Who is responsible for the Manner coffee incident?

There is a lot of discussion about the Manner Coffee incident. The author reviewed the incident from the perspective of the brand BI system (behavior norms system) and user experience, and expressed relevant opinions.

Regarding the Manner Coffee incident, I have sorted it out from the perspective of the brand BI system (behavior code system) and user experience:

01 User Experience

The Manner incident shows that there are big problems in service delivery (pre-sales and after-sales):

1. When placing an order, you should not raise the user's expectations

The current situation is that after placing an order on the Manner app, it will display [How many orders are being processed? It is expected that the food will be ready for pick-up in XX minutes]. This prompt directly raises user expectations.

Many of Manner’s customers are office workers. If they see the notification and rush to the store to find out that the product is not ready yet, and they cannot estimate the delivery time, and they are about to be late (and will be deducted for work), it is understandable that they are anxious to urge the order.

2. After placing an order, under what circumstances can employees proactively request a refund?

Is it possible to set a standard so that in certain circumstances, it is reasonable for employees to proactively request a refund and they will not be punished or even fired?

3. When the customer learns that they may not be able to make it and may be advised to cancel the order, what alternatives can they choose? Will they get a coupon or additional subsidies?

As a brand, Manner is responsible for this part of the welfare system, which can give employees room to negotiate with customers and reflect corporate culture (for example, reminding customers that coffee left cold or for too long will affect the taste, so it is better to cancel the order to stop the loss in time).

4. After customers place an order during peak hours, can they receive a pop-up window or text message reminder from the official account to inform them that the order has been completed?

Now, after placing an order, customers have to keep an eye on the mini app to see if they can [pick up the food immediately]. Their minds are full of uncertainties, so they keep running to the front desk to ask and urge the delivery.

If you receive notifications in a timely manner and have expectations in mind, communication will naturally be smoother.

From a barista’s perspective, knowing that you could be fired at any time, you won’t be in the mood to make good coffee.

The relationship between a barista and coffee is not the relationship between a machine and coffee. If that were the case, why not get an automatic device?

Only by protecting employees well can we ensure the stability of coffee production quality, and the product is the core of the brand.

02 Internal Employee Code of Conduct

Compared to the problem of employees throwing coffee or hitting others, as marketers, we may be more sensitive to discover that [the problem of video leakage] is the source of public opinion.

Videos like this should not have been leaked to major media outlets. Not only would they cause a major public opinion incident, but the fired employees would also be at risk of being exposed.

If someone is to be fired, I think the [insider] who leaked the video should be given more attention by the company. Leaking store videos at will is not allowed. Is this rule written into the employee code of conduct? I don't know.

Moreover, as public opinion has fermented to this stage, at least the store manager Manner (according to the principles of public opinion handling, in theory, the general manager should also come out to express his position) needs to come out and give the public a sufficient and reasonable reason for dismissal.

Is it because of a specific violation of the employee code of conduct that the employee was fired? Or is it a dismissal without reason? Is there any compensation for dismissal without reason?

03 Store staffing

With so few people and so little time to make so much coffee, the value is not equal.

On a psychological level, once people feel a strong imbalance in values, negative emotions are easily aroused.

It is entirely possible to test the stress, heart rate and other physical functions of Manner baristas during the morning rush hour. I'm sure the results will be terrifying.

Let’s see how many people are needed to reduce the pressure value to a more normal range?

Simply and crudely dismissing employees will not solve the root problem at all, and we must return to management.

04 Store bar design

(Screenshot source: Xiaohongshu blogger @月入0.3达不刘女士)

In addition, I don’t know if Manner’s bar design is to allow baristas to communicate better with customers. The entire counter is very simple and there are basically no partition areas.

Also because of the close distance, when both parties are very emotional, the probability of conflict may be greater.

To the greatest extent possible, companies can reduce the possibility of conflict through space design.

Author: Mustang Fan

Source: WeChat public account: "Wild Horse Fan Alexandra (ID: Wuxianyouxi02)"