Helicopters, Rebreathers, Checklists and Sales...
My first job in Sydney when I arrived in 2012 was working for a small, but mighty charter and scenic helicopter company based at Sydney Airport. My role there was to assist with operations, which also involved sales on scenic and charter flights. I soon learned that being the salesman I was, operational process and procedure was not a strength, and on a fateful day I learned what serious consequences this lack of operational thinking & detail could entail. Gladly, our chief pilot at the time exhibited his sense of humor in teaching me a lesson in this matter.
What had happened is I had been rushing to exit the office after hours, forgotten to divert the phones, set the alarm and lock the deadbolt on the front door. Now, picture the thick end of $5m+ of helicopters sitting, largely unsecured in a hanger at Sydney Airport - when it was my responsibility to ensure they, and the office were secure for the night. Surely this betrayal would result in my swift and painful demise at the hands of my manager.
In the morning, our chief pilot was waiting with a solution, and a message...
"Jared, you now have a checklist that we have prepared for you. As a pilot, I have a checklist, and if I fail to follow that checklist, people die. Jared, if you fail to follow your checklist, you also, will die"
His monotone, yet mildly tongue in cheek delivery did not dilute the seriousness of his words. I knew this guy, and was not game enough to challenge his threat on swiftly ensuring the life sustaining blood pumping through my veins was to be found on the outside of my body rather than inside should I fail to heed his warning to follow my checklist... The lesson has stuck with me since.
18 months later I find myself at Groupon, in a role where complex campaign structures rule supreme - coupled with fast turnarounds and aggressive targets.
I have also developed a passion for diving rebreathers (the ungainly looking device I'm wearing in my profile picture). Rebreathers, as a rule, are an inherently more complex mode of diving than SCUBA. They require meticulous preparation and maintenance to work correctly, they are, in fact so complex, that simply forgetting to place an o ring in the system can result in the user rebreathing toxic Co2 gas, and in many circumstances causing the death of the user. A rebreather does not have a brain to warn you, use must your own. When used for cave diving, it is the most dangerous sport in the world (over base jumping!), and it was once rumored they eventually look the life of 1 in 7 users.
The problem is not that the technology is flawed, in fact it works so well that it can invite the complacency of the user, therein lies the problem.
There is a saying you a taught during your training on this equipment.
"There are rebreather divers who follow their checklist. And there are dead divers"
A follow rebreather diver (and Kiwi no less), Prof Simon Mitchell, made the following observation during one of my favorite lectures on rebreathers, and how the use of checklists could reduce human error fatalities on these machines. I followed his talks religiously prior to entering the world of rebreather, which no doubt deeply influenced my approach to the sport.
"The introduction of checklists in to 21st century operating theaters, reduced post surgery complications by HALF'
Prof Mitchell made the point that in modern operating theaters, accidents should not occur - we expect them NOT to occur as patients. Yet the surgeons, despite being some of the most well trained, and well equipped medical professionals in their fields, were still capable of leaving a sharp, pointy, foreign object in a patient - we are only human after-all.
Similarly, surely our customers should expect that we too, as professionals, do not make mistakes that may complicate their experience of our products or services? Perhaps the salesman and the surgeon may not be so different?
At my current company, or any sales heavy organisation for that matter, the sales team are the speartip responsible for generating the life blood of the organisation: revenue. Pressure is applied several fold for quantity & quality of clients, and yet in my world of complex travel many details must be accurately noted, checked and communicated to the customer. Something as minor as forgetting to note a flight surcharge for school holidays could result in a crippling number of p*ssed off customers, or even detailing that a reasonable level of fitness is required to climb to the base camp of Mt Everest (true story for another time).
In my current role we have a team whose role is to check the correctness of campaign proposals. Does the contract cover all the information a customer might need to make a purchase and complete their travel, are the commercials true and accurate, are there any operational contradictions, etc.. For every piece of data missing there must be communication between this check team, the sales person, and often the client/merchant supplying the service. Three touch points, several hours of delay, over a minor case of forgetfulness from the salesperson.
Enter the checklist...
With the addition of a BDM checklist, should any item on said checklist be missed, the contract is incomplete, does not pass go, does not collect $200... The simple implementation of a LIST, over more complex training that simply goes in one ear and out the other of most sales folk (myself including I'm afraid to say) reduced the touch-points per campaign by an incredibly significant amount and allowed the teams to spend more time generating business by following process, and less time trying to remember it. We are, after-all, only human...
I'm fond of my checklist. It helps me do more sales, it enables me to have better conversations with our clients and it keeps my stress levels down because I know if there's a tick in each box I can get on with my next task.
It also means I get to go diving on my rocketship rebreather, which I was once told killed every salesman that ever dived one, and yet here I am!