In February of 2023, I spent a week at the Grand Targhee Resort, one of the best-kept secrets of the snow skiing world, nestled in the Grand Teton National Park. If you have been to a ski resort before, you know that they name the different trails you can take with colorful and creative names. While going down one run, I saw a sign for a fork in the road leading to a run called “The Good.” I was confused until I saw the next one, just around the bend, titled “The Bad,” and sure enough, around one more turn was the ending to the trilogy of runs called “The Ugly.”

This creative naming isn’t unique to Grand Targhee but is sadly unique to ski resorts (and other action sports). But it doesn’t have to be a special experience reserved for them. One of the elements of a world-class customer experience is Personalized Service–and one way to elevate the experience is to elevate your language. 

You can elevate your language by adding high-class, formal phrases, as Chick-fil-A did by getting all their staff to replace the standard reply, “You’re welcome,” with the elegant reply, “My pleasure.” (They totally “borrowed” that from the Ritz-Carlton customer experience.) 

But you can also elevate your language by adding fun and playfulness. 

Ski resorts could just call their runs boring, accurate names, like “Straight Down #1” and “Cliffside Trail #2.” But it’s a better customer experience with witty names. 

What would it look like for you to elevate your language? Do you want to make your customers feel fancy? Or would it fit your brand better to be funny?

One way or another, you can separate yourself from the crowds simply by using language no one else in your field uses.