If you’ve ever been to the United Kingdom and ridden the subway (locally known as “the Tube”) in London you’ve heard the term “mind the gap.” It’s essentially a warning issued to rail passengers to be careful when crossing the spatial chasm between the train door and the station platform. To my way of thinking, the “gap” also refers to the space between the desired client experience and the reality of the service that is provided.
I do a fair amount of traveling by air and it usually goes like this: I board the plane in an orderly fashion, I stow my luggage, I take my seat, and I arrive alive. Many would argue that the transaction is near perfect, which is to say I got exactly what I paid for. However, the real issue is that as a customer it’s not the experience I desire. When I fly, I generally feel as if I am little more than a trespasser occupying a seat. There are precious few smiles, little eye contact, and rarely a feeling of gratitude for my business. My airline of choice is sufficient, but does not mind the gap between my desired experience and the one that is given.
When you deliver promotional merchandise, decorated correctly, delivered on time, and sold at a fair price, you are merely sufficient and no different from anyone else. To mind the gap means paying attention to the seemingly little things. Anyone can do the big things right; it’s the little things that separate one business from another.
Here are three strategies you can implement immediately to mind the gap in your clients' experience:
1. Be Attentive – Do you give your clients your complete and undivided attention when communicating with them? Do you listen with the intent to respond rather than the intent to hear? Do you focus only on the words being spoken and not their tone, pacing, and body language? Do you glance at your phone because you received a text? Place a premium on being fully invested in all your client communications.
2. Show Appreciation – How do you express heartfelt gratitude to your clients? Hand write thank you notes, send food gifts (with their branding of course) during their busy season, or thank them in an over the top way for a major order. Leverage your creativity and do more than a courtesy “thank you” email.
3. Create Delight – Put a smile on their face and in their heart. Make a fun video, bring fresh baked snickerdoodles to a meeting, create an amusing out-of-office message, or send their kids balloons on their birthday. People love to serve as ambassadors for their favorite brands so help them to get to know yours by sharing your culture.
Memorable, meaningful, fun, unusual, and unexpected experiences influence the way your clients perceive your business and feel about you. Don’t be tempted to brush aside the little details as a low priority. It’s the little details that create loyalty. It’s the little details that keep people talking about you and recommending you. It’s the little details that allow people to rationalize paying more because they have an emotional connection with your brand.
Mind the gap.
Bill is president of PromoCorner, the leading digital marketing service provider to the promotional products industry, and has over 17 years working in executive leadership positions at leading promotional products distributorships. In 2014, he launched brandivate – the first executive outsourcing company solely focused on helping small and medium sized-promotional products enterprises responsibly grow their business. A featured speaker at numerous industry events, a serial creator of content marketing, president of the Promotional Products Association of the Mid-South (PPAMS), and PromoKitchen chef, Bill has extensive experience coaching sales teams, creating successful marketing campaigns, developing operational policies and procedures, creating and developing winning RFP responses, and presenting winning promotional products solutions to Fortune 500 clients. He can be reached at bill@PromoCorner.com.