When the Playlist Becomes the Customer Experience

This afternoon I was doing what I normally do on a weekend—working on my blog (yes... more of my "I hate Nextdoor" content), stopping at Costco Wholesale, then settling into the Starbucks on Highway 41 in Mount Pleasant, near Rivertowne.

My order? A Venti Black Iced Tea with an extra pump of Classic and a Cheese Danish. Great combination.

I arrived around 5:00 PM and planned to spend a couple of hours writing. Around 6:30 PM, something changed.

The café music stopped.

Then music started playing from a different source somewhere in the back of the store. First came death metal. Then a rap song filled with profanity, including the N-word. Curious, I asked Shazam what it was. The only thing it identified was a sample from Star by Sly and the Family Stone. (Yes, I'm old enough to remember them.)

It was one of those moments where you wonder who is actually in charge of the customer experience.

For full transparency, I laughed at myself because I've been on the other side.

When I was about 13, I was helping run the Village Delicatessen in Westbury. Before customers came in, I'd blast Def Leppard's Hysteria while drinking wine coolers. Later, while working at Piece By Peace on the Upper East Side, someone decided that Darude's "Sandstorm" was appropriate store music. In both cases, though, the music stopped when customers walked in.

Today, I provided feedback while I was still in the store using the Starbucks website chat. I explained exactly what happened, noted that I had short videos of both songs, and even offered to share them with local management.

After about 20 minutes of answering questions, I was asked to call a phone number instead.

That experience was more disappointing than the music.

Here are my suggestions for Starbucks:

• If a customer clearly states they're trying to provide store feedback, don't spend 20 minutes collecting information only to redirect them to another channel.

• Customer experience impacts revenue. I skipped the grilled cheese and left.

• Consider creating or expanding a Customer Experience QA team that periodically visits stores, much like secret shoppers. Today's technology makes it easier than ever to understand what customers actually experience in your locations.

One final thought.

I don't care what's on the secret menu nearly as much as I care about feeling heard, welcomed, and valued as a customer.

If you'd like to see the short videos from today's visit, they're available at NielFlamm.com/videos/starbucks.

I'd love to hear from others in customer experience, retail, hospitality, and leadership.

How should companies make it easier for customers to provide feedback before they decide not to come back?

Join the discussion on NielFlamm.com.