Brian
wrote this piece just about a year ago. The title became the basis for a live presentation we have given throughout this
past year on a variety of topics including branding, marketing and
communication, sales and creative thinking.
—-
“Good morning, folks, my name is Brian Marsh and I’m your first officer on today’s flight out to Aruba [pauses amid chuckles].
How many people on this plane have never flown jetBlue before? Great, how about you stand up and tell us a little bit about yourselves?
Seriously, I’m grateful you’re on board with us this morning. We’ve got some tailwinds, so our flight time out to D.C. will be a quick four hours and thirty minutes. And all reports indicate a smooth ride.
Sit back and enjoy the jetBlue experience – and thanks again”
I was headed out to Washington from Oakland on a jetBlue flight last week.
The screen in front of me had already told me I “look good in leather” – the material covering my seat – and commended me for being a “good screen reader”. Now the first officer had come out of the cockpit to greet us, joke around a bit, and tell us what to expect.
The week before I had flown from Houston to Oakland on Continental. My seat smelled of body odor. The flight attendants were surly. My tray table restricted my breathing. I arrived home with a sore back and headed straight for the shower.
The guy flying the plane could have made me feel a little better about this, but he chose not too. He remained, as most pilots remain, a leaden voice coming through the squawk box, distant and unconcerned.
I hate Continental. I love JetBlue.
Brokers, it’s time for you to get out of the cockpit too. Times are tough. People are hurting. They’re angry, and unsure.
It’s been a long flight and the peanuts aren’t helping.
How often do you, your office mangers or your VPs, personally greet clients in your office? How often do you call buyers to congratulate them upon closing? Or send them a handwritten note?
Do you speak candidly and sympathetically to your customers about the challenges facing home buyers and sellers? Or do you remain ensconced in the soundproof cockpit of the executive suite and let your marketing department do the talking?
Have you lent humor to your interactions with sellers? Or are you still hoping to still the anxious minds in your market with postcards?
All this buzz about blogs? It’s not about technology: it’s about you, your voice, and a conversation you need to be having with your customers.
I know. There are reasons to stay put. You don’t want to edge in on agent relationships. You don’t want exposure to criticism. Let me tell you something: When you speak to your customers with a human voice you are forgiven for your mistakes. JetBlue botched hundreds of flights and stranded a hundred and fifty passengers on the tarmac at JFK for nine hours last winter in an operational meltdown. People gave them the flack they deserved and went on loving the company.
Get out there. Hold a town hall meeting. Spend 20k to hire a top shelf economist or personal finance expert to help your customers navigate a challenging economy. Give them the data they need, however ugly it may be.
Speak frankly. Be open. Push yourself to communicate in new ways. Take a look at this. I know — it’s far from perfect. And the opening video is filled with cant. But he’s trying. He’s left the cockpit. He’s telling us what to expect and injecting his brand with a dose of humanity.
I know a lot of smart brokers. People who’ve been through rough times before and have a genuine passion for helping people. Trouble is, they don’t have – or don’t think they have – the moves in them to pull something like this off. I think they underestimate themselves. The tools are there. It’s what Web 2.0 is all about.
Get out of the cockpit and face the crowd. It’ll make everyone feel better.
– Brian Boero
Sign up for the 1000watt Spotlight e-newsletter
and keep up with the ideas, apps and people that are changing real estate.
20 Tools to Bring your Real Estate Business to the Cloud
A mist of difference
Freaking...
Brian, I couldn’t agree with you more I have said it a million times in my training classes “for hundred of years selling real estate is about shaking hands and making friends the only thing technology does is allow the agent/broker to shake more hands and make more friends” giving the consumer a more personal experience with technology only solidifies your message as an agent/broker.
Brian. Bulls Eye. During my interview as a JetBlue pilot, the HR folks barraged me with flying-related questions, of course, but also hit me with a barrage of customer service queries. Both here and at my previous corporate flying job, I have always ascribed to the theory that I am in a service industry that happens to be involved with flying airplanes. The more "high tech" the world gets, the more we have to keep our focus on people. Rock On…
Tim
Tim -
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I agree with your "service" approach. Funny thing is, it often doesn't take much to make a big difference. The pilot took less than a minute to make everyone feel a little better about the often dehumanizing experience of commercial flying these days.
The small human touches are priceless.
Brian
JetBlue’s 36 channels of DIRECTV(r) service is not available on flights outside the continental United States; however, where applicable, FOX InFlight(tm) is offered complimentary on these routes. FOX InFlight is a trademark of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. JetBlue’s in-flight entertainment is powered by LiveTV, a wholly owned subsidiary of JetBlue.
It's the same for Realtors and "their personal cockpit." It might be that a Realtor hides behind their computer and page one ranking to solely rely on Internet generated leads. It might be the Realtor whose sole gift is that of gab on the phone. For all of us, it's our comfort zone. My New Year's transformation will be to get out from under my comfort zone and boldly go where I have not gone before.
Bingo Brian- even a year later
The best innovations are not necessarily technology.
Better ways of communicating with customers, understanding customers and addressing their needs may have nothing to do with technology (other than perhaps as a conduit)but it may be the best innovation one makes all year
Hi,
I agree with your service approach. Funny thing is, it often doesn't take much to make a big difference.
Brian. Bulls Eye. During my interview as a JetBlue pilot, the HR folks barraged me with flying-related questions, of course, but also hit me with a barrage of customer service queries. Both here and at my previous corporate flying job, I have always ascribed to the theory that I am in a service industry that happens to be involved with flying airplanes. The more "high tech" the world gets, the more we have to keep our focus on people. Rock On…
Tim