Empty Seats, Premium Inventory and A Missed Opportunity

I read today that NBC Universal has hit the jackpot with their Summer Olympic coverage. the ratings are huge and they have generated over $1 billion in advertising. Just in the last week they have added an additional $10 million dollars to their coffers because they held back inventory in anticipation of big ratings and additional demand for TV ads.

This is in stark contrast to all the empty seats you see at the venues when you watch the events on television. I read that the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee is actually busing in volunteers to fill the seats so the events don't look so empty.

Allegedly, all of the events are sold out and the majority of tickets go to corporate sponsors who don't use them for the preliminary events.

It just strikes me as odd that NBC is breaking ratings and revenue records, yet the seats are empty for a world class event that only happens every four years.

I don't get it! If in fact the corporate sponsors have extra tickets, I think they missed an OLYMPIC size opportunity. They should have given the tickets to the locals or the tourists who traveled to China and did not have tickets to the events. All this would do is create good will for their brand. What could be so bad about that?

I can remember many times at the radio station when we have had extra tickets to a concert or sporting event at the last minute. We would always make sure that the tickets got used. We also made sure that the people who we gave the tickets to new they were from the radio station. It's just good PR!

What You Can Learn From Your Kids If You Pay Attention

School has started in Arizona and this morning I was signing last minute releases and forms for our eleven year old who started middle school. On one of the forms she needed to fill in her email address, she challenged me on that and said that she never uses her email any more. I found that very odd since she is on the computer almost as much as I am. She is my go to IT person at home because she knows how to use the computers and internet better than anyone.

I asked her why she doesn't use email and she told me that she text messages and uses AIM instead. Interesting.....

Tonight, I had to pick up my oldest from her first high school social. While at dinner, I sent her a text and asked if I could pick her up early. Of course, she said no and wanted to be picked up at nine. I texted back "OK". At nine, when I got to the school I sent her another text telling her I was in the parking lot waiting for her. She sent back a note saying she would be right there. We never talked on our cell phones to each other.

While in the car going home we were discussing how she was planning on getting home from school tomorrow. She told me that she was getting together with an older friend of hers who drives and that she thought she could pick her up and take her home. She then went on to say that when she got home she would talk to her friend on Facebook and firm things up and then let me know what her plans were.

Wait a second! My little one doesn't use email and my older one doesn't talk on the cell phone. But they both are big into text messaging and social networking (AIM, MySpace, Facebook) as a normal way of communicating. What's going on here?

Then I was reading Fred Jacobs Blog today titled "Email Is For Old People" and it all became crystal clear. In it he sites research from the Bedroom Study and Jupiter Research which states ..........

"The rise of social networking activity, coupled with texting and incessant cell phone use, has created a notable decrease in the use of email".

To top it all off, Fran signed up for Facebook today and added me as a friend. How ironic. I'm living this research.

My point is that conventional forms of communication are rapidly changing and becoming obsolete for the younger generation. As broadcasters and marketers we need to understand what is going on and be proactive. The reality is, as much as we want to believe that we know what is going on, we can learn a lot from our kids. Talking with my girls is like having daily mini focus groups. Kids today are on the cutting edge of technology and communications! Talking with them helps me become more relevant and understand how to best communicate with our listeners and customers.

Read Fred Jacobs Blog "Email Is For Old People" Here:
Read The Bedroom Study Here:
Read The Jupiter Study Here:

A Lesson In Brand Loyalty Up In The Air

I was in New York the beginning of the week visiting our national rep firm and clients. I had good meetings and it was a successful trip.

This was also the first time I had flown on US Air since they started charging for soft drinks and water. Boy, was this the topic of conversation on the plane, that along with the charges for checked baggage. The consensus from fellow passengers was that it stinks to have to pay for drinks and checked bags.

