Tried offering every customer a free cookie during a rush at my coffee shop in Seattle...

I figured it would slow things down but it actually cut our wait times by 3 minutes because people were too busy chewing to argue about their latte art - has anyone else had a weird tactic like that backfire or work out the opposite way you expected?

2 comments

2 Comments

diana31412d ago

I used to be skeptical about freebies during a rush, figured it would just add more chaos. But hearing this actually makes total sense now, giving people something to do with their hands and mouths probably calms them down. Its like a distraction that works in your favor instead of slowing things down. Never would have guessed a cookie could make people argue less about foam art.

the_wade12d ago

Ha, fair point. But do you think the cookie trick works better with something simple like a cookie, or would a fancier freebie just make people expect more and cause bigger problems?