Training Marketer

While some airline companies are nickel-and-diming their customers with the economy down, others like Southwest airlines refuse to charge for peanuts and keep their focus on superior customer service.

I came across a post today (I admit it was the picture that caught my eye) on Church of the Customer about how Southwest Airlines is dealing with recent negative industry news by focusing on their core values.

The picture is of a man holding a “birthday cake” his innovative Southwest crew created on his fight to Baltimore. The birthday cake was creatively made from a roll of toilet paper, topped with candles and a SWA happy birthday message. The passengers even sang him “Happy Birthday” during the flight. How’s that for in-flight entertainment?

Though times may be bad in the airlines industry, Southwest has stayed focused on customer service and has come out on top. While keeping fuel costs under control has helped tremendously, Southwest Airlines does hold the U.S. title for being the only profitable airline during the first quarter of the year. They are even considering growing their fleet and have no plans to charge for extra bags or in-flight beverages.

According to Herb Kelleher, Southwest’s president and chief executive officer, taking good care of customers is a top priority. He has said,

“We are not an airline with great customer service. We are a great customer service organization that happens to be in the airline business,”

It’s a great lesson in customer service during a time when including “great customer service” and “airline industry” together in the same sentence can be a tough thing to do.

An article in the New York Times, “Hoping to Make Phone Buyers Flip,” follows the struggles of LG Electronics through designing a new cell phone model. Phone consumers are “gadget conscious” shoppers, buying a new phone every nine months. The deciding factor if a phone will fly off the shelves - popular appeal.

The world has changed,” said Jeremy Dale, who is in charge of marketing for mobile devices at Motorola, Images where fortunes tumbled with the decline of its once popular Razr. “There is more relevance in what other consumers say than what the company is saying.”

“The strongest marketing tool is the first 20,000 people who buy the device,” Mr. Dale of Motorola said. “If they like it, they will tell their friends.”

We all know that you made your widget, you are the sole expert on its functionality, its design, and all the fancy little details, but we (as consumers) don’t care. We want to know how everyone else likes it. Does it work? Will it fill my need?

Encourage consumers to give you feedback on your products. Share that feedback where customers can see it - on your website, a comment section on product pages or mixed into email copy.

I’m not saying that we don’t trust you, we do. We just trust our friends more. Sorry.

On the same note, here’s a video I found from Microsoft recommending word of mouth marketing.