Personally, I would rather pay a few extra dollars up front and have the cost of a soft drink built into my ticket. As a business traveler who usually has to pay a premium for my ticket, I don't like being fleeced at forty thousand feet. I just feel violated, having to reach into my pocket when they ask me for two bucks for a can of Diet Coke, this after I just paid $400 for a airplane ticket. Call me crazy, it just bothers me. If they are going to charge on the plane, I think that they should comp their Elite travelers a free soft drink or water. Don't stick it to your best customers.

It will come as no surprise to you that I was talking about this at work the other day. Our Program Director, Beau Duran shared the following story with me. I asked him If I could put it on the blog. This is what Beau had to say.......

"On a recent flight from Chicago to Phoenix we were delayed leaving Midway because of storms in the area. We sat on the tarmac at Midway for over an hour before we were finally able to take off. Upon landing in Phoenix, we learned there had been a huge storm here knocking out power to the airport for a little bit. The power outage caused a domino effect that left all of the gates full in the terminal, thus we had nowhere to deplane. We sat on the runway at Sky Harbor for over an hour and a half waiting to get off the plane before we could finally get into a gate. We finally got off the plane after 2:30, more than 3 hours later than we should have.

To the best of my knowledge nobody on our plane seemed to upset. I think most people have come to think things like that are just part of traveling nowadays, at least that was the mindset I was in. Neither I nor the person I was traveling with made any sort of stink with airline employees. We just shrugged our shoulders and went about our business.

About a week later, I received a note in the mail from Southwest apologizing for the hassle and offering me a flight credit on a future flight. I thought it was a nice gesture and expected a 50 dollar credit or so. I was shocked to open it up and see a 200 dollar credit, more than enough for a roundtrip flight to anywhere on the West Coast. To say the least I was very pleasantly surprised.

When compared to the recent increase in fees from airlines for checked bags, pillows and blankets and even soda and water on US Airways, it is no wonder why Southwest is handily doing better than its competitors. That one move certainly gained my loyalty for a long time to come".

Beau Duran

Program Director

KAJM /KNRJ

Going The Extra Mile

As a teenager, I used to work in my father's card, gift and party supply store on Saturday's. The store would close at five 0'clock but I was always ready to leave at 4:45. At five o'clock, my father would lock the doors to the store and then check out the cash register, he'd place the money in a brown paper bag and bring it home to prepare the bank deposit. I was always excited when we were ready to leave.

Invariably, after the doors were locked and we were preparing to leave, a customer would knock on the door and want to come in to the store to buy something. My father would gladly unlock the door and welcome them in and help them. I, in-turn would get antsy and agitated. All I wanted to do was leave, go home and be with my friends.

I would ask my dad why he let them in after he had already closed the store? After all, the hours the store was open were clearly posted on the door. If it was after five, the store was closed, period.... end and we should go home! Right! Wrong!

My father taught me a valuable lesson about going the extra mile that I did not come to appreciate until many years later. He told me that you never new if that customer who came knocking on the door after the store closed would be the customer who would spend hundreds of dollars on wedding invitations, holiday cards a Cross pen or they needed party supplies for their church or school social. Either way, he was in business to serve his customers and he would do what ever he had to do to make them happy and earn their business.

And then it happened. A couple came knocking at the door after five. He let them in and we didn't leave until nine o'clock because he was writing up a big wedding invitation order (big sale, big margins). I remember how excited my father was driving home that night because that order probably made his week.

My father got it ( I didn't). He new that if he went the extra mile, he'd get the sale, get the referrals and have a customers for life.

Fast forward to this past Thursday evening. I walk down to the parking garage to find the front, driver side window on my new car smashed and sitting in the front seat. My new GPS and garage door opener were stolen. Needless to say, I was a little upset.

I go back up to my office and Google 24 hour auto glass repair businesses. It is now after six and I'm getting everyone's answering service. They all want to schedule an appointment for Friday sometime. I keep dialing because I'm sure that I can find someone to come out and fix the window that evening. I finally call Glass1One. Ray, the owner answers the phone. I tell him my tale of woe and he explains to me that I can call everyone in Phoenix and no one will be able to fix my window that evening, because no one stocks the glass. They all go to the same wholesale warehouses to get the windows and they all close at five.

