What happens when you get on a plane and you’re happy? Or unhappy? Who do you tell? What do you do to communicate your experience? We all like to complain, how many bad experiences about flights do you hear vs. good? From a corporate perspective how do you react, how do you convert bad experiences to good ones before it’s too late?
This is what some of the new customer service executives on British Airways are trying to manage – capturing bad experiences and preventing them from escaping. The in-flight executive was measuring everything from the number of requested meals that couldn’t be served (I asked for chicken but got pork), through to seats requiring re-allocation and a random sampling of guest satisfaction.
Previously the CS execs had been using paper records, compiling & recording data for analysis afterward, today they use an app running on a tablet. The app allows them to not only rapidly dissect the data, but to make more informed decisions. It readily advises the team how they can compensate or make amends for service faults.
What if that could be taken just a little further? Providing the in-flight staff more information regarding the guest. Personal preferences, a past history of complaints (maybe they’re frequent complainers?), overall customer satisfaction metrics for the entire flight? Perhaps in seat surveying after the movie? Allowing you to capture a wider sample during the flight.
Do you remember receiving emails asking you how your stay or your flight was? How many of them have you responded to? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Most people delete them. The percentage of responses is tiny. Worse, once you have the data, there’s not too much you can do with it. The guest has already escaped. Your opportunity to influence their experience for the better before they start telling the world has already passed.
Using the airline as an example, ask yourself what customer satisfaction metrics are you currently measuring? What could you measure if you had a little extra technology to help? Most importantly though, how can you use that to better understand and manage (not just measure) your customer experiences?