Last January I booked a sailing certification course in the British Virgin Islands. Here’s how messaging saved my vacation and showed the potential for extraordinary customer experience.
Days prior to my scheduled January flight towards the Caribbean, a storm moved through the Northeast and closed airports. My flight was canceled.
This was precarious because I needed to board the sailboat by a specific date/time or it would depart without me. A complex itinerary: a flight from Boston to St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands), a water taxi between St. Thomas, an customs entry into the British Virgin Islands and then a regular taxi to the marina on the other side of the island.
I booked a new flight that connected through Charlotte N. Carolina, this was risky as the snow was estimated to cause issues as far South as the Carolinas. There was no better alternative, the flights through Miami would not arrive in time. With the original itinerary I had booked and prepaid for the water taxi, a 45minute ride that cost US$150, but now my arrival time was different than the reservation. So I called their # listed on their website (I had booked the ride on-line with my credit card) and left a message. My expectations were low.
What happened next was awesome.
While waiting for my departure flight to Charlotte, I receive an SMS text message from ‘Dolphin Shuttle USVI’, it said “Hello George, we got your msg, please text back your new arrival info”.
Speaking to a customer service representative by phone call in a busy airport is an unpleasant experience, and conveying detailed information isn’t practical by voice. So I was happy to text the details of my flight and hit SEND. I reasoned that they must have some automated system, but the message referred to context ‘your new arrival info’, it was likely a person at the water taxi co. who saved time by using SMS to converse with customers.
This makes complete sense:
- asynchronous messaging is less time-consuming that live phone calls
- there’s no “telephone-tag”
- detailed info is much easier sent (and referenced) by text than by voice
- their reps are likely walking around docks or operating taxis, they are busy
Why don’t more service providers do this?
My flight to Charlotte was on-time, there was a dusting of snow on the airfield. Inside the talk was about the home team’s upcoming Superbowl appearance and the likelihood of a big win (these turned out to be false hopes).
As soon as my cellphone regained network connectivity I noticed an unread SMS message, again from the water taxi “George, we have a party of 4 traveling at 8pm, please confirm arrival time, we will be at the airport”. This was important information because I wanted confirmation of a pickup. Also if there were other passengers perhaps they were on my connecting flight and I would seek them out prior to boarding (a 2 hour layover in Charlotte). I texted back my scheduled arrival time and flight # and asked if other passengers were on the same itinerary. The company replied that there were 2 other passengers and their response was extremely helpful “George, if you want we can relay your name and number, is that ok?”, I replied in the affirmative and began warming up to the consistent first-name reference. Perhaps they have a ‘console’ and by referring to each contact by name it’s easier to keep track of conversational threads?
This was a magical moment in customer service. The representative on an island 1,000 miles away is brokering a connection with another customer so we can share the service. This was being achieved without inconveniencing anyone, without interrupting what they were doing.
In the departure gate I received a call from ‘Jim’, another traveler on the water taxi to BVI, we met at a nearby bar and exchanged sailing stories. He was traveling to another part of the island but we could share part of the taxi ride after the water traversal.
The flight is delayed and our arrival time didn’t allow for the scheduled water taxi. Normally we would need to call and try to reach someone at the company, and then explain everything from scratch, after identifying ourselves. But none of that was necessary with the messaging. I simply sent another text with the new estimated arrival time. We ordered another drink.
Not so easy. The water taxi co. texted back saying they could not bring travelers through BVI customs after 9pm, there would be no passport authorities that late. They immediately followed with “George, shall we book a nearby hotel for you and switch your reservation to the following morning?” and texted me a link with the hotel info.
You get the idea.
Let’s think about the incredible advantages of this model of communication with a customer:
Advantages for the customer: (over live phone calls)
- contextual conversation over time (in this case an all-day travel itinerary)
- never the need to “call back” and re-establish context, identity, etc.
- never the need to repeat convoluted codes like ‘reservation #’
- easy to reference information (no need to write down information)
- easy to ask clarification questions
- easy to respond asynchronously (minutes or hours later) and not interrupt things
Advantages for the vendor:
- converse with multiple customers simultaneously
- facilitate confirmations for services
- easily refer to prior information contained in messages from the customer
- allow multiple representative to follow-up over time, with context
- send links and images
All of this without installing an app, registering, navigating a web site or even once calling customer service.
Paradise.
