The Difference Between Better and Good

The International Red Cross recommends that a prison cell be at least 58 sq feet in size, which is a little over 7.5 feet by 8 feet.

Knowing those dimensions, how much money would it take to get you to stay in a 58 sq ft enclosure for, say, 12 hours?

What if I told you that, instead of getting paid, you’d have to pay handsomely for the privilege to gain access to this space? Indeed, it might cost you as much as $3000 for your 12 hour stay?

This bargain happens thousands of times a day, as business travelers pay big bucks to upgrade to first class seats. A recent article on The Points Guy blog excitedly talked about Singapore Airlines’ “spacious 50-square-foot first-class cabins with fully reclinable chairs and separate stowaway beds” which “ are quite likely on the bucket list for most aviation enthusiasts.”

So let’s review - the Red Cross says that a prison cell smaller than 58 sq ft is a human rights violation but a 50 sq ft first class seat is a ‘spacious bucket list?’

Granted, the business traveler is only using the first class seat for a few hours at a time, and that seat comes with all you can drink high-end alcohol and attentive flight attendants.

But still, 50 sq ft feet is 50 sq feet. I’ve flown business class a few times, on highly-rated airlines like Singapore Airlines.  Yes, business class is far superior to economy. But I don’t enjoy myself in business class. The full-recline bed is always too short or not wide enough, such that I am constantly trying out different yoga positions in an attempt to get comfortable. And you have to keep your seatbelt on when you are sleeping, which further limits movement. The food is always good but never great. Airline air is stale and cold. I could go on. 

Vanity Sells!

So why do people (including myself at times) pay a premium for a miserable experience? I see two primary reasons.

First, vanity. The airline industry has done a great job of selling the notion that business class is an exclusive club available only to the most affluent and lucky travelers. Every airline’s photos of their business class experience are variations on a theme: an attractive flight attendant bringing a glass of high-priced alcohol to a very happy, usually middle-aged customer.

And even if the experience doesn’t live up to the pictures, at least you get to board the airplane first (via a special six foot long red carpet!). And because you are boarding first, you get to watch the hoi polloi walk past your big seat to their inferior basic economy seats.

Plus you can casually mention to your friends that you finally got some sleep on a plane thanks to your full-reclining seat. Or, if you are less subtle, you can just post pictures of your premium experience to Instagram! 

All that bragging and looking down at others is worth something, right?

The Theory of Relativity

The second reason is that business class is great, relative to economy class. In addition to my business class experiences, I’ve also had the pleasure of taking a 16 hour flight in economy, where luxury is defined as the person in front of you not reclining their chair as far back as possible and not having to fight over armrests with your neighbors. 

Put another way, business class may not be good, but it is better than the alternative.  Given the choice, I suspect that most travelers would rather spend $3000 to fly economy on a plane that travels 50% faster than a current commercial airline than $3000 to be in business class on a regular plane.

But until that choice exists, airline travel is a necessary evil and business class just makes it less uncomfortable.

A Vanity Arms Race

There are a few business takeaways from this. First, vanity works! I have often said that there are four emotions that can sell anything: fear, greed, vanity, and exclusivity. 

The downside of vanity, however, is that the competition can out-vanity you. Airlines are constantly trying to up their game by adding showers on planes, full beds, fancier wine, limo service, and so on. So to compete on vanity, you have to constantly upgrade your offering and pay close attention to the competition’s vanity advances.

Finding True Customer Satisfaction

The second lesson is to understand the difference between happy customers and “not unhappy” customers. Just because your customers continue to be customers doesn’t mean they are happy. 

Imagine becoming appointed CEO of a company that has a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 35. As one of your first initiatives at the company, you launch an aggressive plan to improve customer satisfaction.

After a year of hard work, your NPS improves from 35 to 45. This is better, but is it good? Given that a score under 50 means that the majority of your customers are not brand advocates for your business, I’d argue it is not. 

Customers don’t hand out participation trophies for being better but still subpar. Customers want good. They want to become raving fans of your business. 

Some companies will continue to grow their market share with “better but not good” results. This is especially true if the alternative is “less better and still not good,” as seen with business class versus economy.

Ultimately, however, depending on the competition to be less bad than you is a risky strategy. Eventually, either an existing competitor will up their game and become “better and great” (think Target vs. Kmart) or a new entrant will offer an entirely different solution that makes your business obsolete (think car travel versus horse travel).

Companies that understand the difference between better and good will constantly innovate to delight their customers. Companies that are satisfied with being “good enough” will eventually become “not good enough” and fade away.