It’s impossible to find a great Business these days. Granted there are exceptions but overall I get the feeling that corporate America is seeking to do as little as possible while still achieving a level of success.
I will be among the first to congratulate any business that is able to increase their effectiveness and eliminate unnecessary tasks and time-wasters. Customers however, do not belong on this list. I started thinking about the concept of being exceptional in business again today (this is a reoccurring thought p
attern for me) while on a flight from my home in Idaho to California. The airline industry is, from what we are told in the media, struggling. Given our overall economic outlook, this is not too far from the current state of many businesses. As much as it pains me to admit it and despite my desire to fight against it, my expectations for customer service have fallen overtime. Chalk it up to the mind numbing effect of the “on hold” music or the hypnotizing act of watching my computer screen tell me over and over that I am # __ in the queue to receive assistance but I doubt that my great grandmother (known as Nanny Bossy) would have put up with the same type of day to day “business” that we do.
The downside to this trend is that the more we put up in the way of impersonal service, the more we will be asked to endure. The upside, is that any company that can find a way to break itself out of the “take a number and wait in line” mentality will, most likely, be ushered to the font of the line by the customers waiting to sing their praises which brings me back to my airline flight. Most of us have at one time or another chosen to travel by air and I am no exception. In fact by the time I had graduated from high school, I calculated that I had flown well over 100,000 miles covering 5 continents and at least 15 countries. In life, repetition often has a numbing effect and for me the flight experience was simply a necessary means of transportation to help me reach my destination, but not part of the experience in the way it once was as a child. Therefore, on this most recent trip, I was amused to find myself taking note of the flight experience and the small but effective gestures on the part of the crew to stand out. What caught my attention even more is that the things they did that stood out were neither difficult nor budget straining to implement, yet they impressed me. Want to know what they were?
-The staff was genuinely friendly and helpful.
-When they brought me my drink they let me keep the whole can (gasp!) with a glass of ice on the side.
-They offered a small meal even outside of meal hours.
-They provided headphones for their radio stations (free of charge).
-They came by multiple times offering a basket of snack choices for me to choose from.
On one hand I can look at this list and say this is pretty pathetic that being exceptional can be achieved so easily in by allowing me to keep my entire can of CranRazberry Juice to myself, rather than to share it with the guy across the aisle. But on the other hand, how nice for this airline to be able to tweak just a few manageable areas and stand out! If nothing else, it encourages me that there are always going to be small yet significant areas that can be catalysts for great change in companies. If the desire and willingness to seek them out and implement them is there, I believe a greater level of success will be waiting.
Oh yes, and the airline I am flying? ExpressJet. BTW, their tagline on their website says, ‘Fly Like a Bird, Don’t Eat Like One. Enjoy Satisfying Snacks on Non-Stop Flights.’ As my flight gets ready to land, I am sucking on a peppermint breath mint, delivered by a smiling flight attendant. Gazing out my window at the puffy clouds, I find myself thinking that maybe, just maybe there is still a silver lining for customer service out there afterall—Nanny Bossy would be very pleased.
Tell us, what makes a business stand out to you? Comment below.
Heather Ledeboer, Founder/Owner of Mom 4 Life, a top site for mom-invented products for birth and beyond. Heather has been a Startup Princess Fairy Godmother for 2 years and is a strong advocate and friend to women entrepreneurs. Other popular Startup Princess articles by Heather are Why Do Mom Made Products Seem to Cost So Much , How to Keep Your Marriage Strong While Running a Small Business, and Exceeding Your Customers Expectations Everytime.
Consistency. That’s what makes a company stand out to me. I like quality and I like service. I like to be a regular. I like to shop at the same places – where they know me and I know them. It’s the hair stylist that colors my hair the same each time (if I want it the same). It’s my favorite restaurants where the service is good, I don’t wait too long, and my favorite dishes taste the same every time I go. It’s the servers that know me by name and know just how I like certain dishes without me asking. It’s my favorite clothing store that offers good quality clothes and jeans that last forever and don’t fall apart in the wash. You might read this and think, “She’s picky…” I’ll admit it. But I’m a girl who knows what she wants and is that so bad? It doesn’t mean that I don’t like to try new things. It just means that when I get the same thing I did last time, I want it to last like it did last time –instead of finding out that they cut corners, changed the ingredient list and now what I’m getting something entirely different.
And thanks for the article. I agree. It doesn’t take that much more to be that much better.
Great points Michelle, I totally agree. Positive consistency is a great thing to offer customers!