I’ve always been a big proponent of being excessively nice when I need something. People are always more likely to help someone who is being nice to them, and by letting them know how important they are to you and how much you need them, regardless of whether or not this is true, will usually provide a more favorable outcome for you as you try to accomplish whatever it is you’re attempting to do.
Most of the time, this strategy will get me a good compromise between what I want or need and what the hotel, vendor, transportation company, etc., is initially willing to offer. But during the recent 2019 Super Bowl, I had a day of major wins where I didn’t have to accept any compromises. I got everything I needed and then some from three different entities, including a police officer.
On the day of the game, my job was to babysit a bus. I wasn’t the leader of the group, I hadn’t arranged the hotel rooms, and I wasn’t handling their tickets. All I needed to do was make sure the bus showed up, get the people on it, get them to their lunch location, then get them to the game, and finally, help track them all down after the game. The hardest part of this, by far, is always collecting them after the game.
But overall, I anticipated a generally easy day as this is something I’ve done many times. However, this time, I ran into quite a few problems that required some of my best problem-solving solving.
I called my driver over an hour before he was supposed to arrive at the hotel with the bus. He hadn’t left his house yet, over 20 miles away. He hadn’t even gotten dressed for work! It turns out it wasn’t his fault. The schedule had never been updated from a previous version that had him arriving an hour later than we needed him. I calmly asked him what time he thought he could make it and if there was any way he could leave earlier than planned so he could be at the hotel closer to the time, the guests were expecting him. He said he would do his best and was able to make it there, only 20 minutes behind our original schedule. This is why we call our drivers before their contracted arrival time, folks!
When I arrived at the hotel, I met with the client to double-check all the expectations for the day, then headed to the front of the hotel to talk to the valet about the bus pulling up in front of the hotel. This hotel had a very strange entry that didn’t allow buses to pull through by the main door. Buses had to start to pull into the parking garage and then back into the main pull-through to park in front of the hotel. You NEVER want to back up a bus with passengers on it, so this had to be done before anyone was allowed on; it also meant that the bus had to be loaded quickly so the entry wasn’t blocked for too long and other vehicles could pull up to the hotel.
The night before, a colleague of mine had worked with this client to load their folks onto a bus. Apparently, he and the valet had a bit of a disagreement about the bus. Part of the issue was that the client had never told the hotel about the bus. Generally, we let our hotels know what kinds of vehicles to expect so they are prepared and can help us coordinate. This client had not done that, so my colleague had needed to figure it out at the last minute but hadn’t approached the valet in the most understanding manner[.
I asked the valet where he would like me to park the bus and was immediately told I could not bring a bus onto the property at all. They hadn’t been told about the bus and had other buses coming around the same time, so they would not allow my bus on the property. Instead of pushing back, I said, “OK, would it be alright to park it down on the street briefly? We’re already running behind, so I’d like to load and get going as fast as possible.”
The valet quickly changed his tone once he saw that I was understanding and willing to work with him. We discussed options for a minute, including the timing of my bus’s arrival, which, as it turns out, would be out of the way long before the other buses arrived. After a couple of minutes of friendly conversation and a lot of me saying, “Thank you so much,” I had permission to park my bus directly in front of the hotel.
The bottom line is that the valet ‘owned’ this space. He would decide who was in it and who wasn’t. He didn’t care how important or unimportant my guests were, who I was, or what I needed to accomplish. All he cared about was doing his job to the best of his ability and making sure the guests who DID plan [for their bus loading got what they needed. I was completely at this valet’s mercy. The trick was to know and accept that. Let them have the power, respect the power that they have, and offer suggestions and compromises that allow them to decide in your favor that still makes them feel in control.
Once my bus was loaded, we headed to downtown Atlanta for lunch. My client had not made any arrangements for parking for the bus, and we were downtown on Super Bowl Sunday…
We pulled up to the restaurant, and fortunately, it was on a one-way street. The block before the restaurant had several buses staging in the far-right lane. In front of those buses, through the intersection, there was a police car. It had its lights on but not its siren, and the officer was not in the vehicle. I had the bus pull in just in front of his car to unload. Once all the guests were inside the restaurant, I went in search of the officer.
