Polle de Maagt 
Polle de Maagt
Story.
In 2017, I wrote about a conversation with Werner van Disseldorp. We were talking about finding better ways to make customers happy.
His example was small. It was raining outside. A customer was about to leave.
A company could hand over a new umbrella with its logo on it. Werner wanted his colleagues to offer their own umbrella instead. He would buy them a replacement.
One umbrella given. One umbrella replaced.
The customer got something that belonged to a person, not something from a pile of promotional gifts.
What they did.
Werner paired a personal gesture with practical support.
The employee could offer their umbrella. The company would replace it.
Both parts matter. Without the replacement, the employee would bear the cost of being generous. Without the personal offer, it would be another branded giveaway.
The original article records this practice as Werner described it to me. It does not measure its effect on satisfaction or repeat visits, and it does not establish that the same practice continues today.
Why it works.
There is a difference between “Here is an umbrella with our name on it” and “Take mine.”
The first can be useful and thoughtful. The second makes the help personal. Someone is giving you something they would otherwise use themselves.
That does not make branded umbrellas bad. Both keep you dry. But the meaning of the gesture changes.
There is a big difference between branded and personal.
The replacement also makes the company’s role clear. It does not just ask people to care. It supports a concrete act of care.
Try it yourself.
Start with a real inconvenience a customer encounters, not with an item you want to put your logo on.
What could a colleague do to help? What would they need to give, spend or arrange? How can the company cover that cost and make the help easy?
Do not turn “Take mine” into a compulsory script. A personal gesture stops feeling personal when everyone has to perform it. Give people room to make a genuine offer, including the choice not to give away something of their own.
Identify one small customer problem your team could solve today. Agree what colleagues may offer and how the company will replace or reimburse it. Make helping easy without asking employees to fund it themselves.
Source: my “Best practice: your umbrella, not the company umbrella”, 16 February 2017, based on a conversation with Werner van Disseldorp. Edited for republication. Umbrella made with Midjourney.
