August 14th, 2006

Hello!

Superb customer service is key to make loyal advocates out of your customers.

In this issue:

1. Welcome to the Fly'n'Lie!
2. Screen saver in Member Info Point
3. Fr>ee Whitepaper
4. CustomerServicePoint.com Info

Welcome to the Fly'n'Lie!

Today I have just such a story for you.

Last week, you undoubtedly have heard about the foiled terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom. Not only did that send chills down my spine, it also created chaos on London airfields and with many airline companies.

The chaos is understandable. But how one airline company cracked under the pressure of all this, leaving their customers out in the cold (literally!), is making me sick! So I'm sharing this story with you, especially because it contains great lessons on how to care for customers... NOT!

Please read (and learn!):

Welcome back. What really struck me in this article was a couple of things:

1. The LIES. It always galls me when a company reverts to lies to make their problem go away for a while. Yes, I'm talking about their problem, NOT the customer's problem. That problem doesn't go away, of course. But it most certainly make the customer go away, after the problem remains unresolved for a certain time, or (even worse) when the lies become apparant, as in this case.

   What I really don't understand is this: Airlines are in fierce competition with each other, margins are low, and some companies are likely to go belly-up in the near future. Why, in heaven's name, do they choose to alienate themselves from the customers they need the baddest? I just don't get it. I guess that somehow in their neat little spreadsheets with red and black figures, the customer is diminished to just that: a figure in a cell. And managers are wondering why that figure is dropping faster than bricks (I wanted to say 'airplanes', but that would be just a bad joke)...




2. Dr. Evoy doesn't just complain about the bad treatment he and his family, and many more, have received. He also gives constructive criticism on how things would've gone much better, and not leaving such a bad taste after all had transpired.

   I'm sure British Airways isn't at all pleased by his story. Maybe they would rather like to make it go away. But they should actually be pleased by such a (ex-)customer! They can take his lessons and dissect exactly what went wrong.

   And hopefully in the end there will be a CEO exclaiming: "THIS-WILL-NOT-HAP-PEN-EVER-A-GAIN!" (imagine this with thumping fist on the table). Otherwise, I fear they will one day fly into the sunset, never to be heard of again... ;-)

Now, Ken Evoy is no stranger to us. We are his customer. His company, Sitesell, provides me with the very product (Site Build It!) that has helped us envision and create customerservicepoint.com, and it does so beautifully. He knows the value of customers and good customer service. In fact, we've been naming Sitesell as a best practice on delivering customer service for ages.

I think the lessons he has put in his article, about communication and respect towards the customer, are valuable to all of us.

Here's a link to that article again:

Screen saver in the Member Info Point

When the time is up, the screen get's black from left and right, as closing curtains. After that, it shows quotes by fading them in and out.

It's totally safe to install, it even comes with a little uninstaller if you want to get rid of it later.

Here's the link to the Member Info Point: Link removed, only for subscribers
Enjoy!

Important request
The page is made especially for subscribers to the Customer Servings e-zine. Please, do not share the URL (page address). Remember that subscribing to Customer Servings is fr.ee and easy. Thanks!

Fr>ee Whitepaper on Reducing Cost

Learn how BMC Transaction Management solutions provide a single, integrated view of your transactional data, the end user experience, and the IT infrastructure. This comprehensive solution enables you to improve customer service, identify and resolve problems faster, and streamline IT workflow. Find out how in this white paper from Enterprise Management Associates.

Unfortunately, this offer is only available to US and Canadian professionals. (Not from the US? Check out this list of publications that may be available to you)

Qualify for this fr>ee whitepaper on Reduce the Cost of Complex Business Transactions and Improve Customer Service

CustomerServicePoint.com Info

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Customer Servings is the newsletter for www.customerservicepoint.com, your resource on improving customer service. The newsletter is sent at irregular intervals.

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We welcome your remarks!

(C) 2006, Erwin & Marjan Steneker