Don't Argue With Your Customers When They Insist They Want to Buy
The Minneapolis / Saint Paul International Airport is one of the nicer airports in the country. Still an airport, but one of the nicer ones. I was there yesterday evening waiting to board a plane Los Angeles for HRO World where I'll participate as one of the bachelors in their version of the dating game. Don't worry, my wife knows and she's cool with me trying to convince Red Lobster's Tanya Tateyama that we deserve their business. Shhh. Don't tell anyone. They're already a client. But I digress.
As I'm waiting for my plane, a well dressed passenger walks up to gate agent's desk and a little too loudly asks if there are any seats available in first class because she's continuing on to Australia and doesn't want to have to sit in coach. While I sure didn't blame her for wanting to sit in a seat where you didn't have to remove your legs and weigh as much as my six year old in order to be comfortable, her brashness was very un-Minnesotan. As Garrison Keillor says, we're all so nice and above average. Yup. You betcha.
The gate agent checked and announced that there was indeed a seat available. The agent then offered a free upgrade. The woman declined and said that she wanted to pay. Now here's where it gets interesting. At least I hope, for the sake of my readers. The agent said, in an even louder voice, "Why on earth would you want to pay for a first class upgrade to Australia. You're Platinum. You can upgrade for free!" The customer, apparently happy that she caught the attention of everyone within 50 yards, announced that she "needs to fly Platinum every year," because she "just can't stand to be back in coach." Apparently, by paying for the upgrade, she'll get more miles added to her account and that will ensure that she stays in the Platinum frequent flyer program for another year. At that point, the agent took the woman's credit card and processed a transaction that probably caused the airline's stock to increase slightly when the markets opened today.
I had to hand it to the agent, sort of. Well, not really. It was great that she made sure that her customer was making an informed decision to buy the upgrade when she could have had it for free. Not enough businesses do that. They're so focused on making this month's and this quarter's earnings that they're willing to overcharge their clients today and risk sacrificing their business tomorrow. On the other hand, I'm still unclear as to why the above average agent (remember, we're all above average in Minnesota) felt that it was important to broadcast the discussion to everyone. Perhaps she was trying to give the woman a taste of her own medicine, but that would be, well, so confrontational. And that would be so un-Minnesotan. Perhaps she was trying to shame the woman into hanging onto her hard earned money. Perhaps she was seeking revenge against her employer.
Regardless of the reason, I was treated to another great example of a great customer service opportunity gone awry. Rather than cordially making sure that the customer was making an informed decision and therefore creating or maintaining a great relationship with that customer, the agent chose to be confrontational and to broadcast her actions to dozens of other customers. So kudos to the agent for making sure that the customer's decision was an informed one, but when the woman declined the agent's advise, the agent should have backed off and cordially completed the transaction rather than arguing with her customer. Sometimes the customer is not right. But in times like this example, they are and should be treated as such.
Leave a comment