(Time to read this Blog article about 60 seconds)
A loyal reader wrote recently to say that he misses my ‘Cranky Corner’ articles where I write about things that tick me off.
I do get cranky about certain things. It could be my age…or it might be that, like you, some things just tick me off. This time I’m ‘cranky’ about over-booking and other broken promises.
Much has been written about the United Airlines debacle where they dragged an elderly passenger off a flight to Louisville, Kentucky to make room for one of their own employees. Most airlines overbook their flights by 3% to 5% based on historical no-show data, in order to maximize revenue. So, while you think you’re buying an airline ticket, you’re actually buying a lottery ticket. You’re buying a chance on a flight.
But the masters of ‘over-booking’ are the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They make the airlines look like major underachievers when it comes to overbooking. Jehovah‘s Witnesses believe that exactly 144,000 faithful Christians will make it to heaven to rule in the kingdom of God, following Armageddon (the imminent and final battle between good and evil). But they’ve sold ‘tickets to heaven’ to over 8 million believers world-wide. And, they have those 8 million believers knocking on doors every week to sell even more tickets to heaven. Now that’s overbooking.
In your business, are you keeping your promises to customers and employees? Are you over-promising and under-delivering in any way? Does your marketing make misleading promises? You can’t build a business on broken promises.
