherently flawed. But, here we are.
ashley-leigh 39 points 2y ago
You guys get awarded with praises?! How lovely. Our SM won’t even do that. It’s never good enough.
MonstrousGiggling 43 points 2y ago
I work another job as a cook and me and the manager have a running joke about how if I work hard I will be awarded with forehead kisses.
If we have crazy nights he offers us drinks on the house, stuff like that. I usually ask for a free dessert since I don't drink much and gotta drive home.
Just the absolute difference between a corporate and small business set up is crazy. My SB Manager definitely praises us, but he also has to the corporate manager like "Heeyy drive times, customer scores, etc etc, we gotta bring them up!" and that makes it feel like we aren't even trying when we are busting our asses.
If we have crazy nights he offers us drinks on the house, stuff like that. I usually ask for a free dessert since I don't drink much and gotta drive home.
Just the absolute difference between a corporate and small business set up is crazy. My SB Manager definitely praises us, but he also has to the corporate manager like "Heeyy drive times, customer scores, etc etc, we gotta bring them up!" and that makes it feel like we aren't even trying when we are busting our asses.
ashley-leigh 14 points 2y ago
That’s so awesome! I’m happy your second job treats you well!
No, my manager will never tell us “hey I know it was super busy today, you guys worked hard and did a great job.” It’s always “why is the window time so high? What’s taking so long at the window? Who’s holding everyone up?” No one likes working with her because she just brings down the energy of the store.
No, my manager will never tell us “hey I know it was super busy today, you guys worked hard and did a great job.” It’s always “why is the window time so high? What’s taking so long at the window? Who’s holding everyone up?” No one likes working with her because she just brings down the energy of the store.
MysticalGnar 10 points 2y ago
My SM wants us pulling 50s minimum, we had a 49 last week and us shifts had our heads chewed off about it
helgathehorriblez 4 points 2y ago
Our DT goal is 46 seconds!!!!!
ashley-leigh 4 points 2y ago
Gosh that’s horrible! I’m so sorry. I honestly don’t even look at the customer connection score because I simply do not care anymore. If my SM were to bring good energy when she’s working or talk to us like humans instead of in the condescending manner she does, I’m certain we would all want to work harder and actually care.
AndrewtheRey 22 points 2y ago
This is exactly why I never gave a shit when I worked at Starbucks. Customers don’t want to talk, they want their sugar loaded coffee and to be on their way. If I don’t get a bonus or raises based on this, why should I give a damn? Starbucks needed me more than I needed them and that’s exactly why I jumped on the first good opportunity that I could to leave
NOTcreative- 4 points 2y ago
Varies market to market. I’ve taken over stores in the 20s or lower and got them both to 60+. Hit 80 at one time. The reward is work is more fun when all of your customers become friends and a community. It really is a good time to work at a store with high CC
jordanshaw89 21 points 2y ago
It’s a good time when you work at the top, from the lower ranks it just adds yet another thing that will distract a low staffed store from achieving goals in cleanliness, and ops procedures, like don’t get me wrong I love my regulars, and having convos when I have time, but it definitely is not easy to take time to genuinely connect with someone while at the same time keeping track of every single task that needs to be completed in a timely manner to avoid things spilling over to the next day, far to often I see stores with high cc putting off all major cleaning until clean play, and let me tell ya, as a customer as well as a ss, I would much rather get my coffee from a place I can trust to keep things clean, and that’s not some stores lately, anytime a company adds a new task and highly enforced it, it will 100% lead to other things falling behind....
