First I want to applaud the crew of US Air flight 1549.  The calm and cool demeanor of this hard working crew really came through in this incident.  It is the type of crew you hope for during any flight (and truthfully the type of crew I have usually seen on flights).  They did a fabulous job in saving the lives of the passengers and the crew.  I have enjoyed the opportunity to see their accolades, especially when they came on the field for the Super Bowl.  They are the ones that truly deserved a standing ovation.

A few weeks ago I started to recieve the Wall Street Journal print edition.  Years ago when I worked for an investment firm I received the paper each day and enjoyed reading it.  I forgot how much I missed it.  The funny thing to this is I received the paper because of Skymiles from Delta Airlines.  I am actually now receiving a number of magazines due to an offer from the airline.  My wife told me I would receive a number of blog posts by reading it each day, and she was right.  The trouble I have had was narrowing what I wanted to talk about.  I hope to do a better job in the future.  This brings me to an article I read today:  ”Why Fliers Can’t Donate Unused Tickets.”

This article points to a number of flaws within the airline industry.  First and foremost is the various pricepoints for most flights.  The article in summary states that you can not donate unused non-refundable tickets for charities like, the Make a Wish Foundation (one of my favorites).  There are a variety of excuses that the spokespeople use, such as costs (like they would not have a fee for that), security concerns (TSA says no problem), fraud, hording of tickets, potential resale of tickets (oh no, someone else could profit off of the various rates for airline tickets).  Ultimately this would all be solved by having single prices for routes and not have cheap prices one day and expensive prices another day.

Now truthfully I do not anticipate the airline industry to change their pricing model immediately (although I would love it if one did).  But this was not a difficult piece to differentiate yourself from competitors and put a nice foot forward.  I am sure there was much discussion regarding what would be said to the reporter regarding the issue of donating unused tickets.  Instead of these variety of excuses, wouldn’t a brand have done wonders in differentiating themselves by saying something like “that would be a great way to help some charities that can benefit from our services and we are working on a program to do that easily with certain approved charities.”  I know if I would have read a quote like that I would be much more likely to select that airline.  It would have even been better if they said, “hey that makes sense and we will implement that.”  Okay I am pushing it with that quote.

After my last post on airlines, I started to notice minor things within the industry that I was thinking we were on the brink of something changing.  After the crash of US Air flight 1549 and the reaction to the crew and US Air toward the crash victims, I thought things would change.  In fact I wrote a post but never published on how great US Air was trying to make sure the passengers of that flight were cared for.  I actually wanted to write kudos to them for a job well done.  I was comparing the handling of that accident to one from another airline in Colorado.  It was a definite improvement.  Unfortunately this article took an already battered industry down another notch.  And, in my opinion, that was their own doing by the manner they responded to the question.  Now I would anticipate some backlash regarding donating tickets, and then eventually companies changing policy one by one.  How long do you think that will take?

UPDATE:  Just as I was going to bed, I noticed a link on the Consumerist regarding United Airlines discontinuing their India call center for complaints in favor of written complaints.  Okay things might be going a different direction.  Check out this Seattle Times Story:  ”United to Stop Taking Complaints by Phone.”  That is one way to make complaints go away.  Now to be fair they will take complaint from their largest Customers.

I try to avoid talking specifically about Comcast on this blog, but today is an exception.  I avoid this because Comcast will be introducing a blog in the future and that is the appropriate forum (Mark, I know you will come across this in the your search, no need to include in our newsletter because I may be a little bias).  Yesterday I received a few Tweets regarding a Wired Magazine article “The Dark Lord of Broadband.”  In the article there were some valid criticisms that Comcast is working on, and other commentary that I would like to clarify.  I am doing this on my own and this is simply my opinion.

In the opening of the article it refers to the company as arrogant, unresponsive and overpriced.  Some may feel this way about Comcast but our goal is never to be arrogant or unresponsive.  I think our products are very valuable to most of our customers but everyone has their own opinion on pricing.  What I am very upset about is the way the reporter made it seem like these are traits of Brian Roberts. In my opinion this does not describe a man I have a lot of respect for.  Yes I have met Brian on a number of occasions.  My first meeting with Brian was via email before I even thought about working for Comcast .  What occurred was after his wife had a battle of cancer, Mr. Roberts made a very large donation to bring new, important technology to a Philadelphia area cancer center.  For those that have read this blog in the past you know this is a cause close to my heart.  I shot Mr. Roberts an email thanking him.  He responded personally and with the warmth I have seen him share in person.  It was this email that when I was considering looking at positions within Comcast became my reason to be willing.  I could tell by the warmth of the response that this leader was looking to improve the Customer experience.  Otherwise there would have never been a reply.

