Southwest, Uber and Your Message

Good morning Dallas! Now where is my cowgirl hat? waiting for my coaching day with my girl Brooke.

It’s 5:30am and I’m on the way to Dallas Love Field airport, a Southwest Airlines hub in Texas. 

My Uber driver, who proudly tells me he has a bachelors degree in business, is chatting me up about what makes Southwest, a small, but mighty little business, so darn great. 

It’s weird… 

They aren’t the biggest airline. 

They aren’t the fanciest. 

They don’t fly internationally. 

They offer less bells and whistles than most airlines. 

Instead they have chosen to focus on what their customers MOST appreciate and work on delivering that really well. 

Things like…

You are treated humanely (the staff has quite a sense of humor and it’s refreshing, especially when you have travel nerves)… 

You can check 2 bags free of charge… (hello, I’m traveling, of course I have bags to check!)

You can change your flight at the last minute with no penalty… (thanks for being cool!) 

And their rewards program is easy and actually rewarding to use. 

(Pro Tip: My hubby runs all business expenses through the Southwest business card and we have plenty of free flights each year.) 

They focus on what they CAN do well instead of trying to be all things to all people.

This helps them maintain their level of focus on the essentials that most other airlines have forgotten about in their quest to be the biggest. 

This is what me and my clients do too.  

We recognize we can’t win the game of having the most clients, the most testimonials, and the most m-oney. 

But we can do ONE THING really well and that can set us apart.

So we zig where others zag in coaching. 

We focus on one thing - one message, one audience and one signature offer - that we can rock out, and we do it in a high-touch, high-level style.  

This level of focus eliminates a LOT of the “would be nice if I had a more m-oney, more time and more team” marketing strategies. 

So remember, as you go about your new year, if you’re anything like me and my clients, try becoming an essentialist and be more like Southwest Airlines. 

Focus on what you CAN do really well, and eliminate the rest. 

It seems to work really well for Southwest, and us coaches and consultants applying the #happylittlepractice method. 

The easiest way to do this is to start by tweaking your message, your chosen audience and the structure of your services. 

If you’d like help with this, I have two spots left for January start date and up to 3 in February. 

If you’re ready to work with a marketing and business mentor, I’d love to talk with you and see if we're a good match. I'm often booked 30-60 days in advance. Apply here. 

Here’s to your own small, but mighty little business! 

Karin

PS - I’m speaking this week at Wellcoaches professional development membership on Jan 17th. Not one of their members? Check out my two free trainings here and here and see for yourself if my #happylittlepractice approach to thriving in a coaching practice makes sense to you.