Developing an Eye for Detail

I flew Business Class on one of the world’s largest airlines and found myself in a chair padded for pleasure.

This up-to-date seating boasts an impressive list of features: reclining back with adjustable lumbar support, extended leg rest, electronic ‘rolling massage’, adjustable headrest with padded wings, two reading lights, a power point for laptop computers, a telephone, Internet connection, special built-in pouch for personal effects, large video screen with 14 movie selections, 19 audio channels, and noise-canceling headphones.

I was so impressed, I decided to write some positive feedback for the airline on the spot. I asked the friendly cabin crew member for a ‘comment card’ and a pen.

She handed me a pen from her pocket that read ‘Narita Tokyu Hotel’ and said she would look for a comment card, but wasn’t sure if there were any aboard.

She returned a few moments later and handed me an airline writing kit with three postcards, two envelopes, and two sheets of airline stationery in an attractive blue folder. And she confirmed there were no comment cards aboard.

I thought that was odd. Simple comment cards are cheap to print, easy to use, and fast to hand out and collect. The fancy writing kit costs the airline much more, yet it doesn’t help solicit customer feedback.

Stranger still was the pen: ‘Narita Tokyu Hotel’?

‘Don’t you have any airline pens?’ I asked.

She blushed and replied ‘No. We used to carry them, but we don’t any more. But passengers still ask us for pens all the time, so we take extra ones from the hotels where we stay.’

‘Really?!’ I laughed. ‘The airline installed these great new seats and hands out fancy writing kits, but doesn’t carry inexpensive plastic pens on board for passenger use?’

She grinned sheepishly and brought me a sample of what the airline does provide for Business Class passengers who wish to write: a small golf pencil. About three inches long, these little blue pencils are sharp as a tack and emblazoned with the airline’s name and logo in white.

I am sitting in a world-class airline seat. I can get a classy, expensive writing kit just by asking. But if I seek a ballpoint pen, the airline gives me a tiny pencil made for golf.

A cost-savings effort was to blame. The cabin crew explained that too many passengers kept asking for the pens.

How penny foolish! When a Business Class customer takes an airline pen home, that airline’s name is seen every time the pen is used. An average pen lasts hundreds if not thousands of uses. In advertising terms, that’s a lot of brand name impressions on the existing customer base.

But who gets all those valuable advertising impressions in this airline’s case? The ‘Narita Tokyu Hotel’!

Well, not quite. Another hour into the flight the same cabin crew member came back with a shy request, ‘Excuse me, Mr. Kaufman. Can I have the pen back, please? Another passenger needs it…’

Next Article in Customer Service Perception Points >>
Little Things Can Mean a Lot

First Article in Customer Service Recovery >>
What to do When Your Customer is About to Explode

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Ron Kaufman is an internationally acclaimed customer service training educator for quality service. He is author of the bestselling series "UP Your Service!" and founder of "UP Your Service College". To enjoy more customer service training articles, visit www.RonKaufman.com and www.UpYourService.com

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