I have just finished reading an excellent white paper written by Lorraine Grubbs and put out by Parature (www.parature.com) entitled 'Lessons in Loyalty: How Southwest Airlines Does it - An Insider's Point of View.' I say excellent because for those of us in the service industry, not only does it provide valuable lessons in customer service and a useful insight into Southwest Airlines but more importantly, the white paper highlights how a true understanding of the business you are in is fundamental to success.
Lesson # 1:
Know what business you are in. From the very first day that a person starts at Southwest they are taught that they are in the Customer service industry and that they just happen to fly airplanes.That is their core business and everything else from who they hire, how they conduct interviews etc flows from that understanding. 'Customer service resided in our mission statement, our meetings, and our celebrations.'
Question: What business are you really in and do your hiring and financial policies, incentive schemes etc flow naturally from that or do they work against it?
Lesson # 2:
Hire for attitude, train for skill. Southwest believes that if a person has the right attitude, they can teach them how to deliver great Customer service. To that end, interviewers ask questions such as 'tell us about a time when you defused a difficult Customer situation,' or 'tell us about a time you went above and beyond for a customer.' The thinking being that if the applicant has a history of having done it (exceptional customer service) they will continue to do it in the future.
Question: What do your interviews uncover about the applicant that are not only pertinent to the role at hand but also to your core business philosophy?
Lesson # 3:
Teach them from the start. From day 1, new hires are immersed in Southwest's Customer service culture. They learn about its history, its awards, its advertising. They see footage of customers explaining why they no longer fly with a particular airline and they are also reminded that ' ....a mere 5 passengers per plane make the difference between making a profit and losing money.'
Question: What induction training programs do you have in place for your new hires? How do these programs support your core business philosophy?
Lesson # 4:
To keep a major initiative alive, it must be supported at the highest levels within the company. In order to keep the Customer service spirit alive at Southwest, they created a high-level position of 'VP of Customers.' The company also realized that if they were to indeed have a customer service mindset that permeated throughout the company, they could not separate the importance of the internal customer (employees) from the external customers (passengers). 'If the internal customer is happy, it will naturally flow to the external customer in the form of good service.'
Question: How does the executive team constantly show their support for the core business philosophy?
Lesson # 5:
Provide employees with the 'Keys to the Kingdom.' Employees at Southwest are empowered to 'do the right thing' (versus doing what was right.)' The company is confident that their employees including new hires have the ability to make good decisions but they only believe this because they know that they have hired people with the right attitude from day 1 and have trained them in the company's Customer service philosophy.
Question: To what extent have you empowered your employees and how confident are you that they have the ability to make the right decisions?
Lesson # 6:
See your customers through the eyes of friendship and family. By doing so, you start to do things for your customers that you would only do for family and friends.
Question: Do you treat your loyal customers as friends and family and when was the last time you 'wow'd' them by doing something unexpected?
Lesson # 7:
Check your ego at the door. Southwest practices 'Servant Leadership' and seeks 'humble, compassionate mindsets that could be tough when needed. People skills are a must.' Leaders walk the talk and spend time with front-line employees. You can't fake caring - employees and customers will see right through it.
Question: When did your company's leaders spend time with front-line employees and when did they last deal with customers at the coal-face?
Lesson # 8:
Fun, fun, fun. Southwest believes that if people are having fun on the job, they will be more apt to come to work with a great attitude and deliver great Customer service.
Question: When did you last hear laughter around the water cooler or in the canteen?
Lesson # 9:
Keep customers at the forefront of employees' minds through rewards and recognition.Southwest pays alot of attention to their strategy for rewards and recognition of employees and are not afraid to include their customers as part of those strategies. They include customers in their in-flight magazines and have created a MOM committee whose task is to review operational failures on the premise that 'if your mom was on board, would you be happy with they way she was treated? (And we all know how protective of our mothers we are).
Question: Do your reward and recognition strategies support your core business philosophy and would your mother be happy with the service of your organization?
Lesson # 10:
Embrace the lessons above and ensure that they remain true to your core business philosophy and you will be successful.
ian
PS: I apologize to those reading this blog and to Ms. Grubbs and Parature for not providing a direct link to the White Paper however it can be accessed through Parature's website www.parature.com.
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