Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
↑
86
↓
All our scores dropped, and we don't know why... (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by a-plasticine-dream
We have been getting less and less people take the surveys Starbucks sends, which impacts our scores. I'm not gonna say the exact ones, but our customer connection score is the lowest it's been in a long time.
Any ideas on how to improve? We all are being nice and trying to keep conversation, but half the people are just trying to get their stuff and go without talking.
Any ideas on how to improve? We all are being nice and trying to keep conversation, but half the people are just trying to get their stuff and go without talking.
esaeklsg 73 points 1y ago
Hit up the regulars you like (that use the app) / you know will rate you well and be like “yo if you wanna help us out keep an eye on your email for a Starbucks survey and give us all 7’s”
Even regulars who have taken them before won’t necessarily regulalry check/ take. And that’s an easy way to skew the results.
Even regulars who have taken them before won’t necessarily regulalry check/ take. And that’s an easy way to skew the results.
a-plasticine-dream [OP] 18 points 1y ago
I'll have to make sure to try that! I have quite a few regulars that I can talk to, its just the people that don't come in as much that I feel tank the scores
BluejayHefty202 7 points 1y ago
It isn't just app users, anyone that connects to your wifi can fill out the survey. What corporate does not look at is our stores have high turnovers which affect connection scores as well because they might have liked 1 particular barista and they no longer see that barista so they don't feel like they are being connected with. Another is that they have us focusing so hard core on window times that cafe people get neglected because we don't just time to stand there and talk about their lives
esaeklsg 7 points 1y ago
Yeah. People that want to leave a negative review are gonna be more likely to reply to the survey too. Honestly I don't have a lot of advice for that aside from just general "try and be friendly and give good service, etc" though. The other thing to keep in mind is the specific question it's based off of is "Did my barista make an effort to get to know me" - which is very specific. You can have people change up how they interact a little to try and trigger better responses to that question- remembering names and asking how their day / weekend is going, etc, becomes more important than simply good service. (Granted I think this whole concept is irresponsible at best during Covid, but hey, I'm not a Starbucks employee anymore.)
But as a quick fix and not feeling like "omg we're already doing this" roping your friendly regulars into responding to the survey is still usually the best bet imo.
But as a quick fix and not feeling like "omg we're already doing this" roping your friendly regulars into responding to the survey is still usually the best bet imo.
groovydoll 23 points 1y ago
Get to know me? That is wild for a survey at a coffee shop… this ain’t therapy!!
mrcupcake18 9 points 1y ago
Omg yes!! Before I became a bean at my store I was a customer there for 4 years because my boyfriend and I would come in to study. Everyone was always super nice so we would do the surveys every time and we would tell our friends or classmates that would join us to do it as well! Now that I actually work as a bean I now know how important it is and I’m glad we did it 😳
Mind you we are just two people a few friends but still!
Mind you we are just two people a few friends but still!
sdkid92 23 points 1y ago
You don’t get anything for connection scores. Will they give out extra labor or a bonus for top connection scores In the district? Nope. My store had top score in the region consistently and guess what they did. They kept telling us to raise it more and more. We had an 80. You can take a guess what happened to our score after forcing us to make fake connections. It plummeted. No one was blamed but us. We got nothing for having a good score and we’re punished when it went down. Don’t bother worrying about connection scores unless they offer you something more meaningful than a cheap pizza party during rush that’ll be cold by the time you can eat on your 10.
LKP95 5 points 1y ago
AMEN TO THAT!
dthomp0806 1 points 1y ago
Exactly. I don't give a crap what our score is. I get nothing for it. I dont even think id care if i did get something. Or maybe if they gave BARISTAS bonuses for those instead of the manager, then i might try.
philosopher_cat_lady 22 points 1y ago
Exactly. Customer connection scores are nonsense. That being said, do you know if Starbucks offers anything in exchange for doing the survey? Maybe, like me, they just don't feel like filling out surveys. I don't even do them for companies if they give free food for doing them. I just don't feel like taking the time.
oftheHowl 7 points 1y ago
It's funny bc Starbucks cares more about our customer connection scores than anything, and it clearly contradicts with the nature of the job. We're fast food dressed up to look high-end, customers want what they ordered and to leave to continue on with their lives. Of course some regulars have small conversations with us, but we are not all one big family. And for whatever reason that's the narrative that corporate keeps trying to push. It's the only way they can justify their prices. You're not just buying coffee, you're coming in for an "exPeRienCe."
