Customer Service Loyalty – The Connection!
Oct 25th, 2009 by Kate Nasser
On a recent Continental ExpressJet flight to Louisville, KY (USA), I watched a competent flight attendant service the entire plane of customers by herself. This is common on these smaller jets and I have had good to superb service on various ExpressJet flights depending on the flight attendant.
Flickr By: ChrisK4u
This flight attendant’s demeanor during beverage service was cool, distant, and yes a bit impersonal. After doing beverage service, the flight attendant sat down since the flight was only half-full. She sat in an empty seat on the aisle across from me.
At one point she started to chat with me and her demeanor became very personable and warm. The difference was striking. Later in the flight she arose to do a second beverage service and her demeanor again was cool and distant. I understood that she couldn’t chat with every customer during beverage service because of time restrictions. Yet her smile was gone and her tone of voice was much cooler and quite different up in front of all the customers.
Because of my work, this intrigued me. Had she been given training that told her to be cool and distant? Or was she an introvert on the personality scale and only felt comfortable when she was speaking one-on-one? Or is there some ‘behavioral effect’ that kicks in when people perform an official role?
Regardless of the reasons for her cool attitude during service, I offer all service professionals this simple advice:
- Customers are loyal to great connections; cool and distant doesn’t connect.
- Even in very formal settings, reserved is not cool and distant. Know the difference.
- In less formal settings, shine your warmth on the customers; the connection makes the difference.
Believe it — customers remember moments. What do you want them to remember?
Great advice, a warm smile and happy personality that says “I’m happy to be here” a customer will always come back”.
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by Julie Harley: RT @KateNasser The Subtle Secret to making customers more #loyal to your brand: http://tinyurl.com/yk99gol...
Wow, Kate, what an observation! Great story and great lesson to learn. Who doesn’t want to be on the receiving end of a genuine smile? Or a bit of warm personal attention? Life can be tough, and even a moment of respite from the slings and arrows, provided by a service professional’s commitment to connect, can be a big factor in choosing one service over another. All things being equal, I’m going to want to be around the company whose people are nice to be around. Tip of the hat to ExpressJet!
Cheers,
Pattie
Hi Kate,
This is interesting. I suspect this might come from training, but I’m do not know from sure.
I know that I do something when dealing with international clients. To me it’s as if I do not show the “real me”, instead, mentally I turn myself 45° and show the professional me which is directly in front of my international clients. (The “real me” is not gone completely, it’s only at a 45° angle looking off to the side) This helps me to stop (over-)reacting to cultural differences, with my own cultural (and personal) baggage and to remain in a professional setting. It also helps me to stay 100% business focused, for example when some cultures like to get much more “personal” than I’m comfortable with this helps me to keep my barriers very clear.
Hello, Kate – discovered your website recently. This post reminds me of the time where I, as a seasoned waitress of over 12 years, advised my younger sister, who was waitressing only until her dancing career took off, that she might do better to smile at her customers now and again. Two weeks later, I received a phone call from her, where she told me how she couldn’t believe how much her tips had increased – more than doubled.
Hi Kate, I agree. I tell others to change your approach do something different. Customers don’t expect this style but welcome it. Customer’s have the right to quality service. Plus, the unexpected higher level of service will increase customer relationships and company’s ROI. That’s a good thing!!
Janice