A Place to Hang My Cup: Sometimes a Simple Gesture Is All it Takes

Posted by Christopher Stevenson

Last week, I was in Michigan driving from Parchment (down near Kalamazoo) to Detroit. I'd had an early morning meeting and skipped breakfast, so by mid-morning my energy was waning. I exited at Battle Creek to see what I could find for a quick meal. I'd planned on a breakfast sandwich from McDonald's or Burger King, but then I saw Sweetwater's Donut Mill in a small strip mall.

I love donuts.

I stopped.

Sweetwater's was exactly what I'd expected it to be: rows and rows of donuts on slanted shelves behind a glass bakery counter; plastic laminate table tops and wooden slat benches; piping hot coffee in glass carafes; and a woman working the counter who called me "Darlin'." 

I ordered my coffee and donuts (don't tell my wife I had more than one) and then noticed that one wall of the shop, labeled "Sweetwater's Coffee Club," hosted two rows of cup hooks. Fulfilling their purpose, each cup hook had a coffee cup dangling from it. Surprisingly though, the cups on the wall weren't uniform coffee cups embossed with the Sweetwater's logo; each cup was different. Some were large and some were small. Some advertised businesses or vacation spots while others appeared to be handmade and rustic. Behind each hook was a small name plate that showed whose cup was on display. (I wish I had a picture of the wall; my description doesn't do it justice.)

"What's Sweetwater's Coffee Club?" I asked.

"Oh, that's for the regulars, Darlin'. The people that come in every morning can bring in their own cups. We give them a hook for their cup and call it Sweetwater's Coffee Club. That's all."

That's all? With a very simple gesture, Sweetwater's has developed a way of cementing their relationship with their customers. Hanging a person's favorite cup on the wall is the donut-shop equivalent of allowing a girlfriend or boyfriend to leave a toothbrush at your house. There's a certain level of commitment intrinsic in the act. And what has it cost the Sweetwater's? Twenty bucks in materials and a little bit of wall space. 

Keep it in mind the next time you evaluate expensive programs for improving member stickiness: Sometimes people just want a place to hang their cup.  

Comments

[Denise Wymore]

What a great post. My niece is a regular at a sushi bar in Northampton, Mass. She has chopsticks on the wall with her name on them.

First time I came to town, she had to show me! You're right - it's the simple things that matter.

[Jodi Torres]

Chris I love this post - makes you feel at home and special at the same time and has a great advertising benefit for the shop.

[Barbara Wirtz]

Christopher, I really enjoyed this. So true. People want to feel special and important. Even her "darlin" was an endearing way to connect with you a stranger--brought you into the fold rather quickly, didn't it. All the best. Barbara