NOTcreative- 2 points 2y ago
What’s the top? I’m talking about on the floor of a store. Partners on the floor at high CC stores have a better time at work. A Sm with a staffing issue should not be hyper focused on CC. They should be focused on staffing. The goal is to get adequately staffed, balance the workload between day parts, coach a culture of clean, safe, ready so all partners are consistently doing it keeping the store clean, ensuring SSVs are deploying correctly, have solid, manageable inventory, all to free up time to allow baristas to spend more time connecting. The workload is balanced, everyone is putting in effort to meet standards, and partners have more fun at work creating an environment they’re enjoying at work and spreading that to the customers.
jordanshaw89 12 points 2y ago
In a perfect world yes, but in a recession when the company has made wide scale backs of investing in hours, how is any barista supposed to enjoy a shift when it’s 3 partners on the floor at all times even peak some days, like when customers are flooding through the doors in various states of mask/no mask, and most areas have capacity limits still in place, with all of those things, and hitting over 30 customers a day part, are we to have any more time than to ask how the person is and pry no further than the order? With all of the obstacles in our way as a partner of the company in this current era, are we supposed to enjoy working in a store environment that prefers us taking time and having conversations over keeping things clean and safe to work in? I can tell you from consensus that no partner at my store, or any other store I have worked at recently, feels safe at all, but we still have bills and rent so we stick it out and do our best, but it’s never enough, and that is why so many partners on this sub agree that cc is not the focus right now, nor should it be until things get back to more of a normal steady state in society. As I am guessing a SM (or higher) you should be willing to check your bias and view things from a different angle, instead of just coming on here and slapping the corporate band-aid on it so to speak, if you really care, you will listen, and raise the viewpoints of these partners to your superiors at your next meeting. That’s how you help.
Bryancreates 1 points 2y ago
12 year former partner who left before customer connections were a thing (although I was around the receipts printed ‘free tall drink if you fill out this survey and bring back the survey number’ which didn’t matter because it was just button we pressed for a free drink and no number was needed...anyway...)
I worked at pier 1 in high school and there was a crazy poster board in the back that had everyone’s names on it, drawn into a grid, and it showed the amount...something...that was achieved. Sales? Connections? No idea, I was the only person that didn’t have a single star. I was good with people but I didn’t want to sell someone a rattan furniture set, I just wanted to get high and organize the candles. ‘Freshly baked’ for the win. I digress.
One day, we had a single Susan G Coleman pink candle left (don’t get me started on that organization) and my manager kept pressuring me to make impulse sales or whatever the fuck. So I looked this random customer dead in the eye and said “we have one left of this candle and it helps breast cancer, it’s discounted to $4.45”. And she bought it.
That was my only star on the poster board in the back. And I still remember it. Anyway, customer connections suck because the ones you truly help will remember it, and the ones who care enough after they leave the property to right a review are sociopaths. (Unless it’s a nice one, then we love and cherish you, for real)
Edit: how could I forget the name “freshly baked”
I worked at pier 1 in high school and there was a crazy poster board in the back that had everyone’s names on it, drawn into a grid, and it showed the amount...something...that was achieved. Sales? Connections? No idea, I was the only person that didn’t have a single star. I was good with people but I didn’t want to sell someone a rattan furniture set, I just wanted to get high and organize the candles. ‘Freshly baked’ for the win. I digress.
One day, we had a single Susan G Coleman pink candle left (don’t get me started on that organization) and my manager kept pressuring me to make impulse sales or whatever the fuck. So I looked this random customer dead in the eye and said “we have one left of this candle and it helps breast cancer, it’s discounted to $4.45”. And she bought it.
That was my only star on the poster board in the back. And I still remember it. Anyway, customer connections suck because the ones you truly help will remember it, and the ones who care enough after they leave the property to right a review are sociopaths. (Unless it’s a nice one, then we love and cherish you, for real)
Edit: how could I forget the name “freshly baked”
phillipniemann 80 points 2y ago
A 26? Dang y’all must be slammed
WrensPotion [OP] 78 points 2y ago
yeah! that and we were severely understaffed last week and mostly had one person on mobile/cold bev and one person on drive after peak 🙃
baristanna 26 points 2y ago
we have one person on all three 😅 it’s rough, man 😂💀😭
DreyaNova 50 points 2y ago
I’m so proud of you!!!!
Keyndoriel 44 points 2y ago
Dude we have a sign near our drive through thats pretty much "Temper your expectations now for we are out of e v e r y t h i n g*. Ours is 31 and im shocked its that high
Keyndoriel 11 points 2y ago
Our high is 43 lmfao
official_koda_ 43 points 2y ago
I could care less what the score is. Maybe they should offer incentives if they want better results. We really have no control over it though.
