A few weeks ago, I did the unthinkable and took a business trip using an airline OTHER than my beloved Southwest.
Now if you know me, you know I’m a raving fan of Southwest and have been since 1992. It’s a few-frills, ultra-dependable, friendly experience that I partake in at least twice a month.
This client provided airfare and since it was a site near DFW, I flew American. And I liked it.
Well I actually liked about 10% of it. The other 90% sucked. What was the 10%? Boarding.
Southwest has a unique system of boarding. You don’t have assigned seats. Frequent fliers like me board first so we generally get overhead bins and something other than the dreaded middle seat. It works for me.
But my challenge is then getting boarded quickly so we can take off on time. This is where the trouble starts. With the choice of ANY available seat, it’s hard to decide which one to take.
On an American flight, you go know exactly where your seat is so you just move quickly in, find a spot for your carry-on and sit. Both my to and return trips seemed to board very quickly and efficiently. In fact the only negative experience was the fat guy in the next row with really bad B.O.
On a Southwest flight, you board, look around like a confused American tourist in China, and then try to choose not only a place for your bag, but for your ass as well. It takes too long.
I don’t fault Southwest and I’ll be loyal till the end, but it’s something to consider – when you can choose ANYTHING, you find it hard to choose SOMETHING.
Veterans or military retirees fall into the same trap. They’ve been successful in their careers being a jack-of-all-trades, master of most. By the time they hit the 20-year mark, they have served in numerous jobs, both as a primary duty and collateral duty and anxiously await their new civilian job.
Then they make a huge mistake. They build a resume listing off of those many skills, certifications, experiences, and awards expecting to dazzle prospective employers. It doesn’t work. An employer has one opening that requires just one or a few skills. They look at the resume with all the choices and get discouraged. When you can choose ANYTHING, you’ll find it hard to choose SOMETHING.
Finally if you sell products or services, your busy brochure, catalog website, or jumbo-sized email might do more damage to your potential sales than a very basic piece that highlights just a couple of products or services. A prospect that can choose ANYTHING finds it difficult to choose SOMETHING.
This week, look at what you do, promote, produce, or sell. How are you trying to reach others? If you tend to offer too much, do some research on what your customer, employer, or client really wants and just offer that one thing. Your chance of success goes up considerably.
