When Customers Are Not The Top Priority
It's a foregone conclusion that airlines have lost sight of the customer a long time ago. Driven by a singular focus on reducing cost and maximizing revenue, airline executives are consistently signaling that the customer is no longer their number one priority. This has trickled down to their services marketing staff who are producing offers that exude desperation and incompetence. When you lose focus on the customer, anything goes – the sky is not even the limit anymore.
On a February 27, 2009 BBC interview, Ryanair's Chief executive Michael O'Leary said that charging for toilet use on flights was under consideration. And last week, I got an email offer from the services marketing masterminds at United Airlines promoting an "Economy Plus® annual option for just $349". How does the customer, as the top priority, factor in these decisions?
Take a closer look at United's offer. Of all the problems and pain passengers suffer during their flying experience, United picked leg-room and decided that some segment of the market is willing to part with $349 to see this problem go away. If the intended target for this service takes 10 flights a year, they increase their fare for each flight by $34.90. Business travelers will have to justify this purchase on their carefully scrutinized expense reports. If you fly frequently, you already get the extra leg-room. What happens when some flights are over-sold and I can't get my extra leg-room?
To be fair, leg-room is nice to have particularly if you're tall. However, this offer reminds me of the dark joke: other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
Perhaps their services marketing folks will look at the entire flying experience for opportunities to solve truly painful problems and compete on value for a change. Assuming an uneventful flight, here's a list of a few of the problems areas United may want to tackle next:
• Drive to airport and find parking space
• Endure security line and screening
• Wait in boarding area
• Endure annoying boarding line
• Endure the wait on the bridge
• Struggle to find overhead luggage space
• Wait for everyone else to board
• Interact with unhappy and unmotivated attendants
• Endure offers to buy over-priced, processed food
• Listen to captain explain delays
• Suffer lack of elbow room
• Sit in uncomfortable and stained seat
• Land and wait to deplane
• Wait for checked luggage
Some of the above areas are not directly offered or controlled by airlines like United. For example, parking or security screening is not the airline's responsibility. Nevertheless, these represent opportunities to team up with the responsible entity to improve the total flying experience, differentiate a brand and grow revenues.
On the other hand, if airlines continue to operate under the premise that the flying consumer has no other alternative to get there from here, their services marketing gurus will stay on the path of less value for more dollars.
That fact of the matter is that flying has become a painful and taxing experience that most of us dread and go out of our way to avoid. Flying wastes time, aggravates people and severely undermines productivity. So how about a little attention to your number one priority, the customer?