The saying “you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar” has never been more true than at this Virginian coffee shop, where customers are rewarded for their well-mannered coffee orders. We just wish every store had signs like this.
For those of us who have been lucky enough to spend time in the service industry, we know all about those poorly behaved customers who make us grit our teeth and wish we could walk right out the door. After dealing with one too many coffee snobs, this shop owner couldn’t help but take action.
To incentivize his customers at Cups Coffee and Tea located in Roanoke, Virginia, owner Austin Simms came up with an ingenious solution – create a payment scale based entirely on the buyer’s level of respect. The nicer you are, the more discounted your cup of coffee becomes.
As his creative pricing strategy gained viral attention, Simms’ noticed a definite shift in his customers’ coffee counter etiquette. As Simms puts it best in this clip, sometimes it just takes a small step to make a difference in the rest of the world.