I asked if I could park my bus in front of his car for an hour to 90 minutes while my guests were in the restaurant next door. Again, the answer was no. so I asked if he had any ideas for parking nearby or somewhere else I could send the driver to the stage, like a Walmart or a venue of some kind. After a couple of minutes of brainstorming and some friendly conversation, I was given permission to park my bus in front of his car with the understanding that I would move it if something came up. I gave the officer my business card so he could get ahold of me if needed, offered to buy him breakfast, which he declined but appreciated, and then headed into the restaurant to get something to eat.
In the end, we parked for a little over two hours with no issues. I checked on the officer several times, and as we were leaving, I again thanked him profusely for allowing us to park there.
Finally, we headed to the actual game to park the bus. I had a parking permit for the bus lot, which is about a third of a mile from the Stadium. We got parked, and I showed the group the route to take to get to the event and how to find me when the game was over. I always carry a unique umbrella with me to help people find me in a crowd, so I show them what to look for and where I would be standing. With that, they were off, and I was basically done for the next 6 hours until the game ended.
I headed back to the bus to check in on the driver and touch base with my colleague. The driver informed me that he would need to leave to get gas. Well, in-and-out privileges are not something provided for ANY sporting event, not to mention the Super Bowl. Once you’re parked, you don’t get to move for any reason other than to leave and not come back. I had also told my entire group that the bus would be in the exact same space when they returned, making it easier to find the correct bus. Now, my driver was not only asking to leave with the intention to come back in, but he was asking to leave the spot, potentially allowing another bus to take it.
I asked the driver to hang tight while I went to talk to the lot agents. The lot agents are all temporary staff hired for the events. They don’t have any real say over anything major, so they’re given their rules: ‘Let the buses in if they have permits. Don’t let them come back if they leave.’ They are required to stick to the rules. There’s usually a supervisor, but overall, it’s a lot of part-time, low-paid folks who are already spending the entire day on their feet and aren’t really in the mood to fix your problems.
I started this interaction with begging. I explained that my driver had just told me he needed gas, and I, just moments before, told my group the bus wouldn’t move. I didn’t have many compromise options or suggestions. I needed to be allowed to leave and come back to this exact parking space. Again, I was first met with, “No, we can’t allow you to leave and come back.” However, rather than leave it at that, this woman went to talk to her supervisor, who joined us and another staffer. I explained the situation again, begging to see if there was anything they could do, and sure enough, a couple of minutes later, I had friends at the bus lot and in-and-out privileges, as well as a cone to hold my bus space.
In the meantime, my driver had discussed the issue with his colleagues and dispatcher. They decided the bus would have enough to make it back to the hotel at the end of the evening but would need to fill up immediately after they arrived there. This was true… the hotel was on an incline, so pulling up to the hotel caused the last remaining gas to shift, stalling the bus. Fortunately, he was able to get it restarted and made it to a bus-friendly gas station nearby.
Upon learning the new plan, I, of course, had the courtesy of letting the bus lot attendants know what our new plan was and, again, thank them 1,000 times for helping me.
Done! I’d fixed all the issues; the bus was parked, and I had time to kill! I met up with my colleague to run some errands, then hung out in a parking garage to watch what turned out to be a terrible game on an iPad.
During the 4th quarter, I headed back to my bus to check on the driver. All good. Then, I took my umbrella to the street corner to catch my folks. 45 minutes later, after one of the easiest load-ups after a game I’ve ever had, we were on the road.
This is kind of a fun story for me because this is really what so much of my job is. Problem solving in this industry is so often comprised of begging and pleading. Being good at coming up with solutions and compromises has made my life so much easier and gotten me things I never thought possible. It’s really all about respecting someone else’s role and making them feel important, even if they really aren’t in the grand scheme of things. People love to be given authority, and if you’re rude or even firm with them, they’ll exercise it. But if you’re friendly and respectful, they’ll use their tiny bit of authority to make your life easier.
