About Coffee Stains & Moments of Truth

My sister and her husband just arrived back in Holland after returning from New York via Heathrow. The transfer there was a bit tight: they made the connecting flight but their luggage did not.

Now, Heathrow has always had a bad reputation for losing luggage, but (of course exacerbated by the recent foiled bomb attacks) this was taken to a new height. They found out that it could take up to four weeks for them to receive their cases. I gasped with amazement when I heard this. I just could not keep asking myself what the process map here looks like. That's the analytical consultant in me…

This morning over coffee I mused how strange it actually is that two of the most used service concepts were actually airline vernicular. They were coined by figure heads in this industry that is often so disliked. Let me be more specific. I am thinking here of Coffee Stains and Moments of Truth. Both deal with the perception created by customer observations and experiences. The focus here is on managing the detail.

Were did Coffee Stains come from? More than three decades ago an initially successful airline was People Express. They were the forerunner of Southwest Airlines: Low cost, no frills and amazing service by turned on people. The evangelical founder was Donald Burr. He was the one who said that if a passenger would see a coffee stain on the fold down table, s/he would think that the technical maintenance would also be sloppy and an engine might fall off the plane.

Then there are Moments of Truth or customer touchpoints as they are more formally known. This term was coined by Jan Carlzon, President, Scandinavian Airlines Systems (SAS). In his view Moments of Truth happen … Every time a customer comes into contact with your organization: During contacts in person, by phone or other means; Planned and unplanned; During service as expected; During service recovery.

He summed up his service vision as follows: “Manage the dickens out of those unique, never-to-be repeated opportunities to distinguish ourselves in a memorable fashion from each and every one of our competitors.”

This airline vernicular has become the bane of customer service delivery. Now, look at the industry that spawned it and makes you wait for up to four weeks for your luggage. As I finished my coffee musings I thought: Hmmm….

What say you? Comments? Ideas?


Eric Fraterman
eric@customerfocusconsult.com
www.customerfocusconsult.com


Commercial:
Managing Moments of Truth is essential to delivery of a great Customer Experience. I have developed and widely delivered a pragmatic Customer Experience Workshop, a quick-results method to help my clients "manage the dickens" out of their Moments of Truth and improve their day-to-day customer service. I have also published an insightful article on using this approach for the purpose of Customer Journey Mapping. Contact me for this article or an information file on the workshop.