Five Guys fills your fry cup, drops it in the bag, then scoops another ladle on top. The generosity is staged so you witness it. Jerry Murrell didn’t give customers more fries. He gave them the same fries in a way that felt like more.

The question a friend posed: is there an auction industry version of this? Can a business with two customer types (sellers who want maximum return, buyers who want fair access) create a single “fries” moment that lands for both?

The breakthrough came from his reframe. Buyers and sellers aren’t on opposite sides of the table. They’re both patrons at the same restaurant ordering different meals. The fries sit underneath both experiences, in the service layer that has nothing to do with the transaction outcome.

Then he named the mechanism: the contract is the fry cup. Auction contracts explicitly set a low baseline. “We are not responsible for cleanup.” “Bring your own help to load.” “Bring your own packing materials.” The customer signs it. Expectations are set. Then the day of the auction, there are three guys with dollies and straps helping you load, boxes already packed, and the warehouse is broom-swept when the seller walks back in.

Same product. Same cost. The contract sets the visible floor, and the experience overflows it. Every time.

Peter Shankman’s “Zombie Loyalists” adds the payoff layer. The bar for customer experience is so low that even small, unexpected gestures create fanatical loyalty. These customers don’t just come back. They recruit for you. They can’t help it.

The Framework

  1. The Cup (Expectation). Set a visible, honest baseline. Contracts, terms and conditions, published policies. This is what you’re obligated to do.
  2. The Scoop (Experience). Deliver beyond it in a way the customer witnesses. Not behind the scenes. Not after the fact. In the moment.
  3. The Payoff (Loyalty). Customers who experience the gap between promise and delivery become zombie loyalists. They tell everyone.

What’s Solved

  • The “fries” in a two-sided auction market aren’t about the transaction (price, terms). They’re the experience layer: ownership access, X+Y service, making things right at your own expense.
  • The staging mechanism is the contract itself. It sets the cup. Everything above it is the visible overflow.
  • This works for both customer types because both experience the same service layer regardless of which side of the transaction they’re on.

What’s Open

  • The execution gap. Grafe knows what its fries are (ownership access, going above and beyond on service, eating costs to make things right). The unsolved piece is how to make these visible on the first transaction, not discovered over time. Five Guys doesn’t wait for your second visit.
  • The staging problem. Owners are listed as sales reps, not owners. The behind-the-scenes work (research, cataloging, customer service) happens invisibly. How do you let customers see the scoop without it feeling egotistical?
  • The consistency question. A nice gesture that happens sometimes is a pleasant surprise. A gesture that happens every single time, no exceptions, is a brand identity. Which of Grafe’s “extras” can become ritual?