Posted: May 13th, 2011 | Author: Ellen S. | Filed under: Business Travel, Family and Leisure Travel, Guest Post, Just for Fun | Tags: Relaxing | Comments Off
Our friend Christopher Ford, Chief Mixologist at Party Mix, put together a suggested playlist for Fleet clients to listen to while flying. Christopher doesn’t just play music, he crafts together a moving backdrop customized for every situation.
I took my time pulling together a good, incredibly varied list of songs. Allman Bros. Fleet Foxes, Sinatra, Wagner, James Bond – wow! I was envisioning one of Fleet’s clients waking up and making their way to the hangar to fly one of Fleet’s planes – taking off and coming home – all in ten songs! I designed the list to be played from beginning to end. Each song works with the next, telling a story as you go on your journey.
- Fleet Foxes “Sun It Rises”
- Chantal Kreviazuk “Leaving On A Jet Plane”
- The Allman Brothers Band “Blue Sky”
- The Beatles “Flying”
- Seal “Fly Like An Eagle”
- Wagner “Die Walküre – Ride Of The Valkyries”
- John Barry Orchestra “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”
- Frank Sinatra “Come Fly With Me”
- Gotan Project “Triptico”
- Simon & Garfunkel “Homeward Bound”
From Park Avenue to Palm Beach Christopher Ford’s Party Mix™ has been providing great music, sound, theatrical lighting and FX for every occasion for almost a quarter of a century. At Party Mix™ they understand that no two events are ever the same. Each client is special, and their goal is to help make your special day just as unique as you are.
Whatever the size or the scope of your event Party Mix™ is always the best choice for you and your guests. Discover what they can do for your next party!
Posted: April 25th, 2011 | Author: Ellen S. | Filed under: Business Travel, Cost of Travel, Fleet Aviation | Tags: Affordable, Relaxing | Comments Off
Fleet is pleased to announce a new program geared toward our business travelers and the return of our popular referral program for our current clients.
Earn Flight Credit
Fleet has reinstated – and upped the ante – of our client referral program. Anyone who has flown with us before – if you refer your friends and colleagues to Fleet, when they complete their first trip with us, you’ll receive a $500 flight credit toward your next trip.
Spread the word about Fleet – for business or pleasure – and you can earn free flights. Make sure they mention your name!
Free Meeting Tuesdays & Wednesdays
Fleet is the obvious choice for regional corporate travel. Paying-by-the-plane, but traveling with a team means low per-person rates coupled with low per-hour wait fees. Add in total flexibility over when you depart and you gain complete control your time at affordable rates. You can focus on your business and client relations without the outside pressures and stress of mainstream travel – and be back at your desk without missing a beat.
100% of our first-time corporate travelers return for subsequent quotes. Once you fly Fleet and realize the increase in productivity and reduction in stress, it’s hard to justify returning to commercial airlines. To encourage you to give us a try, we’ve launched “Free Meeting Tuesdays and Wednesdays”. Every Tuesday and Wednesday, the first four hours of wait time are on us, automatically. Its been proven that face-time with clients and colleagues improves enterprise value – so what are you waiting for? Fly smart for business with Fleet today.
Posted: March 16th, 2011 | Author: Ellen S. | Filed under: Business Travel | Tags: Flexibility, Productivity, Time Multiplier | 1 Comment »
The proof is in: companies can grow the value of their company through the use of private aviation, no matter what size.
Last fall, Nexa Advisors, a strategic advisory firm, followed up their research the private aviation useage of large corporations with a look at how small and medium sized firms are affected by the use of business aircraft. The results were clear: on every measure of enterprise value, those companies who used private aircraft scored above those categorized as “non-users” including revenue growth, profit growth, asset efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
This conclusion supports Fleet’s standpoint that charter for business purposes is not about luxury but rather it is about extreme practicality. If travel helps drive your company mission, then cutting out the time-wasting hassles, hoops and headaches of conventional transportation will inevitably translate into increased productivity, goodwill and bottom-line results.
Nexa makes an important distinction about cause and effect that we support as well. They state: “These results are not intended to suggest that the use of business aircraft by any size or type of company guarantees positive financial results or that their use is appropriate in all circumstances.” Selecting the right aircraft for the mission is critical in securing desired efficiencies. Flying a private jet to a location 200 miles away is overkill – at best, you will arrive only a minute or two sooner and you will pay up to 8 times the price of a small aircraft.
In some cases, flying private isn’t the right answer either. Just as a one-size-fits all sales pitch will likely not deliver results with all prospective clients, a one-size-fits all approach to private aviation won’t yield the best results for every business either.
We at Fleet are committed to client satisfaction – and that means total transparency about the many occasions when small aircraft charter is the smartest way to travel as well as the situations when it makes more sense to fly commercial.
Interested in learning more about how Fleet Aviation can help you further your business goals? Call or email our flight concierge for a free consultation today. 866-862-9509, info@flyfleet.com.
