Tom Greer, airport director at Monterey, CA (MRY) is one of my favorite people in the aviation world. Like me, Tom is from a suburb of Birmingham (BHM). Unlike me, Tom has at his disposal a litany of Southern sayings that are deeper in meaning than you might at first realize. One of my favorites of these is, "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."
The first time I heard Tom say this, I wondered out loud whether this knowledge was the result of some deranged but detailed experiment he had conducted while a student at Auburn University - you know, something to pass the time until football season. After a few minutes, though, I realized that what Tom meant was that when you are trying to persuade someone to do something, and you have a choice of doing it either in an unpleasant way or in a pleasant way, the pleasant way is almost always more effective.
I was reminded of this last week, while on vacation in Europe. I had bought tickets on one of the relatively new low fare airlines whose choice of name implies that, by the time they started flying, all the really good airline names were already taken. Anyway, the flight attendants were doing their safety announcements, and pretty much nobody was paying attention. The head flight attendant, realizing this, addressed us in that tone of voice I reserve for when I am really annoyed with my children (every parent will know what I mean). "These announcements are for your benefit, not ours." Wow! May I have little oil with that vinegar? What next - listen because I said so?
Two thoughts immediately came to mind. First, I could not imagine the "traditional" airline that birthed this low fare subsidiary making such an announcement on its "mainline" flights. They wouldn't dare, but since we were low fare customers on their low fare offspring, it was somehow okay, they seemed to think, to treat us like children.
Second, I could not help comparing this experience to the humor I have so often witnessed our own Flight Attendants and other Customer-contact Employees choose in similar situations - honey as opposed to vinegar. I was suddenly very aware of how much our brand image is dependent less on our advertising, color scheme, or even fares than it is on how our Employees treat our Customers at the point of contact. I was at that moment quietly happy and proud to be an Employee of Southwest, where we offer fares low enough that you can afford them even if you are a child, but don't we don't treat you like one.
