How Not to Treat Your Customer — United Airlines PR Blunder
Since morning Twitter was abuzz with an event related to United Airlines and everyone was blaming and shaming United Airlines and hence I was curious as to what was the matter and after the below links I know why.
The Video was of one Mr David Dao being dragged out of his seat who was a fully paid seated passenger to make way for some of the United Airlines employees. Yes Overbooking is an issue for International airlines and also in India for railways but seeing this video was so un-nerving. The pathetic way with which the customer was treated and the way United Airlines initially responded makes you think are the customer dependent on United Airlines or it should be vice versa. There was another post in LA Times of another First Class passenger who is supposed to be the bread and butter of Airlines business even he was not spared of harrowing experience. He was threatened with handcuffs and later made to sit in Economy Class while he had paid for First Class that to in between two fighting couple which he had to endure the whole way. And when he contacted to Customer support, their response was insult to injury.
Now if I have to draw such parallel in Indian context such scenario is common all the time in India starting from Autos to buses to trains and even in flights. While I have seen people sleeping or getting accommodated even on the floor or creating nuisance for other passengers but never I have heard a first class passenger made to sit in an Economy Class or people being dragged out. And while you book tickets the information is clearly informed.
In India there is the reverse problem with unruly passengers and also VIP MPs throwing tantrums and being violent where the Airlines staff are always on the receiving end. While for Airlines in the sub-continent they enjoy some liberty to throw such passengers but what I saw in the video and what I read in the news was totally unacceptable. Calling random names, dragging passengers from their seats and injuring them. If this is United Airlines service then sorry to say, customer can find better options. In perspective what I understand for such PR disaster was simply because United Airlines employees and their organizational culture teaches them to throw rule book than handling with simple common sense and empathy.
We never should treat our customers like rag. They are our bread and butter, they are why we are earning. This should not only be the fundamental motto of all business, but also for every employee because more than the technology or the backend on which we work on. Its the customer who finally pays our salary. if we imbibe this mantra in our organizational culture and also even in governments and even in world bodies we can go a long way in making our world a much better place to live.
Finding who is your real customer is not just an art but also a necessity for addressing their pain points and achieving customer delight can differentiate you from a being a common business to being a successful business. With this though even I would do my two bits to treat my stakeholders as customers and do my best to serve them better.