Ray, then went on to say that he would be more than happy to be at the warehouse at six in the morning, pick up the window, be at my house before seven and have it replaced by 7:30. With that said, Ray and I get on a conference call with the people at State Farm Insurance to work out all the details for payment. We agree on everything and then Ray made a comment to me that reminded me of my father and the lesson I had learned from him many years ago.

Ray said....

"I was closed and just getting ready to leave and heard the phone ring and decided to answer it before I left."

Ahhh..... Ray gets it!! Ray went the extra mile! He didn't have to but he did! I appreciate it and I will let everyone know about it.

As promised, Ray showed up at the house at 6:45 in the morning, replaced the window and I was good to go.

Thanks Ray!

Going the extra mile is just smart business!

Be The Watchmaker

Both Fran and I come from a family of sellers. Fran's dad was was in the printing and office supply business in the garment center in New York. My father was in the greeting card, gift and party supply business in Chicago. I really believe that selling is in both of our bloods.

One thing that both my father and my father in law had in common was that they were both good story tellers. For many years I have affectionately called my father the "Watchmaker" because when you ask him a question you don't get an answer you get a story. You know the old saying, "If you ask him what time it is, he tells you how to make the watch." Thus, the "Watchmaker" moniker.

In retrospect, I see how my fathers "watchmaking" abilities made him successful in sales and business. My brother tells me that I have the gene and am carrying on the family tradition (I don't think he meant it as a compliment) and I have a bit of the "Watchmaker" in me. The truth is, as I get older, he is right.

I don't profess to be a great seller or a even a great story teller. Although, I do feel that a great story that is relevant to the presentation engages people, they remember you and it sets you apart from the pack. You stand out!

Paul Anovick recently highlighted former KOOL Radio, Phoenix General Manager and author, Brian Bielers's new book the Sales Operator. Paul's Blog entry is "We're Wired For Stories: Telling and Selling" Paul and Brian did a great job articulating the concept of telling stories and how it relates to sales. Paul goes on to say that....

"If you want to sell more, tell more tales. A good sales story stimulates the mind and engages people to conversation. If you are selling and people are not tuned to what you are saying, it's almost impossible to move them to action. Executives and world-class sellers tell stories to get people involved."

I'm reminded of a favorite quote from Michael Eisner. former head of Disney about story telling....

“At a certain level, what we do at Disney is very simple. We set our goals, inevitably fall short, try to learn from our mistakes, and hope that our success will continue to out number our failures. Above all we tell stories, in hope that they will entertain, inform and engage.”

Great story tellers are great sellers and leaders.... Be the Watchmaker!!

Are you a watchmaker or do you know any?

Read Paul's Blog here:

Brian Bieler, author of The Sales Operator, visit Brian’s website at www.brianbieler.com.

I Downgraded! ... Save Money on Gas

Over the weekend I Downgraded! I downgraded from a six-cylinder Infiniti to a four-cylinder Honda. I could not be happier. It is a great car that is very fuel efficient. Hopefully, I will get around thirty miles per gallon on average as opposed to the twenty (which is not bad) that I get on my Infiniti.

Evidently, I'm not the only one making the switch. J.D. Power reports that the auto market is shifting and that "smaller rides", four-cylinder vehicles had one of their strongest months on record during June.

Conversely, "In contrast, sales of eight-cylinder vehicles dropped industry-wide to just 13 percent in June, driven in part by a shift to six cylinder powertrains in the large sedan market," the report noted.

Read about it here:

Cars with poor gas mileage are having a huge impact on media sellers. With gas prices well over four dollars per gallon, the cost of doing business is increasing exponentially. More fuel efficient cars are the way to go.

