This is a guest article by Ron Kaufman. Ron is the world’s leading educator and motivator for upgrading customer service and uplifting service culture. He is author of the bestselling “UP Your Service!” books and founder of UP Your Service! College. To enjoy more customer service training and service culture articles, visit UpYourService.com. This article was first published in Businessweek.
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There you are, wandering through life, when suddenly someone does something unexpected for you. Instantly your heart thumps. Your face becomes flush. And your reality changes forever. I’m talking about the moment you experience butterflies.
Human interactions fill our days. Some are negative. Most are easily forgotten. But then there are those rare occasions when we fall, absolutely, in love.
Do you know how to make someone fall in love with you? Your business? Your culture?
Changi Airport in Singapore knows. It’s actually the most applauded and awarded airport in the world. And it gives millions of travelers butterflies every year, literally.
The facility combines the thrill of an amusement park, the comfort of a luxury resort, and the intrigue of a massive shopping mall. And it contains a real butterfly garden with …
Last week, I spent over 18hrs flying from Vancouver to Miami, and back – across three airlines. While one was good and one ordinary, the flight attendants in one were seemed bored of their jobs and didn’t quite care much about giving a superior service to passengers.
Firstly, the two serving me were both at least fifty and looked visibly tired since it was the last flight of the day. And those of us sitting in the Emergency exit row were almost barked upon, “Are you qualified to be sitting in this row?” – should I have produced my college degree or something? I know they just want us to say “yes”, but the same idea could have been communicated in a much nicer manner!
While I didn’t have the energy to share some good customer service advise with them, Ron Kaufman did, on another flight. As some of you might recall, I’ve attended his workshop in Singapore and previously written an article on his teaching as well.
This is a guest article by Ron Kaufman. Ron is the world’s leading educator and motivator for upgrading customer service and uplifting service culture. He is author of the bestselling “UP …
Last week, I attended a very refreshing workshop on customer service in Singapore. Ron Kaufman, one of the best-known customer service coaches in the region, led it. I found his ideas on how front-line staff should deal with customers immediately applicable to the airline world.
Inspired from Ron’s workshop, I’ve taken three of the best lessons from him and suggested here how airlines can use these to drive brand loyalty.
Do something unbelievable
In Ron’s words, delivering unbelievable customer service comes above delivering an expected or desirable customer service. Seth Godin would call this the “Purple Cow Effect”. It’s about doing something that’s customers don’t expect, in turn getting them to talk about to with their friends.
A very good example of this is the now-famous rapping flight attendant from Southwest Airlines. He did something mundane – reading out pre-fight safety instructions – in an unbelievable way. And not only was this much appreciated by those on the flight, but the word spread and this rapping flight attendant was a huge hit on YouTube. He even made it to Oprah! That’s the power of unbelievable.
There is such a thing as karma – …
