A Tale of Two Airlines

So I've got some time to kill here in the Charlotte airport. The Delta counter agent just refused to put me on an earlier flight back home, even though that flight had open seats. The reason? My original ticket involved a connection, and I wanted to switch to a direct flight, and "the computer won't let me make that change." So I'll get home 4 hours later than I could have, based on some curious policy.

And that reminds me of a story.

A few weeks ago, my father told me of a terrific experience he had with Southwest Airlines. After booking a flight, he saw a better price advertised on an identical route. He called Southwest and asked if they would honor the new, lower price. Sure, they replied; just go to the website and follow the steps to make the change. My father replied that he's not the most web-savvy gentleman in the Midwest. So the customer service rep actually stayed on the phone with him to walk him through the online changes, remaining courteous and patient all the while. Dad, as is his wont, then called her supervisor with his thanks.

Days later, the following happened to me:

I called Delta to make a same-day change from a later flight to an earlier flight. Nothing too unusual there, except that, for whatever reason, the customer service rep also elected to cancel the next 2 legs on that ticket. This was never discussed in any way. So I didn't find out until days later, when I arrived at O'Hare for the next leg, that my ticket had been canceled.

Fine. When you're dealing with humans, there will be human error. But errors can be fixed, right?

Apparently not. I called the customer service number, and the rep told me that she could put me back on the original flight, but at an additional cost of $600+. I told her I didn't understand why I should be meant to pay, when the mistake was not mine, and she got a little belligerent.

I asked her for what possible reason I would arrive at O'Hare if I had previously intended to cancel that flight; her response: "I don't know you, you don't know me."

I asked what right the original rep had to cancel the remainder of my ticket, when we never discussed it at all; her response: "If you didn't want the rest of your ticket canceled, you should have said so."

This is what 600,000 lifetime miles with Delta gets you.

When the rep wouldn't transfer me to her supervisor, I called another Delta service number. This next rep was much more helpful, but the total time of the two calls (40+ minutes) caused me to miss the next flight, which in turn almost made me late for the client event to which I was headed.

That would be the end of the story, but for this:

Afterwards, when I wrote a formal letter of complaint to Delta, their method of resolution was a $100 voucher for future travel. However, as I also informed them in my complaint, when the first rep cancelled and re-issued my ticket, I was charged $91 that I should not have been charged. Put another way, Delta estimates the cost of their error, and the trouble it caused me, to be exactly NINE DOLLARS.

This is not just a venting session (though I'll admit a mild level of catharsis). There's a lesson here for all of us.

The difference between Southwest and Delta could be the difference between your brand and your competitor's - in either direction. There are policy and personal decisions that are shaping your brand experience, even as I write this. Front-line staff are making dozens (or hundreds, or thousands) of daily choices that define your brand in the minds of your customers.

How do you know those decisions are the right ones?

Inspect your brand from top to bottom. Turn over every stone. Find those policies, decisions and moments that may be driving your customers away.

Then fix them.

Less Can Be More

A young brand manager faces his vice-president of marketing, ready to present the first strategic plan he has ever created. He is nervous, but also confident in the fact that he has done a thorough job. The two fat binders that sit on the veep's desk are proof of this.

The brand manager launches into his spiel. His presentation is a dazzling, overstuffed collection of words and pictures. Charts follow graphs. Data tables precede other, more complex data tables. At one point, the young man sets a world record for "most words crammed into a single PowerPoint slide, ever."

The meeting, which was meant to be a half-hour in length, crosses the 60-minute mark. But the brand manager forges ahead, certain that his boss is impressed by the flurry of information. (The veep's body language is apparently not registering.)

Finally, the young man concludes his presentation. He takes a deep breath and asks his superior if he has any questions. There is a pause.

"Just two," comes the reply. "What does this all mean? And what the hell should we do now?"

The brand manager had made an all-too-common mistake. He gathered a boatload of facts, but failed to find the story in them. He failed to simplify.

