I’ve been observing sale sand service behaviors while traveling this year and here are some notable hits and misses:
Wins:
- Air Canada rewarding their Super Elite fliers with free drinks even if we are flying coach, a “welcome” back message when boarding and personal concierge at every airport. I can tell you that this is affecting my behavior. I am flying more Air Canada than I did last year while in Miami and I am paying for more business class flights to ensure I remain Super Elite. Rewarding your best customers (not your newest as most companies do – Rogers Mobile I am speaking to you directly – does impact sales results profitably.
- Grand Stay Appleton WI. They are the number 1 ranked Appleton WI hotel on trip advisor and want to sty there. When you depart they pass out trip advisor business cards and ask that you post a review. No hotel ever has asked me to do that before…. And I stay in hotels every week. Smart move!
- The new fresh markets opening in airports. I was pleased to see that the line up at the juice and smoothie bar was as long as the one at McDonald’s this week in Atlanta. However, no line is ever as long as Starbucks.
- Delta airlines. If you check in on line and your flights have wifi you can prepay for a discount before you get on board.
Loses:
- ATW Airport. When the pilot light goes off on the de-icing truck and the de-icing fluid freezes they try to restart it and take 30 minutes “trying” before sending the other truck over. Why not do both in parallel so we can have an on time departure?
- Appleton taxi’s. The ride to the airport from the hotel was 5 minutes. In fact I could see the tower from my room. The airport was close enough for the hotel to have a shuttle but my flight was too early for the shuttle to be running. Cost $15. That is taking advantage. In Miami $15 will get you from the beach to downtown or the design district.
- Carnival Cruises – I wasn’t on the ship nor did I experience the disaster first hand but it was an epic fail. Does it concern anyone else that the last 2 biggest cruise ship accidents have been carnival owned ships?
- Canadian broadcasters, advertisers and the Super Bowl. There has got to be a way to improve the viewing experience for the millions of Canadian watching the Super Bowl. Airing the best ads will increase viewers, and improve ad results. The short sighted approach in Canada forces everyone away from their TV’s and towards social media during the breaks. What are they doing? Complaining about the networks and watching the ads online. Broadcasters, make it attractive for the advertisers to air their great ads in Canada too!
Pay attention to how you treat your customers. If you are difficult to do business with no one will come back. And that will hurt your sales!
Dedicated to making this your best year yet,
Colleen