I find myself in a far away land a long time past. The first grade classroom is simple, lit only by the natural light that enters through the louvered windows. I stick out in the room, everyone else is brown-skinned with dark hair. I wish I could fit in by wearing chinelas (flip-flops) like all of my classmates, but I can’t stand the contrast of all of their normal looking brown feet against mine which are white, so I hide them in covered shoes for most of my life. I stick out in every way.

I remembered being called to the chalkboard to write the number 6 in my first grade class and I proceeded to write an extra-large 6. I was new to the school, and our family was new in town. The class laughed at the American kid who wrote the super huge 6 on the board. I couldn’t understand why it was funny. I got my first pair of glasses that year and I wonder if this was connected to my inability to read the smaller print on the chalkboard from my seat. A logical reason, but a painful experience for me, the student. Thousands of seconds and miles separate the present from that day.

My mind enters the fourth grade classroom at the school where I broke my right arm in the first week of classes. It’s a new school, modern and I easily fade into the fabric of the other boys and girls. In some respects I fade in, in others I do not. Mom and Dad’s assignment was located too far from school leaving boarding school as the only option. Sunday, Mom and Dad left us; classes started Monday and by the beginning of recess on Tuesday my arm was broken. I had to switch to writing left handed; that didn’t go well. We were assigned to work in our work books filling in blanks and writing answers. I don’t know how the workbook got to the teacher. I distinctly remember how it was returned to me. I was called to the teacher’s desk. Frustrated that my left-hand writing was so illegible, the teacher threw the workbook at me in exasperation. I was crushed.  At a new school. In boarding, living away from my parents for the first time, only seeing them on weekends. As an 8 year old. While also trying to figure what responsibility I should bear in caring for my brother going through the same parental separation experience. He was 5. That paperback work book carried exponential crushing power. My memory fades back into the present.

This week, I’ve been called out by a classmate and the instructor in front of my work group. In addition, the instructor has publicly criticized our group’s response by addressing his comments to me in a public forum. And, while emphasizing in words, a desire for every student to interact with the instructor regularly, the actions have indicated to the contrary that my viewpoints and contribution are unwelcome and invalid. I have not been asked to clarify statements, explain myself, nor have I received any inquiry as to whether something might be triggering whatever of my actions others have found to be an affront to them. Instead, I’ve been humiliated and bullied. I want to convince myself that it doesn’t matter, that I’m fine and it doesn’t affect me. My lack of confidence was evident as I tried to engage in the latest meeting on a work project. I felt the fear of possible rejection underline every comment I voiced and the sharp edge of the response because of my wounded state. No, it has affected me.

Please use this to renew your passion for the students entrusted to your classrooms. From our conversations, you care. But I also hear the weariness creep in to your voice, because it takes such a high toll on every level. You can’t give up on them! I needed someone inquire more to uncover what was behind the ginormous 6. I needed someone to care when I broke my arm, to see the bigger picture. Don’t fall into the trap of viewing your students as widgets on the assembly line, they need you to invest in them, to see the broader context of their life. I beg you not to give up. Renew your strength to get back to caring for them.

I’ve heard someone say, “You have something super important and special to give in this world. It is going to be really hard to share that, to get it out. Please don’t give up on what it is we need from you. We need whatever you have. Please water and feed that little voice inside you that needs to come out. Don’t shy away from that, don’t give up.” -Andy Grammer

Funny thing is, as I reflected on the monument the song serves in my life and how it might be a good topic to explore here, I can’t recall the title or lyrics of the song. Go figure. Without a doubt, next time I hear it, I’ll be reminded of that moment in my life again.

All along, the airline’s check-in policy is that passengers need to be at the airport, checked-in, no later than 30-minutes before departure. When there’s only two or three people on a flight 10-15 minutes is sufficient, so in the early days, the check-in policy wasn’t needed, “we’ll depart when you show up”. After consistently delivering that product for over a year, unconsciously, the airline established a benchmark. The benchmark transformed into a customer expectation. And now that the service is busier and the schedule tighter, the airline needs passengers to check-in 30-minutes before departure. The airline needs to enforce its check-in policy to operate smoothly while the customer maintains the expectation  and habit of arriving minutes before departure, not even aware that the check-in policy ever existed. That’s a problem; a process of retraining is required.

First, the customer has to be informed that the policy exists and has existed even though it hasn’t been employed.

Two, the airline has to respect that the customer has the leverage. They’re accustomed to the product that the airline has delivered over the past year and though the airline has to make the change for the sake of its operations, customers may walk away never to return.

Three, in respect to the customer, the change needs to occur slowly. Every exchange the airline has with any of its regular passengers should be viewed as a retraining opportunity. The airline needs to point out the check-in policy, state that with the increase in business there’s less opportunity to be as flexible as in the past and that the airline cannot guarantee boarding if late check-ins occur while emphasizing when the circumstances allow, the airline will flex as much as it can.

