{"id":370513,"date":"2025-06-30T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chiefexecutive.net\/?p=370513"},"modified":"2025-06-27T13:23:45","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T17:23:45","slug":"the-36-hour-experiment-that-transformed-flexjets-customer-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chiefexecutive.net\/the-36-hour-experiment-that-transformed-flexjets-customer-service\/","title":{"rendered":"The 36-Hour Experiment That Transformed Flexjet&#8217;s Customer Service"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/37043175\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/backward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/001f3f\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"100%\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>Mike Silvestro, a former walk-on football player at the prestigious Notre Dame University, says that some of the best ideas he\u2019s implemented in business have come from listening to his clients, understanding their needs and using their input to solve crucial problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He recalls one occasion when he was told that his Ohio-based Flexjet staff didn\u2019t have the sophistication of its customers. While it\u2019s 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, \u201cThat\u2019s just who we are,\u201d he initiated a program where his sales team could spend 36 hours living like their clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe developed a training program where we took a group of our customer service folks and put them on one of our airplanes,\u201d explained the former gridiron gladiator in a recent Corporate Competitor podcast. \u201cWe stayed overnight at a five-star hotel, had dinner, wined and dined, and then flew home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The result? Hand-written notes from his employees who participated in the training exercise, thanking him for the eye-opening experience\u2014notes that Silvestro still keeps today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That brief experiment allowed Flexjet\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indeed, the former college teammate of Joe Montana shared that and other insights on the podcast, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022&nbsp;<strong>Turn personal wins into shared victories<\/strong>. If you have a great day, make it a point to share that feeling with your entire organization, he says. That way \u201ceveryone can enjoy it and feel proud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022&nbsp;<strong>Overcommunicate<\/strong>. Even if you don\u2019t have all the answers, the former D-1 athlete says, it\u2019s important to share what\u2019s on your mind and say what you\u2019re thinking. \u201cLeaders,\u201d Silvestro notes, \u201ccan fall into the trip of thinking they need to have all the answers every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022&nbsp;<strong>Build trust<\/strong>. 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\u2019t have a strong culture without trust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>They say you can\u2019t know a person unless you walk a mile in their shoes. But Mike Silvestro, CEO of the private aviation company, has taken that idea to new heights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8945,"featured_media":370514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[871],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-370513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadershipmanagement"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The 36-Hour Experiment That Transformed Flexjet&#039;s Customer Service<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"They say you can\u2019t know a person unless you walk a mile in their shoes. 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