Below is an Autogenerated Transcript

My home airport in the country of Singapore is called Changi International Airport and it’s been rated  the number one airport in the world, seven years in a row. Just barely beat out Newark, New Jersey, this year. That is a joke.

I went to them 28 years ago, and they said, we want to be known as the best airport in the world and the friendliest airport in the world. Now, the best airport for the Asian Singaporean mind, not really that hard culturally, because the best is evaluated on things like efficiency, productivity, speed, accuracy, security and safety. Singapore is pretty good. But friendly is not so much in the culture. It’s in other cultures around the world. 

I mean, let’s face it, America. “Hey, how are you doing, friend? Come on in.”  Friendly. Australia, “Good day, mate. Come on in. Have a beer.” Friendly. “Sawatika”, Thailand, gentle. “Hai!” Japanese, respectful. Singapore culture, [indistinct] Much more of a trading mentality. But they want to be the best in the world. They asked me if I could help. I said,” Sure, let’s get started.”

I said, We need two fundamental models, ‘Six Levels of Service’ and ‘Service Transaction’. Pick one. And they said, “Well, we want to work on the biggest, most important first impression. It’s called arrival.” Every single time an aircraft door opens until every single car, train or taxi door closes. Everything that happens from door to door is called arrival. 

Now, think about that with me in an international situation. Door opens. First thing you do is what? You step into the… into, come on, you’ve been on planes. You step out of the plane and you step into the… The jetway, the arrow bridge. Don’t you notice if a jetway is clean or dirty, hot or cold, wet or dry, old advertising or new advertising on the wall? Do you notice? Do you realize you’re forming a first impression already about the city? 

Then you step into the transit area. Is the signage clear? Do you know where to go? If you stop into the bathroom is it clean? Then you go down to immigration. Is there a line? Is it moving? How long does it take? Is there a piece of paper I have to fill out? Where do you get the paper? Then you go looking for your bags. Which carousel? How long does it take? Do all the bags come? What condition are they in? Is there a trolley available? Do you have to pay for the trolley? What condition is the trolley?

Perception. Perception. Perception. Perception. Perception.

Then you go through customs. Do they want to talk to you? Then you go to the arrivals area. Oh, my gosh. There’s all those people, and there’s the taxi line. You get in line, you wait your turn, and you get in the car. Arrival is over. 

One point at Changi International Airport kept getting a low score in the category called friendliness. Which category do you think it was? Immigration. Now, if you talk to an immigration officer, they’re not going, they’re going to say, “It’s not my job to be friendly. My job is to enforce border control.” They’re not wrong, but the airport wants to create a positive, friendly impression. So you know what they did? They came up with a script. 

Here’s what you say. Someone walks up in front of you and you say the first word in a two word script. Here’s the first word. “Passport.” Okay. Ready? Go. Very good. The moment they give you the passport, you say the second word. It goes like this, “Sweet?” Give it a try. Ready? Go. “Sweet?” Now you’ve got to use your hand. Come on. Do it again. Here you go. Go. Go. “Sweet?” Do it again. “Sweet?” Do it again. “Sweet?” Do it 66 million times a year.

But you can. You know what? If you’re an immigration officer, you want to. You know why? Because when they come up and you say “Passport”,they give you the passport. The moment you say, “Sweet?”, where does the passenger go? They get distracted and they’re happy. Now you can go to work, look in the passport, and find the visa.

But what am I saying? The first idea you try may not work. Try again. That doesn’t work.

Try again.