In the Puddin'

Keep Me With Romance

In the Puddin - Brand Devotion

That's right. It's my birthday and I'm unavoidably a year older but enjoyably a year wiser. For you Puddin' readers that I have the pIeasure of knowing from the thinkAbout network, I acknowledge this piece was originally posted for our small band of experience renegades, and has not been shared outside of our think tank up until now. Upon opening my mail this week, this blog post came flooding back into relevance for me. So thank you in advance for the birthday gift of allowing me to post this article to the world at large. Here we go:

I forget how special I am until this time of year. Checking mailboxes between my October 9th birthday and the end of the year, I could almost believe that stores, restaurants & hotels would cease to exist without me. That is, if I actually bought into all the contrived customer relationship tactics directed toward me. Here’s a few:

· “Dear Ms. McKay, I would like to take a moment to personally thank you for your patronage this past year…it is your ongoing loyalty that means so much to all of us at ____...”

o I haven’t shopped there for over 3 years! Mostly, due to the lack of personalized service.

· “Dear Dolores, ‘Tis the season to gather with friends, family and those we cherish most…This holiday season would not be the same if you did not join us…We’ve reserved a spot especially for you…”

o The last few times I tried to get a reservation, I was told they were “Completely committed” with no attempt at alternatives or accommodation. Cherish? Really?

· “Happy Birthday, Dolores – On behalf of the entire staff at ____, we’d like to thank you for the pleasure of hosting your birthday celebration last year…We invite you to experience it with us once again… and begin a tradition of festive memories with us.”

o OK – so now I know they have a Guest History database. Yes, I stayed at that hotel for my birthday last year, but it was such a complete fiasco that they comped the entire stay plus a certificate for a future free stay (it was bad). Apparently, someone forgot to add those minor details into my profile…

I’ve got pounds of disingenuous form letters, standardized gifts and marketing event invitations poorly masquerading as personalized Customer Appreciation - simply because my name came up in their little black book of repeat Guest History data. Do they really believe such false flattery is capable of creating consumer loyalty? This is as effective as the lounge lizard who asks “Did it hurt?…When you fell from heaven…” Oh, please… get real. No really – PLEASE GET REAL.

It’s brazen FLIRTING - Insincerely telling me (and everyone else) how special I am in hopes of selfish gain, without true personal consideration. Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for appreciation…who isn’t? But if you want me to experience a sense of loyalty and devotion to your brand, flirting will not get me there. Rather, such tactics stand a good chance of exposing the fact you don’t really know me and that you are a fake by highlighting your inabilities to deliver the personal service you say you have/will.

For high-touch, service & lifestyle brands, you will have to do better than flirt. Show me that you honestly know me and I’m important to you as an individual. Let me know you haven’t delivered the same phony lines and flattery to all of your other customers. Sweep me off my feet. Then don’t stop. If you want me to be a raving fan, loyal and impervious to your competitors’ advances and flirting, you will have to keep the love going. You will have to ROMANCE me. Let me know you sincerely enjoy taking care of my needs. Don’t acknowledge me out of obligation – Show me you are continually looking for unique reasons to delight me. Keep surprising me with new ones. Develop and maintain a memory of all you know about me and what I’ve experienced. Let me know my presence is genuinely missed if I haven’t been around. Never lose me to insincere flirting or indifference. Keep me with romance.

Just for fun: Over time I’ve done a little ghost writing. I was once asked to compose a guide for romance written from the perspective of a wiser, older European gentleman who had counseled many would-be-grooms and orchestrated hundreds of romantic experiences (for couples, not businesses). Below is a condensed list of “his main tips” (the most swoon-worthy and least blush-worthy ones). Although written from a man’s perspective, I believe ladies are on the hook just as much to create romance & loyalty. So, whether you are romantically challenged or could add your own novel to the list, enjoy some romantic notions…

Incidentally, I did have one extraordinary “love letter” from an organization looking for my repeat business. Due to their genuine acknowledgement, they won my business and executed an outstanding experience. I will detail it out in a future posting. In reviewing the list below, they were actually successful in romancing me as a loyal customer in every way with the exceptions of #7, #8, #19 & #28 (those would have been awkward, anyway…)

