The customer experience you get and the way front line staff react to a customer problem can be a great indicator of the culture and leadership of the business. It can also influence what a customer does next in terms of buying again, or not!
Taking a quick break in the Algarve this weekend has just outlined this to me perfectly! Having arrived at Faro airport with eager anticipation of all the lovely sunshine I got to the car hire firm to discover that I’d lost my wallet, and therefore no driving license! Desperate searching and ferreting through my rucksack but nothing! So what to do? A blank stare from the car hire guy (who’s business we’ve used for the past 10 years!) and no advice or help - not even a bit of sympathy!
We knew we had a copy of the licence in the office, but it was late, so there was no way of getting it across then, so it’s off to a nearby hotel with the hope of sorting it in the morning! I awoke in the morning with a lovely email from Melissa at East Midlands Airport saying they’d found it!
I gave them a call and was dealt with very courteously and helpfully by Terminal Services Assistant Jacob Watts. I explained my situation and wondered if there was any chance he could check my driving license was in there and scan and email it across to my iPad. He said of course he could and would get it sorted. I gave him my email address and waited. I didn’t have to wait long – in came a lovely email from Jacob and the scanned license!
Off to the airport to get my car – a different rep with the car hire company greeted me and accepted my license after I’d told her about my woes. She also explained that this happens a lot – all I had needed to do was contact the DVLA and they would have sent my license details through. The guy the night before never told me this – his apathy had certainly ‘turned me off’ his business. The new rep’s courtesy and help has (possibly) helped win me back!
I’ll be hoping to see Jacob when I get back to thank him personally – I sent him an email to thank him for his help, and he kindly responded wishing me a great holiday – simple, personal stuff, but it works!
So, sitting and reflecting in the Algarve sunshine, as ever, great customer experiences (even / especially) when things go wrong, it’s clearly down to ‘empowerment’, ‘attitude’ and skills..
- Are your people empowered and encouraged to help customers deal with and solve problems?
- Have they got the attitude to do so?
- Have they got the skills to do so too?
Interestingly, on the emails from the people at East Midlands Airport, it shows that they won the Best Regional Airport For Customer Service in the 2013 British Travel Awards – it’s great to see that their people ‘walk the talk’!
