Good Service and a Few "Extras" - Lessons Learned from Virgin
No one likes to fly these days with the bloated price of tickets, the surcharges for luggage, the long security lines and bad attitudes. Not to mention airlines are getting really bad press on a daily basis. But there is an airline that's trying to attend to customers in a way we might be able to all learn from in my opinion, Virgin America.
Make Something Unfun, Fun
They have very cool pink and purple mood lighting on the planes and fun lounge music playing when you get on. It takes the edge off as you worry about having enough room in the storage compartment for your oversized bag that you stuffed too much. Oh and everyone greets you with a smile.
Don't want to wait with everyone else at the gate? For $40 you can be as cool as the Upper Classies and hang in the in the Lounge. There you enjoy free WiFi, food and drinks as well as super cool furniture, TVs and
Offer Something Extra
They offer electricity for you to have your iPod, your computer any electronic device with a normal outlet ON THE PLANE. Seems like something very small, but it's the only airline that offers this. I'll fly them on longer flights just to have that in order to work, watch a movie or catch up with email.(We can get soil from Mars, can't believe it's taken this long for electricity on a plane, but I digress) They're also testing WiFi on a few flights too.
They offer live TV which is fine, unless you're watching the semi-finals of the European Soccer match and ESPN skips through the goals. Bummer.
You can order food and drinks when you want with your credit card through the entertainment system. On-demand, what a concept!
Have Really Great Communications
Before one particular flight a gentleman came out to the waiting crowd during a delay, introduced himself as the pilot, apologized profusely for their actions and told everyone this is not how they want operate.
On another flight they passed out free drink or movie coupons because the in-flight entertainment system was not working correctly. They addressed it on the plane to avoid any disgruntled customers.
So it seems that a big business like Virgin is trying to go the extra mile to make flying cool again. Here are a few ideas I can think of for some other small businesses:
- Dentists - Offer movies while your patients get worked on or music with headphones.
- Car Dealerships - Offer coffee, muffins and TV in the waiting room while your customers get their car worked on. Offer a "kids area" to keep the tykes busy with kids books, some small furniture and crayons.
- Software & Hardware Companies - Spice up your copy in your marketing materials with some humor to break through the "serious tone" of what you're selling.
Whatever you sell, going the extra mile for your customers these days is more important than ever. What's your extra mile?







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