Chapter 17- Personal Selling and Sales Management

Personal selling.

          Starbucks are using personal selling business. Starbucks main purpose is to sell coffee drinks and good services. It is more like direct communication between a salesperson and individual customers. Baristas of Starbucks can communicate with their customers one to one and answer questions their customers had, and tell the differences between different type of coffee drinks. Selling coffee drinks are mostly short term sales, it is focus on products delivery and sales follow-up is short term.


Retaining Loyal Customers

          In order to  retain loyal customers, Starbucks gives out Starbucks card membership. Here are three levels of Starbucks card membership requirements and benefits of each level: 

1) Welcome level 

        All the customers need to do is register their Starbucks card. (People can get Starbucks card at any retail store or via Starbucks website.) Then they can enjoy a free birthday drink each year and plus 15% off of a purchase on Starbucks online store. 

2) Green level
       Every customer who registered a Starbucks card can get one star per visit to a Starbucks store. After you get 5 star, you are at green level. Customers at green level can get the benefits from the welcome level, and in additional, customers can get free refills in the store if they paying with registered Starbucks Cards or mobile app get customers brewed and iced coffee and tea refills at no charge during their visit at a participating store.

3) Gold level

        After customers who have registered a Starbucks collect 30 stars within 12 month, they are upgraded to Gold level. With Gold level, customers can get all the Welcome and Green level benefits plus :
I)free drink or food reward every 12 stars. 

II) Personalized Gold card with the customer's name and cardholder time. 

III) Special offers just for Gold card members. Starbucks will send Gold card members special offers and coupons via mail, email or text message.  

          Once customers are at Gold level it takes another 30 Stars to maintain Gold level for another 12 months. But if customers don’t qualify for the Gold level again by their anniversary date (i.e. the date they qualified for the Gold level), they’ll revert to the Green level and lose all their Stars. If a customer earn 30 Stars again within 12 months, he/she will move from Green level right back to Gold level.

         With this Starbucks card system, as there are both rewards(free refill, free drink and so on) and threats (threat of not qualify for golden card for another year), Starbucks can retain a lot of loyal customers.


Cross-Selling other Products and Services

        Starbucks carries some other brand products, too. Such as Tazo tea, La Boulange bakery, Evolution Fresh juice, French Press machine and so on.