Wooden nickels keep waiting clients happy

Our practice is located in New York City, and the waiting room is small. So when we run in-clinic diagnostics, we give owners a wooden nickel that we designed with our logo and a local coffee shop's logo. The token is good for a free cup of coffee or tea at the cafe around the corner.

Our clients' trips to the cafe keep the waiting room clear and keep them from getting too worried and restless.

The nickels work out great for our clinic and the coffee shop. We have an arrangement with them for the coffee, and it makes for free advertising for them as well. Clients often buy a pastry while they're visiting, and they come back relaxed after their short walk.

The nickels were relatively inexpensive, and once a month we pick up the coins redeemed at the cafe and recirculate them for reuse.

Ginger Hughes is practice manager at Northside Veterinary Clinic in Brooklyn, New York.