There is nothing more difficult to communicate to your customers what you want when their interactions are short. Â You have such a limited window, it is easy to miss, right? Â I would say no based on my experience this week! Â This week I had the thrill of traveling to a client site. Â I hit three airports on my way out – Cleveland Hopkins, Newark and Charlotte. Â Here is what happened.
In Cleveland, every person greeted me and at the gate, the employee  cleaning struck up a conversation.  I felt very comfortable and liked the experience.  I then landed for a connection in Newark.  My airline had a “partner” that picked up the connection which meant I needed to get from Concourse C to Concourse A.  I had to ask two people for directions to a shuttle (the first person sent me to the air train outside of security) I arrived in a strange little room to wait for a bus.  The three people at the desk barely stopped their conversation to tell me to have a seat and wait.  When I arrived in the right concourse I then had to find the flight but found out I hadn’t been checked in properly and had to leave the security area.
I finally got on the plane to Charlotte. Â The first person I saw after the gate in North Carolina welcomed me to Charlotte and asked how I was doing. Â I could have asked her anything and I’m confident she would have done everything possible to help.
So, what’s the point? Â Well, each of these airports wants travelers to book through them. Â It is important they increase traffic and carriers see their facility as valuable. Â Now, any time I travel I will route so that I don’t have to go to Newark ever again. Â My experience was that frustrating. Â On the other hand, if my choices include going through Charlotte, I will happily book that as it will be an easy option. Â And while I am one person, I talk to many and one never knows how much travel those individuals will schedule.
Communicating your culture and giving customers a great experience happens in the trenches on the day to day – not in big ways, but hundreds of small things. Â It is those that make all the difference. Â Have you reviewed the little contact points in your company lately?
Leave a Reply