This is Week Two of a focus on the appeal of Starbucks, so let's ask how well that business appeals to the logistical, responsible Golds in the world. What will make Golds keep coming back to premium prices in a grave recession? What can we learn from that for our own businesses? To read about the Green people of Week One, click here to go to the archive.
First, Gold people love that their expectations are met exactly. At Starbucks, they expect the same kind of service every time. They like honoring traditions, orderliness and clarity -- much like the cups and check-off boxes in the photo above.
More on expectations, Golds like feeling some sameness and hominess at every single location -- the same products and prices, excellent and accessible locations, predictibly sparkly clean and cheery interiors, and even the same unisex bathrooms. Starbucks caters to comfortable community life, but the venue is never supposed to look raggedy, overly used, or "old."
And for the traditionalist in every Gold heart, nothing beats an actual porcelain cup when requested. Yup, the place has class.
Gold folks care as much about community as Blue people do, but they like the niceties of the formal aspects of community. Seating choices allow for one-on-one, small groups of 3-4 at a table, a meeting area on soft couches, and even special work tables for laptop users and disabled folks. When it comes to community service in the larger community, Starbucks invites customers to contribute to improving the economy through their non-profit called "Create Jobs for USA", for example. And like the "Cheers" bar in Boston, the employees are trained to know your name and tastes.
Gold people have the reputation of being more frugal than the other Colors, so why on earth do they frequent Starbucks as much as anyone else? Well they can anticipate special deals, discounts -- every day. Besides, the premium prices represent many things that Golds cherish: a compelling business history, better than average security for employees (even part-timers), high quality goods and services, i.e., an amount of prestige the elevates the day from the mundane as would a piece of jewelry or high-end car.
So what about our own businesses? How will we show our Gold prospects that we meet expectations, are predictible and dependable, have high quality and excellent service, offer alternative pricing for the frugal-at-heart, and provide a prestige factor coupled with high respect for and participation in the community?
