If you ever meet or get to know David Tait, you realize quickly he is very astute and comes with a good dose of tongue-in-cheek humor. With responses like, "David Tait was an excellent guest. The setting was great. The format was terrific and Lorca's catered treats were delicious. Nicely done!" I am extremely proud to be the Greenwich Chapter Director for Startup Grind and I could not have asked for a better response to an already wonderful inaugural event in every respect. That is largely in part due to David being a superb and engaging speaker but also due to the flawless execution of the Startup Grind Greenwich team.
On March 12th Startup Grind Greenwich held its inaugural event at the Bruce Museum with the man that helped build Virgin Atlantic Airlines with his famous friend Richard Branson. The speaker was David Tait, who built and led all the airline's North American operations including sales, marketing, operations, customer service, finance, IT and HR as Executive Director and Executive Vice President North America.
It was a great evening of stories, anecdotes and journeys as David shared with the entrepreneurs in attendance his personal perspective dueling alongside Branson and his other long-time friend, Michael Glavin of CMG Communications, to outwit British Airways with Virgin's brilliant guerrilla marketing campaigns. You realize sitting there and listening, the room was electric with energy and you could literally hear a pin drop as everyone was fixated on David's captivating storytelling and very educational insights, such as engaging the company at all levels because you never know where the next great idea will surface.
"The idea to have massage therapists on Virgin Atlantic flights came from a flight attendant" - David Tait
Coming from a small Scottish town, David made his way to Spain where he first entered the travel industry, then migrating to Canada to work with the famous Sir Freddie Laker of Laker Airways before moving to Miami to work for a consulting firm that became the lead in to Sir Richard Branson and the beginning of the famed Virgin Atlantic Airways story as they battled in the media with British Airways to gain a foothold in the market. A pretty amazing feat when you look back on it all and very inspiring.
Add to that David is the recipient of an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for “services to British aviation in the United States" which was given to him by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 2001, a very unique and distinctive honor.
Taken as an excerpt from the article our sponsor AlleyWatch wrote about the event, David left us all with a list of lessons and tips he has learned over the years and led to some of his successes.
• “Your people are your product” – Customer service (or more specifically, business-to-customer interaction) is an essential part of whatever product or service you offer
• “Don’t be the lowest price anything” – Price is always matchable. You need to demonstrate that what you offer is worth the price you want your customers to pay. And you do that by exceeding expectations.
• “Build loyalty by keeping a strong customer focus” – building on what has already been said, consistently exceeding expectations will build loyalty
• “Customer is not always right” – That being said, customers’ perspectives are based on what they have experienced before. It is incumbent upon the brand/company to educate its customers.
• “Be bold marketers” – Create disruption. You do not need a lot of money, you just need be able to pounce on opportunities quickly to show why you are the better choice.
• “Don’t obsess on the competition, focus on doing what you do better” – Focus on what you can control.
How to Run a Business
The overlying theme is create a positive, open culture.
• “Be inclusive – us not they creates ownership” – You want to make everyone on your team to feel essential.
• “Have fun” – When you spend more time with your co-workers than your family and friends, it better be enjoyable. Further, studies show that happy workers are more productive
• “Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions” – Mr. Tait learned this from his mentor, Sir Freddie Laker. Simply put, only identifying a problem makes you a negative force. Providing a solution makes you a problem solver and that is what all businesses need to succeed.
• “No such thing as a stupid idea” – Self-evident, but ego and stupidity get in the way. This also ties back to being inclusive
• “For a startup, if you make mistakes, make them quickly” – Being the little guy gives you the advantage to correct the problem and pivot quickly. Changing direction in a sailboat versus an ocean liner
• “Don’t build a box for people to think out of” – Some people need structure, but Mr. Tait believes that startups will more likely succeed when ideas are constantly flying around the office.
• “Constantly look for ways to improve your products and your business” – The “If it ain’t broke…..” mentality encourages stagnation and complacency.
• “Don’t obsess on the competition, focus on doing what you do better” – This is listed twice because it contributes to the culture you are trying to create
We hope to see everyone who attended our Inaugural event and a lot of new faces as we continue to spread the word in Greenwich, Fairfield County and Westchester County at our next event, Thursday April 24th when we host Bob Dorf, co-author with Steve Blank of The Startup Owners Manual and Columbia Business School professor. Tickets have already begun to sell out and can be found here on Eventbrite.
Peter Sinkevich is the Chapter Director of Startup Grind Greenwich and a lifelong serial entrepreneur. He can be reached by emailing psinkevich@startupgrind.com
We want to thank our amazing sponsors:Google For Entrepreneurs, The Bruce Museum, AlleyWatch, Skyline Exhibits, Primo Cards, Intermingl, Lorca