This weekend, I had a really extraordinary experience at the Starbucks in my little town of Lemont, IL. I may be going a bit off topic here, but I have to tell everyone. I love the Starbucks in Lemont. The people seem to genuinely enjoy working there and are always a pleasure. So much so, that a few months ago, the Chicago Tribune published my quote in the Thursday ‘At Play’ section in the ‘Love/Hate’ column. My exact quote: “I LOVE the genuinely friendly staff at the Lemont Starbucks (1251 State St). I go out of my way to get coffee at that location. With every visit, I leave smiling or laughing- which is not the case with many other locations.”  So, on my next visit after this printed, they gave me free coffee as a Thank you. Wonderful. Reinforced my position as an advocate for this location.

This weekend, I stopped at the Starbucks drive through and ordered. At the window I realized I left my wallet in my gym bag, which was at home. Call me a knuckle-head. I never did that before. At the window I said “I’m sorry, I forgot my wallet at home and just realized it. I’ll have to come back later.” The guy at the window said, “That’s OK. Here’s your coffee”. Come again? I told him I would come back later and give them the money. They said. “That’s OK. Here you go”. Huh? Naturally, I did go back an hour later. I walked in and reminded them of the situation and handed them money. All of the employees said “‘Oh, no. That’s OK.” They would’t take the money. So I put the money (plus some) in their tip jar. Holy cow. I loved this Starbucks location already. Now I am a full-blown advocate. I’be been thinking ever since that I need to tell everyone. So I have been. I’m pretty sure people on my Christmas gift list will get something from Starbucks. I met a gentleman later that night who heads up franchise operations at McDonald's and told him the story. He could’t believe it.

Everyone knows the power of Word-of-Mouth Marketing (WOM). The concept is not new. Social media has simply enabled WOM Marketing to new heights where customers can share experiences at breathtaking speed. But the principle is the same, just new tactics to rapidly advance the speed to which consumers can pass on information. Especially the people in the Web world called the ‘Advocates’.  The very passionate and vocal. Can you create Advocates? Many customers are probably ‘dormant’ advocates for you right now. They like your product or service, but not enough to be motivated to spread the word. Can you ignite passion? I’ll argue you can. The unexpected little things that make people feel special. Even in B2B. People are people. This may suggest 'empowerment' to employees to instantly make a situation right. Or do what they think is best. Wasn't that buzz-word years ago? The philosophy still applies.

In the same Tribune ‘At Play’ section, my quote for ‘I hate’ was also published. It read, “I hate that an experience with genuinely friendly staff/people is an enjoyable surprise and has become more the exception than the norm.” Is your company the exception or the norm? Let me know.

Jackie