Although, not everyone is in a position to buy a car right now. Here's a tip to save on gas.

Tip: Sellers need to be smarter about the way that they plan their day and week.

Sellers should divide the market into four quadrants (North, South, East and West). Each day they should focus on one quadrant and see clients and prospects in that area. For example, on Monday they should focus on the West side of town and Tuesday they should be on the North Side etc. This will eliminate huge drive-times between appointments and eliminate the need to drive back and forth across town wasting time and money on gas.

I'm reminded of the Five P's of selling that my friend Bruce Olson the National Sales Manager at Sandusky Radio in Phoenix always used to talk about.

"Poor Planing Promotes Poor Performance"

In today's economy, poor planning costs you MONEY in more ways than one!

UPDATE 7/21/08: I just filled up for the first time (regular not premium) and I'm getting 28 miles per gallon. Very Excited!!!

More Secrets to Selling.....

Harvey Mackay once again served up another list of powerful attributes that contribute to making us all extraordinary sellers. Here's another list to print up and display prominently. Look at it and practice them daily....they work!


The secrets of selling:
Believing something and convincing others
(reprinted with permission; harveymackay.com)

I've been a salesman my entire life, so I've learned a lot of sales secrets over the years. It's rare to be an entrepreneur or a CEO without being a salesperson. I'm often asked for my "sales secrets." I have plenty to share, but they're hardly secrets. Success follows lots of hard work.

Here is my list of secrets that every salesperson can benefit from.

• It's not how much it's worth; it's how much people think it's worth. Marketing is neither the art of selling nor the simple business of convincing someone to buy. It is the art of creating conditions by which the buyer convinces himself. And nothing is more convincing than hard evidence that others want the same thing.
• Knowing something about your customer is just as important as knowing everything about your product. If you're a regular reader of my books and columns, you know about the Mackay 66 Customer Profile. Knowing your customers means knowing what they really want. Maybe it's your product, but maybe it's something else too—recognition, respect, reliability, service or friendship.
• You are not important. Our challenge, whether we are salespeople or negotiators or managers or entrepreneurs, is to make others see the advantage to themselves in responding to our proposal. Understanding our subjects' personalities is vital. Let them shine. Our own personalities are subordinate.
• Your reputation is your greatest asset. While you, yourself, are not important, your reputation is. It's not product, price or service. Everything flows from your reputation—customer loyalty, referrals and more.
• Apply the law of large numbers. Position yourself as Number Two to every prospect on your list, and keep adding to that list. I can promise you that if your list is long enough, there are going to be Number Ones that fail to perform, retire or die or lose their territories for many reasons. What I can't tell you is which ones. If you're standing second in line, in enough lines, sooner or later you're going to move up to Number One.
• Short notes yield long results. I'm amazed by how many salespeople don't write thank you notes. It's all a matter of personal recognition and courtesy, just as important as remembering names and taking a personal interest in people. And it's not just for sales.
• Keep your eye on your time, not on your watch. A salesperson really has nothing to sell but her time. Her product exists independently of anything she adds to it. Her personality will win her or lose her accounts initially, but if she isn't around to provide service and be accessible to customers, she'll lose those accounts.
• Position yourself as a consultant. The mark of a good salesperson is that his customer doesn't regard him as a salesperson at all, but a trusted and indispensable adviser, an auxiliary employee who, fortunately, is on someone else's payroll.
• Believe in yourself, even when no one else does. Who says you're not tougher, smarter, better, harder working, more able than your competition? It doesn't matter if they say you can't do it. The only thing that matters is if you say it.
• If you don't have a destination, you'll never get there. Everybody and every business needs a set of basic goals and beliefs, but most of us are seat-of-the-pants, one-day-at-a-time operators. Our goals are fuzzy and our plans for achieving them non-existent. Goals don't have to be elaborate either, just realistic.
• Practice positive visualization. I have found this to be one of the most powerful means of achieving personal goals. It's what an athlete does when he comes on to the field to kick a winning field goal with three seconds on the clock and 60,000 screaming fans and millions more watching on TV. Great athletes and businesspeople have the ability to visualize themselves in successful situations.
• Ask for the order. It's amazing what you don't get when you don't ask. An insurance agent whom he had known for many years, once asked the famous automobile pioneer Henry Ford why he never got any of Ford's business. "You never asked me," Ford replied.

