Herman: John L. Herman Jr., Author

Soar with SPIRIT

My wife and I drove down to BWI airport on January 1st to pick up a magazine, not to catch a flight. The lines were long and the people traveling looked tired and grumpy, so when we got to the SOUTHWEST employee directing traffic she was startled that we asked for a magazine and not a ticket.

That worker was swamped and she could have said please come back later when we are not so crowded…or she could have said order a copy on line…but she didn’t. She waved to her supervisor, Dave, who was juggling activity at the ticket counters where at least two dozen agents checked bags and swished people on their way to security to make their flights. Dave stopped and listened to our request and simply replied, “It may take me a few minutes but I will get you one.” Again, we were not brushed aside, though we were not spending a dime with SOUTHWEST, nor traveling anywhere. Twice he called down to the airplane side of the terminal and asked someone to bring up a copy of SPIRIT MAGAZINE from a plane. They had their hands full and didn’t respond right away. They couldn’t see the way my face begged Dave to get me a copy.

After a short while Dave decided to leave his post, busy as it was, and provide customer service to someone who at that moment wasn’t even a customer, just a guy asking for a free copy of his company monthly magazine. When he returned he handed me the January edition of SPIRIT magazine and he even apologized for the delay. That, my friends is customer service. And that is why SOUTHWEST makes money. Their employees care about their customers.

But why was I so aggressive in pursuing a copy of the magazine on the first day of its issue? Because there on page 36 is a picture of me sitting in my 1949 Chevy Pick-up truck under an article they write monthly called “The Knowledge.” And so I have landed on my first lily-pad of the New Year. An article in a magazine that will be seen by thousands of travelers every day this month. I don’t know which lily-pad will come next but my PR guru assures me he will use this to hop to an even better pad as we try to cross the pond and get to more book sales and more speaking engagements.

• Posted: 3 January 2008
• Comments: 0
• Category: Business success

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