Being Proactive - The Next Generation of Customer Service - Part One

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Being Proactive - The Next Generation of Customer Service - Part One

Wed, 01/23/2008 - 08:48 — Fred Taylor

In an everchanging world where public opinion is driven in part by consumer-generated media, the Customers' trust in Southwest Airlines is contingent upon our ability to deliver effective communications about a situation before, during, and after an issue goes public. Customers commit themselves to our Company when they sense that we truly care about their individual needs, and that our Employees will protect their best interests every step of the way. To this end, maintaining our Customers' loyalty depends upon whether or not our Employees are willing to uphold our Customers' high hopes and deliver more than what they expect.

Providing truly proactive Customer Service requires a careful understanding of how our business process works; a sense of ownership about our Company's success; a determination to create win/win solutions for all involved; and the intuition to provide the appropriate followup communication. This is particularly important to keep in mind if there is a highly unusual disruption of our scheduled service.

Over the years, we've never been afraid to say we're sorry. And being able to apologize proactively requires the foresight to evaluate the nature of an event. Our proactive efforts in this regard have evolved over the past eight or so years, and we realized that it had become necessary to designate a Leader to implement and uphold the Company's proactive service initiatives and to build a support structure that would consistently monitor our operations on a 24/7/365 basis.

To help the cause, I have the distinct privilege to lead a Team of four Fun-LUVing People who are dedicated to providing proactive communications. Our Mission is simple--focus on delivering consistent, helpful, and timely information to make sure our Internal and External Customers are on the same page about what's happening with our operation.

(Over the next four installments, I will outline the basics of our Company's approach to Proactive Customer Service and how my Team gets the job done.)

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Comments

Good morning, Fred! Thanks for givng us a peek into your world. I know y'all work hard to make "doing the right thing" look so easy! Looking forward to the next 4 installments.

Paula Berg — Wed, 01/23/2008 - 15:59

The boarding process is a joke. You may have passengers stand in line in groups of 5 however as you board you board in groups of 30 and most passengers are inconsiderate and move in line in front of the boarding numbers. If you going to make it work you will need to call groups of 5

Mike Elmer — Wed, 01/23/2008 - 19:00

Speaking of doing the right thing ...

When I came to Southwest more than 12 years ago, I was a contractor on the SWIFT project ... a computer system used by our Dispatchers and several other operations groups.

Anyway ... when you make the final confirmation of an operational change in SWIFT, the button you click is labeled DO THE RIGHT THING :-)

I would say that concept is pretty well ingrained around here !

Bob Hurst — Wed, 01/23/2008 - 20:58

Speaking of doing the right thing...

These blog comments seem like subliminal advertisements for a recently published book. ;)

Speaking of a recently published book...

I'm on chapter 40 and have yet to read where doing the right thing requires labeling buttons as you describe, Bob. Perhaps that will be mentioned in the new foreward that accompanies the paperback. :D

Drew — Thu, 01/24/2008 - 01:22

I appreciate you all's hustle in getting late checked bags to their destination. Keep up the good work!

Doug W — Thu, 01/24/2008 - 04:56

How are you proactive when a customer writes in to say that the gate agent didn't properly police the gate area (having people line up properly in their groups of 5) during boarding?

Scott near SMF — Thu, 01/24/2008 - 06:50

Great article.

Your readers might want to try www.Measuredup.com a leading customer service review website where people share reviews with other users and with companies. Companies that are involved with and value customer service read Measuredup to keep up on what people are saying and to be able to improve customer service.

It is free and easy to use.

Keep up the great work. Your company is one of the best when it comes to this.

Marc — Thu, 01/24/2008 - 19:59

This is great! Do you know when we will see the next four installements?
Thank you

Chrissy — Mon, 01/28/2008 - 18:17

Hello Everyone!

While IÃ

Fred Taylor, Jr. — Tue, 01/29/2008 - 20:01

Why do you not provide schedule between Tulsa & Boise?

You do for MCI & OKC and TUL is between both and TUL flighs
connects to the same flighs that OKC & MCI do at LAS & PHX..
Would be just the stroke of computer input and just might
add revenue $$ to WN.

This does not take additional aircraft, the aircraft and flights are there,
just a matter of a computer entry showing the connection.

I'm sure you can use the revenue....

Bob Harvey — Wed, 01/30/2008 - 23:08

A perfect example of your Southwest team being proactive instead of reactive - I flew from St. Louis to Detroit today. I was scheduled for the later flight and concerned I would not make it home due to the snowstorm hitting St. Louis. Adrain, Gate Agent for Southwest in St. Louis, informed me of the new Southwest policy for inclimate weather. This policy allows a client to catch an earlier flight for no change fee! Amazing to me - I have never experienced another airline doing something like this. Southwest is one of kind and your employee are one of a kind - thank you Adrian!

Colleen, Detroit MI

Colleen — Fri, 02/01/2008 - 02:05

Bob Harvey, prior to the passage of the Wright Amendment, people who lived at those states, were very happy to creat their own unpublished schedule by building in two parts. The first, from your origion (in your case Tulsa) to one of Southwest's focus cities. Since your headed west, Las Vegas or Phoenix.
Using the March 12th schedule, I found flight 8 that leaves Tulsa at 10:40 AM Central with an 11:40 AM arrival in Las Vegas which connects with Flight 310 with scheduled departure from Las Vegas at 3:25 PM PDT with a scheduled arrival of 6:15 PM MDT. This plan is unpublished LAS/1. There is also a great unpubished PHX/2. Your first plane is an 11:45 AM CDT Non-stop to Phoenix that arrivals at 12:25 PM MST. Your second plane is Flight 310 that leaves Phoenix that leaves at 1:50 PM MST with a stop in Las Vegas and arrives at 6:15 PM MDT. It can be done, it just take two reservations and two check-ins per direction.

Scott near SMF — Sat, 02/09/2008 - 00:53

EMPLOYEE COMMENDATION:

I flew round-trip from Phoenix to San Francisco over this past weekend for a quick family visit. The return flight was #654 (SFO to LAX to PHX and then on to El Paso and Dallas/Love). I sat in the first row and the two flight attendants assigned up front were Kristen Lumme and another Kristen (sorry, I did not obtain her full name). Both of them were great! Kristin Lumme was especially professional, considerate and patient with the flight being delayed (late plane coming in from Las Vegas), then handling a young UM, a handicapped senior passenger and getting the respective passengers for these full flights on and off at SFO, LAX and then PHX (where I got off to go home). I was very impressed with both of the Attendants who hustled to get people seated, drinks handed out and snacks offered in the short time we were on the flights.

Please pass these comments onto these two Attendants, as I believe your employees should know when they do a GREAT job. Ms. Lumme should remember me because we exchanged "war" stories about our respective career fields and dealing with intoxicated people involving orange juice and vodka. Thank you.

Bill Seltzer
Training /Background Coordinator
Prescott Valley Police Department
Prescott Valley, AZ

William Seltzer — Mon, 03/17/2008 - 20:08

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