Mackay's Moral: Tell me, and I will forget; show me, and I may remember; but involve me, and I'll understand.

Go the Extra Mile

Dan Kelly of the Classicrockfm Blog featured a post and commented on an entry from Seth Godin's Blog.

When you least expect it

I sent in a t-shirt order to customink a few weeks ago.

Three days later, I got a note from someone named Lori that said,

"Hi Seth,

I noticed that you have designed shirts that appear to be for a charity event. If that’s the case, CustomInk would love to make a small donation to your team or to the charity itself on your behalf.

Please let me know if your order is for one of these events. If you would like us to pitch in and support your cause, please include information about your charity event, a link if you have one or the organization’s name if there is no link to a team web page."

That's it. No policy, no standard operating procedure, no promise in advance. Just plain generosity.

It turns out that customink does this as a matter of course, regardless of whether the customer has a blog or not. They don't do it as an inducement, they just do it.

Formula: The value of a perk is inversely related to the expectation of that perk.

Dan's comments......

How could this be applied at your radio station? I mentioned here months ago about having members of your airstaff calling a few different listeners in your database to thank them for listening.

Dave Martin took it further by suggesting the airstaff do the same with advertisers.

What if your station did this with community organizations too? "Hi, this is Bob Morning Jock at WXXX. I noticed that your organization is doing X. I'd love to know more so I can talk about it on the air."

Unexpected. And who do you think that organization might contact when they're planning something really big?

Just a thought.

My thoughts......Seth and Dan bring up good points. Make your clients and your listeners feel special. Genuinely let them know that you appreciate them and that you are on their team. Provide them with "real" added value with out a catch or a premium.

We make it a point at the station to support our clients philanthropic efforts. Not because it is good for business but as broadcasters, it is the right thing to do. It helps the community!!!

Good News!

Good News on the fire front. We had a lot of rain up north this weekend and it pretty much extinguished the fire.

Debbie Maneely of the Prescott National Forest said today......

"Continued moisture and high humidity have sufficiently lowered fire danger levels throughout the Prescott National Forest allowing officials to lift current fire restrictions on Wednesday, July 9 at 6 a.m."

Read the entire press release here.

In total over 9,000 acres were burned, four residences, four outbuildings and one commercial structure were destroyed. Get all the details on the fire here.

A Big Thanks to our engineers, Robert Reymont, Clayton Creekmore and Michael Day for going above and beyond this past week to insure that we were on the air during the fire.

Update:

Due to efforts to reduce hazards and open roads, firefighters have had greater access to the interior of the burned area which has led to the discovery of more structures lost. To date, five residences, twelve outbuildings, and one commercial structure have been destroyed.

Sales Tip From Eleanor Roosevelt

From today's Justsell.com comes a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt that goes hand in hand with my post from Wednesday, June 25, "The Closer to Number One, The Closer We Are to The Money".

"Never let anyone tell you no who doesn't have the power to say yes."

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)
U.N. diplomat, humanitarian, U.S. first lady

Keep Your Fingers Crossed

It has been an anxious couple of days at the radio station.

Our new KAJM transmitter site, high atop the Bradshaw Mountains, just north west of Phoenix in the Prescott National Forest is only a mile or two away from the Lane 2 forest fire. Our site is in a lush pine forest. It takes about three ours to get there from our studios in Scottsdale, this is due to the treacherous four wheel drive road that you have to traverse to get there.

