Oh, thank you! I'm really glad to hear that.Poseidon wrote:Heres a positive story about a visit to Teavana. I walked into the store to be greeted by a young guy who was very excited about tea and teaware. After letting him show me around the store, I was straight up with him and let him know that I was only there to browse while my lady was looking in another store. He understood so I decided to test his knowledge about tea to pass the time. The "fake" sales voice went away and we discussed puerh, oolong, and "obscure" green teas that they do not sell at the store, at length. We talked about the 'All in this tea' documentary and he informed me about David Lee Hoffman's tea site to purchase tea. It was really nice being able to talk to an employee and really see that he loved tea. I ended up buying a few ounces of random tea just to help the guy out in sales.
I worked at Starbucks for 3 years in college and was very upset that they had crap teas to drink. I think Teavana will benefit from having Sbux's training and money behind them.
I think you're right. One of the major complaints I heard around was the "trained to weigh out too much" and "five nos", but I have not been taught either of these rules since working there. I get the sense that's Starbucks has been in a help in toning down the sales process. I mean, it is still sales-driven, but I've always been taught to put the customer first.
Similarly, my manager would talk to me about teas from other sources as a customer, before I applied. She's so enthusiastic about tea, it's really wonderful to have someone like that as a manager.
