Communication, Not Our Bag

The Gurus are on planes, trains, and rental automobiles all the time, which gives me many opportunities to witness great (or not) service in the travel industry.  There are bumps on the Road of Travel, but those bumps can be smoothed and customer relations intact with simple communication.

The Situation

Typically, I’m a budget traveler.   Sure there are expectations of a different service experience with a budget airline than a moderate brand, but some things should be consistent.   Passengers should get their luggage!

The Gurus team flew Allegiant airlines a little bit earlier this month.  We arrived an hour late to our destination, and that is when the real issued started.  The plane let out, and all of us passengers run like a herd of cattle to our designated luggage belt. Then we wait…and wait….and wait…  We waited 1 hour at baggage claim!  This was the entire flight, not one or two passengers with lost luggage. 

The Missed Opportunity

At no point did a representative from the airline or the airport come to tell us what occurred, or when we could expect to receive our bags.  Passengers grow frustrated, but we feel disempowered to do anything.   I am not sure if anyone tried to find an Allegiant representative, if they did one was not found. 

I opt for the modern method that many of us seek for problem resolution, and hop on my smart phone to post a Facebook message. Check it out.

The response was tagged two days after the event, and it is written in present tense.  What?!

I also received this from my website complaint, written in real time as we waited for our bags.

 

I’ve received no second email addressing my complaint or explaining what happened.  60 days for a solution?!  What #2?!

Finally, like it was a normal delay, our bags spit up on another baggage carousel, 1 hour after we landed.

I am not upset about the baggage being delayed.  It was inconvenient, but not the end of the world.  If I was in a time sensitive situation, say I was trying to make a business meeting, it would be more upsetting.  It’s all in the eyes of the customer what requires an apology or a greater service recovery option.

Regardless, what is frustrating is Allegiant had three opportunities just to tell me what happened, or at least seem like they cared it is not a normal occurrence of travel to wait 1 hour after landing for our bags.   Someone at that organization knew why our luggage would not be timely delivered.  It would have been nice, and the right thing, to simply relay that information to the passengers.

The Gurus’ Advice

Communication is key!  As soon as an incident occurs outside of normal operations, tell your customers IMMEDIATELY with a sincere apology.   Best practice is this communication occurs in person, as it is more immediate, and clarifications or rumors can be addressed.  If you know when the situation will be rectified, say that too.  Say what you know, don’t speculate what you don’t know, and have faith customers are decent people and understand it’s not a perfect world.    It's possible a customer or two might open become unruly, but don’t punish your loyal pleasant customers because of a few.

Bonus advice: If you have an interactive Facebook page as part of a marketing or service strategy, role play written responses in training.   I took a look at Allegiant’s page, with no illusion it is a lone offender in the travel industry, and it was disheartening.  Do better by making sure the response is appropriate in time, tone, and information.  Stay away from condescending policies and procedures mumbo jumbo. 

Happy Travels!

Throw the Book at Bad Customer Service! Learn from a TV Judge

My Grandma Lou watched a lot of television the final few years she lived alone in her home.  It seemed that there was always some judge on TV quickly deciding the fates of those who were willing to bring their case to a public forum.  (Incidentally, why people would pick a public forum for some of these cases, I have no idea!) 

Judy, Alex, Joe, Marilyn, among a slew of the 21 judges listed on Wikipedia, come into our living rooms and in 15 minutes decipher and deliver a verdict that gets both parties on the road.  As service professionals, we could learn from the judges’ techniques in dealing with escalated and complicated situations. 

Get to the Point

One thing judges shut down quickly is unnecessary details provided by the participants.  The judge will ask a question to the plaintiff or defendant, and if the party does not directly answer the question, the judge immediately puts it to a stop.  They use language similar to, “That’s not what I asked.  Answer my question!”  The human condition tells us the more we explain, the more solid we make our case, but it is rarely true.  The more we explain, the more difficult it is to define the correct solution.

In the service world, when a customer starts to ramble, gently interrupt them and put them back on point. “Thank you for that information, and can you please answer [insert question]?”   I have found the more closed questions, that require an A or B type answer, are the most effective.

Open questions are good when the customer is upset.  This usually gives the customer the emotional space they need to work through the issue, and then the service representative can start problem solving.

They Know Their Product

This I love, love, love, about TV judges!  Their confidence in their subject matter shines through whatever they say.  The participants do not question their authority, because the judge’s authority is self-evident.  They do not stutter.  They do not say qualifying phrases. They speak concrete sentences in such a tone that the participants take their answer as final.  The judges can do this because of their years of experience as litigators and as judges.  But even with the ever changing legal system, they stay current.   They know their product.

In the service world this would seem easy, as most products and services are way less complicated than contemporary law.  But I’ve rarely found that I fully believe a representative’s answer.   They do not have the same level of confidence, because they do not know their product.

This is easy enough to fix through constant and continuous education.  I’m not talking formal training sessions; truth be told only part of the learning magic occurs in a formal environment.  I am talking about making learning informal, an everyday, in-between customer interaction activity.  Help the representatives build their confidence.  Even if they know their product, they can read up on the competitors.   How powerful would it to hear a representative say, “I just read this on our company website. Did you know…?”  

Throw the Book at Them

Ok, so don’t throw the book at your customers or your representatives.   But do help your organization and representatives do a better job, by streamlining your customer interactions using some of the techniques of TV judges. Develop them to get to the point and speak with confidence.  The verdict?  Your organization should receive fewer callbacks and improve customer service scores. 

Case dismissed!