The fire was started by a lost hiker who lit a signal fire. Unfortunately the fire got out of control. To date, seven buildings and 7,300 hundred acres have been destroyed. The entire town of Crown King (population 400) has been evacuated. Due to the many canyons and rugged mountains and monsoon weather conditions, this is a difficult fire to contain. After almost four days the fire is only 5% contained.


View Larger Map

The forest service has done a tremendous job keeping the fire out of Crown King and away from the two communications sites that are above the town. Those sites are home to FM radio stations, two-way, pager, long distance and cell phone companies along with local, federal and municipal government communication installations, the FAA and more.

The forest service has also done a terrific job of keeping us informed of their progress in fighting the fire. They have mobilized their team and communicated to us personally over the phone and directly via email as well.

Even though forest service has evacuated the area and closed all roads except for fire, forest and emergency use, they have granted us access so we can get to our site for maintenance and ensure that we stay on the air (APS shut down the power grid up there).

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they get a handle on the fire so it doesn't spread our way or towards Crown King and that there is no loss of life and property damage is kept to a minimum.

I know that there are a lot of anxious people out there like us. We are very grateful to the forest service and fire fighters that have come from all over to help fight this fire.

Thanks!!!

Here is a link to the Prescott National Forest Service where you can read their updates on the fire, http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/prescott/

Click here to read what the the Arizona Republic is reporting. Fire raging near Crown King up to 7,300 acres

Watch a report from AP Here:



Watch a report from KPNX TV Here:

Be Nice to Everyone

I have this theory about successful radio personalities. It also goes for entertainers and Business leaders as well. As I look back on my life and think of all of the the radio personalities that have achieved great sustained success, for the most part, they all have one thing in common. That is, they are all involved with the community and they make time for their fans.

They might raise toys for kids around the holidays or do food drives, shoe drives, they are the spokesperson for a charity, or they champion a cause. What ever it is, they take their notoriety and influence and give back to the community. They are also the ones who recognize that if it were not for the fans they would not have a job. They go out of their way to meet them, greet them and talk with them and make them feel special.

Today in Fred Jacobs' Blog, he highlights a story written by ESPN.com writer Matthew Berry talking about his first job out of college. Berry was working at FOX TV with the late George Carlin on his sitcom. Berry remembers what a great guy Carlin was and how he would gratefully take the time to autograph pictures and memorabilia for fans. When asked why he did it, Carlin responded......

"I always do it. No matter what. Look, it's 30 seconds out of my life. And now those people had a good experience. And the next time my name comes up, for the rest of their lives, they'll say 'Yeah, I met Carlin once. He was nice.' I'd much rather that than a lifetime of 'Yeah, I bought all that guy's albums and then he wouldn't even sign my hat. That guy was a jerk.' Thirty seconds for a lifetime? I'll do that every time."

Fred went on to comment......

"George Carlin understood a lot about the human condition and what made people laugh - and think. But he also had a keen sense of what entertainers bring to the lives of fans, and the relationships that are created in the process. In our world of radio, these relationships still matter, and in fact, are very much a part of our "secret sauce."

George got it! So do Matthew and Fred!

Read Fred's Blog Here.
Read Matthew Berry's story about George Carlin Here.

For us broadcasters, we remember Carlin for something else, "The Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say On Radio or TV". To this day I still have them memorized!

Watch it here. Be careful if you are in the office or kids are around.

The Closer to Number One, The Closer We Are to The Money

Sales trainer, author and Phoenix broadcast veteran Jim Taszarek has an interesting perspective on how to maintain and grow radio revenues in a tough economy.

Here is what he had to say in his recent "Quota Busters" Newsletter.

"We’re just paying the price of a few fat years. When times are good we fall back into the delusion that the big money is Agency. We’re repeating history of "There are no Ups - Up." My darlings, when will we learn? Avail money is the Easy, and as we’re again seeing, very Temporary Money.

