Are there any good ideas left to post on MyStarbucksIdea.com?

Starbucks launched MyStarbucksIdea.com over two years ago, and I'm sure that it's resulted in some innovation since then. But have any really good ideas surfaced on that site in recent months? (If so, please point them out.) Do you still check out the Ideas site? Oh -- and feel free to share your good idea in the comments section below.

Comments

[Coffee Soldier]

My Starbucks idea....DM's come out to their stores minimum of once a month a they can conduct Ecosure audits or whatever audit the company wants..saves $$ for the company and the DM is forced to come visit at least once a month and they can turn the audits into their boss. In our district we have a holiday lead, a promo lead, a p&l lead...I mean literally our DM does nothing aside from pic up espresso or whatever other product some new manager forgot to order and drive it around...it's like he makes 80k a year to be a UPS driver in his own car.

I do not go on MSI anymore because the company doesn't listen to realistic ideas from the field partners unless it saves them $$ somewhere.

[Doppio Con Karma]

@ coffee soldier,
Since one of the metrics is EcoSure score, you'd be asking someone to judge stores your bonuses depend on, conflict of interest much? Thats why they pay a third party.

[Coffee Soldier]

No, bonuses do not depend on Ecosure unless you are a SM that is on an action plan or a NI rating...I have seen a SM receive a 60% on Ecosure and get bonus....you may be refering to reviews and the metrics on them for your annual raise.

Either way I was just wanting DM's to do more for their salary and thinking the Ecosure could be a start....but since it could be a conflict...then maybe some sort of Eco specialist? I'd like to know how much Ecosure costs the company as a whole...and I want my DM to work....

[Hipsterdufus]

Bonuses are based on only sales.

[livin' la VIA loca]

John Moore @ Brand Autopsy has a great post about MSI and the validity of the site's "success":

http://brandautopsy.typepad.com/brandautopsy/2010/01/tough-love-for-starbucks.html

It's even more amusing now, at the end of this year, how many of the "ideas" on the milestone list have since been discontinued. Can't wait to see the next pr spin from SSC...

[Catherine]

I would love it if Starbucks started doing a few more drinks not coffee or tea related like Itailan sodas.

[AgedSumatra]

New baristas need to stop posting their "brand new" drink ideas on MSI.

It's all been done before. Stop confusing the customers by sampling your crazy concoctions and the new names you call them. Get back to work. Go clean.

[Doppio con karma]

@hipsterdufus and coffee soldier
is that true of dm bonusing as well?
I only say this because I asked this very question for this very reason a few years ago and that was the response I was given.

[Siberiabux]

@Doppio, I can't comment on years prior to FY10, but as it is now, SMs and DMs bonus is based solely on sales to target. RDs and higher have slightly different criteria. As DMs are responsible for SM reviews, I don't see how their is a conflict of interest in DMs also conducting quantitative QASA audits. Before people say that performance reviews are solely based on performance measures and therefore a standardized QASA score is required ask your DM about the performance talent graphing excersise they are required to perform to level set against their peers. There will always be room for bias

[Coffee Soldier]

Bonuses are based only on sales for both ASM, SM, and DM once your store/district achieves the 90% to target range and increases each % towards 100% and over you go BUT it is not a garuntee is what I was saying...if you are on a performace plan or NI or have done something else "bad" like fail ecosure the bonus can be revoked...check your bonus FAQ...in fact it just appeared on the portal under the action items last week for criteria for ASM and SM.

[east coast mgr]

coffee soldier is right, bonuses are sales based only, but COULD be denied (by your RVP i think) based upon QASA score performance etc.

hoping to make 100% for sales this quarter ... how are other SMs doing? Targets are set real high the first 2 quarters! currently at 99.5% this week not included

[whatajoke]

MSI is a joke, no way around it. A bunch of old people w/ no lives have taken over the non-partner side and turned it into a clown show. There are no new ideas. It should be closed down

[Sheik]

bring back GFOVC!

