The Entitled Consumer

Read my mind, please

Jeff Foley — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:01:00 GMT

I'm a big fan of Southwest Airlines in general, because they always seem to be so far ahead of the other airlines in pleasing their customers. When five of the six so-called major airlines announced they'd start charging for checking a second bag I grimaced. One of the more painful elements for a while, however, was their boarding process. To encourage people to show up early, they handed out your boarding number in a first come, first served. People would queue up for 2 hours before the flight to try and get a low number that they could use to ensure they got a good seat. Many complaints.

Southwest read their customers' minds (okay, probably did some focus groups and studies and the like) and changed it to have A, B, and C boarding. Still encouraged to get there early, but now you were just aiming to make a particular group. Still a problem -- now you had to wait in line for hours in the A, B, or C line so that you didn't get towards the back of your group and get crappy seats.

Southwest changed the model again, still determined to make open seating work. Now you have a group AND a number, but you don't have to wait in line in your group. More mind reading! But... they still have a problem. You can check in online and print your boarding pass, instead of going up to the counter. Which means... every time I talk to my dad before he flies out to visit, he becomes obsessed with getting on the computer precisely 24 hours before flight time so he can print out a boarding pass and get a good number. He has to be near a computer, or has to have someone he knows near a computer that can enter in the check-in info and print his pass so he doesn't get stuck in a bad seat with my mom. I used to think he was alone in this obsession... until I flew Southwest, printed my boarding pass an hour after I was eligible, and found myself in the middle of the "B" group, in 45th place. In fact, many other airlines have a similar 24 hour window which, although it doesn't dictate your seat choice, can frustrate people who may not be able to get to a computer. That's certainly my problem when I'm on the other side of a trip coming back... I don't always have easy access to a printer and an Internet connection.

It looks like Continental is taking this to the next logical step, with a new app that they've deployed. As far as I'm concerned, they just read my mind! Continental apparently has a pretty good history of providing more innovative customer service via self-service and this is the latest example -- 24 hours before your departure you get a phone call that allows you to check in over the phone. No scramble to get to a computer and a printer -- you can have your boarding pass emailed, faxed, or available for quick pickup at the kiosk. I honestly can say that this makes me more likely to want to choose Continental, all things being equal, when I'm considering my next business or personal flight. And isn't that the whole reason for a company to provide better customer service than its competitors? There are lots of ways to drive people away from your airline business. This is one of the few that can bring people in.

Automation innovations that bring success... and failure.

Jeff Foley — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:19:00 GMT

You may have seen "virtual assistant" demos before. I have never been impressed by them -- they are usually clumsy and childlike, and plagued by frequent "I'm sorry I don't understand what you mean" responses when you manage to say something they're not expecting.

Jenn at Alaska Airlines changed all that for me.

I was first turned on to Jenn by a colleague who noticed this excellent article in the New York Times highlighting Jenn. Disbelieving, I tried it out. "What are your hub cities?" "What's the best vacation spot?" "Do you connect to Boston?" "How can I fly from Boston to Las Vegas?" "What meals are served on your flights?" "How long has Alaska Air been in business?" "Who is Tim the Moose?" "Can I get miles credit with another airline?" For all of these, she either provided a direct answer, or guided me to a related page on the site... often with alternative choices in case she didn't quite get it right.

And my brain lit up on all sorts of levels. From a technical standpoint, there's so much to love. The way her window hangs out unobtrusively to the side, taking up minimal space. The way it takes you around the Alaska Air website automatically to answer your questions but also lets you choose links. Meanwhile, the responses are very pleasantly worded -- it almost sounds like synthesized speech but my guess is that a real person recorded all the responses. And the natural language technology is top notch! It is as helpful and pleasant as a human without trying too hard to impersonate one -- no Turing test candidate here, but who cares?

But forget the geek side of my brain... is it helpful? Does it add to the customer experience on the site? Or is it just a cool widget that serves no purpose. After my brief experience, I'd say there's no question of its value. I want a Jenn on every site! I want Jenn to take me to my portfolio on my online trading site without me wading through 10 tabs and 5 subtabs, 90% of which are irrelevant to me. I want Jenn on my health insurance site to show me what's covered and what's not, to let me look up old EOB's and claims, and to explain what I need to do to handle disputes. I need a general purpose Jenn that will let me find out the weather forecast, look up stocks, answer dumb questions, and parse information for me, so that I don't need to rely on Google, a carefully constructed search, and reviews of five different web pages to find the right information.

My second reaction was to realize that this feat is probably a lot more difficult to duplicate outside of the travel industry. I'm sure the folks at NextIT would disagree, but certainly limiting the domain of questions made for more accurate answers -- my guess is that she's got quite a knowledge base behind her that can relate each website page to her responses.

My final reaction, however, was that since 90% of most company's interactions come over the phone, this sort of investment is probably a mostly wasted piece of customer service. Certainly they've invested even more in their phone reservations service, right? I called their number and was so disappointed to find a typical boring, inefficient automated system. It had all the classic stereotypical annoyances: "To ensure quality service your call may be recorded." "Lower fares may be found online." Follow that with a confusing arrangement of options all squished into 5 touchtone options, plus another number to write down and call, and one last dirty trick: the final option was "press 0 to repeat this menu." I never did find a way to speak to an agent. An automation solution that forces people to your website and hides your customer service reps is simply not an acceptable answer in this day and age. I wonder how many people have clicked on Jenn... and how many have hung up in frustration trying to figure out how to navigate that phone menu maze. And I wonder how much the company has invested in their website innovations as opposed to cleaning up the basics of their phone interface!

Exploring the Link Between Customer Care and Brand Reputation in Age of Social Media

JuliaO — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 23:23:00 GMT

Partnering with the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR), we have launched a consumer study “Exploring the Link Between Customer Care & Brand Reputation in the Age of Social Media,”

The study is being led by a team of SNCR Research Fellows working in conjunction with TWI Surveys, Inc. The Fellows will investigate how brand reputation and brand loyalty are affected by the quality of customer care at a time when customers can share their customer service experiences via social media and new communications platforms. This study will examine the links between customer satisfaction, brand reputation and consumer loyalty.

The research is getting discussed already - prior to results being distributed. Click here to Josh Bernoff's blog at Forrester http://blogs.forrester.com/charleneli/2008/02/sncr-survey-and.html

The study will offer recommendations on best practices for maximizing the knowledge gained and relationships between the customer and the care professional, including how to break down silos within the organization to work most effectively in this new world of communications; how to avoid a customer care fiasco and ultimately how to improve the customer care and the brand experience overall. The final results will be highlighted in the Society’s Journal of New Communications Research and published in a full report later this year.

SNCR Research Fellows, who have developed this study. The team includes Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes, John Cass, Susan Getgood, Paul Gillin, Francois Gossieaux and Brian Solis.

Please participate in this important survey. A brief questionnaire is available at http://www.twisurveys.com/SNCR2008/. It takes less than five minutes to complete.

To thank you for your participation, you will receive a copy of the executive summary of the study’s findings and a special discount to attend the Society’s annual conference, New Communications Forum, where the findings will be shared in a special presentation.