The BIG money is in Local Direct. The more Face-to-Face selling we do with decisions makers, the more we’ll sell. It's more often billing that sticks to the wall. The more we work through an intermediary or a third party, the less control we have – and when times turn, even a little, we get whacked. This applies to 90% of the businesses in the world.

Buyers and Agencies don’t create budgets. Some other guy determines that, and THAT'S where we should be spending our energy. The further we are from the top - the further we are from significant and manageable billing. The closer to Number One, the closer we are to the money. Simple".

Jim is 100% correct. In order to succeed in sales, especially in this business climate, sellers need to get back to the basics, work smart, present great ideas and most importantly get face-to-face with the #1 decision makers.

You can subscribe to Jim's "Quota Busters" News Letter here.

Lesson Learned Part 2

Turn around is only fair!

Less than a week after shooting off a letter to US Airways regarding my treatment on a recent flight, I was pleasantly surprised by a note I received from their customer relations department.

They were very apologetic about the incident and appreciated my feedback. Furthermore, they offered Fran, myself and the girls travel vouchers as a gesture of good faith and to "convey their apologies".

I expected a letter. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect a travel voucher.

You have to give it up to US Airways. They took a page right out of the customer service handbook and confronted the situation head on and did the right thing to try and make things right.

Thanks US Air. I appreciate it!

Lesson Learned

Being very big on customer service, we just got back from our summer vacation and I wanted to share this story with you. We were very fortunate this summer and went on a cruise in Europe for seven days. We took the girls and had a great time.

On the way over we flew US Air. Fran and I are both Elite flyers with them, Fran a Gold and me a Silver. We flew from Phoenix to Philadelphia and then on to Athens. More than eighteen hours on the plane.

Our flight to Athens was delayed three hours due to mechanical problems. I understand this, I sure don't want to be over the Atlantic and have there be problems. Although, We were a bit frustrated that we had to stay on the plane the entire time that they were fixing the problem.

Fran and I sat together and were separated by a few rows from the girls. This is were the story gets better.

Every hour or so, Fran or I would get up and check on the girls to make sure that they were doing OK. Towards the end of the flight, I was standing in the aisle leaning over talking to the girls when a flight attendant intentionally elbowed me in the back and told to go back to my seat. I looked at her and explained that I was checking on my girls and asked her why she was being so rude to me. She then lashed out at me in the middle of the cabin in front of my children and the group that we were traveling with. She yelled at me and called me a "Goof-ball and a Hideous human being". (I've been called worse) I'm not embellishing or exaggerating, she was yelling at me at the top of her lungs and everyone in the cabin was watching!

Needless to say, I was very surprised by her action. My initial response was to give her a piece of my mind but the thought of being escorted off the plane and thrown in a Greek jail when we landed was not the way I wanted to start my vacation. I calmly suggested to her that it was people like me that ultimately paid her salary and went I went back to my seat for the last hour of the flight. I should have kept my mouth shut, bit my tongue and walked away, but I was tired and frustrated at the way I was being treated. I did nothing wrong. I did what every parent would do. The seat belt sign was off and all I wanted to do was check on the girls. Don't lash out at me and call me names in front of my friends and most importantly my kids!

Further more, I don't know what was going on with the crew on this flight, by enlarge they were all pretty cranky. This is not what they promote in their new trans-Atlantic Envoy service.

Conversely, on the remaining flights back home the flight attendants were great and both of our flights arrived early.

So here is the lesson learned. We had four flight segments on US Air. Three of them the service was great. One of them the service was horrendous. When you look back at this post, how much time was devoted to the positive service versus the inferior service? When I talk about my summer vacation, do you think I'm going to be talking about the good service or the bad service on US Air?

Finally, If you want to learn about customer service that goes over the top, read about Crystal Cruise lines. US Air could learn a lesson from them.


My father always taught me that there are two rules in business.

Rule #1) The Customer is Always Right
Rule #2) See Rule #1

The lesson learned, Don't be rude to your customers, It's bad for business!!!