What Should The Airlines Be Doing Now?

In my roles as both interim executive and President of the Pacific NW Chapter of the Institute of Management Consultants, one of the most common questions I get is... "What should we be doing now -- what are we missing?"

In order to address this, I want to drill in on item #4 from my July 11th post, which is massive to me as a customer.

In-flight A/C Power (a term I just coined, because Branson's crew is actually falling down on communicating this HUGE point of differentiation) addresses an irrational emotion for anyone who uses computers, DVD players, and even cell phones and PDA's. The wording they use is often "my computer just died".

My own "M.O." (modus operandi) in the airports is to scope out the electric outlet nearest my gate and "top up" my laptop battery in order to make the most of my onboard remote desk time. Certainly there are others like me.

So if I were consulting to another airline right now, I'd walk them through the process of identifying the "emotional nerve center" of the frequent flyer. What other things run around in the back of the mind of, not the million-mile club member and not the once-a-year traveler, but the person who has no issues jumping on a plane when necessary. These are not people who checked a survey box saying "Yes I would travel on a flight vehicle" but already do so multiple times per year.

Listen to what people are saying in the media about airplanes (maybe even "public places" in general). Check forums, do some online research. My gut tells me you'd find that a few key usability drivers would make a HUGE impact in customer perception.

When getting into a box with 200 other people for a few hours, they say things like

• ...I will be out of touch for the morning [or the day]...
  
  In addition to the fact that cell phones can't be used in flight and computers rarely can be, there there are often many logistical challenges (e.g. verboten through security) that people feel either "cut off from" or "limited to" the world for some time.
  
  
• ...I'll be sharing my germs with hundreds of strangers...
  
  The airlines haven't figured out to provide "clean air" and instead circulate the same air again and again. So drugstores and natural supplement stores now offer products that specifically support the immunity in situations like this. Did they figure out herbs that do something different at 35,000 feet? No -- they are solving the customer's stated problem! But obviously Boeing and Airbus have bigger problems to solve than this.

Of course it's not one or the other. I.e. when adding a differentiator, you still have to deliver what a customer expects from the service -- in this case, safety, "on time" arrivals, etc.

But imagine how people would rave (and no doubt be loyal to) an airline that

• provided handsets to make Skype calls anywhere around the world for say 5 cents a minute
• promoted good health with a trademarked "air rejuvenation and filtration" process
• all along with having reasonable prices and got you there in one piece and on time

Exciting enough to write home about, eh?

Just the kind of thing you want for your business :)

More Virgin Commentary

I shared with my young son Gabe how impressed I was with Virgin Air. No surprise that the son of The Columbo of Marketing would reply with, "What was so special about it?" After I described the photo in my last blog, he asked "Was there anything else?" Makes a dad proud :)

Pictured is another example. Learning from the world of residential real estate: if the front door and surrounding area are shoddy, it affects the visitor's view of the entire home.

Conversely, checking in to the registration area at Virgin American emanates "pleasurable". Color -- ambiance lighting as well as the hallmark Red -- is everywhere, without overkill, from the decor to the boarding passes. And I can't say that I've EVER seen flowers when checking into United or Northwest!

That's what prompted me to follow up with "more" -- since this brand definitely deserves more than one post. There is a lot you can learn, regardless of what business you are in, and especially how other airlines better learn or have their lunch taken from the proverbial plate.

As I was drafting this post on Virgin Air, I sat next to Sera Cawanibuka from Tourism Fiji who said that after her first "Virgin" flight, she told all the people in her office about it. Now they all "fly Virgin" and haven't used United, American, et al -- in years!!

Differentiation throughout All Touch Points

I love having insightful weekends like this -- what a comparison/contrast in brand experiences!

First, I encountered four pieces of disappointment with Hilton:

• Receiving double beds after requesting a king
• Being placed at the very farthest room (felt like walking half a mile) from the elevator
• $20 fee for parking when the dedicated lot immediately next door charges $13.95
• $14.95 internet (wi-fi or hardwire) when nearby coffee shops and restaurants provide it on a complimentary basis

My point about the latter two concerns service focus. The parking place has NO other offering. Hopefully Hilton would see that my main need for them is lodging, and they shouldn't be charging ANY MORE than the next-door place. Between that and the internet access, my sense is that they feel they can "screw over" the captive customer.

Bad karma -- anytime.

And especially in today's competitive environment.

Then... I experienced the Virgin brand out of the UK, which I had heard of but had no particularly positive or negative expectations. I know you know what's coming, but I have to mention it anyway... I'm no longer a virgin to Virgin American airlines).

At every point along the process, I was impressed with Richard Branson's "human touch" -- professional and anything but "me too".

• Web site - bold red and clever "Brit-ish" sayings
• Customer service (called with a question about flight accommodations) - surprisingly friendly and welcoming to/acknowledging of "virgins"
• Boarding pass - bold red and non-standard size
• Cabin experience - entire plane has black lights emitting a purple glow instead of the traditional cold-white fluorescent lights (makes one feel "evening", disco (first class even has news-announcer-like microphones emitting up and around the seats, what a feeling of control)
  ...and...
• (the best for last) AC Adapters at every seat! (no more running out of laptop battery power in the air).

This has definitely ingrained positive associations in my gray matter for the brand. I'll be intrigued to see what happens in my eval process next the next time I fly (better yet, what happens the next time I experience United, Northwest, et al).

A good place to begin is mapping all your touch points (email me if you'd like an example doc to work with) then look objectively (through the customer's eyes) at how your actions at each either support or deflate your brand goals.

Good modeling to you!