Erbearlee 18 points 2y ago
What is a “great” score? We just got to a 46, which was the highest in our district and our SM was ecstatic. Is it out of 100?
SighJayAtWork 39 points 2y ago
It's the percentage of reviews that give 7 out of 7 for the question: "my barista made an effort to get to know me". Note that reviews are generally only filled out by rewards members that respond to emails, e.g. people narcissistic enough/angry enough to spend time answering review emails.
astrawberryfrog 32 points 2y ago
I am but a lowly customer observer in this sub \[just wanna know how to not make your lives more challenging lol\]
.....*"barista made an effort to get to know me"????* What in the actual SHIT is that? Unless there's an expandable modifier that says "+it was super busy", that category of managerial review is just insulting imo.
Edit: Assuming y'all don't have time for that, let alone I doubt you're getting paid to coddle every flesh pod who makes an order.
.....*"barista made an effort to get to know me"????* What in the actual SHIT is that? Unless there's an expandable modifier that says "+it was super busy", that category of managerial review is just insulting imo.
Edit: Assuming y'all don't have time for that, let alone I doubt you're getting paid to coddle every flesh pod who makes an order.
SighJayAtWork 15 points 2y ago
Coddle every flesh pod had me legit laughing. If you do want to help, register your email so they send you surveys and then give 7/7 on stuff, it could make the difference and push the store up a point, which can seriously help!
astrawberryfrog 1 points 2y ago
What the heck, I am going to ask the barista next time I drop by. I have an account and the app etc but I was not aware of a more formal way to review my local store!
lokomodo 10 points 2y ago
Before the pandemic we were hitting 70-75 pretty regularly, it dropped to the mid 50s and has been staying there pretty consistently now.
ddragon865 18 points 2y ago
How do u check your score lmao
MonstrousGiggling 9 points 2y ago
I'm sure you could ask your manager, a lot of stores have theirs posted on their bulletin boards in the back if you have one.
mern_ 1 points 2y ago
It’s updated weekly in decision center, your sm can tell you!!
Immediate-Law-3000 15 points 2y ago
Lmaooooo my manager puts that stuff up in the back too, usually with a “yikes” if it goes down even one point. I take that shit down and put it in the garbage. Let’s talk about partner connection scores and throw hands howboutdat???
faytyagami 12 points 2y ago
hard to have a high score when every customer is a needy c*nt with NO patience
Life_Hand_2908 11 points 2y ago
lol, ours has been in the 20’s since last march.
sunnyismybunny 9 points 2y ago
Why? What happened around March 2020?
/s
/s
xmlcx1 10 points 2y ago
our manager posts it on a wall right by the DT registers and writes notes😭😭
moliknz 9 points 2y ago
I’ve worked here two weeks. Customers only want two things: their drinks, and to find something to yell at you about. They don’t want connection.
roustaboutsrevenge 9 points 2y ago
You love to see it!
Andromeda-2 7 points 2y ago
My store has a CC score of 86 and guess what we get for it... more pandering to do better!
Pylon-Cam 5 points 2y ago
One week my old store got down to an 11 💀
mern_ 5 points 2y ago
Just a wee little sm here 🤗🤗 in my store’s experience, I’ve only been with them for 3-4 months, the biggest impact on our customer connection score skyrocketing from a 27 to a 53 is sorta based around three things in my ✨professional✨ opinion: store cleanliness, happy partners, and closing standard gaps. Hiring the right people is so important. Having partners who are happy to be there is important. Lemme just say again for the people in the back, the partner experience is the most important part of my job. At least, in my opinion it is 🥰 my team is awesome and I would go to bat for any single one of them. I never thought I would see this store with such a high customer connection and store operations score, let alone be on the list week after week of top performers in the area. This job doesn’t have to be poopy—partner experience is everything
sunnyismybunny 2 points 2y ago
Don’t let the downvotes bug you as you are 100% correct. I guarantee many people who have complained in here wouldn’t if they had a caring and capable manager. I transferred from one store to now my second. It is night and day because this new manager is attentive, concerned with our individual development, and organized. My first SM was a disaster who never showed any accountability and lied to us constantly.
