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Message: Hi, I thought you might be interested in this article I found. First Class vs. No Class – What Kind of Law Firm Are You Running? This past week I had to fly from Miami to New York to attend a funeral. Things happened pretty quickly so I really didn’t have time to plan my travel. I left South Florida on a Thursday evening and returned the following day. I wanted the most convenient airline in terms of schedule and airport. That meant flying into White Plains, NY and flying out of JFK. On my trip up to New York I was forced to fly on Jet Blue. That was the only airline that met my schedule and arrival location constraints. On the way home I flew American Airlines. I had a little more flexibility on the return and there were some distinct advantages to this choice. Money was not a consideration in this situation. I needed to be in New York at a certain time and I needed to maintain my schedule prior to leaving. The experience on each airline could not have been more different. The crew and the equipment were great on both legs of the trip. This is not about them. Both companies did a fine job. Unfortunately, it was the bigger picture – the airlines’ strategy that caused my experience to be significantly different. On my trip up to New York I was on a small plane in the middle of the cabin. There is only one class of service on Jet Blue (you can pay $15 more for a bigger seat but those were all gone). I sat next to a lady who snapped her gum for two hours and twenty five minutes. There was a dog under the seat behind me which kept barking. The guy across the aisle was wearing a jogging suit and smelled like he had not bathed in a week. An elderly gentleman in front of me fought with the flight attendant over his second carry-on bag not fitting in the overhead bin, which resulted in a delay as they checked it. His first bag was placed four rows behind me. This created a problem when it was time to deplane as he insisted on pushing his way past me and six other people to get his bag before we got off. There was no power port for my laptop and no room to fit it between the seatback in front of me and my legs. I could not work and I could not sleep (barking dog). Prior to leaving, I stood in front of the gate for 45 minutes. All of the seats in the gate area were taken and Jet Blue doesn’t have an airline lounge. Even the bar area in the terminal (which resembled the Cantina in Star Wars) was full. I did my best to make phone calls while dodging screaming kids and tourists on their way home. Generally, this leg of the trip was an uncomfortable experience I have no desire to repeat. On my flight back to Miami I flew in First Class on a 767. I got to the airport early but the terminal was crowded. I breezed by everyone on line and went right to the first class check in counter. After three minutes, I was on my way to security. A special line for first class passengers had nobody on it and I was through the screening process in less than five minutes. During the 90 minutes prior to boarding, I worked on my laptop at a desk in the Admiral’s Club while I sipped an adult beverage. On board the plane, I powered up my laptop with the power port at my seat and worked during the two hours of the three hour flight. During the other hour I ate a decent meal and had a great conversation with the attorney sitting next to me. The second experience was clearly different than the first. My question to you is: What kind of law firm do you want? Do you want to build the bargain basement of law firms – offering competent service to low class clients? Or do you want to offer luxury service to clients who will pay more for a better experience? I assure you there are more than enough of both kinds of clients out there. Your law firm marketing will determine which clients you attract. You have a choice. Are you first class or no class? Link: http://www.rainmakerlawyer.com/site/permalink/first_class_vs._no_class_what_kind_of_law_firm_are_you_running/