North by Southwest Do You Brag on Your Customers?

“The only difference between stores is the way they treat their customers.”

-Nordstrom Department Stores slogan

Up in the Air While speaking to the Alaska Chamber of Commerce last fall, the CEO of Alaska Airlines preceded my program. He remarked about how they were a great airline and had led the way in innovative customer services and safety. He told a funny story about how his own luggage was lost on a trip to Washington D.C. where he was testifying before Congress on the state of the US air carriers. There were many of jokes from the other airline executives over his own company losing his bags. The next month I traveled to New England for a corporate meeting. My usual airline couldn’t accommodate my travel plans for the dates I needed, so I booked flights on Southwest Airlines. Friends and family who fly Southwest swear by them. The other customers in the boarding area said they couldn’t be beat. I have written about Southwest Airlines as an outsider previously on how they lead in customer service as well as making a profit every year. Now I was about to find out why… The airplanes are clean. They don’t look like they survived a garage sale. The seats are comfortable with lumbar support. The flight attendants are friendly, entertaining and act like they really enjoy their jobs. The onboard WIFI is less expensive. Although there is general seating, it is expected so passengers don’t wind up crawling over someone who won’t allow anyone by. The instructions are given as if you are familiar with them in a friendly, fun tone. The flight attendants call out the gates for connecting flights. The luggage is free and so are flight changes (no penalties). Did I mention that the planes are clean?

I remembered the flight safety videos I have watched on other major carriers. They usually begin with the CEO or some other employee bragging about their service and how great their employees are. It occurred to me…

Southwest brags about their customers, not themselves. Refreshment bag comments say, “We thought you deserved a treat.” and “Just because we like you.” Even their logo is a heart. You get the idea that Southwest loves you for being their customer. I left the plane feeling appreciated, rather than feeling lucky they were accepting my business. My connecting flights were the same. I recall times the instructions and reminders were scolded at me. I am an elite member of another airline and the treatment varies depending on whether I make the first class upgrade or not. I can be off the list by one person and feel like the service is grudgingly bestowed on me. It leaves other passengers with a “punished” feeling.

What is the point if your perks don’t outweigh the punishments? Why do people pay more for a service only to be treated like an annoyance to their hosts? I wondered this as I flew comfortably on Southwest. I felt like a fellow traveler with other happy people enjoying the trip. I never felt punished, even though I was a novice at this so-called “discount airline.”

Who Are You Serving? Carmine Gallo wrote in Entrepreneur magazine,

“In 1997, Jobs returned to Apple after a 12-year absence. Apple was close to bankruptcy at the time and was quickly running out of cash. Near the end of Jobs’ keynote at Macworld in August 1997, he said: ‘I think you always had to be a little different to buy an Apple computer. I think the people who do buy them are the creative spirits in the world. They are the people who are not out just to get a job done, they’re out to change the world. We make tools for those kind of people. A lot of times, people think they’re crazy. But in that craziness, we see genius. And those are the people we’re making tools for.’ Jobs made it clear to his internal audience that their goal was to make products that suit their unique customers, not to make the audience conform to their rules or policies. To buy an Apple product, you merely have to be creative and want to change the world.

Doesn’t every customer have that in common in some way?”

How do people feel punished for doing business with you? I have referred in previous articles to the McDonald’s practice of making you park in their “waiting zone” to satisfy

their internal timer at the drive-up window. The McDonald’s near my house gives bonus coupons for having to wait. They go beyond the policy manual and corporate restraints. A truck in front of me one morning had two dogs in the back of the extended cab. The McDonald’s employee was giving them doggy treats! She explained when I drove up that the driver is a regular customer. His dogs barked at her in the beginning whenever he drove through the line. She started stocking treats to win the two dogs over. It worked and now she looks forward to the man’s visit every morning. So do the dogs!

No punishments; just perks! Are dog treats in McDonald’s “policy manual?” Have they posted a “No Dogs in the Drive Up Lane” sign? Are managers required to give out coupons to win over inconvenienced customers? They have seized the opportunity to make their store (and the company) look great to their customers. In fact Chick-fil-A has announced a pilot program to take busy mothers’ orders in the drive-up lane and have a table ready when they come in the restaurant with their preschool children. Perks, not punishments. Lost and FOUND! Remember the New England trip? When I arrived back home, I realized I had left my laptop computer on the plane in the seat back pouch in front of me. The next afternoon I looked in my bag and realized it was missing. Then I remembered placing it in the pouch on the plane the night before. I had nightmarish thoughts about a pair of prescription eyeglasses I had left on another airline several years ago. When I had reported the missing spectacles to the gate agent back then, he casually said, “Oh they were here. We don’t save anything. You can probably find them on Ebay tomorrow.” Ugh! I didn’t know that was a source of income for that airline. So with that episode in mind, I frantically called the Southwest customer service line about my missing laptop. I left a message with their answering service. My wife suggested we go to the airport and ask the “Lost Luggage” representative for help. The laptop was irreplaceable to me. At the airport I went in to talk with the Southwest representatives. I asked if they could help me and described the problem. Bill, the gentleman I spoke with, asked the flight number and time I arrived the evening before. I told him and described my computer. While he looked up the information in his system, I was offered snacks and refreshments. Within minutes he opened the safe and looked back at me, smiling. “Here you go! It has been here all the time. We figure anything like this that you lose, you will return to retrieve it.”

Bill and everyone in the Lost Luggage office were great. I shared with them my impression that they brag about their customers more than themselves. They agreed and said their customers are more important to Southwest than anything else. It shows in their service and attitudes. I can see why they are one of the only US air carriers making a profit and tops in customer service.

Change Your Service; Change Your Results What “permission” do your employees have to secure from you to satisfy customers? Do employees show how they hate working with your customers regularly? Or do they have a good time and invite your customers to join them? Get close to your frequent customers. Ask them and they will be respond. They will gladly tell if you are known for Punishments… or Perks. Permission is granted to reprint this article provided the following paragraph is included in full:

Jim Mathis, IPCS, CSP, MDiv. is The Reinvention PRO™, an International Platform Certified Speaker, Certified Speaking Professional and best-selling author of Reinvention Made Easy: Change Your Strategy, Change Your Results. To subscribe to his free professional development newsletter, please send an email to: subscribe@jimmathis.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject. An electronic copy will be sent out to you every month. For more information on how Jim and his programs can benefit your organization or group, please call 888-688-0220, or visit his web site: www.jimmathis.com. © 2016 J&L Mathis Group