Are You Paying Attention to This?

Little things matter. In fact, they matter a lot.

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I was invited to be one of the instructors at an Advanced Sales Summit in Fort Lauderdale this past week.  The symposium was held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, an iconic property, complete with its own guitar-shaped hotel tower.  Vintage clothing, musical instruments, and memorabilia of rock and roll greats were on display throughout the massive structure.  If you’re a rock and roll fan, this is a destination location.

The theme carried over throughout the casino and hallways with trivia, posters, guitar-shaped door handles and stands, along with vintage music always playing in the background.  The music followed you everywhere, from the entrance throughout the venue, and even onto the pool areas outdoors. It was a not-so-subtle emersion into the world of classic rock and roll.

Even the guest rooms themselves continued the overall theme of the hotel venue. Pillowcases were embroidered with a classic rock and roll guitar.  A guitar pick was repurposed to prevent the door safety catch from scratching the wall.  I almost expected a guitar-shaped handle on the toilet – but maybe that’s taking the theme a bit far.

You see something similar if you visit the House of the Mouse (Disney World), Six Flags, Silver Dollar City, Dollywood, or Sea World. These connoisseurs of deliberate attraction are crafting a very immersive experience for their guests, and it is the attention to detail that pulls you into their illusion, captures your emotions, and takes you away.

It’s the little things that make the experience.

Little things matter.

One of the speakers I shared the stage with at the event, Mark Williams, was talking to the group about branding.  Branding is how you are perceived in the world and how others view you.  Mark was talking about the little things that matter, including how you dress.  He was dressed, as he always is, in a sportscoat, button-up shirt, slack, and dress shoes.

I’ve known Mark for almost a decade, and he and I have crossed paths at many airports and venues over the years. I’ve never seen Mark at an event, or traveling to and from that event, where he’s not “dressed for success” as he knows his audience and the prospects he wants to attract. It works for him because Mark has built a successful brand and helped others build some large organizations over the years.

It’s a little thing.

Little things matter.

Most of us recently saw what happens when little things are overlooked, disregarded, or ignored. The recent Boeing incident where a failure to reinstall a series of door plugs during routine maintenance resulted in the door blowing out as an airplane was airborne.  Can you imagine being on that plane, ten thousand feet in the air, and suddenly a door panel separates from the fuselage? 

Little things matter, a lot!

As a speaker, coach, and trainer, I travel extensively.  I’m constantly looking for the little things people and organizations can do that cause them to stand out and be memorable. and on the way home from the sales symposium in Ft. Lauderdale this past week, I experienced a significant weather delay that caused me, along with more than one hundred people on the same flight, to miss connecting flights in Charlotte.

The airline automatically rebooked me for a late afternoon departure on a Saturday, meaning I would be stuck in Charlotte overnight and most of the next day.  I was supposed to meet my oldest son at my parent’s home, which was something we had planned for some time.  I went to the ticket desk to see if there were any options available.

The attendant curtly told me she could do nothing and to go to customer service.  It was clear she didn’t want to be bothered, and didn’t care about my situation. The lady at the customer service desk provided a much different experience.  She was courteous, gave me my options, and I ended up flying into Dallas late on a Friday night to catch an early morning connection to Little Rock.

After getting to bed at 2 AM, then back up at 6 AM, and catching an Uber to the airport, my phone went off as I entered the TSA precheck line.  A line of thunderstorms in Dallas had shut down the airport and my flight had been cancelled.  Again, I was automatically rebooked, but for an evening departure that got me back home late evening.  I was not looking forward to a ten-plus hour layover at DFW, so again went to the customer service desk to see what my options were.

Once again, I found a customer service person who did not want to help and did her best to get rid of me, rudely telling me I had no other options than to wait or go book with another airline. In the past, customer service people would at least make the effort to book me on another airline as an accommodation if they could not help me get where I needed to be on their airline. No offer of assistance that day. I was only told by her I had no option but to wait or spend more money with another airline.

She then went back to typing on her computer, leaving me (the only passenger standing in her line) wondering why her employer hired her in the first place.  I thought about the quality of training (or lack of quality training) she had received. Or perhaps, she simply doesn’t care and is going through the motions to collect a check and get one day closer to retirement.

I wondered how many other people, just like me, she had treated with the same disdain and lack of compassion and whether she realized the people who fly that airline are the actual ones who pay her salary and benefits. 

I asked her one last question, inquiring if I would be able to get a flight credit for the unused portion of my trip if I booked with another airline to go home.  Again, she said she couldn’t help me.  No thank you for being a loyal customer, no apology for my inconvenience, no kindness, care, or concern.  She hands me a card with an 800 number on it, goes back to her computer screen, and ignores me.

It's a little thing.  But to me, in that moment, it was a big thing.

So what did I do?

I spent more money to book a flight on another airline, requiring me to Uber from DFW Airport to LOVE Field, so I could get to where I needed to be. I was welcomed at the terminal, promptly and courteously ushered through TSA, and waited only a handful of hours (rather than an entire day) to board a flight to get me back to Arkansas.

Now who do you think will be my first choice for airline travel in the future?

Let’s make this personal.

In the classic “Song of Solomon”, the King cautions his lover to beware of the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines.  In ancient times, vineyards were on constant alert for predators, especially foxes, who loved to eat the grapes from the vines. The little foxes were the most damaging, as they could not reach up to eat the grapes from the clusters.

Instead, they would chew at the base of the vine until it detached and then they would drag away the entire vine, destroying it in the process.  Larger foxes would eat some of the grapes, but the little foxes would devastate the entire vine, so it never produced again.

What are the little things you are overlooking, disregarding, or ignoring that are diminishing the brand called YOU? 

Are you paying attention to the little things that can make or break a relationship?

What are you not doing, that you should be doing, to make sure the little things that matter are getting that attention they need? 

Remember, little things matter. And if little things matter to those around you, they need to matter to you as well.