I was boarding a US domestic JetBlue flight from West Palm Beach to New York and there was already an announcement at the gate long before boarding that the entertainment system will not work during the flight due to a technical problem – nothing I consider to be a real issue, especially not on a two hours flight.
Apparently this must be an issue for some passengers, because the crew mentioned this again when everybody was seated. Now, how could the leading stewardess could have said this? Here’s an example: “Ladies and gentlemen, our entertainment system doesn’t work today due to a technical problem. We apologize for any inconvenience.” Message delivered. Period.
The JetBlue language was different: “Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please. I have good news and bad news for you. First the bad news: Our entertainment system doesn’t work today due to a technical problem. Now the good news: You have more time to talk to the person sitting next to you which is special, because we tend to do this not too often any more. And I’ll be with you; we will go through this together.“ Everyone laughed. Moreover a $15 refund was offered that was automatically sent via email as a rebate on future flights.
The leading stewardess built on this when we landed in New York: “Welcome to New York, we hope you had a pleasant flight and everyone has made a new friend today.” Again: Laughter.
Wasn’t that great language? What do YOU do in YOUR company to encourage your employees to use language that is friendly, customer oriented and still to the point?
Sometimes we can learn just by listening to other’s best practices.
Yours,
Guido Quelle
(c) 2011, Prof. Dr. Guido Quelle, Mandat Managementberatung GmbH
Schlagworte: best practice, Growth, Guido Quelle, JetBlue, Language, Mandat Consulting Group, Mandat Managementberatung, Wachstum
I love this story, Guido. Little touches like this turn the mundane into the memorable!
Yes, and it is so easy. As always: This is about leadership and about hiring the right people.
Guido,
Thanks for sharing your great story and example that good things happen when management thinks, hires great people anmd empowers them.
It was great to spend time with you and learn from you at the Thought Leadership conference in Florida.
Phil Symchych
http://www.symcoandco.com
Thanks as well for the valuable discussion, Phil, as always. It’s good to hang around with smart people in order to improve our clients’s condition.
Guido,
How great that the airline’s announcement stuck with you.
JetBlue is known for being the “cool” airline, and because it had the right flight attendant in the right place at the right time, the company successfully expressed extended its brand even in — and especially in — their “Uh-oh!” message. You captured the company’s essence perfectly.
Hope you had a smooth flight home from the thought leadership conference, and that you’ll let us know when you’ve posted your first English video online.
In NY I recognized that JetBlue is positioned as the “home town airline” or something similar. I also posted a tweet why it can be possible that a low cost carrier like JetBlue is able to offer more space in coach on domestic flights (at a small additional fee) as Lufthansa is offering in domestic and even European business class flights. They seem to do some things right.
Will keep you posted about the video.
[...] For a great story about my friend Guido’s recent trip and what happens when the video monitors don’t work, check out his blog article. [...]