In the end, it’s an exercise in the airline reestablishing a benchmark that changes the service that’s being provided which is different from what the customer is used to receiving. Ultimately, we’re attempting to reshape the expectations of the customer without losing them in the process. Hopefully, we’re navigating it with minimal turbulence.

Internet Search giant Google has been providing Internet surfers with a search website since 1998, approaching 12 years. For the duration of that time, their search homepage contained their logo and a search box for the user to enter their search string. In the beginning, it was a webpage that contradicted the busyness of most other webpages in 1998 and over time it became a benchmark within Google defining what their webpages and services would be like. With a rapid growth in popularity, what was initially an internal decision by Google transformed into a public customer expectation. That is until the last week or so when Google rolled out full screen background images on their search page. The quality of the search hasn’t changed, just the background image, but that small difference has some customers upset.

In the 1980s, Consumer Reports ranked McDonald’s as having the best French Fry. But as the health craze movement took hold through the 1990s, the company decided to make their fries more healthy and changed their cooking methods.

New Coke and Classic Coke… need I say more?

Those are some examples of a company needing to make a change on their side of the company/customer relationship for one reason or another. Some have worked well, some have worked and New Coke failed miserably (fortunately Coke recovered and is still available today). Next time we’ll look at these matters within Cape Air.

As the product is delivered, that consistent delivery, and the company’s success at maintaining or exceeding their own benchmarks creates an expectation on the customer’s side of the transaction. As the relationship with the customer matures, the expectation that the exact same product will be delivered according to the same benchmarks grows. This growth trend continues for the duration of the company/customer relationship as both parties reap the benefits. The challenge comes when either party needs to make an adjustment.

When the customer no longer has a need for the product and withdrawals from the relationship, the company suffers. Now, it was a paid service, so ultimately, the customer has little obligation to the company other than the good will of the relationship formed. The customer inherently retains the freedom to do as they please for cause or no cause. This leverage is always available to the customer. While it takes two parties for a relationship to be formed, the power rests with the customer. If the company wants to maintain the relationship, listening to the customer, understanding their desires and effectively adapting their product/service to match will be the measure of success. In the next segment, we’ll explore what happens when the company side of the relationship is the change agent.

While serving in full-time church ministry, the emphasis and paranoia of us staff members was burnout. Mechanism after mechanism were in place to guard against it. Schedules were adhered to and Biblical support text’s were rolled out to back up our need to keep a balanced life. I, myself, was a big proponent of this mindset. And, at times, the care of people was sacrificed for the protection of the staff. The ends of proactively shielding burnout justified the means. Turn the page to the aviation industry.

The airline which employs me is predicated on serving the customer. Get just a few levels up into the company hierarchy and you quickly find middle-managers working inordinate amounts of hours in a week. Workaholic-ism is apparently a prerequisite of being in the corporate divisions of our company. I’ve spent time observing this phenomena from below as I receive middle-of-the-night email responses and 24/7 phone coverage from my superiors, contemplating the causes and effects in the airline context. While multiple factors add to the pressures the generate the workaholic response, I have identified one common denominator, when a customer has needs, top to bottom, our company drops just about everything to respond. Excuses don’t fly and concern for one’s burnout-ability are not primary. The company has established a culture that we exist to make our customer’s happy. Nothing else matters. And so, as I fall into the grasp of getting behind on my to do list, when a customer calls with a request, everything’s dropped and that specific need gets my full attention until it’s closed.

I’m struggling to resolve the difference between the two.

Technically, I wasn’t selling anything, just raising the profile of our company and the existence of our service out of Hagerstown. My table was mainly a table of free stuff. Free mints, t-shirts, coffee mugs, measuring tapes and a sign-up for a free round trip. In spite of all that, the common person was afraid to make eye contact or come within 10 feet of the table, all the tables, for fear of being obligated to hear a sales pitch or some other requirement.

If I were Stacy and Clinton of What Not to Wear Fame, I’m not sure I could live with myself. Maybe I’m spoiled from growing up in a country where you dressed to impress when you went  to the mall, but we are a very sloppily dressed people.

A child’s fascination with airplanes is almost universal.

Mankind’s fascination with dogs IS universal. The Humane Society table was next to Cape Air’s, so everyone was stopping to check out the animals. A couple of dog fights broke out which I thought was a little ironic.

I’ve done a lot of things over the past year for Cape Air that I never imagined I’d do, things that have been out of my normal comfort zone and things that aren’t necessarily highly regarded by the general public. That got me thinking. If I’m that committed for this airline that I’m a part of, how willing have I been to go out of my comfort zone and take a stand for my core belief?

Some in this predicament struggle to let go of their expectations. Their fury grows beyond reasonable levels convincing themselves they’ve been wronged by someone/something other than themselves and that source must be identified and called upon to atone for the wrong-doing. In most situations all this process satisfies is the inner anger-desire of the individual and the consumption of time – a valuable commodity in the travel world. The challenge of the agent in these situations is to lead the passenger out of their current state of unmet expectations to the available options that will ultimately get them to their final destination. This is not a science.

