In episode #814, Eric and Neil discuss what you could learn from Southwest Airlines. Tune in to hear which tactics you should rip from this company.

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TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

• [00:27] Today’s Topic: Ugly Is the New Sexy: What You Can Learn From Southwest Airlines
• [00:50] Titles are key, which is why they titled this episode as such.
• [01:04] Neil tries to avoid Southwest, because he finds they are always delayed.
• [01:40] Eric’s last Southwest flight was delayed and problematic.
• [02:10] When Southwest first launched, they focused on serving three cities in Texas.
• [02:27] It took Southwest three years to get rolling and gain more customers. The first flights were sparsely populated.
• [02:44] The lesson here is to niche down at first.
• [02:54] Southwest has a hub and spoke model of business.
• [03:20] The airline does a lot of layovers, which allows them to ensure fuller flights and better prices.
• [04:15] You can either be efficient or offer exceptional service, but you can’t have both.
• [05:05] Southwest is not the best priced airline, but they have a “cool atmosphere” and free alcoholic beverages.
• [05:45] Optimize for efficiency, but allow for mistakes/refunds.
• [06:15] Think of your business as a funnel and check for leaks.
• [06:42] That’s it for today!
• [06:48] Go here to see how many downloads the show is getting. Also rate and review to help Eric and Neil meet their goal of 1 Million downloads per month. Hopefully, we’ll see you at the live event in L.A.!

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