Taking Customer Service to New Heights
 | by Drew on February 4th, 2008 |
As a society we have always held the expected standards of customer service rather high. Rarely are those delivered though and probably NEVER at this height. Let me explain.
There is a new customer service man on the block and his name is Denny Flanagan. Denny is a pilot for United Airlines and was the focus of a front page article in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal. You can read the article here.
Captain Denny goes out of his way for his passengers exceeding the standards of the United Handbook and even most of his passengers. Here are just a few examples:
- He takes pictures of people’s pets in the cargo area and show them to passengers.
- When there are long delays he buys McDonald’s hamburgers or fruit for all the passengers.
- He hand writes notes to passengers in first and business class, thanking them for choosing to fly United.
- He calls the parents of unaccompanied minors on his cell phone if there are delays.
The article states that the airline reimburses the pilot for his expenses for these unique services, and I’m sure they would do it for others as well. It isn’t that Denny asks for the reimbursement. That was never his intention. His intention was to offer a personal and corporate service that would redefine the friendly skies. Captain Flanagan is taking personal responsibility for his customers.
Now I am not saying that we will be sending fruit out to all of our customers. However, I am saying that we dare the world to raise the bar for customer service on us. Expect us to go above and beyond. It is our desire to take customer service to a new level. Like Denny we have decided to make choices that will make a difference for our company and our customers.