Customer Loyalty Up in the Air

Imagine a time when the battle for consumer loyalty becomes so intense that even the airlines begin to focus more on the customer experience. Amid many recent horror stories from passengers, and a movement to pass a passengers bill of rights, it appears that even this traditionally unresponsive industry is beginning to warm to the idea of treating its passengers like valued customers.

A Wall Street Journal story documented a survey of airline managers world-wide. In the survey, the managers listed, “customer loyalty and retention,” as third behind fuel costs and competition as top challenges for the industry. This was a big jump for consumer mindedness over a similar survey two years ago.

Digging deeper into the story, we find an even more important epiphany. In the search for the elusive loyalty and retention, about half of the respondents identified the customer experience and communication with customer as even more important then the airlines celebrated loyalty programs.

Of this same group of managers, 86% picked customer loyalty and retention as having a positive impact on an airline’s business, more than any other issue.

Only time will tell how this industry will apply this wake-up call, but it’s a positive sign. At a time when winning customer loyalty is more difficult than ever, delighting the customer should at all times be the focus and the reason for our being.