[I.Heart.Spirit]

My only ideas to contribute would be:

1. Give us an option for paperless paychecks for those who use direct deposit. Seems so wasteful.

2. Update the registers so when a customer pays with a starbucks card, it reads: Balance remaining: $xx.xx, does customer want receipt?

Or something along those lines. I find that so many people only want to know their balance and to me it defeats the point in asking for a receipt in the effort to save paper waste.

After I'm done typing this I may check it out. I haven't been on MSI in a long time. The last time I was there it was just filled with hate and complaining, so I decided to stay away.

---

While I am posting, does anyone have any suggestions about prank calls? Someone has been calling my store everynight, mulitple times, for months. They will play music, breathe heavily, disguise their voice and quietly order a beverage, etc. We don't have caller ID and *69 doesn't work (I haven't worked at a store with those features, I don't know if anyone has them). I would like to just ignore the phone calls, but I also don't want to be missing out on actual people needing information and such.

[Darth Sidamo]

Whoever pranks you I would tell them to meet you in the parking lot for a free Frappuccino and then I would punch them in the back of the head while they are drinking it. On a more serious note the reason we never say the total out loud is safety reasons. Its the same reason we dont yell out "Hey Karen have fun taking that deposit with all of our money to the bank."

MSI was a good publicity stunt but a terrible idea. While you do think you could get great ideas, most people have no idea what could never work in a place like Sbux. Coffee Flavored Ice Cubes anyone?

Ideas on that front are best left to seasoned partners or even an emphasis on the partner side instead of the customer. I mean we are the ones that have to peddle that crap, might as well make it a product we truly believe in. The customer ideas (gold card and syrup discounts) have led to 2 or 3 price increases since MSI. Im sure if they had everything they wanted we would hand them a bag of cash when they walked in and would have girls dancing on poles, with midget baristas.

[Dwight Brown]

"Im sure if they had everything they wanted we would hand them a bag of cash when they walked in and would have girls dancing on poles, with midget baristas."

You say that like it would be a bad thing.

[Linda Macdonald]

"coffee flavored ice cubes"!? Incredible.

[AB]

The better coffee houses make iced cubes out of coffee, as to not dilute an iced coffee as the ice melts.

This isn't a new thing, but again, I said better coffee houses. Not Starbucks.

[R1]

I believe that would be "little baristas"

[noloopholes]

better coffee houses are usually clueless if they are making coffee ice cubes. "better coffee houses" know to make coffee stronger so it's not needed. What a load.

[Alexis]

I would love to see Starbucks to offer Cold Brewed coffee instead of their iced Hot brewed coffee. It is so much better and would also offer a way to use up extra inventory on coffee bean that is close to expiring. I won't drink the iced coffee at Starbucks and will go out of my way to get it another coffee place in my state.

[Argentius]

Alexis, cold brewed coffee is really great, but the volume that a busy SBUX goes through would make it a big challenge. It takes a long time to make it, and no storage facility the stores currently have could hold it.

Working at a busy SBUX on a summer's day, there was a partner whose sole task was to produce the (older-style versions of) frappuccino base and iced coffee. I can't even fathom how many pitchers we went through. It felt like hundreds.

I think a niced iced toddy will just be an advantage of smaller indy shops.

[pablo_in_ct]

I love how the "Review/Revise the partner dress code" idea has been "under review" for almost 2 years.

Uncle Howie must be thinking *really hard* about it.

[tired]

pablo_in_ct, and what is that idea? I know at my store (not sure if it's district-wide or not) we have gone to all black work clothes/shoes.

[tired]

oh wait, are you talking about the idea(s) on MSI? If so, never mind my previous thread.

[whatajoke]

every time I peak in there, I see a huge mess, no new ideas, and cobwebs collecting. It's more than a joke.

[TR Brand Jeans]

Check it out for you may be very surprised by the clubs they beat the snot out of through their history and even more surprised by those who have beaten the snot out of the Rangers.