As someone who flies well over 100,000 miles per year, it was refreshing to read the comments of Jeff Smisek, CEO of United Airlines, my preferred carrier.
Air Travel is an experience. Our job is to make sure our customers have the best experience possible. Ultimately, physical assets like planes or facilities or clubs can get competed away. Loyalty, however, is much harder to compete against.
The battle is for hearts, the hearts of your customers. How they feel when they engage you. The feelings you evoke by showing you care, by going above and beyond, by improvising to find a solution. By creating an experience.
All of us are heartened when a service employee truly cares and takes pride in helping us. And we become more loyal if we consistently have that experience.
Yes, shiny new planes may impress in the short term. But for the long term, it’s the experience.
Your thoughts?
Michael
