“Please can I have the macadamia nut chocolate, the champagne truffle and the dark chocolate, thank you” pointing to the tray of chocolate.
You know me, I’m a chocolate lover, so I was in heaven. Honold (1) run the “schoggi tram” every year. This year I went twice, once with guests from Sweden and once with my good friend Sonja. It’s on a classic old tram and the trip takes half hour around the city of Zurich. It’s a real treat and something I look forward to.
They have a few staff members attending, they give you delicious Pain de Gene cakes, a rich hot chocolate and you can choose to sample a number of chocolates. When you look at the “schoggi tram” from a purely financial point of view, I doubt it covers its costs. So you may think it doesn’t make sense to put it on. Yet they do, and I believe they do because it builds a lot of goodwill.
As they drive past the Honold shop in Enge, the tram pauses for a brief moment while the staff come out and wave. They’re establishing a human connection between the company and their tram guests. They are marketing in a novel and unique way, showing themselves in the best light. People see the tram around town. There’s a lot of buzz and it’s a win-win situation for everyone.
How do you build goodwill in your company?
Footnotes
1) Honold Tram