Recently I visited Disney World…
And just like every time I go, I was in AWE at the operation being run in Orlando. Every park filled to capacity, hotels filled to capacity, and millions of dollars being spent probably every few minutes.
Then I stumbled upon this interesting article.
It’s about how Spirit Airlines has signed up for a lil’ “mentorship” from Disney. You’ve probably heard of Spirit. They’re more of a “budget” airline, that caters to people who just want a cheap flight.
Here’s a snippet of why they hired Disney for some mentorship:
“In order to address problems with timeliness and customer service, Spirit has turned to the Disney Institute, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company, to help change its reputation and better train its employees for success.
Disney, which is consistently voted one of the best places to work in the country, is helping other companies achieve similar cultural success through the Disney Institute, a Florida-based subsidiary that offers professional development and leadership training for a variety of students. Courses include training in quality service, employee engagement, and business excellence — all of which are areas Spirit Airlines is due to improve on.”
Yes, the same Spirit Airlines that generated $2.3 BILLION in revenue in 2016 (according to Google) signed up for their own version of coaching and mentorship.
What does this tell us?
To me, it says that while Spirit is generating a lot of money, they know there are areas they can improve in. And they know improvement in these areas will likely lead to MORE revenue and a better experience for their customers.
On top of that, they’ve likely learned that figuring it out themselves is not the best option, which is why they’ve decided to hire EXPERTS to help them.
At this point, here’s what you’re probably thinking:
Jeremy runs an eCommerce coaching and mentorship program.
Jeremy is using Spirit Airlines as an example of why coaching and mentorship is valuable.
Jeremy is doing this so I’ll apply to his eCommerce program.
And to you I say, NICE TRY, but that’s not completely accurate :).
The truth is, most people should NEVER sign up for any type of mentorship.
Not because it won’t help them, but because they either aren’t ready for it or have unrealistic expectations.
If a person or organization is not truly ready to COMMIT to something and put time and effort into it, they should never hire a mentor. It’s a waste.
If a person or organization thinks a mentor = an “easy” way to get from Point A to Point B, they should never hire a mentor. It’s a waste.
The reality is, much of what you learn from a mentor or in a mentorship program, you can learn elsewhere for free.
Spirit Airlines knows they need help with customer service. They likely know what they need to do better to improve. And if they wanted, they could easily research strategies and do it all themselves.
But that’s not what they’re after.
They want to shortcut the learning curve, and have EXPERTS teach their team the right way to do things.
They wanna work with a team that has a track record of success.
And if you feel the same way about accomplishing something, THAT is when you should seek out a mentor.
When you understand that hiring a mentor doesn’t mean there’s some “magic button,” but that it means you have EXPERTS that can shortcut your learning curve and look over your shoulder as you implement.
When you understand that these experts can condense your learning time, by telling you what to do, what not to do, and help you implement and make decisions along the way.
And with that said, below I’ve compiled some screenshots that I feel demonstrate those principles well.
See…in a way, we strive to be the “Disney” of eCommerce mentorship.
And below you’ll see students who came to us, wanted help building or growing an eCommerce store, and invested in themselves and our program.
And these screenshots are only from the past week or so!
And no, I’m not gonna try and wow you with 6-7 figure screenshots. Just solid BREAKTHROUGHS our students have had in various phases of their eCommerce journey:
Not a bad week, eh?
I want to reiterate something I said above, and that’s the fact that you DO NOT need a mentor to achieve good results in your business.
You can spend time and money learning everything yourself.
But it’s been demonstrated time and time again that mentorship is EXTREMELY valuable for someone with the right determination, expectations, and who wants help implementing and shortening their learning curve.
Only you know which category you fall in to…
If you feel like mentorship would benefit you, I want to remind you that the window to apply for the Store Implementation Program is closing FAST.
December 10th is the LAST DAY we are accepting applications for 2017. After that, we’re strictly working with our current students and new students on setting themselves up for a GREAT start to 2018.
If you don’t apply by December 10th, you’ll have to wait until next year :(. So if you’ve considered it, NOW is the time to take action.