First and foremost, the predicament of the passenger needs to be acknowledged with the agent placing themselves in that person’s position. To have missed any flight, to have expectations that come crashing down, is a frustrating experience. For ultimate success, the agent has to communicate to the passenger that, I’ve been there and it stinks when I’ve been there.

Secondly, an apology is in order. Not to take responsibility (unless it truly was 100% our fault) for it’s a regular occurrence that the airline gets blamed when it’s not the culprit. Apologizing without taking responsibility is one of the key cards to be played in an airline deck. “I’m sorry you missed your flight.” Sympathize with them. If I had missed my flight, I’d be distraught too! And, I’d be sick to learn that I’d have to shell out another $150 or more to get a different flight.

Third, don’t argue. The customer may accuse us of absurdities. “The agent on the phone told me I didn’t need to be here until 5 minutes before check-in!” Don’t engage with such hogwash. We know our policies, we have to trust that our colleagues in Reservations and around Cape Air know the policies too and communicate the right information to our customers. Don’t argue, just apologize without accepting responsibility and move on.

Fourth, build the passenger’s confidence that this is not the end of the world though it will seem so to them. Encourage them that you will exhaust every available resource to provide them with every available option. To the passenger, the agent behind the counter has access to incredible amounts of inside sources. Regardless of the truth of that perception, employ it for the sake of turning the passenger from viewing you as the enemy to cooperating with you. The more cooperation you have from the passenger, in the end, the better the end result will be for them.

Fifth, some passengers will attempt to drag you back into the original “mistake” that created the predicament. Don’t fall for the trap of having to re-hash the circumstances from the beginning all over again. If you’ve progressed through steps 1-3 sufficiently, stay focused on the solution. Steps 1-3 address the problem and it’s cause and render them irrelevant because there’s nothing more that can be done about the situation. The place is gone, the flight has departed, you’re not on it. No amount of discussion will change those facts, so revisiting them only deters all parties from focusing all energies on solutions. Don’t fall for the trap and expect the customer to attempt to trap you in it. Only apologize once, then focus explicitly on solutions. All rehashing the events that led to the missed flight will do is take up valuable time that could be spent on getting them to their final destination. If you apologized once, don’t go back to the problem. If they keep bringing it up, simply say, “Sir/Madam, my main concern now is to get your as quickly as possible to your final destination. I want to focus all of my energies on that task and will exhaust every resource I have available to do so. Your cooperation will be a great assistance to my efforts on your behalf.”

Sixth, find ways to put the pax/customer back in control. One of the possible elements of their upset-ness is that their travel plans, which they created and had all planned out, are now out of their control. Let’s face it, without being control freaks, we each like to have some control. The minute we tell them they missed their flight, we’ve unintentionally seized control from them. One key way to give control back to them is by giving them options, “Here are the next available options to get you to Tampa this evening…” With options, they have choices that they get to select, returning some, if not all, of the control back to the pax.

Seventh, exhaust every option. Hopefully by now, the pax is cooperative and being won-over by your resolve to give them options and the best solution. If so, go for the jugular by exhausting every option. “Sir, USAir has a later flight, but they will charge you a minimum $150 change fee and you have to make a connection in BWI and PHL. Another possibility is Southwest, they have a non-stop flight for $165. There’s also an AirTran non-stop for $109. I know your original destination was Tampa, if I could get you to the Orlando area tonight, would that be an option for you? Okay, would you excuse me a minute and let me check to see if Allegiant Air has any seats available on their flight tonight.” The more options you give them, one, the more control they have and two, the more they see how hard you are working for them.

If they booked with a travel agency, Travelocity, etc. call the agency. Identify yourself as an airline ticket agent and only put the pax on if the agency requires it. It’s a subtle, but important message to the pax that you’re on their side, fighting for them.

Eighth, find little touches that show you’re looking at for the pax’s best interest. Check the weather and advise them if it will potentially impact their revised travel plans.

Ninth, hopefully by now, they’ve selected an option and the original problem is no longer pre-occupying their mind. If so, get on their way as soon as possible!!!

…that I didn’t major in Computer Science in college. While my love of computers seemed a good fit for vocational study at the time, I was unaware of how social I really was. At the time, I tried to convince myself I was an introvert.

…that one late night/early morning of the Spring semester of my college Sophomore year He helped me realize I didn’t want to even get an Associates Degree in Computer Science, which I had been working towards. It was the last formal computer programming training I’d have to date.

…that post-college job interviews didn’t lead to positions in non-socially interactive roles, but instead placed me in church ministry.

…that after 14 years of serving in church ministry roles with limited social duties, He reassigned me.

…that He didn’t keep me in education.

…that He has used my airline experience to reveal how deeply I like to help people.

I thank God that through the ebbs and flows of my life, when many a time I thought I was suited for something else, He channeled me in the direction of His choosing saving me from unknown amounts of headaches and frustrations. There are probably instances where my resistance created unnecessary detours that could’ve been avoided if I’d only been more committed to asking for directions, but I’m grateful for the path taken and the lessons learned along the way. I thank God!