How do You Make Bumpy Rides a Pleasure?
Learn from your flights…
Last week I visited Brussels – early morning flight and back to Denmark the same evening.
One of those bumpy rides where you have beautiful blue sky above the clouds but with turbulence – this time because of the snow storm over Europe.
The flight from Copenhagen to Brussels was with SAS, and the captain had already at take off informed us about the weather situation with his calm voice – basically he informed us, that we would experience some turbulence, but it would be ok, and they had a good plan to manage it.
Calm reaction from the passengers, and we were good to go.
When the turbulence became a reality the captain just calmly informed us to remain seated with the seat belt fastened, and that it would soon be calm again, as they had received an ok to fly a bit lower.
It did not take long before we were in calm air again, and the captain informed us, that he expected calm conditions from now, and that we would soon be landing in Brussels.
Everything went fine, and I arrived in Brussels on time with a great feeling about my trip.
The flight back was with a different airline, and the upcoming turbulence was handled totally different. No information about turbulence from the captain, until we were in the middle of it – then he informed us to buckle up and study the security information, just in case we would need it.
The reactions from the passengers were different this time – not so calm :) But everything went fine, and we also arrived on time in Copenhagen.
The trip was a good reminder of how great leaders make bumpy rides a pleasure to join – how you prepare the team for a bumpy ride, and how you act and talk during turbulence, will determine how your team meets trouble, how they get through it, and how they feel about it afterwards. Logical – but not always easy to do right in real life.
How do you prepare your customers for a bumpy ride? And how do you prepare your sales team? How did you act and talk last time you managed turbulence? Like the SAS captain? Or..?
I see 4 steps to make the bumpy rides a pleasure:
- When you
see trouble ahead - prepare the team for a bumpy ride.
- Make a plan
and inform the team about it.
- Lead and talk
people through the rough time.
- Wrap up and
evaluate.
Be the great captain :)
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I love my colorful business life, and the people I share it with. This blog is about my life - I share experiences, thoughts, theories and stories. Why? Because I am a sales enthusiast! Let me know what you think, so we can grow together. I will be happy to see you share my posts :)
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