A Pilot walks into a bar...

No, this is not the start of a bad joke, this is an inspiring story of how a Canadian Company inspired a Nation through connecting emotionally with their customers.

I'm sharing this with you to show you an example of how connecting with your clients' emotions is the most powerful form of marketing. 

There's a bar in London, England, called The Maple Leaf, where Canadian ex-pats like to congregate.

The pub that attracts a lot of Canucks in London, England. (coventgardenlondonuk.com)

On November 27th of last year, the bar held a special "Canada Night," and 200 Canucks showed up to toast the holidays.

Two Air Canada pilots and some crew were also there that evening and started asking people what they missed most about Canada. As it turned out, many of them missed being home for Christmas:

Two hundred lucky people that night got round-trip tickets to Canada.

 There was a lot of emotion in that London bar that night, as many of the Canadians there hadn't been home for years. One of the truisms of air travel is that planes take you home, and we've all seen – or experienced – being greeted by family members at the airport when you've been away for a long time.

 Air Canada's "Gift of Home" tapped into that emotion.

How can you do this?

There are endless opportunities in how you can connect to your clients emotionally. Everything from surprising your clients at their place of work on their birthday to hosting a thank-you party for your clients. But we recommend taking it a step further and giving your clients a gift of a house portrait when you connect.

Why do we recommend that? It's very simple, it's about creating those precious referrals for you. Connecting with your clients is necessary, but giving them something that gets them talking about it for years to all of their friends and family is where the referrals are created!

As the house portrait hangs on your client's wall it will spark those passionate conversations about you over and over again. Your client's friends and family come over to your client's home and hanging on their wall is the painting of their home. "Where did you get that?" Is the question that is asked. And presto! Here come the referrals.

The next time you see an advertisement for Air Canada I want you to be inspired about what you can do for your clients.