mern_ 2 points 2y ago
Meh, not concerned about downvotes, just spreading love and light. But thank you, I appreciate you. People don’t leave jobs, they leave management. It’s sad that there are so many partners who are this unhappy
sunnyismybunny 2 points 2y ago
There are three or four amazing partners from my first store that are all looking for other jobs or looking to quit. One shitty manager can be detrimental enough to push talent out of the corporation. I told them whatever you do don’t get on the unhireable list leave amicably if you have to go.
BBeetleb0rg 4 points 2y ago
It’s so frustrating that they continue put so much power into the hands of people who don’t care at best and are malicious or petty at worst. I feel your pain, honestly once mobile order launched work got progressively worse each quarter. Just know there are lots of ways out and better work is out there.
Almost a year after I promoted myself to customer I started going to a nearby store once a week as a treat. I was surprised to receive a survey and finally see what the customers were asked. It’s so poorly designed, and doesn’t really give a real picture of how a store is doing. I was happy to put all top scores and a golden comment at the end, though most of the questions weren’t really relevant to my experience.
Good luck out there partners, May all your future surveys recipients be people who understand your daily battles.
<3
155####
Almost a year after I promoted myself to customer I started going to a nearby store once a week as a treat. I was surprised to receive a survey and finally see what the customers were asked. It’s so poorly designed, and doesn’t really give a real picture of how a store is doing. I was happy to put all top scores and a golden comment at the end, though most of the questions weren’t really relevant to my experience.
Good luck out there partners, May all your future surveys recipients be people who understand your daily battles.
<3
155####
RichardTheZombie 4 points 2y ago
CC isn’t stupid inherently, it’s just the fact that Starbucks should be focusing much more on bigger things. I’d love to connect with customers more if I was in a store that allowed that. But dealing with understaffing issues, low inventory, tons of new partners who aren’t being trained well, bad communication, and overall stress, doesn’t leave a lot of time to really get to know customers. But for some reason, out of all that, connections is the only thing corporate seems interested in addressing.
ShinyCharlizard 1 points 2y ago
Damn, just described my store to a T lmao. We're consistently understaffed, low on basic shit, and we have a revolving door of partners cause the SM doesn't support anyone. Doesn't help we're one of the busiest stores in our state, all the SM and DM care about is sales 🙄
Icy-Hat-2169 3 points 2y ago
We have a 67 connection score at our store and it takes a lot of work to keep it that high. You have to force most of conversations and sometimes customers don’t wanna talk. But you do it everyday with a simple “how’s your day going”, “you heading off to work today?” or *name here* your drinks almost done need anything else. And I can honestly tell you it makes all the deference with customers coming in and there moods being different after doing it for a couple weeks.
adisonpw 3 points 2y ago
when they do it to shame you but it’s really their fault. lmao
AdamAce3 2 points 2y ago
... what!?! My store is at 67 right now
idkanothername4me 2 points 2y ago
Lmao one of our newest partners asked me what we get if our drive times are low and the connections are high. Turned around and said “nothing. We get nothing but maybe an occasional ‘gReAt JoB tEaM’” and she looked so disappointed 😂
melancholymelonboy 2 points 2y ago
It’s annoying because you only gain points if the customer gives you a perfect score. I don’t think that’s fair! For example one of the questions is something like “do you feel your barista went out Of their way to get to know you?” But since it’s only taken by starbucks rewards members, it’s more often mobile orders... which how the fuck am I supposed to connect with someone who didn’t even want to place an order face to face lol.
Main take away is that they should not only counted for if you get all perfect scores that doesn’t seem fair! And it’s not fair, that’s why your score is so low. Whenever I take a survey for a place unless they were actually mean to me I legit give them all high scores.
