Starbucks. We go there a lot. Probably more than we should. Some will say it's a coffee experience, and it is, but we also just like frothy coffee. It's still a treat and a splurge to us and it seems we're treating and splurging more than we need to these days. But that's another story.
The Starbucks we usually frequent is on Highbury and Cheapside in London, Ontario. I'd hazard a guess that we're getting recognized there, but we don't have any "usuals" because we do tend to mix our drinks up a bit. Sometimes it's one chai and one vanilla latte, other times it's two vanilla lattes, and on the rare occasion it's two straight up lattes - with an extra shot. Those are particularly rare days, but when they happen, boy, that extra shot is needed.
Recently, we were in line and gave our orders and my husband was in the middle of paying. So far it was a normal, pleasant, but not special, interaction. It felt like an efficient business. We were being moved along the queue. Then, as he was swiping his debit card, the barista/cashier person saw his bracelet and made a comment. It's a chainmail bracelet with a little black metal wire woven in. It's not a pattern you see everyday. She immediately recognized it as chain mail and asked where we got it and then told us of a place that sells more chain mail items. She'd also taken a workshop and tried to learn how to do it herself. Suddenly the efficient transaction was made special because we were no longer coffee orders but real people. It became personal but not intrusive. We didn't talk long, but that brief interaction made all the difference in our coffee experience that day.
One final thought: most people like to be noticed as people and not just customers or consumers of a product - and certainly not just as numbers to be rung through. A comment, a compliment, a joke, a smile - they can make all the difference to a customer service experience. And that goes both ways. In our role as consumers we have as much power to make the interaction go from ordinary to better. It's all in our openness and and ability to seeing a real person and not just a role or process.
