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It’s not what they say, it’s how they say it
Author: Bill Cusick
February 21, 2010
I was driving back from North Carolina yesterday with a friend of mine and we stopped in Indianapolis, winding through city streets to locate a brewpub we wanted to try. The place was great, and we each picked one (and of course, only one) draught to try.
Though it was 4:00 in the afternoon and less than half full, they put us at a tight table next to the kitchen. Curious, but we tried to overlook it, and just wandered over to another empty table. I noticed that everything the waitress said to us was perfectly civil, but both my friend and I perceived a barely concealed hostility. We went out of our way to be ready to order our sandwiches, and to politely say please and thank you (that’s just how we are). Yet at each interaction the waitress (who never introduced herself so I can’t give you her name) would say something like “great” or “sure” and then roll her eyes.
Not sure if this is an object lesson or I just wanted to get it off my chest. What we preach to clients is that everything matters - not just the words you use, but how you say things. Attitude is everything. And that means who you hire will determine what your customers think about you, not processes or scripts.
When Booking a Flight, Customers Must Confront the Airlines’ Extra Baggage
Author: Bill Cusick
February 1, 2010
A couple months ago, after yet another flight in which I had to plot just how I was going to get my carry-on bag into an overhead bin that was in the same zip code as my seat, I’d had enough. I told my wife that I was going to get “around the system” on my next trip. I would feign ignorance, and then, when my group (I seem to always be in Group 5), was going to finally board, I would request that they just check my wheelie at the gate. I’d noticed others doing the same on past flights.
When you think about it, it’s abeautiful plan: you wander on at your leisure; the airline throws a tag on you bag and it’s last into the plane’s belly (which means first out); and with most commuter flights, you simply wait a moments upon deplaning in the jetway, obtain your bag, and stroll away…all without paying an extra cent!
Well, apparently the airlines are on to my plan, since it seems it wasn’t just my plan. But given the growing frustration of harried travelers (and flight attendants), there’s got to be a better way. Surely the different airlines have the ability to look at this from the customer’s perspective, but the cost pressures override other considerations.
As for me, whether I have excess baggage or not, I check Southwest first. It’s the principle of the thing.