Main take away is that they should not only counted for if you get all perfect scores that doesn’t seem fair! And it’s not fair, that’s why your score is so low. Whenever I take a survey for a place unless they were actually mean to me I legit give them all high scores.
shesalllthat 2 points 2y ago
My DM would lock us in the store and burn it down
greyplains 2 points 2y ago
Oh sweetie, my old home store before I transferred was at a 13, when I left back in January. It was a district low by at least 25 points and an all time store low. It was getting to the point where the SM was making us agree, acknowledge and enact on commitments based on the barista tenets daily, or risk CA or termination.
My new store is sitting at a 53 down from a 60 overall. The energy and attitudes are so much better. But they really need to reevaluate the CC score and how it affects metrics, especially since customer habits are changing rapidly.
My new store is sitting at a 53 down from a 60 overall. The energy and attitudes are so much better. But they really need to reevaluate the CC score and how it affects metrics, especially since customer habits are changing rapidly.
wandering_mind_ 2 points 2y ago
Every Monday’s topic from the SM. Like girl, we really don’t give f*ck.
gracelssprophet 2 points 2y ago
I'm at a kiosk in a retirement town. Our store has floated at 29 for months because nobody does surveys. Ever. If our customers aren't paying cash or check, they're barely able to navigate the app, let alone do surveys.
somebodytohug 2 points 2y ago
Damn, our score is in the 60s and our SM still is on us everyday about it. It’s never enough
GrayKayAkana 2 points 2y ago
my average at my store has an average of 27 :/
luyuun 2 points 2y ago
Because of our 1 point drop (we are in the 40s) we have to get to know 5 people’s names a day
Ladysm1th 2 points 2y ago
Major yikes, that's gonna be a no from me dawg
christyhof 2 points 2y ago
I’m specifying reading any comments before I post this. All I read was 26 and I laughed out loud 🤣🤣
slamy420 2 points 2y ago
Hell yeah!!!
furry_anus_explosion 1 points 2y ago
My store is at a 56 CC and 37 OTW while being the most profitable store in the district. Broke the district record for CC and OTW times and they promised to give us starbucks masks for being good. Now they changed it so that if we aren’t in the top 10 for the whole region, we don’t get the masks. We are currently 14th. SMH
sicksiren 1 points 2y ago
i gotta say, so many of our customers find the whole push for the ENTIRE store to say hello thing like creepy? like when theres 3 bar partners, a warming, and a pos partner and all 5 of them say hello to you at once its so overwhelming and our manager doesnt care lol
ukucello 1 points 2y ago
The customer connection system literally sets you up to fail. I couldn't care less about it
allamericanogirl 1 points 2y ago
We’re also lowest in our district right now. In the 30’s. Oops!
Confident-Key4605 1 points 2y ago
my sm cares more about drive through times than customer connection scores, i don’t even know what the customer connection score is because he has a huge poster with drive through times on it in the back. It paid off though because we won #1 for order readiness out of a few hundred stores
ayut123 1 points 2y ago
Good for your street cred!
cilantroprince 1 points 2y ago
oof ours was at 24 and our manager did the same thing a few months ago 😂
ChemicalBarnacle 1 points 2y ago
HA 23!
VrginMobile 1 points 2y ago
What's the highest you could get? My store used to have 50 like years ago? And now it's been 38
Pylon-Cam 2 points 2y ago
A 100. But that would mean every single person gave you a 7/7
VrginMobile 3 points 2y ago
I don't see that happening ever lol
hobskhan 1 points 2y ago
How is the score calculated? I was a partner long before this system. Never heard of it before.
WrensPotion [OP] 2 points 2y ago
basically mobile users are sent surveys about their frequented stores and it’s a series of questions like, is the store clean? did the partner get to know you? was your drink right? issue is is you answer these questions on a 1-7 scale, and we only get a point if they answer 7. total bs, and i wouldn’t be surprised if our low score is because of shortages, because our staff hasn’t turned over too much and most of us are great at striking up conversation
kayleeispunk 1 points 2y ago
Ours is consistently in the 30s 🥴 idk if that’s good or bad lmao
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