esaeklsg 5 points 1y ago
You get entered to win a gift card or something. It isn't guaranteed. And not something decided at the barista, store, or even district level. And generally customer connection scores are viewed as a grade- total number usually isn't looked at as much so much as what percentage of people gave full credit.
philosopher_cat_lady 11 points 1y ago
That's like no incentive whatsoever to fill out the survey. That's like the $300 Amazon gift card given to about ten baristas who fill out the Partner Perspectives survey. So if one customer fills out the survey in one week and gives full credit, you've got a perfect customer connection score.
Someone had put the customer survey's comments on the break table. I read them. They were all very nice, but there was one that was terribly stupid. It said: "I ordered an oatmeal without water. I wanted to cook it at home. I didn't know how much water to put or how long to microwave it. Very disappointed." Why am I getting judged based on what customers with this intelligence level think about their service?
Someone had put the customer survey's comments on the break table. I read them. They were all very nice, but there was one that was terribly stupid. It said: "I ordered an oatmeal without water. I wanted to cook it at home. I didn't know how much water to put or how long to microwave it. Very disappointed." Why am I getting judged based on what customers with this intelligence level think about their service?
esaeklsg 3 points 1y ago
Yeah. I also think the surveys are super out of the way. I assume all company emails I get are spam. If I didn't work at Starbucks I'd have no idea there were surveys sent to my email and that they actually mattered.
Also I have no idea what to say to that customer comment. On the good side, I don't think affects your score at all, and that's probably the only avenue they saw to give feedback. On the other side, who expects directions like that? Starbucks food isn't really designed to be "make it for yourself later".
Also I have no idea what to say to that customer comment. On the good side, I don't think affects your score at all, and that's probably the only avenue they saw to give feedback. On the other side, who expects directions like that? Starbucks food isn't really designed to be "make it for yourself later".
philosopher_cat_lady 2 points 1y ago
I personally never microwave oatmeal, as it can bubble up a lot and overflow out of the bowl
FfierceLaw 22 points 1y ago
At least here in the US we are forced to disappoint people left and right because of product outages. If we don’t have their favorites how are we going to get good feedback even if we’re nice and they feel sorry for us? We should be glad if fewer are filling out the survey. I don’t believe for one minute that they really read the survey questions and really mean “my barista tried to get to know me.” They aren’t any more literal than they are when they place their orders
a-plasticine-dream [OP] 13 points 1y ago
true. from what I've heard, the questions are also super vague, and it's hard to get a good rating when everything is out. we ran out of pumpkin spice a while back and now it seems like everyone hates us lol
FfierceLaw 3 points 1y ago
We did too! I suggested the Apple macchiato in its place when I DTOed and some even liked it. Our pumpkin was replenished after a few days
katmint 13 points 1y ago
I kid you not, last week we got a bad survey review because one of the survey questions is “did you feel safe during your visit?” And the customer held us responsible for an angry stare she got from a random man in a truck at an intersection near our store 😂😂 I’ve given up.
Ok-Responsibility735 3 points 1y ago
Definitely ask customers you feel comfortable with to take the surveys.
AUserNameThatsTaken1 2 points 1y ago
Create a alternative email and take your own surveys
sailorgrumpycat 2 points 1y ago
Idk how laissez faire your management is when it comes to signage, but for all the people that drive through or walk in that don't talk, you could put up some store made signage or display stuff, something about like the animals that come thru dt, or barista drink recommendation signs. Just cool stuff to look at.
StrategyExotic7650 1 points 1y ago
we had the lowest in our district 23 😄😄😄
reino_njd 1 points 1y ago
Have partners buy things using their app, and fill out the surveys
lewabwee 1 points 1y ago
This happens from time to time. You’re doing nothing wrong and they’ll go back up again eventually. I don’t really worry about the scores because they’re a horrible metric for judging the quality of customer service. People want you to be friendly but they’re ultimately there for sugar water not to hang out with their cool barista friends. Be nice. Make the sugar water good. They’ll be happy. Sales will be fine.
Reddit-user-256 1 points 1y ago
There’s a survey?? I never get a survey when I go and I go at least 2-3x a week before work
newlinm -2 points 1y ago
My store just celebrated an 88 🥳
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc • HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.