Starbucks has just re-learned what business it’s actually in.
It discovered that its customers’ Job to be Done isn’t to “get coffee.” Rather, they’re seeking an experience.
The company’s new CEO, Brian Niccol, announced this week that it would now retreat from automating its locations, bring back more baristas, and re-embrace human details like handwritten notes on cups.
As the great management thinker Peter Drucker said way back in the 1960s, “The customer rarely buys what the company thinks it is selling him.”
In the case of Starbucks, the customer’s Jobs to be Done probably include:
– Feel special
– Feel welcome
– Have a rejuvenating moment in the day
The company is selling emotion and experience, not coffee per se. Coffee is simply the vehicle for providing the real product. If you just want an adequate grab-and-go coffee, head to McDonald’s. You’ll save money.
Know what business you’re really in. You’re serving customers’ Jobs to be Done, not selling stuff.
Contributed to Branding Strategy Insider by Steve Wunker, Author of JOBS TO BE DONE: A Roadmap for Customer-Centered Innovation
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