The 36-Hour Experiment That Transformed Flexjet’s Customer Service

Mike Silvestro, a former walk-on football player at the prestigious Notre Dame University, says that some of the best ideas he’s implemented in business have come from listening to his clients, understanding their needs and using their input to solve crucial problems.

He recalls one occasion when he was told that his Ohio-based Flexjet staff didn’t have the sophistication of its customers. While it’s true that an employee making $25 an hour may not have the same lifestyle as a private jet client, Silvestro decided he could do something to improve his company. Instead of accepting the criticism and saying, “That’s just who we are,” he initiated a program where his sales team could spend 36 hours living like their clients.

“We developed a training program where we took a group of our customer service folks and put them on one of our airplanes,” explained the former gridiron gladiator in a recent Corporate Competitor podcast. “We stayed overnight at a five-star hotel, had dinner, wined and dined, and then flew home.”

The result? Hand-written notes from his employees who participated in the training exercise, thanking him for the eye-opening experience—notes that Silvestro still keeps today.

That brief experiment allowed Flexjet’s staff to understand the lofty expectations that their customers bring onboard when choosing to fly with the company. It provided priceless insight that allowed them to do their jobs that much better. Not only was it a once in a lifetime experience for his staff, it was a great example of listening and then going above and beyond the call of duty.

But it wasn’t hard for Silvestro to go that extra mile. His work ethic can be traced back to his days as a walk-on at Notre Dame, where he was expected to undertake the hard work of the program but also receive little to no glory on the field. Those lessons in grit, humility and teamwork shaped how he leads.

Indeed, the former college teammate of Joe Montana shared that and other insights on the podcast, including:

• Turn personal wins into shared victories. If you have a great day, make it a point to share that feeling with your entire organization, he says. That way “everyone can enjoy it and feel proud.”

• Overcommunicate. Even if you don’t have all the answers, the former D-1 athlete says, it’s important to share what’s on your mind and say what you’re thinking. “Leaders,” Silvestro notes, “can fall into the trip of thinking they need to have all the answers every single day.”

• Build trust. In any successful organization, culture is paramount. But, says Silvestro, whose 1979 Notre Dame team won the hallowed Cotton Bowl in last-second fashion, you can’t have a strong culture without trust.