Robert Hargrove

Welcome to the Experience Economy

After a day at the Pentagon and fighting my way through the dense DC traffic to catch my flight to Boston I was told that, even though I had a confirmed ticket with United, I was unlikely to get a seat on the plane. Three trips in a row… the same thing had happened.

When I asked the person at the counter if I could get on the plane, I was basically told to shut up. “Just take a seat in the waiting area,” she said smiling with thinly disguised contempt.

The flights on the United aircraft themselves are also awful. Three hour delays are the standard, a tiny drink offered, and not even the usual miniscule bag of pretzels.

Oh, and don’t delay in turning off your phone, or you will have to answer to the prison camp warden who has total disdain for the inmates. On top of that, the bathrooms stink to high heaven.

Now I love my clients at the Pentagon, but after this last experience, I started to resist making any further business trips to Washington. “Couldn’t I go there next month or the month after?” I would beg.

The next trip, I was booked on Jet Blue. Same airport and same planes…but what a difference. The company’s promise: “Dedicated to bringing humanity back to air travel. We strive to make every part of your experience as simple and as pleasant as possible,” and they really do.

The people at the counter gave me the requested aisle seat with the graciousness of southern hospitality and the plane departed and arrived almost exactly on schedule.

The flight crew treated me like a rock star; the seats in coach were as big and fat as most first class seats; there were 27 channels of TV from take off to landing (no boredom), and to top it off, great snacks and drinks.

As the maitre de cabine made the announcements, she said, “Welcome to the Jet Blue experience.” They delivered on their promise of a great flight, and it transformed my attitude around making a business trip to Washington DC.

I am not just talking about the flight there and back, but everything that happened in between. I am ready to hop a Jet Blue flight in a heartbeat and continue with my mission helping the patriotic people in the federal government provide peace and security. The positive Jet Blue experience had a halo affect on my entire trip.

How does Jet Blue pay for providing the customer such a great experience? They do it with imagination and a bit of innovative thinking. Jet Blue flights are scheduled to take five minutes longer than United Airlines, saving them many millions a year on jet fuel.

So welcome to the “Experience Economy.” Those of you who are CEOs, front line supervisors, customer services people, or professional coaches, can take a powerful lesson from this story.