White glove

Definition

Premium, high-touch service typically reserved for important clients, as if your company is a fancy butler. Everyone else gets the regular gloves, or no gloves at all.

Example Usage

Our enterprise clients get white glove onboarding, which means someone actually answers their emails.

Origin

From early 20th century service industry, referring to formal gloved service

Fun Fact

White glove service costs 10x more to deliver but can be charged at 100x more, making it beloved by sales teams everywhere.

Source: Customer service terminology

Related Terms

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process

The bureaucratic maze of steps that transforms simple tasks into multi-week adventures requiring three approvals and two forms. In business-speak, it's the series of procedures that allegedly ensure quality but often just ensure meetings. Everyone loves to say they're 'process-driven' until the process prevents them from doing literally anything quickly.

💼 Corporate / Business

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Scope creep

The gradual expansion of a project beyond its original boundaries, like a blob in a horror movie consuming everything in its path. The reason every 'quick project' takes six months.

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Walk the floor

When executives leave their corner offices to briefly interact with regular employees, like anthropologists visiting a remote tribe. Often done before layoffs to identify who actually works there.

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Intermediate

loaded mile

When your equipment or vehicle is actually doing useful work with cargo or passengers, as opposed to running empty like your promises to get in shape. Every business wants maximum loaded miles and minimum deadheading.

💼 Corporate / Business

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renegotiate

The art of diplomatically saying "this deal isn't working for me anymore" and hoping the other party doesn't walk away entirely. It's when parties go back to the bargaining table to hash out new terms because circumstances changed, someone's unhappy, or the original contract was wildly optimistic. Common in leases, loans, and marriages.

💼 Corporate / Business

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opportunity cost

The value of the best alternative you give up when making a choice, beloved by economists and annoying people at dinner parties who calculate the lost investment returns of buying appetizers.

💼 Corporate / Business

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