I got fined… but i’m quite impressed by it.

Originally sent exclusively to The Letter subscribers on December 22nd. Want to be the first to get my personal newsletter in your inbox every Monday at 7am? Subscribe for free here.

What does Ryanair, compromise, and Lapland have in common?

This weekend, the family and I went to Lapland.

I did not want to go. Mrs Sinclair was on a mission to change my mind.

She did. The compromise was: we are going, whether you like it or not.

That is compromise.

Personally, I would rather do Christmas stuff in the UK. We have so much on offer, including my own companies.

Ten years ago we came here on a research trip to see how an economy that relies solely on Santa Claus worked, so we could swipe and deploy ideas in our Christmas experience.

It changed everything, and we galloped ahead to create The Father Christmas Experience.

10 years on I was eager to see what they’d changed…

What we saw this weekend was only good with little change, in my opinion it was only good, because it was covered in snow and, because you get on a plane and spend a fortune, you train your brain to accept it is special when you empty your wallet.

It is like Disney: you queue for an hour and a half for a ride how do they get away with it.

My companies would be destroyed on TripAdvisor if people had to wait that long.

So Lapland was ok.

What I try and do on research trips is find the stuff that annoys me, rather than admire the stuff they do well. It was all just ok.

The theming was provided by God and his white flurry. The customer service was lukewarm.

I would not rush back.

The big lesson of the weekend was the sheer and utter amazement that is Ryanair.

We did not check in. We thought we would just do it at the airport as we were checking bags in.

Wrong.

£55 fine per person.

£220 fine for not checking in online.

Unbelievable.

Then I was subject to a new class of customer service: what I can only describe as cattle-class service.

The system of do as you are told or “fuck off” has never been more apparent to me, in such a well-oiled machine that was so efficient you let the whole do-as-you-are-told-or-get-fined-for-breathing mentality go.

We took off on time, landed an hour ahead of schedule, and it did everything it said on the tin.

It was the Lidl or Aldi of aviation. You pack yourself, with no frills and no smiles.

What you get is low fares and no over delivery.

Would I use Ryanair again? Absolutely.

If I had a pound, I would invest in them. I have never seen a company where I would feel so secure in seeing a return.

O’Leary, the CEO, is a machine.

He is on the details, and the rules are a product of him. He lives in his staff like an omnipresent force.

No leniency. No wasted cost. You are at the mercy of a system that allows no slack.

Virgin Atlantic this was not. The funny thing is Ryanair makes a heap more cash than Virgin Atlantic.

I was amazed at how Ryanair has built such an authoritarian culture in twenty-somethings, instilling in customers a near religious-style code for parishioners desperate for low fares.

Customers know what to expect.

They know you cannot travel with more than a wash bag without being publicly abused for carrying anything larger than what could pass through a standard letterbox.

I like Ryanair for being unashamedly Ryanair. It does not try to do what most businesses do: flit.

Business owners often want to be all things to all people.

Ryanair one day, British Airways the next. Worse still, they try to offer a BA service at Ryanair prices, which customers love but is not sustainable unless you are well-funded and doing it to win market share before putting up prices later when you are the only sheriff in town.

Facebook ads are a great example of this.

So what can we learn from Ryanair?

Be unashamedly you. O’Leary has always known exactly what he wants to be, and he has made sure all and sundry know too.

I was not annoyed about the fine. I was impressed by how well it was delivered.

Ryanair’s team knows exactly where its CEO is going, and as such, so do they. It is like a religion.

There is a lot for us on the way up to learn from them.

Here’s a quote for the week…

“The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit, be patient and keep watering.”

Lastly my mate has started identifying as a chocolate orange. I’m so worried he’s going to be sectioned. Poor Terry. 

To your continued success,

James

PS. If you’d like to help your self to some top knowledge to grow you business join me on one my seminars here, all the details you need are here.