More years ago than I care to mention, I was the brand manager in this tale. And that afternoon's events taught me one of the most profound lessons of my business career: Namely, that simplicity is critical to most brand successes.

I'm not saying that some business challenges aren't complex. But the ability to simplify, to clarify, to find a simple, compelling thread, is often what separates a great brand leader from the rest.

It's not enough to just generate data. Certainly, the more good information you have, the better your decisions should be. But once that data is gathered, it's your task, as a brand leader, to make sense of it all – and then to make clear what must happen next. That's what strategy is.

You don't build brands by yourself. The sales team, the purchasing department, your customer service reps, your agency partners – all of these (and many more) will have a hand in the success or failure of your initiatives. So when you simplify, these partners are better able to help you.

Specifically, simplicity results in:

Ease of understanding – When you can clearly communicate what needs to happen and why, others can quickly grasp it (and share it with others, as they often must).

Focused execution – Simplicity enables your team to prioritize, and to make better decisions against these priorities.

Greater motivation – Confusion is not an energizer. To the extent that you can make clear the vision and the key action steps, your team will be more motivated to turn them into reality.

Later in my career, I once attended a company meeting in which the president presented, to his 80 employees, a corporate strategic plan with 19 key strategies. Nineteen! People can't remember that many ideas, let alone do 19 things well. And there is no scenario in which 19 strategies should have equal priority. The president had failed to choose and to clarify.

These days, I strive to define a client's entire brand strategy on a single page. Sure, there may be dozens of pages of support behind it, but at the end of it all, the core brand strategy must be that concise if I want my clients to act on it.

I challenge you to do the same. If you can capture your current situation, your desired future, and the steps from here to there on a single page, you've done a good job of simplifying. (No cheating – 12-point type or larger only!)

In closing, I leave you with something else my VP stated on that fateful afternoon: "If you can't simplify it… you haven't understood it."

Want to bring your brand to a higher level of clarity and simplicity? Find out how we can help at www.ThreeDeuce.com.

A version of this post appeared in the Business Courier of Cincinnati column "That Branding Thing" on September 18, 2009, and appears here with permission.

Cincinnati Chamber event - Oct. 8 - "Finding Difference in the Sameness Era"

Members of the Cincinnati Chamber, I will be the guest speaker at the Oct. 8 Sales & Marketing Luncheon. The topic: "Finding Difference in the Sameness Era."

We'll answer the question, "When it seems like every brand is the same in a crowded market, how can mine stand out?" We'll explore:

* 5 focused areas to help you define your brand's difference

* 6 key reminders to help you create and live your difference for years to come

* Real-world examples from brands big & small

I'd love to see your smiling face there. For more info and to sign up, please click this link.

A Simple Time-Saving Tip

For many of us, our time is our true inventory. So we need to manage and invest it carefully. Late last year, I wrote a post on this topic, "Respect Your Time in 2009." Today's post is a follow-up of sorts; I'd like to share a simple time-saver that's worked for me.

When you open a company, your contact information magically (and surprisingly quickly) ends up on all kinds of direct-mail and calling lists. To the extent that you elevate your company's profile - for instance, by appearances in the local press - this problem is compounded.

Recently, in response to a wave of cold-calls, I changed the recorded message on my business voice-mail to say, in part:

"...If you would like your call returned, please leave your name, number and the reason for your call..."

I used to respond to every voice-mail message, until it became clear that there was a reason that some people ignored my instructions to leave a reason for their call. About 90% of the time, such callers were salespeople who were simply dialing for dollars. They didn't know the first thing about me or my company, so they were trying to sell me something I didn't need. In other words, they were going to waste my time. The other 10% of the time, it was a networker or job-seeker with really lousy listening skills (not a great way to begin the relationship).

Now, when I receive these vague, mysterious messages - "Hi, Matthew, this is Joe Dokes. Can you call me back at 555-1234? Thanks." - I simply delete and move on.

This small change to my voice-mail has saved me time and nuisance; perhaps it will work for you as well.

Your time is valuable. Respect it. And don't tolerate those who don't.