Territory: Australia and international
Training provided: 6 week "Coffee University" covering theory and practical
Marketing support: National and local
Number of units: 353
Ian Martin, group chief executive
Gloria Jean's Coffee franchise"At Gloria Jean's we don't talk about customer service because we don't have customers, we have guests. This is more than semantics - we don't see ourselves as retailers, but as a coffee house serving guests, and you treat guests differently from customers.
"We start from the notion that everyindividual is a guest or a potential guest. That's the cornerstone of everything we do, from what the stores look like, our coffees, food and merchandise to where we place the rubbish bins. I mean that literally, a little while ago we had probably the best-designed and best-looking rubbish bins in the system. They were practically part of the decor, but that was the problem. People couldn't find them - they had to ask what they should do with their empty cups. Despite their great design, the bins just weren't guest friendly.
This is the spirit of doing business that we try to get across to our franchise partners in our training programme. Yes, we are about serving great quality
speciality coffee, yes we are about providing that with warm, friendly team members, and certainly we try to ensure that our coffee shops are inviting and convenient. But it is about more than just those hard tangibles. When people walk out of Gloria Jean's we want them to think it's a little bit different from everywhere else.
"We believe that our values and community involvement are at the heart of this. We see ourselves as part of the community, and as living examples of our values. This carries through to our services, and that's the experience we try to ensure all of our team members convey. We believe that this is what differentiates us from our competitors and that it is the reason why we have been successful in this country and will be successful globally.
"Every franchisee, whether the master franchisee for a whole country or an individual in a city suburb, has to complete our six week training programme in Sydney's Castle Hill. No franchisee's appointment is finalised until they have. It's pleasing that we have very few pull-outs. Our franchisees walk out better baristas but also more aligned with what we're trying to deliver.
"In terms of what we serve, we have a whole community to think about and our role is to ensure we have an offering for all of our guests. In our business, unless they're getting take-away, people rarely come in as individuals; they come in as couples and groups. In a group not everyone is going to want latte or a cold drink or even coffee - someone might want tea. So we see an integral part of the whole experience is not just serving the individual but the group as a whole."
25-Jul-2007