At Swig, customer service isn’t just a policy, it’s a deeply ingrained culture where employees, called “day makers,” are empowered to create meaningful connections with every customer.
Todd Smith, president of the Sandy, Utah-based company known as the home of the original dirty soda, shared examples of how Swig’s employees go above and beyond without being told to do so. He spoke April 29 at CSP’s Dispensed Beverages Forum in Lombard, Illinois. A dirty soda, Smith said, is a soda with added flavors, purees, creams and fruits “just to make it more interesting.”
In one recent instance of going above and beyond, employees who regularly served a deaf customer took it upon themselves to learn sign language because they wanted to communicate with the customer.
“They taught themselves how to say, ‘thank you, and have a great day’” in sign language, Smith said. When an employee signed to the customer at the drive-thru window, “the person totally broke down. Super emotional.”
Making personal connection the priority
Rather than scripting interactions, Swig empowers its day makers to read each customer and respond authentically. Smith explained the company’s philosophy: “What we say to them is: Your job is to make that person’s day. Look them in the eye and figure out how they’re doing today. Are they celebrating? Are they struggling with something? You can see when you look someone in the eye what’s happening with them.”
This approach gives employees freedom to make customers feel valued in whatever way feels right, he said.
“We give them the ability to just make that customer feel great,” Smith said, adding that the company gives away many free drinks as part of this customer-first mentality. “And I wish we could give away more, honestly.”
When culture creates brand ambassadors
Smith shared another story about a regular customer named Maggie, who visited a Louisville, Kentucky, location daily—until she had a baby and disappeared for two weeks. When she returned, the team welcomed her back and prepared her regular order, having recognized her car.
The next day, the team came out to the drive-thru with a surprise: a baby onesie, rattle toy and a couple of free drinks for Maggie, he said.
The gesture moved Maggie so deeply that she shared the story with 500 coworkers one on one at Texas Roadhouse, where she works. As Smith recounted from a Texas Roadhouse executive: “You cannot pay for that kind of advertising. She made 500 Swig fans in Louisville, Kentucky.”
Smith’s favorite part of the story is that that Swig location is a franchise location, and the franchise partner had no idea the interaction had happened until Smith told him.
“Our culture is about day making, and we preach it and talk about it constantly,” Smith said, adding that employees feel like it’s their job is to make someone’s day. “And so for us, that really matters in a drive-thru where it’s a little less personal and you’re not staying long. Personal connection ends up being, really for us, what is probably the biggest driver of the brand.”
A connection that transcends the product
Another example Smith shared involved an older man in Arizona who visits the same Swig location daily and orders the same 32-ounce drink—then throws it away because he doesn’t like soda. When asked why he comes if he doesn’t drink it, the man explained that the Swig beverage he ordered was his late wife’s drink.
“It makes me feel a little bit more connection to her. And the way you guys treat me is how she felt when she came through,” the man told the team, Smith said. “So, I just throw it away. But I come here because of how you treat me.”
Smith said, “Those are unique. That’s really unique. That’s really, really unique. And it’s hard to do.”
Maintaining the culture
As Swig expands through franchising, maintaining this service presents challenges. Smith acknowledged it’s “really, really, really hard,” but said the company focuses on partnerships.
The company uses a “shoulder-to-shoulder versus helicopter sort of modeling” approach with franchise partners, emphasizing collaboration, he said.
“I’ve never run into a situation where you walk into a store and it’s not functioning well, or the team doesn’t know that it’s not functioning well,” Smith said. “They always know. If it’s not functioning well, it’s because they don’t know how to fix it.”
During the franchise discovery process, Smith said he is direct about expectations.
“If you are going to pinch every single penny and obsess with your team giving away a drink, this is not the brand for you,” he said. “I promise you it’s not.”
Smith said that Swig doesn’t believe in squawk boxes.
“They’re the absolute worst thing that ever happened to food,” he said. “We will never do it, ever, because it's void of emotion.We do all ordering face to face.”
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