And there is even more!

So, one in a thousand flight experiences, never happen again, thats what you are thinking.  Mike and I flew back on United, and had another encounter that was just as amazing.  We got on, back of the plane this time, row 22.  So when the food cart came by, Mike ordered an item, I said I'll pick it up.  The flight attendant said, nope. It's on me!  Another WOW point in an already marvelous trip.  It gets better.  About 2.5 hours into our 4 hour flight Mike and I went to the back of the plane to use the facilities.  A couple of passengers and the two flight attendants were standing there, chowing down on more of the food, etc.  When Mike and I travel, we always chat up the attendants, where ya from, going home, etc.  A woman in an exercise suit asked what we wanted to eat or drink.  We thought she was a flight attendant off duty, heading back home.  Not so, she was just another passenger, the flight attendants asked us what we wanted.  We replied, they served us up, I went to pull my credit card out, they both said, it's on us!  No charge!  Those are great words to hear when you are on the road.  We stood back there and talked for an hour, people came and went to the bathroom, never even looked at us.  And they never got any free food and drink!  It really was a memorable trip.  After a while a 2 year boy came running back, chased by his dad.  We played with the boy for 10 minutes, his dad had a chocolate bar, you'll never guess, for free! 

Is there an application for our industry?  I believe so.  Let every employee know that they are in charge of customer relations for your company.  Anyone who has any inaction with customers, they are part of the sales team.  And one person can make you feel good, or bad, about a company.  I went home, my wife asked how did the trip go?  I told her it was unbelievable.  She said, that can go either way, I said it was unbelievably good.  Both US Airways and United are high on my list of companies I want to do business with because of these two incidences. 

So while it may be just another install to the installation team, it may be the first time the consumer has ever done a project like this, first time ever.  So they must make it special.  I found out one of the flight attendants on our United flight had moved a Victorian home over in Loveland a few years ago, it was one the new for several nights.  Took 6 days, moved it across town, was a big deal.  Part of the move was a detached garage, while moving it, a woman ran a red light, crashed into the garage in the middle of an intersection.  Not hurt, but really embarrassed.  How ironic, to run a red light, and run into a garage being moved.  I mean, really run INTO the garage!  Explain that to your significant other, and get to watch it 50 times on the 6 pm news.  So we bonded, Mike asked him about utilities, how did you handle gas, electric, that sort of thing.  They moved it off of a concrete slab and moved it onto a new basement they had dug out across town.  It was fun. 

Want to be clear, not saying you have to give away your stuff, but you do have to connect with the customer, get the emotional connections.  That is how business is done today.  I had a horrible flight out of New York a few years ago, flew a small commuter jet home.  Except we never made it home.  We ended up with a mechanical problem, landed in Philly, I think.  They would not let us off the plane, sat there for 3 hours.  Then when they did let us off, we had to go into the boarding area, could not leave it cause we were going right back out.  It was horrible, we got back on the plane, took 6 hours to go the next leg.  Sat on the runway for 2 hours.  Guess what airline.  Yup, it was US Airways.  So I had made a mental decision not to fly them again.  I can count on one hand the number of trips I have taken with them in the last 5 years, this one changed my mind completely.  Jeff made me realize that one person can make a difference. 

Same is true at your place, one employee can connect with the consumer, and they will feel good about your company because of what that one person does.  So let your employees know how valuable they are in the process of keeping customers.  Because they are.