1. Treat your love like royalty.

2. Conspire to have the pianist play her favorite song when she enters the restaurant.

3. Stand when she enters the room – The love of your life just walked in.

4. Smile across the room at her – Let her know you cannot wait to be at her side.

5. Introduce her with undeniable pride.

6. Tell others why she is so beautiful.

7. Love her with your eyes.

8. Caress her hand, her shoulder, her cheek to remind her how lovely she is.

9. Never wait for nightfall – Romance should live at all hours.

10. Allow yourself to be a servant.

11. Lead with her best interest in your heart.

12. Learn some of her desires – Then make them realities.

13. Know what she finds irresistible – Then indulge her.

14. Never overlook the obvious – Do not hesitate to give her life’s smallest pleasures.

15. Compliment her in front of her mother, sisters, friends and co-workers.

16. Give her only the most sincere and genuine of compliments.

17. Never wait for an occasion to shower her with affection – Love her this instant.

18. Live in the moment – Spontaneity is the breath of romance.

19. Take her in your arms and dance with her – in the kitchen, the parking lot – anywhere.

20. Never hold back – True romance cannot be rationed.

21. Celebrate her victories, successes and discoveries.

22. Celebrate the girl within her – Push her in a swing - Fly a kite with her – Wish on stars.

23. Put your watch, cell phone and remote control in a drawer – Then lock the drawer.

24. Apologize – Pride has no place in matters of the heart.

25. Kiss her good-bye – Always.

26. Let yourself miss her – Then tell her.

27. Dare to take big risks.

28. Ask her to fly away with you – Let her know you have already bought the tickets.

29. Plan a rendezvous to take place a year from now – Let her know this romance is here to stay.

30. Remember that all great love stories do not have endings. --Dolores McKay, ZAG Group CVO

Lola's Flight Plan

In the Puddin' - Lola's Turn

Times are tough for airlines - There is no question about that. Over the past several years and now more than ever, they have been challenged with brutal economic conditions and unprecedented safety concerns.

These conditions have affected every aspect of air travel and, understandably, impacted the way airlines conduct business. Although not pleased, the public can logically understand why ticket prices, cancellations of under-booked flights, and security delays have increased. What is difficult to understand, however, is why airline customer service has decreased so severely during these competitive times.

It's Tuesday, so I’m letting my alter ego come out to play - we’ll call her Lola – and I’ll let her rant a bit:

Lola: This summer brought quite a bit of travel all over the country. It seems I was in a different city every few days for awhile. As I did not always book my own travel plans, I had the opportunity to fly a variety of airlines (most of the major brands). Head-to-head comparisons of airline brands could not have been easier - even if the travel itself was not.

There's a minutia of comparative data to play with in attempts to determine the price / value comparison between airline brands - especially with all of the 'add-on' fees that have been implemented with differing rules from company to company, loyalty 'miles' and 'points', etc. Generally, the best value of 'price per flight' was decided by city I was flying into (and how much activity that particular airlines has to that city). So, without calculating too much of the complicated 'X-factors', all airlines came out close enough to equal in price.

Also on an even playing field, was the travel experience led by customer service. Amazingly, consistently poor. Now I am not referring to airport and TSA complications out of the team members' control. I am not talking about the services and amenities that have been cut to keep airline costs down - flight attendants and ticket agents had no part in those decisions.

I'm talking about the extraordinarily poor attitude from many of the front line team members of airlines that lets the customer know, in no uncertain terms, that their life is hard and we should feel their pain. Here are some of the more memorable examples of what I observed this summer (I wish I were exaggerating - but these are actual):

• In response to a young woman requesting a blanket: "No blankets anymore. Just another budget cut to get used to."
• In response to 4 women's inquiry of other available flights when theirs had been canceled: "What are you asking me for? I'm just a peon."
• In response to a woman's request to keep the entire can of soda: "I just hope I have enough for everyone else now." (turns out the passenger was pregnant leaving a city that was 110 that day.. she wasn't showing, but still...)
• In response to a gentleman's plea to make an emergency trip to the bathroom while the 'fasten your seat belt' light was on: "You must sit down, sir. I said sit down. SIR, I SAID - SIT DOWN."
• In response to a mother traveling alone with 3 children under the the age of 4: "Move it."

First of all - These types of behavior in customer service anywhere are totally unacceptable. Everyone deserves basic respect and their needs to be honored. It does not matter how difficult things have been made for the team member, they have no right passing on their hardship to others who are in their care of service. Period.

Secondly, the fact that this type of service is happening on an airplane (a mile high in the sky), complicates things for the airline customer. In other situations when a customer is displeased with how they have been treated, they remove themselves from the situation. That's not going to happen on an airplane, so the customer does their best to swallow their dissatisfaction - which makes for a terrible experience from that point on (and usually the rest of the day). Where these customers would normally express their displeasure, most now report that they do not,  in fear that they will be arrested for causing a disturbance and processed by an on-board Marshall (with their luck, they say). Putting the customer in a position where they feel powerless to control or improve their situation is never a good experience.

Lastly, these examples represent all of the major airlines - even the ones that have the reputation for being fun and friendly. Every airline had a fair share of team members that wanted their passengers to know just how difficult their jobs were now and made sure to let people know that any request was simply making things worse for them. Not necessarily by lashing out as in the examples above, but most, by an overwhelming attitude of apathy and lack of concern for their customer's experience.

It is important to give credit where credit is due: there were certainly team members that performed their job with smiles, compassion and great composure. I have not had the experience this summer of having the crew break out in song and dance, but I know it does happen. I think that is truly wonderful. However, it is unfortunate for these team members (who are now the minority) who are honestly trying to perform at their best, that they are not getting more support from their co-workers and accountability from their leaders. Although refreshing, one song and dance does not make up for the indifferent or rude treatment of three other team members. A brand is what you consistently live out. It appears that currently, no major domestic airlines is consistently living out great customer care.

This is an opportunity for a hero. A chance for one of the major airlines to step up and insist that they will commit to consistent excellence in the one area they can control regardless of the economy or amenities: The positive attitude of their front line staff and the genuine concern for their customer's traveling experience. Please step up, take the lead and force the other airlines to chase you. I'll be waiting to cheer you on with my wallet and loyalty. --Dolores McKay