Musician Dave Carroll, angered at United Airlines for rejecting his damage claim after its baggage handlers broke his guitar, created a YouTubevideo entitled United Breaks Guitars. Needless to say, some 15,531,631 have watched the negative take on the brand. The list of examples of such “creative” complaints being viewed by millions in the social media sphere is endless, and with mobiles now being permanent fixtures to our bodies, can instantly inflict lasting brand damage. As such, now more than ever, customer service should be the most important factor for all businesses.
Well, the management fad of the millennium seems to be employee “engagement” a concept that has been marketed as the one metric for improving everything from employee retention to customer service. And while freeing employees to experiment, make high-profile decisions on the fly and to effectively speak for the organisation in public is not something most firms are accustomed to doing, it’s been used by some of the companies best-known for great customer service.
For example, when you call Zappos for advice on an order, you won’t get rushed off the call because agents are empowered to spend as much of their time as needed to create a great experience. In one extreme example, the retailer set a new record with acall that lasted over ten hours they talked about Las Vegas and clothes before it ended in the sale of Ugg boots.
When it comes to customer service, however, no one does it quite like the Ritz Carlton. Employees are trained to anticipate the unexpressed wishes of their guests. In a room-service visit it’s not uncommon for a waiter to tilt the TV in the direction of the guest and place the remote control on the service tray. It also goes a step further by empowering employees to spend up to $2,000 to delight a guest not just to fix problems.
This is a concept that many firms should take note of not particularly the offering of money, but allowing staff to work magic and make it an unforgettable experience. Knowing that your business probably doesnt have a $2,000 per-incident budget for service recovery, it’s important to focus on how you can use the same principle to your advantage. And it all begins by embracing the idea of fostering relationships with customers that’s where true loyalty will come from.
The culinary team at the hotel, for example, once had an upcoming wedding for a Russian family. The executive chef and specialty chef wanted to create an authentic Russian menu for the bride, so when shecame to the hotel for a tasting she was happily surprised. However, the executive chef could tell she was not entirely satisfied, and so spoke to her about her favourite dishes. After finding out that all of them were prepared by her grandmother, they asked if it would be possible to visit her grandmother and learn the recipes directly from her.
Another example is when alarge group stayed over at the hotel on the Club Level. For many of these guests, this was their first visit to China, and most were particularly curious in how dumplings were made. The guest recognition manager took the initiative to organise a home-style dumpling class, whereby the team could take the guests through the entire process step-by-step.
Similarly,Virgin Americais well-known for its exceptional customer service.
Learn more about Branson’s view on employee autonomy on the next page…
Carmine Gallo, Virgin Americas public relations, once said that, Virgin trusts its employees to do the right thing. Leaders must empower their staff to do what is right for the customer, even if they break policy from time to time (as long as it doesnt endanger anyone, of course!).
This freedom to make decisions within safe boundaries is what the company calls operating within a judgment playing field. Senior management specifically defines where employees are and arent allowed to deviate from established rules and processes and then must give them the flexibility to experiment with new ways for serving customers.
Founder Richard Branson explained that once you hire the right people and give them the best training, let them use their imagination and creativity to solve problems. “Rather than providing rules or scripts, you should ask them to treat the customer as they themselves would like to be treated which is surely the highest standard,” he said.
In an article with Real Business, Gallo told of a time when during a fog delay in San Francisco, one Virgin America in-flight team took it upon themselves to bring the first class drink cart out to the gate. Waiting passengers were offered complimentary cocktail service before they boarded the plane.
Those team members received a call from Richard Branson himself, congratulating them for finding a creative solution and keeping their customers happy,” he said.
This approach has also been taken by Walmart staff especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. CEO Lee Scott gave his senior staff a message to pass down through the organisation, all the way to store managers: A lot of you are going to have to make decisions above your level. Make the best decision that you can with the information thats available to you at the time, and, above all, do the right thing.
This led to an assistant manager breaking into the stores pharmacy to get drugs for a local nursing home and an hourly worker who used a forklift to break open a Walmart warehouse to get water for a local retirement home. Walmarts emergency management director praised these actions, calling them good examples of autonomy.
Ultimately, empowerment provides a worker with intrinsic, or self-induced, rewards by allowing them to make decisions on their own and see the success that follows. Employees then associate their success with their own abilities, motivating them to continue to strive for higher levels of productivity in future tasks.
And let’s just face it, we’re suckers for great experiences.
