Individuals make all the difference

This is all about how each individual has to  contribute to the Customer Experience for any company. 

 I travelled back to India from US starting on Wednesday by Lufthansa which has 2 flights to be taken to reach Chennai via Frankfurt

The first half  There was a delay in departure of the aircraft  - guess what was the reason - the delay in arrival of the crew - Not it wasn't their fault - they were caught up in a traffic jam in NJ turnpike due to an accident.  So to make it quicker to reach the airport, the shuttle driver took another route and believe me -there was another accident in that route too - So for a ride which just takes half an hour - it took them two and half hours to reach the airport.  Despite all the delays the crew was so cheerful and was serving all the passengers with SMILE creating a feeling of being taken care of.  The German gentleman who was attending to me, was so apologetic about me not able to get a vegetarian breakfast as I had slept through and just with only 20 mts to landing was fussing with trying to get me something to eat.  He even apologized for just having only ham sandwiches and brought out another fruit bowl to make sure that I had something to eat.

The second half :  This was the flight from Frankfurt to Chennai.  - The crew were fresh to look at - but something was lacking in them - it was the SMILE from their faces.  The way they went about was as per the rule book nothing missing in their process in terms of serving.  But it was just that they were doing a job and not really interested in the guests to whom they were serving their food.    This is what we have - so take it or leave it.   They were going here and there - but with no warmth.  

 I was thinking to myself - Lufthansa HR please teach them to smile first.  No this crew is not a trainee crew - it was a well experienced crew and still there was no warmth in them.

So will it change me in switching my loyalty - Yes all these are negatives that add up to the total experience with the carrier itself and who knows what will happen if any such thing becomes a last straw on the camels back, but such things are negated by the positives the other crew created too...

Just to add a note :  I have a gold card and I fly at least 5 times in a year to US and back and so you can imagine the travel experience I would have.    

Hence my advice to  all the  people who are dealing with customers - please put yourself in the customer's shoes and see how you would like to be taken care of and make sure that every touch point leaves only a positive experience so that the loyalty towards your company builds up all the time.  Each of your action counts for your company all the time. As Gandhiji said, Customer is the reason why we are here and lets make the customer to bond with us all the time through our positive actions.

Comments

Sri Siddhi Flats said…
Good to see you are back to India. I understand that you had a good meeting with Venkat.

Commenting on your blog, the difference is not the people but the sector being taken. I used to fly often between US, UK and India always with a stop in between. If it is US, then it is either London or Frankfurt. For UK it is Dubai. In all my journeys I have seen the difference, particularly when I am coming back to India. I spoke to an Emirates steward (Dubai - London sector) and he just hates traveling to India. He said that the passengers are unruly (not everyone of course). He had experienced being called by some people as though he was their servant (sodakku pottu). Added to the fact that these people cannot wait till the flight takes off to get their drink. They want it as soon as they are seated. They keep calling every now and then and if they told to wait till take off, they end up shouting. I know he is generalizing, but the impression is such. I faced a similar situation traveling Sri Lankan from Zurich to Chennai via Colombo. Zurich to Colombo was peaceful. Colombo to Chennai was like traveling in a mofussil bus! Change is required on both sides...

Regards,
Aravind
October 25, 2010 at 12:32:00 AM PDT
Sarada said…
Aravind

You are right - I have seem the kind of behaviour you are describing - this is more in the Far east and Middle East sector but less so in European sector. My presumption is that there is also a different profile of people travelling to these countries majority of whom are in the labour sector and hence this kind of behaviour. Beleive me, I have seen these people also getting exploited in the airport by tom,dick and Harry. I used to pity these people who after toiling so hard, doing all kind of manual work, bring in gifts for their family workers and they are sometimes forced to part with some of these gifts as they are afraid of all kinds of official questions and even when they are in the right side of Law they fear retribution (of course, this is also one side of the coin)

But in same Lufthansa flight between Madras and Frankfurt I have seen excellent service too from different nationals. Hence this posting to all the service personnels about how they can add to their company's brand all the time.
October 25, 2010 at 5:12:00 AM PDT
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