Posted: January 17th, 2011 | Author: Ellen S. | Filed under: Business Travel, Guest Post | Comments Off
The combined efforts of former
New York Knicks superstar,
John Starks and his business partner, Gary Basciano, have created a place where the cigar enthusiast can go to unwind at the end of the day.
A few months ago, the Stamford Cigar Lounge opened its doors to the public and the response has been impressive. Selling their own
E. Zarzuela brand of cigars from the Dominican Republic, the lounge is outfitted with five flatscreen televisions and lots of couches and space to socialize or smoke. Though it is important to note, that the lounge, located at 75 Research Drive in Stamford, CT, is about more than just cigars.
“This just evolved more out of a passion; a love of the camaraderie of guys sitting together smoking,” said Basciano. “Cigar smokers are social and love to network.”
The desire to provide a place for people to come together and socialize over a good cigar was the reason that Basciano and Starks turned their passion into a business. Now it seems that their business has become a pretty wonderful place to “do business.”
Starks, long a Knicks fan-favorite, is well known for his skill with the basketball, but also spends time taking care of business on the golf course.
“Business gets done on the golf course, when you can talk and be relaxed. This is like being at the golf course,” he says of spending time at the cigar lounge. “This is the perfect place in the winter months to go and cut deals.”
Every day, friends and co-workers from all over show up to unwind and mingle with other folks who have stopped in to see what the lounge is all about. New friendships and associations are growing over a shared interest in cigars and new partnerships and ventures are being forged daily.
The lounge will always be open to the public, but will soon offer exclusive membership to those who are interested in member privileges like private humidor lockers. There is no fee to visit Stamford Cigar Lounge to network and socialize, however, while you are there, Basciano and Starks would love you to purchase one of their cigars to see what sets them apart from other brands.
With the holiday season underway, the lounge is a great place to stop in for a stocking stuffer or two for the aficionado on your list. Basciano and Starks both recommend the cigar developed by Starks himself, the “Dominican Legend’s” cigar. Individual cigars range from $4 – $12 and if you can’t get to the lounge, you can place an order by phone and have it shipped directly to you or your gift recipient.
The lounge is also available for events and will offer on-premise catering from
Marcia Selden Catering as part of their event package for businesses and corporations looking for a unique meeting or party space.
Fleet Aviation looks forward to working together with Stamford Cigar Lounge in the coming months to present some unique events for our friends and clients.
You can reach the Stamford Cigar Lounge at: (203) 359-6271
Posted: September 24th, 2010 | Author: Ellen S. | Filed under: Business Travel | Tags: Productivity | Comments Off
‘Tis the season to get back down to business. Fleet Aviation is a member of a local business networking group and last week we attended one of their monthly breakfast meet-ups – and it was packed! It’s a clear indication that executives are re-energized and returning their focus toward business growth and client outreach.
With client budgets needing to be spent before December 31st and planning beginning for 2011, now is prime time to reconnect with your customers. Although you may not have an active project milestone coming up, September is the best time to schedule those face-to-face meetings that allow you to catch up, seek new opportunities and get everything on track for Q4 to help you sail smoothly into Q1.
Imagine business travel that leaves you energized, excited, and motivated and can lower your total cost of travel. By flying charter, you minimize the amount of time out of the office while maximizing important face time. You can visit multiple clients in a single day or split your day half on-site and half at your desk – effortlessly balancing several projects at once and reducing executive opportunity costs. With access to thousands of airports commercial airlines can’t reach, you always fly direct to your destination, eliminating the need for costly rental cars and overnight hotel stays.
Be more efficient, build trust and rapport, become more hands-on and take advantage of the opportunity to spend more face time with your clients. For business’ sake sometimes you just have to be there in person and the fall is the best time to do it.
Learn more about flying Fleet for your corporate travel and book your trip today!
Posted: July 22nd, 2010 | Author: Ellen S. | Filed under: Business Travel | Tags: Productivity, Time Multiplier | Comments Off
Ever wish you had Bill & Ted’s phone booth or Doc Brown & Marty McFly’s DeLorean at your personal service? When you have to travel out of town for a meeting in an obscure location, and yet want to be back home in time for your daughter’s afternoon soccer game, I bet you have at least once dreamed of having Captain Kirk’s Transporter.
I just discovered a great blog on Forbes.com called Wheels Up that’s all about business aviation, written for the lay person. The title of one piece caught my eye and has stuck with me for a couple of days. Dan Boedigheimer titled a short case study “Business Jet: The Modern Day Time Machine.” It is such a clear comparison, such a good analogy, I instantly wished I’d thought of it myself and couldn’t get the title out of my head.
It’s so true!
As the head of business development for Fleet, I am often approached by other companies who want to ‘help promote our services’ (aka: advertising salespeople). They almost always assume that our target market is the extremely wealthy. The most common phrase I hear is “our [product/service/publication] is very high-end.” When they say that, they obviously have not been paying attention to what makes Fleet different. I don’t actually have income brackets built into my market segmentation.
