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At Rustler Hat Co., everything flows from one guiding principle: We’re not selling hats. That might sound strange. I mean, we’re a hat company, right? It says so in our name. But really, we’re in the business of creating unforgettable experiences.
Before I opened Rustler, I had a great job in commercial real estate. I had no retail experience at all. I knew nothing about hats. But one day I went to a custom hat store and had my own unforgettable experience — for all the wrong reasons.
That visit pushed me to start my own store that put an exceptional customer experience at the center of everything. Catering to our guests shapes how we set up our store, what happens from the moment a customer walks in, who we hire, what we post on social media, and on and on.
Focusing completely on the customer has worked for Rustler. When we launched in late 2021, we figured we needed to sell two hats a day to break even. Many days we sell more than 200. Southern Living calls us one of the best places to shop in Nashville, saying we deliver “a unique experience you won’t find elsewhere.”
You hear a lot of businesses say, “The customer comes first.” But if you want great hospitality, everyone in your organization needs to live by that mantra — every single day. This tireless dedication to the customer isn’t easy to pull off. But I’ll give you some hospitality secrets we’ve learned at Rustler.
And I’ll tell you the biggest secret up front: When you provide an amazing customer experience, it translates into word of mouth and organic marketing that most businesses can only dream about. Rustler has never spent a dime on marketing. Seriously. But we’ve become a go-to destination for girls trips, anniversaries , work outings, and everything in-between. And we’re always running offsite events for corporations, clubs, and celebrities.
Here’s how to deliver incredible hospitality that fuels growth.
Think of the customer every step of the way
Let me tell you why I’m obsessed with the customer experience. It goes back to that incident in the custom hat store.
In 2020, my husband and I went on vacation to the mountains. The thing I was most excited about was getting a custom hat. Sure, it was pricey, but it would be a one-of-a-kind experience and I’d walk away with a beautiful memento of the trip. Or so I thought.
Everything about my visit to the store turned out to be terrible. The owner who was supposed to give me this special, personalized experience? He ignored me. The complimentary drink I was promised? It ended up being tequila served in a Dixie cup — at 10 a.m. The expensive hat I walked out with? It didn’t even fit right.
I was so upset. The incident nagged at me every time I looked at the hat in my closet. And ultimately it led me to start my own custom hat bar. I may have had no clue about hats or running a store, but I knew one thing: My customers would leave feeling special.
At Rustler, great hospitality starts as soon as the customer steps in our store. A greeter is there to welcome the guest with a smile and introduce them to their own personal stylist. It’s all about letting the customer know they’re in a friendly environment where they’ll be taken care of.
The stylist is the guest’s personal guide through the whole experience of creating the perfect custom hat. Customers love having a team member by their side throughout, because honestly, picking out all of a hat’s details could become overwhelming. There are so many options to choose from, including the kind of hat, the color, the accessories, the brim style, and the shape of the crown.
We book our appointments for a full 45 minutes to make sure every customer gets the attention they deserve. We recognize that our hats are an investment for most people. The prices start at around $300 for a finished hat, I always remind our team to think of the last time they spent that much on anything. It’s a big deal! We can never take that for granted — and we make darn sure we give people their money’s worth.
To deliver great hospitality, you need to think about even the smallest details of your customer interactions and figure out how to make them better or more memorable. And you’ll be extra motivated to create special moments for your guests when you think about how awful it felt when you had a bad customer experience.
Give customers a unique experience…and make it fun!
Remember how I said we block off 45 minutes for every appointment? Most customers stay even longer because they’re having such a good time.
Rustler is a custom hat bar. The term bar fits us well. When you go to a bar, you want to feel the energy, right? It’s hard to find a fun, energetic retail environment where you feel a sense of community. But when customers step into Rustler, they’ll see a big square bar in the middle of the store Our team is behind the counter, working on hats. And guests sit on stools chatting with the stylists as they work on customizations.
The set-up is inviting; customers often chat from across the bar, getting opinions on their hats, and making friends. They’re also enjoy a complimentary drink and we’ve made sure that experience feels custom as well. We even serve our own Rustler beers.
This unique customer experience is a big part of why Rustler has become such a popular spot for group outings. One of my favorite things to see is a bunch of people walk in carrying their suitcases. That means Rustler is either their first stop in Nashville or the thing they can’t miss before they leave.
How to hire — and lead — to guarantee great hospitality
Memorable hospitality has to start from the top. A business leader who doesn’t treat people with kindness and respect will have a hard time getting their team to treat customers well. So I believe it’s important to lead by example.
You also need to hire the right people. They’re the ones who determine whether customers rave about you to all their friends or walk away disappointed.
At Rustler, we don’t focus on hiring people with experience in retail or making hats. The most important attribute we look for is the ability to connect with people.
For example, one of our stylists is someone who exudes energy and makes you feel good just being around her. The trouble was, she had a hard time learning how to shape hats. Instead of passing up her application, we worked with her on the hat skills, because we knew she was the kind of person we needed on our team. And I’m so glad we did, because she has become one of our most popular stylists. Our customers adore her. You wouldn’t believe all the shoutouts she gets on social media.
Turn your customers into your marketing team
Every business wants good organic marketing. But as important as things like social media, email marketing, and SEO are, they’ll be much more effective when you make sure you delight every customer.
Most people are surprised when I tell them that Rustler hasn’t spent money on marketing. But our business has taken off because our customer experience is our marketing.
So many of our guests end up recommending Rustler to friends, family, and colleagues that we’re bursting at the seams in our 1,300-square-foot storefront. The vibe is so fun that customers film their Rustler experience and post it on social media, even influencers with big followings. All these posts happen organically, which is huge for us because their followers can really feel it’s an authentic endorsement.
Customer enthusiasm and organic marketing have led to new growth opportunities, too. About five months after we opened, a local golf club reached out and said, “Hey, can we hire you to create custom hats for a corporate event?” They liked what was happening in our store and wanted us to bring the Rustler experience to them.
Right away we found that running one offsite event serves as free marketing for the store and for other private parties. People have a blast, loving the fun environment and community feeling, and they recommend us to friends and colleagues. Now Rustler runs events almost every night of the week.
We’ve worked with probably half of the Fortune 500 companies, plus private clubs, pro athletes — you name it.
That word of mouth is worth more than any paid marketing we could have done.
Great hospitality fuels growth
No matter what industry you’re in, you’re in the hospitality business.
To make great hospitality happen, focus on a unique experience, consider every single piece of the customer’s interaction with your business, hire the right people, focus them all on the customer, and model how to treat people in everything you do.
When you give your customers a top-notch memorable experience, you don’t just set your business apart from your competitors. You also earn your customers’ loyalty and turn them into a dream team of marketers. And that’s how your business can grow more than you ever expected.
