How are you giving happiness to your customers?

While in London I got to observe how we in the Telco industry perceive improving experiences though better service delivery, improved processes and consistency in varying channels. In the beginning of April there is another CEM for Telecoms Summit tin Dubai, organized by IQPC. As you see the Middle East is a perfect example as to where customer experience should be improve by more importantly give telco customers a better way to connect with customer service by eliminating waiting time. Next time you call a customer service number,  or join a customer service chat, why not demand not to wait? And demand that the customer service representative not ask you tons of questions but tell you directly how to fix problems you experienced?

One thing telco customers will never see or experience with their service providers are the bad and rude services provided by SAS. I flew an SAS flight to London, not only the flight attendants were very rude but also the cabin seals came off during landing. On the way back to Copenhagen, its the same constant experience.. The cabin crew is very rude. At least SAS consistently give you a very bad experience… I think they should send their customer experience representatives to a CEM Summit to learn a thing  or to on how mobile operators are providing delight to their customers.

As an ordinary consumer, are we able to bring delight to others and at the same time bring happiness to ourselves? Last week we were exploring Augmented Reality, some brought the idea forwards, after several days of discussions a product concept is born, a few weeks from now I assume it will be released publicly. Once it is released anyone of us can manipulate reality the way we always wanted it, not just to impress our friends but more importantly bring happiness to others who are beneficiaries of this augmented reality. Just imagine making someone smile by including them on an exhilarating experience you are having…. Or let them experience the joy you are currently experiencing and then share it on social media real time.

Why SAS is losing customers and bleeding money?

Flying with SAS to Washington is such a bad experience. Considering that the airline is in a brink of collapse it seems that they have not found that golden chalice that can save it. For a company like SAS to survive it should not try to compete with the budget carriers, however it should provide a good experience instead.

Flying with SAS on domestic and short European flights is OK. However flying with them for any flight more than 4 hours, its a regrettable experience. First is the price. SAS is never cheap compared to the budget carriers. Second is inflight the service. I don't know where they train their staff, but they can surely learn from Asian and Middle Easter carriers. The inflight service is so bad that on an 8 hour flight on economy you are forced to pay for inflight meals that taste like it came straight from the freezer after being stored for years. I mean how had can it be to integrate a 5$ deal on the ticket sales instead of trying to profit from it by charging double and selling in while on the air? 5$ is nothing when combined with a ticket costing 2000$ or more. Other than the looking down at the melting glaciers, ice and snow over Greenland there is really nothing good about in flight services with SAS. Thirdly is the plane. They fly really old planes with seats are are falling apart and very uncomfortable that my back, and shoulders were hurting badly during and after the flight. Lastly is the entertainment system. Even in Asian regional carriers you get a personalized screen in economy, on SAS you only get the tiny over head display with very bad resolution that you can not actually see the picture unless you are Superman with laser vision.

Its a pity because the ground experience at Scandinavian airports are so good with their efficient self-service kiosk (eliminating waiting time). The inflight experience is a such a let down that I told my self given the choice I will never fly with SAS long haul again unless they fix the bad experience they serve to their customers. If I look at a Thai flight I took from Bangkok to Copenhagen, there's a lot of things SAS can learn, even considering that that flight is very full (all seats taken) , you still come out with a very good experience that you would want to keep flying with the airline. Which brings me to the point that on the same day I flew from Bangkok to Copenhagen I was given the option to fly with Thai or SAS and was told that Thai was overbooked while SAS is almost empty, at that time me and a hundred other passengers made the right choice. So why does SAS keep losing customers and bleeding money? Well their executives should take this long haul flights in economy and compare how they do against airlines such as Singapore Air or Emirates or Virgin…. Experience is everything, even on airlines.

Problem is of course airline executives never fly in their own economy cabins….

Working in Commercial Flights... Does it Work?

Last week I flew to Kuala Lumpur from Copenhagen... that's a 12 hour flight and I had economy seats on a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 plane. Since the flight departs morning I planned to work while on the flight... to my dismay there is not enough space to open my laptop and be comfortable enough to work... well at least type using the keyboard, and end up not being productive. When I got to Kuala Lumpur I felt like I just lost a day of work, and was very tired and sleepy on my way to an afternoon meeting.

On my return flight it’s the same story. It seems that on this economy flights there is not enough space to work, not even to watch an in-flight movie comfortably. In European flights there is enough space, at least, between seats that it’s possible to work while on transcontinental flight the space is tighter, plus the guy in front reclines his seat to be comfortable at your own expense. Now the question is can you really work while inside an airplane?

In business class or premium economy (old business class seats) for long haul flights, YES! Since there is enough space... In European flights, while in economy yes if you have a tablet pc or iPad or a small laptop. For long haul flights in economy forget about it, it does not work! This of course begs the question that "is it worth flying business in a long haul flight?" To me as an executive it is a decision based on cost effectiveness.

Here's how it works. If you fly for 12 hours, then potentially you can have 8 productive working hours. If your salary for 2 days is more than the cost of a business seat for your flight then I suggest you fly business since your productivity is more important than 2 lost days while on a plane and while recovering from such a long cramped flight. For short haul flights like European flights where you have enough space to work, better fly economy and by the way get a small pc if not an iPad.