Comcast has always had a number of charitable initiatives from the contributions to causes in areas we serve to Comcast Cares Days (No they did not name days after me, but rather I “borrowed” the name from this great cause).  I knew of this because I too assist many charities and I have had the privilege to be part of events that were sponsored in large part by Comcast.

Since joining Comcast I have had a number of interactions with Brian.  To me he seems a little introverted (as I am) and always thinking.  He actually reminds me of another CEO that I have had a great respect for in the past:  John “Jack” Brennan former CEO of the Vanguard Group.  Both men have an intensity and thought process that is amazing to see in person.  This intensity is not arrogance but rather part of this thought process.

One of the first in person interactions I had with Brian was the day we moved into our new building.  I came in early to unpack and get settled in before the rest of my team started.  It was October, 2007 and I was one of the first to be in the building.  Brian was walking the halls by himself after the grand opening presentation.  He saw me in the office and came in to chat.  The conversation started with your typical pleasantries, but quickly evolved to service.  He was very concerned about our performance with Customer Service and he was asking my opinion.  I know he did not want service to be at the level it was at.  He was making changes to ensure that we as an organization headed into a different direction, including bringing Rick Germano to corporate to serve as the Senior VP for Customer Service operations.  But this is a change that we knew would take time before it was seen by our Customers.  What we can do now is concentrate on 1 Customer at a time.

Later that same day I had the privilege to meet Brian and his family.  During that interaction it was also easy to see that he is a family man.  Once you see people in this type of setting you begin to realized they are just like you.

In the article it does talk about many of the network management discussions that have occurred.  In my opinion it is that, more than my work, in which demonstrated the benefits of being part of the conversation.  Were mistakes made?  In my opinion, yes, but that is the nature of being human.  Even companies like Comcast are human in many ways.  Mistakes will be made.  What you have to do is learn from them and change going forward.  This too was mentioned in the story as engineers were encouraged to talk openly about the changes to network management.  That is the story here.

The final section of the article discusses my work referring to me as “Famous Frank,” a nickname from David Cohen, Executive Vice President.  In this section, in my opinion, makes me seem like a rebel within the company.  I want to be clear that I have always had the encouragement of senior Customer Service leadership and other senior leaders in the company.  At the time we started on Twitter my team and I were already active in other social media spaces and this was a natural progression.  We were referred to this space by @ComcastScott and we could see value in it.  But since there were not any books on the proper way to engage with Customers we had to learn as we go.  We started “tweeting” in April, but in February I was named manager of Digital Care (I was promoted in the summer to director).  As you can see from that progression, the company already saw value in social media and the work of my team.  We are advocates for the Customer, but it is my belief the same should be true for anyone in a Customer Service role.  I can assure you that I have shown this during every interview prior to joining the company so I know the interest of having someone like this in Customer Service is prevalent in the leadership in Philadelphia.  In my 17 months at Comcast I have always been encouraged to represent the Customer viewpoint and question things we were doing.  It helps for everyone to hear the perspective.  So I am not a rebel, unless you see everyone I interact with in the same light.

Now in closing we do have to continue to work on many things, including being more transparent, integrating systems and creating a more consistent experience for our Customers.  It is important for our Customers to see the value of our products and the service we provide.  We will work to do that.  These changes, just like the way we got to this point, will not be created by one person but the collective of all Comcasters.  We will get there!

This past week BusinessWeek.com posted a story called Comcast’s Twitter Man.  Of course I am one of a number of people on Twitter from Comcast.  These positive stories have come about because of the great team I have and their efforts to improve the Customer experience.  I am still shocked by it all.  Whenever a story comes out like this it always brings about questions:  usually scalability and existing Customer experience through other channels such as phone and chat.  This post will answer the question on scalability.  I am saving the discussion on improving the experience through all channels for the future Comcast corporate blog.  That is a topic that is more relevant for that space instead of this one.  But since I am a believer that social media engagement will be important in the coming years, I thought scalability is a great discussion for here.

Jeremiah Owyang is an analyst for Forrester Research.  He likes to ask the difficult questions, and I appreciate that about him.  I look forward to more questions in the future.  Follow this link to see an interview Jeremiah did with me during the Forrester conference in Dallas.  After the BusinessWeek.com story he tweeted the following:

To begin to answer this question I should point out that I personally believe that social media is another form of communication, similar to phone or email.  To me there is no difference.  People post in social media to be heard.  It is really just a question as to who is listening.  I believe in the coming years, as companies begin to understand social media you will see more of it.  If someone has this belief, then they  also must believe that it is scalable.

There are multiple answers in the way in which social media outreach is scalable.  The first and most obvious is as social media continues to expand more and more employees will be participating in these spaces.  If the employees are passionate they will assist.  There are 2 keys in making this successful.  The first is company policies must permit them to do so.  Many companies have been scared of this, but who is a better advocate for the company then the employee.  If they are not then the company needs to review their own hiring practices and the manner in which they treat their employees.  By the way, no matter what the company policy is, employee will still be participating in social media anyway, so it is best to embrace it.  Second is companies should teach their employees how to participate in social media spaces.  @Zappos and other companies do a great job with this.

The other model for scalability (BTW it works with the one above very well) is engagement by a team of individuals.  This too is very scalable, but it requires the right tools.  Many companies over the years have built listening tools or have a listening service.  I personally like our friends at Nielsen Online.  They have great ways to “hear” what is being discussed regarding your brand and strong analysis.   If a company is not listening, they should be.

There are also tools that are used for engagement in social media spaces like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, forums or many other websites where conversations are happening.   These tools are still being developed by many companies and I believe they will continue to get better.  We have been reviewing a few of them.  One such tool is Radian 6.  This tool not only pulls these conversations into one single place, but you can also assign it to someone to review and reach out to assist.  The tool also gathers the data so you can reference again in the future if necessary.  You can also track how the conversation changes.  With this tool in theory you can have many people assisting Customers in social media.  Here is a screen shot of Radian 6.

Now tools like this will continue to improve in the coming years.  I think the keys to the tools would be speed, yet provide the ability to keep it personal.  I find social media to be about relationships, so it is also key that the tool can make sure the same person is able to assist if someone comes back for help.  I would also love to see it integrated with email communication.  This will further the analysis tools but also a great way to fully understand a Customer story.  At the same time it definitely makes engagement scalable.  There is an ability to have 5 users or 10000.

Beyond the tools, companies have to continue to grow comfortable with allowing the relationships to develop.  It is imperative for anyone working in these spaces to “be themselves.”  Companies must be comfortable that every word said will not be reviewed by many different people.

So to recap here are the keys to scalability:

• Company support
• Speed of response
• Assignability
• The ability to keep it personal

There is no need to go out and purchase these tools yet, although they help.  For now, until you understand the space and how you will use it, tools like Twitter Search or Google Blogsearch will work well.

The tools will continue to evolve as social media will, but it is really making the world much smaller for individuals and companies.  How do you see this evolving?

For me everything is about Customer Service.  I believe creating the right Customer experience will pay dividends for years to come for any company.  I also believe that in the coming years Customer Service will be what differentiates companies.  I always like to recognize excellent service.  We receive it all the time when we order a product and it comes as expected.  This is excellent.  But any company, big or small will have a time where a mistake happens.  It is not about the mistake, it is just a question of how it is dealt with.

Last week my wife ordered a package from an Amazon store called 16th Avenue Pharmacy.  I love that name because it reminds me of the small pharmacy we use called Harris Pharmacy in Doylestown, PA.  Anyway my wife ordered the item and it was delivered today.  When she opened the package it was not the correct item.  Well stuff happens.  She told me she was going to send an email about the mix up.  This is where you really begin to judge the service provided by any company.  It is also something smaller companies tend to excel at.

Within minutes of sending the email, the phone rang.  She missed it because she was talking to me.  Then her cell phone rang, which was missed.  So she went to check the caller ID to call back, but when she did, an email popped up saying “I am so sorry about this mispick!!! You will have the bird house tomorrow!!   Thank you and sorry!”  This is my favorite style of email, not a form letter (I can do a whole blog post on emails written in letter style), but a sincere message that truly conveys an apology.  But what made this more special was the speed in the response and I also like that they tried to call over the phone first for the personal touch.

We have all experienced “mispicks” (my new favorite term) and the way it has been handled can vary a great deal.  I have been questioned regarding the product received.  I have also been told to return an item before the correct one will be issued.  There was none of that.  In fact Carolyn wrote back to find out how to deal with it.  Mark, the president of the company, responded “Don’t even worry about it keep it on me!’” This is what service is about.  Not about the mistakes that happen, but how you handle them.  Kudos to Mark and 16th Avenue Pharmacy!

Have you had a situation where a company handled a mistake well and it impressed you?

Engaging in Social Media is not redefining Customer Service, but rather what people think of Customer Service. To start lets look at what Customer Service really is. In an effort to do this I started by Googling the term “Customer Service Definitions.” Many of the definitions I found made me laugh. I am starting to see why Customer Service is lacking throughout the country. It is interesting that many of them were missing key components or focusing on sales, the company or other ancillary business aspect. To me it is simple. It is the manner that you build long term relationships with your Customers. This is done through every interaction a Customer has with your company, including use of the products, interactions with your systems (such as your website), reviewing marketing material or talking to anyone representing your company in any forum (phone, in person (even at a party), email, chat, etc). Even when the Customer is writing the check or using their banks online bill pay service, this is Customer Service.

What I found most interesting is many of the definitions seem to focus on complaints, people interactions or sales. This is missing the boat. If you purchase from Amazon, one of the main Customer Service points is when the shipment arrives at your door. If it is damaged or late, you will consider it to be a poor service experience. But if it the shipping time exceeds your expectations you will be wowed.

This is why I am a firm believer that everyone in any organization is part of the Customer Service function. Do you feel that you are part of Customer Service? Or do you look down on people that work in this function? If you do it is time for you to adjust that attitude.

Now this brings me to the topic of the post. I have seen a lot of press and blog posts about the efforts of my team on the web. I have always been surprised by this because I do not see what I am doing as that special. If you review how I defined Customer Service, you will notice that I believe it is everyone’s responsibility to talk with Customers. I also believe that it is important to be where they are when possible. The internet provides that ability.

To me if I hear someone talking about the company I work for I always offer to help. I have done this at parties, on the street, and one time in a Verizon Wireless store. I never have done it in a negative way. I would just say let me assist, here is my business card. My business card has my email, office phone and my cell phone clearly listed on it. It is very simple. “Let me know if I can help.”

So now we look at engagement in social media spaces. In many cases I write simple messages, “Can I help” or “Thank you.” I do not use the time to sell which many marketers have tried to do. Yet these simple acknowledgements have led to many sales. The key is to be genuine and willing to sincerely listen and help. I never press, I simply provide the opportunity for someone to obtain assistance. For me if I saw someone who wanted or needed help anywhere, I would be happy to assist. As many of you know I have been known to do this many hours of the day, but that is because if I see someone that needs help, and if I can, I will.

So our online activity has caused a little buzz at times, but it is never redefined my definition of Customer Service. What occurred is some people never thought of social media and Customer Service so it appeared new to them. It redefined their thought on Customer Service. That to me is exciting and it is part of the overall shift I think we are seeing in the way people and companies view Customers Service. The definition is becoming more clear. What do you think?

I have discussed a few aspects of the work of my team and the importance of companies to listen to their Customers through any communication channel.  Those that heard me speak know that I like social media because it is unaltered, not interpreted story of the Customer.  Through all my years in Customer Service, I have always been a proponent of change.  I believe change is important for individuals and companies.  The trouble is I have found companies do not always change based on numbers.  Yes if they lose a lot of Customer or income, maybe but that does not always address Customer pinch points that exist.  What I have always found is companies have the most change when they can relate to what a Customer is going through.  A great place to find this is in social media.  This is in blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and numerous other places.  It is really wherever your Customers are.

Many companies do not know how to listen.  Listening is not hiring a firm to provide all kinds of numbers based on finding in the blogosphere.  I have also heard people say if companies want to know what Customers think to search google for the company name and “sucks.”  Sorry they are both wrong answers.  I applaud companies that understand the important aspects of social media that they are collecting both of these data points.  But these are really just data or numbers.  The better option is to actually read stories or posts.  It is also just as important to review the comments that go with those posts.  I am not recommending companies spend thousands of dollars on fancy gadgets.  What I recommend is so easy, anyone can do it.  Here are just a few ideas:

1. Google Blog Search – Simply follow the link, search your brand, then click on posts for the last day, or last week (this is an option on the left hand side).  This will provide some recent stories of how people use your products, good experiences they have had and some opportunity areas.
2. Twitter Search – This usually provides much more immediate information before blogs.  But again just as simple, type in your brand name and see what people are saying.  If you find an interesting tweet, click on the name to see other tweets from that person.  An even better idea is to open Twitter search in a new tab or window and just search the Twitter name.  This will allow you to view more of the 2 way conversation.  Imagine if you had the ability to review conversations about your product or company?  Well with Twitter you can (at least portions of it – some posts may not be in search because they are from someone keeping information private.
3. Forums – We all know forums that are dedicated to the business we are in.  Drift in and read through some of the posts.

These are great tools that make it really easy.  But after that is where is becomes key.  You can share some of the data that you find, but did you find an interesting story?  If you want to prove my point about stories, than over a few day period share some numbers.  After a week or so, add in a story that you find and watch what happens.  People will ask more questions and they will be more passionate about what you are finding.  The same reaction will happen when sharing data from other sources.  I have worked in Customer Service centers.  Most of the time I shared numbers.  Once in a while I would add Customer stories to the numbers.  This always brought reaction.  You do not even have to share negative stories, because the same happens with positive stories.

When is the last time you shared a story at work?  Did you receive a different reaction compared to data?

I am a firm believer that Customer Service and public discussions on the web will be an alternate channel similar to phone, email, or chat.  At the same time I was not surprised to learn that the Consumerist on Friday announced that their parent company, Gawker Media, was putting the web property up for sale.  Recently Get Satisfaction started a pay program to provide more control to companies.  Will websites such as these ever be a profitable place?  Are they even needed with all the blogs and other website out there?

Well let me start of by saying I regularly view the Consumerist, and I have for a long time.  I think Ben and Meg are great and they really are trying to get companies to think about their Customer differently.  The trouble to the model is the website is ad supported, although the ads are minimal.  It looks like most of them are google ads that pay on a per click basis.  I am sure more money would be available if the ads were sold directly, but what company would buy ads in that space?  It would have to be an against the grain company.  Would there be a perceived bias towards those that purchase ads.  I know that it would not impact Meg or Ben, but if a company was blasted for something, would that mean that they would pull the ad?  Would a subscriber model work better?

Get Satisfaction recently started an effort to make money by offering an advanced moderation services to companies paying a fee of $49 per month or a better package at $120 per month and a pro service at $349 per month.  I applaud their effort to make sure the business model is profitable and long lasting.  It is important for any company to try to be successful.  The team at Get Satisfaction built great tools and have the ability to really expand on that.  The trouble is in this economic environment I am not sure I can justify the expense to my employer.  Especially since complaints and compliments are not limited to one website, but rather throughout the internet.  I will continue to watch the website and consider it as the tools advance.  At the same time I am not sure enough companies will pay that much to make the company sustainable.   This is especially true in the current economic environment where everybody is cutting back on expenses.  I wish them well in this effort!

Another website, and one of the original for providing feedback, is one I have used called Planet Feedback.  The way this website works is you fill out a letter to the company.  You also answer a number of questions, like would your recommend, would you like to share the letter publicly, mood, propensity to tell others, etc.  This is a fun way to tell a company what you think and I will say from personal experience it works.  This website was originally founded by Pete Blackshaw, and went through a few other owners, with Pete’s continued involvement.  Again the website is back in Pete’s hands.  The question is how can a website like this be financially feasible?  The concept is great, but many people have access to email company leaders by doing a simple google search.

I think these are different models for consumer activism that are present today, and truthfully I hope for a long time to come.  The trouble is they are not necessarily going to have the best way to make money.  I think a website like the Consumerist would do better using a subscription based model, but would their readers pay that?  I know I would, but not sure if it would make enough money.  Get Satisfaction and Planet Feedback are interesting websites with some strong data available for companies.  Get Satisfaction would do best by building analytics centered around all web 2.0 spaces talking about a company.  They already involve Twitter.  That would be something worth paying for and creating the ability to centralize it.   Planet feedback could consider developing a method for companies to collect and analyze feedback from other sources.  They could also consider creating a program for companies to manage letters and emails.  The trouble for these websites is they are competing with personal blogs, forums discussing companies, twitter and many other websites where the Customer may already be.

What is the best way for these websites to continue to exist?  Should they consider being part of a non-profit dedicated to Customer Satisfaction?  Would you pay to subscribe?  If you were a company would you pay to use the service?

I originally planned this post to be about the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA – I just really like to say WOMMA, so that calls for a post!).  Well this trip was a last minute decision and because of that I had limited selection of flights.  This made me realize how far below par service has gone with the airline industry, specifically US Air.  It is sad to see how far it has gone since my last flights about a year ago.  So lets go over my travel experience in the past 8 weeks:

SOUTHWEST

Well when I was traveling to Blog World, I purposely chose Southwest because of their great efforts in social media (Check them out on Twitter or their corporate blog).  It was an okay experience.  On the way over I was one of the early people going on the plane and the seat selection was good.  Now on the flight over I was expecting to see some of the excitement on the flight that I have heard about and also seen on the A&E show.  To be honest I did not see it, and I was very bored on the flight, but it was okay.  Now this flight had a connection in Phoenix.  During the short hop to Vegas the crew was great and it was a fun hour, but my opinion was probably driven from the initial flight.  So I would label it an okay first trip on the airline.  The way back was another story.  First I was unable to check in early (lack of printer) so I was one of the last to load.  It did not help that I was late getting to the airport.  When I was getting on the plane I saw many couples who could not sit with their loved ones due to the boarding process without seat assignments.  This made me think this was probably not the perfect approach.  The way back the crews on both flights did help create the Southwest experience.  Unfortunately I had an older couple (that did not appear to know each other prior to the flight) create a much different experience for me that I will never forget, and wish I could.  That is as far as I will go into now.  So overall Southwest was okay but I really prefer to pick my own seat.  My experience was mainly impacted by the Customers sitting next to me on the flight back and that was the reason I did not select them in future flights.  I have since learned that they do offer preferred boarding for business Customers at a fee of $25.  What they do not have is extra baggage fees and I did get a soda!

US Air Trip 1

My next trip was to Scottsdale/Phoenix for the Marketing Profs conference.  I actually booked through the work travel agency and I select United since it was listed as preferred.  I did not realize when I did this that it was actually US Air.  I have had a few poor experiences with US Air in the past and I do sometimes hold a grudge.  Well I went with it.  Because I did not realize it was US Air, I then had trouble checking in on the computer, they really should make it easier when flying a partner.  So I go to the airport and the first thing I was greeted with was a $17 fee for a checking my bag.  Not a second bag, but a first.  I found this to be irritating, but okay I will go with it (not like I have a choice).  The flight itself was okay but I did not think to eat prior to getting on the flight.  I do remember hearing about the fees for food and soda but I did not think of it.  So anyway I get on the flight and the attitude presented during the announcements, particularly about food pricing was ridiculous.  ”We have limited supplies so if you do not get your choice do not blame us.”  As the representative of the company who else would I blame, the person stuck in the seat next to me?  So true to their word they did run out (I was not even sitting far back) so I did not have my choice but instead a lousy salad ($7) and a soda ($2).  My message here is if you are going to charge, it should be better and have the right quantity.  But to me it was all in the attitude of the employees and the approach.  The return flight was similar too.

American Airlines

After the first 2 experiences I decided to try a different airline for my trip to Dallas to attend the Forrester Conference.  Just like US Air, they were just as irritating over the fees.  At the same time they were great with allowing us to go standby for an earlier flight.  In fact they made it easy to do at the kiosk.  The flight over was good.  I enjoyed the movie.  On the way back I did not have an issue, but others did.  There was a problem with the video system, but they did sell headsets before hand.  They did this even though they later admitted to knowing that it was broken based on feedback from the prior crew.  I also did not notice them proactively reimburse for the now useless headsets.  To their credit I will say they did replace a broken one for a Customer that had a problem with his prior to getting onboard.  I did notice on both ends of the trip that they were announcing exactly what to expect with other flights for those with connections.  I did not have a connection, but I did notice this and thought it was nice.  Overall it was an okay trip but for the same price I think I will go back to Southwest.

US Air Trip 2

Well this is where I really began to see the disconnect with Customers.  At the last minute I was asked to speak with Pete Blackshaw at the WOMMA conference.  I had limited availability of direct flights.  In fact the only real choice was US Air.  I booked the round trip ticket leaving only a few hours later.  This time I was smart.  My wife picked up a small carry on and I had something to eat at the airport before taking off.  I actually slept most of the way there.  So on the way over I immediately noticed something strange.  When going over the preflight instructions they did not use the video.  Instead they were going over the seat belt think in a similar fashion (although not as fun) as Southwest.  I immediately looked up and noticed the flight had screens, but they did not come down.  I then pulled out the book to see what movies they would have.  When I turned to the page there was notice that effective November 1st not entertainment will be provided for any destinations except international and Hawaii.  This was the only reason to chose this airline over one like Southwest.

Well on Friday I decided to try to take the earlier flight home.  I thought it would be better than a red-eye I was scheduled for.  I went to the airport and went up to ask about flying standby.  Unlike American, I was directed to speak with someone instead of the kiosk.  I waited in line and I watched someone being helped being told about a $50 fee.  He was very irritated.  So anyway I get up to the counter.  I ask about flying standby.  The woman responds “The flight is not filled, so that would be a $50 fee.”  So I respond “So let me understand, the flight is not filled, so instead of having my seat available at a later flight, and you might be able to sell it, I will be charged $50.”  She responds “yes.”  Well I made it clear that I will not be flying US Air in the future.  She then reviewed the ticket and said, “Oh you have a fully refundable ticket, so there will not be a charge.”  Gee thanks, but you already made clear how you and the airline feel about me and other Customers.  So I did not have to pay the fee but it did influence me for a long time to come.  It is obvious the leaders of the company are okay with irritating Customers and that is not her fault.  But I can make my choice with my money.

So anyway, I get on the flight, which was running close to an hour late.  When we got on the plane the faces of the crew members made it clear that they were not very interested in being there.  I also found I was seated in the last row window seat.  Okay I guess my reaction penalized me by the privilege of being the last off the plane.  The pilot made a number of announcements throughout the trip.  He sounded like he was a fun guy, but in each of the announcement he kept making clear that yes we are late, but do not worry about your connections, because it is Philly and there are going to be many of delays of other flights.  That is a great confidence builder in US Air.  I did not care because for me because Philly was my final destination.  Another aspect to the announcement was he was very clear to not ask any of the crew about connections because they do not know and will not know.  His instruction was when you get off the plane see a Customer Service agent.  Isn’t Customer Service everyone’s role? 

I know that I will have to find the right airline for me.  It is probably going to be Southwest, at least if I can figure out the seating thing much better.  The one thing that is clear is US Air is not a good premium, standard or discount airline.  I think it is imperative for them to figure out what they want to be when they grow up, or else I would not expect them to be around much longer.  I know I do not plan to fly with them.  I know I will try Southwest again, and I am sure I will give others a shot.  Does this industry even care about Customers?  Which ones will be able to lure you back based on Service?

A passion of mine has always been good Customer Service.  I look for it with every interaction I have with companies.  I also tend to be very vocal when I do not receive service that I expect to receive.  I feel it is important to be just as vocal when things are done that just overwhelm you for being so far above that words can not describe.  I have had just one of those experiences a number of years ago.  The woman that went so far above and beyond that I still think about today is a woman named Maxine Clark.

Many of you have never heard of Maxine.  She was a leader in the former May Department Store chain, and she served as President of Payless Shoe Source from 1992 to 1996.  I never heard of Maxine either, until one Saturday night.  That is when I came into this amazing woman who founded Build a Bear Workshop in 1997.  We received mail addressed to our deceased daughter Gia, a little over a year after she past.  To be honest I was in a rage over it, I could not figure how a company would have her name.  I obviously was not thinking straight because one of my fondest memories with Gia was at a Build a Bear Workshop.  I immediately looked up the CEO of Build a Bear and fired off an email asking to have her name removed from the mailing list.  To my surprise I almost immediately received a response from Maxine.  This began numerous emails back and forth.  She was very apologetic, but beyond that she wanted to learn more about us.  She started to review our website.  She also asked some questions to better understand what we went through.  I can’t tell you how impressed I was by her.  She was down to earth, yet a smart and savvy business person.  She has firm beliefs regarding service and she is obviously very hands on in creating the right experience for every child that enters her store.  I immediately knew I would be dedicated to her organization.  The interesting thing was she totally had me turned around by simply being herself.

Now if the emails were not enough, she was impressed with our work for charities and wanted to offer something to help them.  She asked about our favorite charities.  At the time they were the Candlelighters of Delaware (a great charity helping families dealing with pediatric cancer) and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  Her team contacted these charities.  They provided numerous gift cards for Candlelighters to be distributed to the families going through so much.  You would not believe the gratitude from these families and this small charity.  Maxine and her team made a huge difference for so many people.  Build a Bear also donated parties to be auctioned off by the CF Foundation during an Evening with the Philadelphia Eagles, an event I helped organize and the year prior I was the speaker.  Unfortunately an employee of that charity kept asking for more.  To this day I am upset by that.  So on behalf of families dealing with CF, I apologize to the Build a Bear team and Maxine.  That individual is not associated with the charity anymore.  Anyway, Build a Bear went so far above the normal and I am so appreciative for what Maxine did.  She and her team have made a difference in many people’s lives.

All I wanted to do was make sure we did not get mail in Gia’s name.  There was no need for Maxine to do anything beyond that.  In fact from a business perspective, Lily and Robyn were not born yet, so I did not anticipate purchasing in the future.  But of course now I will.  Maxine, you truly did build a company with a heart, it is modeled after you!  

Have you ever have someone turn a negative situation into such a positive that you would think about it years later?

As you may have noticed I have not had a post since Monday.  I started so strong and then down hill it went.  I have started a number of posts but I never was able to finish them in a manner that I like.  It felt good when I saw CC Chapman mention in a tweet that he was having similar trouble.  This has been an eventful week.  We have a new President-elect.  The victory should take away much of the division that we have seen in recent Presidential elections.  No matter your political affiliation, I have a feeling that many people are grateful that there is no question in the results.  It is now time to be optimistic for the future.  

Now back to the topic at hand, I wrote different posts on topics such as optimism, and favorite positive Customer Service companies.  Optimism is easy because I like to think that I am usually very optimistic.  At the same time I was not sure how it would come across to readers because it did have a tie in to politics.  The challenge is I am not a fan of politics and I also feel that individual politicians, including the President do not hold as much power as they think they do.  So yes I am optimistic for the future, but I think that is simply related to change, not so much the individuals.  The Customer Service story I was writing talked about companies that I have a lot of respect for.  The companies included USAA, Vanguard Group, and Zappos.  The trouble with this is Vanguard was an employer a number of years ago. Zappos I consider many from their fabulous team to be friends.  So I did not want the post to be viewed with personal bias.

At the same time I was writing the Customer Service post, Zappos also announced changes to staff due to economic conditions.  This could have led to a whole post on that.  They truly did this reduction in a manner that was a class act.  You do not have to take my word for it, but see what Tony posted about it. Or search through the Twitter feed from their employees.  There are some great people at the company so if you are in the market for shoes, check them out.  They are a class act.

We also saw many other economic news, high unemployment, auto companies in need of a bailout, etc.  So you may ask why people can be optimistic.  I agree that can be difficult because of all the news and the manner it is sometimes presented.  But for me changes lead to many positive things, but even more importantly what we have been seeing is friendships and family becoming more a priority for everyone.  We all pull together during times like these because it is the right thing to do.  We show ourselves as a much more caring society.

What do you have to be optimistic about?