The Inovis Blog

It is important for our solution center team members to understand how important our role is in supporting our customers. We want our customers to provide feedback to us so we can continuously improve the way we support them on our products and services. Feedback is often provided via the customer survey feature in our Siebel CRM or in a new, forthcoming feature, phone surveys from Qfiiniti.Each Friday afternoon we recognize the stellar comments from our surveys with an employee recognition called Lagniappe, meaning a “little something extra”. Our customer advocates (Brenda & Liz) publish an email highlighting those they have received during the week: Lagniappe …. giving that little something extra!

We want our solution center team to provide Lagniappe type service and support to our customers.

Lagniappe means a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase, such as a 13th beignet when buying a dozen, or more broadly something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure; a bonus.[1]

It is derived from the American Spanish phrase la ñapa (la, “the”; ñapa a variant of yapa, “something that is added”). The term has been traced back to the Quechua word yapay (which means “to increase; to add”). In Andean markets it is still customary to ask for a “yapa” when making a purchase. The seller usually responds by throwing in a little extra. Although this is an old custom, it is still widely practiced today in Louisiana. This custom is also widely practiced in southeast asia. Street vendors esp vegetable vendors are expected to throw in a few green chillies or a small bunch of cilantro with a decent purchase. Indian (Punjabi) term for this is “Choonga.”