This weeks Article....
Exceeding
Customer
Expectations
Works
How what you do during and after
the sale makes the
difference
Most of us have experienced the
barley acceptable services while
traveling. At most your expectations are
guarded optimism as to how things will
go. Those who travel on a daily basis
have developed their own ways of coping
with the expectations.
But what happens when those
expectations are suddenly altered? How
long lasting and far reaching are the
effects? Can the smallest action make a
significant difference in a customer's
attitude and perception?
Well the best part of a recent
trip was how one of these glitches was
handled!
Here is the rest of the
story…..
Flying from Orlando to Denver
and then home, the plane is on time, the
weather is great and I'll have time to
take care of things that afternoon at the
office. I
have a major training session with a
clients group the next afternoon and have
some preparation to finish up
on.
Of course we land on time in
Denver and as many do, checked the flight
schedule and gates.
The dreaded word, flight
cancelled is displayed and the guarded
optimism begins to wain. There is a major
snow storm at home and the airport there
is closed down. We had hoped this storm
front would have stayed south just a
little bit more.
The immediate action is to race
for the ticket desk and get on the next
flight. Amazingly we are first in line
and yes there was another flight and some
later ones as well. The ticket attendant
put us in on all of them in the event the
next one was cancelled. Great job, we'll
get out of here yet today, although a bit
later.
A couple hours later, you got
it, all flights cancelled, home is
getting pelted with 12" of unusual late
March snow and the whole area is shut
down, Interstate roads are closed and all
flights in and out are cancelled. Face
it, were stuck in the Denver
Airport.
The clerk puts us on an early am
flight for the next day and indicates
they can provide us a room voucher for a
$50.00 room that we have to pay for.
There are shuttles that will pick us up
and bring us back so transportation is
not an issue.
Ok, a $50.00 room, wonder how
big the bugs are and how noisy the place
is going to be! We have already made the
decision, if this is the Bates Motel,
we'll get our own!
The shuttle is easy to find and
it’s a 20 minute ride to the hotel.
Denver's Airport is defiantly outside of
town.
I never heard of this Three Tree
Hotel, but as we pull up to a very large
hotel building the image of the Bates
Motel dwindles, it’s a 4 or 5 star
property! The
entry is a grand room with plenty of
service staff, the young lady desk clerk
is a hoot and very helpful, a free meal
and drinks in their excellent restaurant
and a huge room with King Bed and other
amenities. Yep, only $50.00 for what was
probably a $150.00 or more
room!
Yes, American Airlines has
altered my expectations and perceptions
with an unexpected WOW!
The question becomes, do you and
your company WOWS your customers in
anyway? If so how?
So the next day after a great
afternoon, evening and very restful
night; we grab the shuttle to the airport
and quickly check in without much of an
issue. The
plane is scheduled and on time so we
enjoy a good breakfast and a short wait
while still basking in the great
experience from the Hotel. Remember, we
paid for the room.
Unfortunately
our plane was a small commuter and we were
directed down a long addition to the
airport. It seemed like a mile by the time
we got to the loading gate and were stopped.
As we waited for some time, we were informed
there was no stewardess for the flight and
they could not fly without
one!
Finally we were allowed to exit
outside and load the plane on the tarmac.
The pilot assured us with the winds we
could still make it home on
schedule.
We arrived in Fargo on time and
I made it to my training session about 5
minutes late. No materials or other
things I wanted to prepare, but got the
job done and the clients were
smiling!
So what does this have to do
with your customers and WOWing
them!
Looking over
the entire trip, one thing stood out more
than anything else. The hotel room
experience in Denver was the most relaxing
and unexpected! The obvious quirks in the
trip were there, yet the unexpected hotel
experience overshadowed them.
This is the power of WOWing your
customers. Giving them the unexpected
experience and making it memorable.
Notice how this became a highlight of the
trip and set American Airlines apart from
their competitors! It even softened the
additional delays and inconveniences for
the balance of the trip.
This is the power of WOW, it
embeds the experience on mind of the
customer, it overshadows other issues or
not as positive issues that always seem
to be there, and causes the company
providing the WOW with a perception of
being better than the
competition!
In this world of Big Box Stores,
minimal customer service and a focus on
product cost rather than total customer
experience; anyone that can surprise
their customers with any kind of WOW is
way ahead of the competition.
So how do you create a
WOW?
1. Think about the total customer
experience, not just the
transaction!
2. What are the customer's actual
expectations? Do you really
know?
3. It is not the big things that
tip the scales, often times it is the
very small things!
4. View every phase and step of the
customers actions, before, during and
after the purchase.
5. Have you and your team ask; "How
can we make each step exceed
expectations!"
6. Have every employee ask
customers: "What has WOWed you in the
past?"
7. Train your employees to ask,
listen and observe; your customers are
telling you what they
want!
8. Make the idea of "Total Customer
Experience" the focal point of everything
you do!
I realize that every American
Airlines provides a hotel room, it may
not be the same experience, yet they have
a higher rating in my mind because of one
WOW!
How could this type of
experience affect your
customers!
Harlan Goerger
© Harlan Goerger
4-2009
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