Last week, I received yet another box from Tiffany’s in the mail. In it was a lovely pair of silver earrings. I’m pretty sure my husband thinks I have a boyfriend. I’m trying my best to reassure him of the truth - that this box, and the three previous ones, actually came from a major airline. And, no I do not have a boyfriend who flies for a major carrier.
To reward my frequent traveling on their flights across the nation, this particular airline has sent me hundreds of dollars in gifts from Tiffany’s in the last six months. In other words, I’ve gotten more little blue boxes this year from the airline than I have in 24 years of marriage. (Yes, Mike; this is a hint.) But, seriously, all this swag makes me think about customer service and what companies really need to do to keep their customer’s happy. Let me be clear, I love the Tiffany’s swag. It’s really fun. And, anyone would be happy to get silver earrings in the mail no matter who they’re from. However, truthfully, the little blue boxes do not impact in any way my choice of airline.
There was one memorable moment in the St. Louis airport several months ago when I literally thought I’d be willing to give back all the Tiffany’s boxes if only I could get a courteous counter agent to help me with a horrendously delayed flight. I’d have traded the earrings for someone, anyone, to help me navigate my way home. Customer service is about understanding what your customer’s real need is and then finding a way to either meet it or empathize with his or her pain in some meaningful way.
How does this apply to A/ E/ C firms? I think one of the fortunate aspects of doing business in a difficult economy is that we don’t give away as many useless key chains, flashlights or bottles of wine. We have the opportunity to build far more customer loyalty by focusing on the basics of customer service - really listening, and going out of our way to make our clients’ lives easier, and keeping our commitments. Perhaps the greatest gift we can give our clients is good advice and an open ear when they need us. When we “pull the rabbit out of the hat” or “leap tall buildings in a single bound” to solve a client problem or avoid catastrophe on a project, that’s the real gift. I’ve gotten more positive client feedback by coming in after a long day to help a client fix a challenging proposal or write a budget paper for Council than I ever did sending even a great bottle of wine.
And, so to my airline friends, I choose my airline partners based on how well you treat me when times are good and by how hard you’ve worked to get me home when things go badly. I don’t expect you to be perfect and I’m really a very understanding business traveler. My clients certainly know that I’m not perfect, and I don’t expect perfection from you. But I do expect you to try harder to gain my trust and loyalty by being there for me when I need you with kind and courteous service. So, leave the little blue boxes from Tiffany’s to my husband, and stick with your core business – flying planes.
Oh, and buy the way, that whole charging for baggage thing? Let’s get rid of that too.
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