Gift Memories

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You’ve crafted an environment customers love; thoughtfully placed tables, warm lighting, and a detail you're particularly proud of — cups that are a delight to hold. You feel it every time you hold the cup yourself. You're constantly receiving praise from your customers. You nailed it, and you know it.

So, have you considered giving them away?

Maybe it's a wild proposal, but perhaps not as unfathomable as it first sounds. Your cups are coveted by your customers, so why can't you use them as a gift for patronage?

Typical loyalty programs follow a buy-6-get-1-free scheme, but while useful, don't lean on the most powerful driver of human behaviour — emotion.

Memories outlive transactions. Think about it. That cup isn’t just a cup. It’s the morning they tried your lavender latte and loved it. It’s the afternoon they sat at your window table, laughing with a friend. It’s the third space you’ve created for them — a home from home. A free coffee disappears. A cup? It’s a permanent reminder.

We're talking about coffee shops right now, but this can apply to all sorts of businsses. The idea is to create positive, uplifting outcomes for human experiences and human relationships. Think about what you've created — what draws people to you? Can you give them a piece to take home?

It’s not just sentimental. It’s smart marketing. That cup on their desk? Free advertising. That coaster on their coffee table? A conversation starter. (“Where’d you get that?”)

Business, like life, is all about how you make people feel. It’s that simple, and it’s that hard.

— Will Guidara

How to create joy: