Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Shaun Smith, who has been a key catalyst in expanding management focus from the tactical issues of customer service to the much wider and strategic issue of customer experience. Shaun is also the author of “BOLD”. Find out more about him here.
What’s the biggest obstacle to implementing customer experience successfully?

‘Lack of strategy’ according to Forrester’s annual State of Customer Experience report 2011.

We agree, but strategy in itself – even if it is bold, differentiated and customer-centric – won’t guarantee success. Where we see most companies fail is in the execution.

In our work with brands around the world we see that there is a lack of coherent thinking about how brand positioning, marketing, customer experience and employee experience fit together, and, dovetail they must if you are to be successful. Many of you will be thinking about how to execute your customer experience strategy in 2012 so let’s see what we can learn from a topical example…
A tale of two airlines…
There are two major Asian airlines that have recently posted their 4th quarter results for 2011. They share some common features; both employ very attractive flight attendants dressed in smart red …

In a recent conversation with a senior airline executive at a conference in Singapore, he proudly boasted to me how successful his airline’s social media efforts have been. “We will soon be the most followed airline in the country, even ahead of the national carrier!”. I didn’t quite understand what he was so happy about.

Ever since airlines exploded into social media through a multitude of platforms and services, there has been a half-hearted race to gain the proverbial “first-mover advantage”. And too often, airlines trying to one-up one another on follower numbers miss the point of these new mediums. It’s to drive specific business goals and then measure the results.

The two pillars of social media success for airlines

Getting into social media is critical, but not without a strategy

A few years ago, when social media was the new, hesitant, unshapely kid-on-the-block, it seemed to be yet another distraction for teenagers. Today, many airlines, big and small, have leveraged social media to gain access to a hitherto unreachable audience, both in terms of demographics and size.

Although social media provides …

Recently, the Eurpoean airline Jet2 shut down its Twitter account. Possibly because they couldn’t scale up their efforts. Well, at least Jet2 officially shut it down.

Many other airlines and airports that caught the wave of excitement about social media last year and started Twitter and Facebook accounts didn’t have a strategy behind scaling their efforts. They simply went with the flow, and either ran out of resources, or couldn’t convince senior management of the value in their efforts to the overall brand. Examples include Middle East majors like Emirates (last tweet in Jan, 2010) and Qatar Airways (last Tweet in Feb, 2009). So, what does this reflect?
Don’t let the tail wag the dog!

Airlines and airports that are already into social media should look to build a sustainable engagement strategy, as well a resource strategy. It shouldn’t become a case of the follower numbers exploding due to a viral video or giveaway, and the Marketing team having to double the team’s size all of a sudden.

Rather, by planning ahead and tying social media efforts closely to overall brand goals and setting up KPIs, airlines …

It’s not just airlines that are in a blood-bath when it comes to competing for customers. Real-world travel agents themselves often find themselves amidst cut-throat competition with one another. Especially in times when airlines are cutting commission rates to zero percent. Moreover, there are online travel agencies taking away business.

These travel agents can now seek inspiration from Kmart, the discount retailer. Kmart is launching a new program where online reviews of video games will be displayed on store shelves,  an initiative aimed at building ties between the chain’s online and in-store gaming fans.

Travel agents can start printing airline reviews from sites like air-valid.com, ezeer.com or SkyTrax, to share with those who walk in for reservations. This would provide a value-add to the customer as he feels assured of his purchase and knows what his fellow travelers are saying about an airline. The travel agent also benefits as this becomes a competitive advantage, and a service through which a commission seems more justified.

What do you think? Let’s discuss on Twitter (@simpliFlying) and in comments
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AirAsia’s India market entry has recently created waves and lots of discussion about what this means for the future of the industry in India, specifically local airlines. I was interviewed by a leading business newspaper in India on this, and here are excerpts from that interview.
How do you think Air Asia permeates a market and wins it? Some interesting anecdotes?
When it comes to new market launches, AirAsia is one of the most innovative, not just in the region, but in the world. And I can say that confidently, having worked with a lot of airlines around the world. They don’t just have advertisements, but connect with the customers at a deeper level, having conversations about topics relevant to them, and yet creating a splash.

Take the recent Mumbai flights launch, for example. Not only was there pomp and show during the first flight, and even Bollywood was invited, at the same time, over the last couple of months, AirAsia built up a lot of interest about Mumbai and India through candid articles on its very popular blog, Planely Spoken, like “Mumbai in 3 days and 2 nights“. On the day of the launch, there was even a …

Alaska Airlines is known for being nimble when it comes to customer service, and well loved, because it is smaller than most US airlines. When they got started with social media, there were one of the first to do things right, and had a great vision too, as I highlighted in my interviews and articles last year. However, it seems that things have stagnated. It may not be the case, but that’s what it seems like from the outside.

A reader passionately shared his ideas with me, which culminated in this guest post. Thomas Evans is a Marketing and Social Media professional in Seattle, Washington; and a loyal Alaska Airlines fan. And here’s what he feels about Alaska Airlines’ social media execution.
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Meeting the basics…
Currently, if I had to describe Alaska’s use of social media I would describe it simply as, decent. They have an online presence, but they are not providing a ‘north of expected’ experience for the consumers.  Sure, they have a Facebook page (in my opinion, one that is need of a major makeover). And yes, they have a Twitter account that is managed and updated regularly. But they could be doing so much more.  …

I’ve often mentioned in my keynote presentations, that an airline brand is not what you say it is, it’s what they say it is. And I found a perfect example of this today – reading a post in the Airliners.net forums about Kulula.com – the South African LCC.

Wait….let me rephrase that. Kulula.com – THE South African Airline.

And why do I say that they’re the most “fun” airline in the world? Remember their really cool airline 101 livery? Or their quirky advertisements?

But the best testimonial is that from a customer. To substantiate what I’m talking about, let me just quote the user’s story here, which is about Brand eXecution at 35,000 feet.
The highlight of any flight has to be the announcements from the crew; when landing in Port Elizabeth after a short hop from Cape Town, a booming voice came onto the PA system, saying “welcome to Zimbabwe!”, which had everyone in the cabin briefly looking a bit surprised before all bursting into laughter.
On the return hop to Cape Town, a hard bounce on the runway which turned into a go-around resulted in the first …

Let me say this again. I think Air Asia is one of the most innovative airlines in the world today – right up there with JetBlue, Virgin, Singapore Airlines, Southwest Airlines and LAN Airlines. And today they pulled out a trump card – a joint venture with Australia’s Jetstar Airways. You can keep reading the press releases, but here’s the essence of the agreement and how it will benefit the airlines and their customers (you and I!) What the AirAsia and Jetstar “budget alliance” means The most significant difference is the departure from Star Alliance – type marketing or revenue driven alliances. Air Asia and Jetstar have formed a cost alliance, or what I’d call a “budget alliance” (pun intended). Here is the nitty gritty. The airlines will pursue joint procurement of aircraft – This means that they will be able to leverage economies of scale while buying from Airbus. Joint design specifications – since they’re going to order a lot of planes, they can demand from Airbus things like a twin-aisle A320 or more efficient …

Why I had never flown Air India before…
I had never flown Air India till yesterday – intentionally. And I had my good reasons.

Last year, I booked my mom on a Singapore-Delhi Air India flight and the A310 was delayed by over 3 hrs, ensuring that she missed her onward connections. Moreover, a lot of friends who tried to save money had horror stories to tell. One of them once asked for water and the stewardess replied in Hindi, “This is not my lane. Ask the other woman”. That ensured that I never tried the Indian national carrier even though I had the opportunity to, multiple times. So I had really lowered my expectations.
Why I finally flew Air India – the new plane and the new partnership
This time I had the choice of flying from Toronto to Greece either on LOT Polish’s ageing B767 via Warsaw, or Air India to London and then Aegean to Athens. I went for the latter option, because I could fly the B777-300ER of Air India and then the brand new A321 of Aegean. Moreover, I could earn Singapore Airlines Krisflyer miles on Air India due to their recent partnership. May be if CrankyFlier had …

Two small steps to the heart, one big leap to the wallet
A little girl’s hand was held by an elegant SpiceJet stewardess dressed in striking maroon. As the two ladies headed towards the galley, I saw tears rolling down the little one’s cheeks. Her ears were probably hurting as we started descending into Jaipur, India. The stewardesses in the galley started playing with her and then opened up one of the carts for her too! She was given a few packets of biscuits and a SpiceJet kids’ coloring kit. The little one was soon beaming from ear-to-ear and ran back towards her parents full of joy.

You must be wondering I’m telling you this story? Not just because the kid in me got excited and requested for one (see pics below), but because such instances of brand execution are an inherent part of every successful airline’s brand strategy.

Something else that happened on my SpiceJet flight was that an elderly lady who was seated in the bulkhead row was reluctant to put on the seat belt because she was hurting around the waist as the belt was too tight. Instead of shouting orders (which often happens on US-based airlines), the stewardess calmly …