♫ United breaks guitars; everyone sing along! ♫

For today’s lesson, please view this video:

Now, please take note of the number of views on the video (as of this posting, it’s more than 1,300,000).

Now, please visit Twitter search and see the traffic:

Now, let’s review the ways it pays to “be good”:

1. It’s a nice feeling.

2. The luggage handlers could take better care of their customers’ things.

3. The airline could be nice to the customer, even if it can’t admit fault.

4. The airline could let the musician carry the guitar on board.

5. The airline could apologize and fix/replace the guitar.

The airline personnel could be so awesome that it inspires customers to write letters of thanks, prose poems, even songs of praise.

But no.

And this nice young man doesn’t have to take it like he did in the old days. He wrote a song. He made a video. He shared it with 1,300,000 of his friends. The message is simple: United breaks guitars. It’s a catchy song. In fact, it’s still playing in my head.

What’s the cost of this incident to United (the airline that breaks guitars)? Hint: it’s more than $1,500.

The takeaway: love your customers, when you see them, in the deepest recesses of your organization, and everywhere in between. They were so nice to you: they gave you a job, helped pay for your daughter’s iPod, your son’s braces, and your home, your car, your dinner. 

Give a little love back. Is that so hard?

Class dismissed.