Making Lemonade Out of Lemons
by Anita Pagliasso

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I have a friend who always reminds me to remember the positive in everything. He also knows how to keep a clear perspective on situations that are out of our control. He recently told me about a time when he had sent his daughter to Mexico for a vacation. She called him crying and very upset. When he asked her what had happened, she said that all of her money was stolen. “What am I going to do? I have no money! ” she cried. He then calmly asked “Do you still have your credit cards?’ When she said that she did, he said “Then ok, there is no need to worry. Just relax and go back to enjoying yourself. You did a good thing.” “What do you mean, I did a good thing?” his daughter asked. To this question he replied to his sobbing daughter “Just think… you probably bought a poor family a nice meal, some new clothes and maybe even a trip to California.” She stopped crying and started laughing. It was his positive attitude and sense of humor that had a calming effect on her.

Although a completely different situation, Southwest Airlines recently faced a media controversy about a mini skirt worn by a passenger that was deemed unacceptable by airline employees. Take a look at how Southwest’s management responded and you will see how the airline also took a negative situation and turned it positive for everyone involved.

Addressing the Issue … Not Skirting It.

Memo from Southwest Airlines president Colleen Barrett to employees:

So here’s how we’re going to respond:

• I am placing a call to the passenger myself to apologize for any embarrassment we might have caused her. That was certainly not our intent.
  
  
• We’ve got to remember our roots—we are a Fun-LUVing airline. We’ve got to remember our sense of humor, and not take ourselves too seriously.
  
  
• We will be presenting the passenger with two tickets on Southwest Airlines as a gesture of goodwill on the Dr. Phil show, which should air in the near future.
  
  
• Southwest CEO Gary Kelly is recording a new radio spot to remind all of our Customers that we are the FUN and low-fare airline. To prove it, we’re offering really “skimpy” fares as part of our new fare sale with “mini-fares to match the miniskirts we’ve been hearing so much about.”

Not only did Southwest handle a negative media situation with humor and care, they turned it into a brilliant marketing and advertising opportunity. You noticed that when they were to present the passenger their “gesture of goodwill”, they made arrangements to do it on the Dr. Phil show. Thank about this...They leveraged the media interest into an opportunity for coverage on a nationally syndicated show for the price of 2 Southwest Airline tickets. Southwest then further used the story by offering both “skimpy and mini-fares”. Now that’s smart public relations and marketing!

We can all take lessons from both my friend and Southwest Airlines, who both know how to turn “Lemons into Lemonade”.

Anita Pagliasso is president of Ticket to Travel (www.aticket2travel.com), OSSN’s Western Regional Manager, and an executive board member of PATH. She has written a book titled “How I Made a Small Fortune as a Home-Based Agent” and a CD (“Anita’s Toolbox for Home-Based Agents”) with dozens of her most popular forms, letters, and guides that you can download and customize for your own use. Visit www.redticketproductions.com.

(Credit: Anita Pagliasso)