No, You Can’t Go on the Earlier Flight!
June 18, 2009
When the process prevents a company from doing what is clearly in the best interests of the customer, it ceases to be a tool for business excellence.
When dealing with customers, many businesses today refuse to make common-sense decisions because “it’s not their policy.” A participant in one of my recent programs shared this story with me.
Bill had finished his work early and wanted to try to get an earlier flight home to Atlanta. He called the airline to see if seats were available and was told that although there were seats on the flight, because he had a restricted airfare, he would have to go to the airport to change his flights there.
When he arrived at the ticket counter, the agent confirmed that there were seats available and asked to see his ticket. As she studied the information on the ticket, a disapproving look crossed her face.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “this is an excursion fare and we have no seats left in inventory in this fare class.”
“But there are seats available on the flight?” Bill asked.
“Oh yes, it’s wide open.”
“So let me understand this,” Bill said. “If you move me up to the earlier flight, you would free up my seat on the next flight which you could then sell to a last-minute passenger at the full fare.”
“Yes sir, but that’s not our policy. You can only stand by on an earlier flight if there are seats available in the same fare class as your original ticket.”
Two levels of supervisor who were called to the scene gave the same party line; and as convincing as I’m sure Bill was, they were not going to bend the rules for him. As a result, Bill had to sit around the airport for three hours to wait for his original flight, while the earlier plane left with around twenty empty seats.
To top off the story, Bill’s original flight was oversold. Badly oversold. The airline had to offer several people $500 travel vouchers to give up their seats and take a later flight. If Bill had been allowed to take the earlier flight, the airline wouldn’t have had to pay an additional $500 and would have had two more satisfied customers—Bill and the person who got bumped.
Don’t get me wrong, processes are good. They allow an organization to present a consistent face to the customer and provide a foundation upon which to base improvement activities. But when the process prevents a company from doing what is clearly in the best interests of the customer, it ceases to be a tool for business excellence and becomes an excuse for policies that lack common sense.
With proper training and a clear understanding of the company’s vision and values, your people can make intelligent decisions at the point of contact that will lead to customer satisfaction and loyalty. Make sure that your business policies – especially the ones that relate to customer interaction – provide enough flexibility so that your employees can do the right thing when it’s appropriate.
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