For Fleet, our ideal client is someone who places a high value on their time. People with:
- Families
- Demanding jobs that can squeeze personal time
- A need to travel to hard-to-reach places
- Complicated travel itineraries with multiple stops
- Non-locally based clients
- A desire to maximize weekends/time away from work
Time really is money – and its a constant trade-off for our clients – some who are well-to-do, and some who are just ordinary folks with extraordinary pressures.
As a leading provider on the surprisingly affordable end of the on-demand flying spectrum, Fleet offers all of the important characteristics of flying charter: flexibility, direct flights, ease, no-hassles, comfort, privacy, concierge service, and (most importantly) extreme time savings. Plus, as a carrier that flies small aircraft, we can even offer fewer delays and the ability to safely land at even more airports than with our jet-flying counterparts — at a fraction of their cost.
When people assume flying regional charter is about luxury they are often taken aback when I insist its precisely the opposite – it’s about extreme practicality.
When your schedule seems to be controlling you, instead of vice versa, don’t you long to strap yourself into HG Wells’ Time Traveller‘s chair and zoom in between appointments? Well now you can… only it’s inside a Cirrus SR-22, waiting just down the road at your local airport.
Posted: July 19th, 2010 | Author: Ellen S. | Filed under: Business Travel, Tips | Tags: Relaxing | Comments Off
“There is no substitute for sitting and talking with someone. You just can’t do business over the phone.” - Alan Greenspan (2008)
Newsweek just published an article about beauty in the workplace that was intended to highlight additional hurdles in today’s job market, and it had me thinking about how visual impressions are key to success in business no matter what the work-related activity.
I went back through my archive of studies that caught my eye at one time or another and unearthed two more of them that relate to this topic. Together, these three different studies outline human instincts for interpersonal evaluation and paint a picture of the importance of face-to-face meetings in growing a successful business.
In a white paper entitled “Why Face-to-Face Business Meetings Matter” (2009) Professor Richard D. Arvey reviewed over a dozen research studies and noted, among other benefits, meeting in person helps people:
- Engage in and observe verbal and non verbal behavioral styles not captured in most computer mediated communication devises.
- Develop transparency and trust in ways that are not always possible compared to other forms of communication
- Evaluate and judge the integrity, competencies, and skills (e.g. verbal skills) of other participants in leaders
Newsweek just took that a step further when they published the results of a survey indicating that not only does it matter the impression you give someone during a face-to-face meeting, but it is exponentially in your favor if you are attractive. Through surveying over a thousand hiring managers (from HR to VPs), they concluded “in all elements of the workplace, from hiring to politics to promotions, even, looks matter, and they matter hard.”
This is all backed up by a study on building trust done at UCLA by Dr Albert Mehrabian. He looked at the perception of people based on audiences ratings on a variety of categories. The results were shocking on the surface, perception was most affected by what people looked like (55% attributed to body language), then by what they sounded like (38% attributed to intonation and speech pattern), and relatively little by what they were actually saying (only 7% of an opinion of a speaker was based on the content of their argument). Subconsciously, we place the most importance on nuanced, visual social cues about whether someone is trustworthy.
The conclusion of these 3 studies is simple: meeting in person matters most and what you look like during the meeting is critical. And this has ramifications in the sales process where, in effect, a company is “hiring” another company to partner with them to provide products or services. The same underlying biases are at play. Would you hire someone to work for you that you had never met in person? Unlikely. The same goes for building a B2B relationship. Particularly when it is in its early stages, nothing will replace a favorable in-person impression.
None of us really like the idea that we are being judged by others’ perception of us and not necessarily by reality. But if we know this is the case, why not work it as best we can to our benefit? Here are Fleet’s quick tips for presenting well – confident, energetic and stress free – at your next out-of-town meeting with a current or perspective client.
- Get plenty of sleep the night before - reduce eye puffiness and tendency to yawn
- Book a direct flight – don’t add wrinkles or gray hair by worrying about making your connection
- Build flexibility into your itinerary – avoid speeding up or cutting off the end of a meeting to make your return flight
- Minimize the amount of time on the road – any semblance of work-life balance you can maintain while traveling will diminish the visual signs stress
- Focus on the project at hand – being distracted by calls/emails from other clients can give the impression that you are not committed. Your body language will betray whether you are present or if your mind is wandering.
- (Bonus Tip) - Smile! - a positive attitude goes a long way.
As much as we can all roll our eyes at having to schedule yet another meeting or business trip to a client’s office because it takes us away from our daily tasks, everyone knows that face-to-face meetings are the best, most efficient way to do business. Direct contact builds on a variety of psychological tendencies and can make or break a deal. So do everything you can to put your best foot/face forward; it will be worth it.
