Jon Strande comments on Larry Lessig's experience of flying his millionth mile on United, and them not noticing.
Imagine had United taken the time to reward an obviously loyal customer even in the smallest way, say with a Thank you card on his seat when he boarded the plane.
Imagine the post he would have written had they done something really nice for him...
This coincides with the arrival of my pack from United, confirming that I have (after many years of being just a very ordinary passenger) recently gone back to Premier status.
Hmmm. A few years ago, I really got hooked into these frequent flier schemes, but now I am much less convinced. When they tell me I get 5" more economy legroom than the hoi-polloi, I don't so much celebrate as think, crumbs, if I don't keep this status I may switch to an airline that gives all its economy passengers a bit more legroom. This may be a carrot today, but there's a stick in the background for tomorrow.
Many of the other benefits are potentially more hamster wheel... get more miles by getting your mates to fly with us; earn more miles by spending more money at our hotel partners etc.
I wonder about the frictional cost of maintaining these elaborate schemes, an expense the budget operators cheerfully do without.
I see they've also included a book of vouchers to give to staff in recognition of good service. When they did this a few years back I quite liked it. It changed the game in Business Class from see who can look least excited about the service cos that will make you look more important to let's see who can enjoy this flight the most. Maybe it's just the passing years but now the little voucher scheme starts to feel like... more hamster wheel.
It's funny, I think of myself as unsentimental about brands but I feel sad that United are struggling. When they took over from PanAm on the transatlantic routes there was a palpable sense of pride about them. Ironically, they now feel a bit like PanAm did, sort of struggling to maintain a past grandeur.
I don't mean to seem ungrateful. After all, I only qualified for this treatment by flying on Singapore Airlines in the Star Alliance. So it's nice to get the recognition and the Alliance seems a smart idea.
I think that in larger organisations it's inevitable that things get bureaucratised and made into systems. The thing is, that can only get you so far in delivering a good experience. I also think that when times are hard, people tend to become more anxious and more wedded to systems. (And that's a pity, as probably innovation and risk taking are likely to be the best ways out of the hole). I sense there is a sort of denial going on at United. I think their people are trying hard but are demoralised; somehow the confident blurb (eg "the best frequent flyer programme" seems implausible to me). A bit like someone putting on a brave face... you don't really believe them and it creates distance - the opposite of what loyalty might be about.
I see Kathy Sierrra is posting some more smart thinking today about creating a spirit of caring. I wonder what sort of caring behaviours the high-ups at United are generating today?
Jennifer Rice
Andy Lark
Johnnie Moore
John Winsor
1. Steve Portigal on February 28, 2005 11:38 AM writes...
Tangential, so forgive me. Wells Fargo has a "Happy Five Year Annivesary" or similar message that pops up (instead of an ad?) when I use their ATM. The non-transactional stuff is so completely generic that it took a while (several uses) before I noticed - I think.
It was sort of interesting or amusing that they noticed and commented - because most businesses I deal with never communicate anything like that, but other than getting my attention, it has no emotional impact at all.
One difference (among many) between my example and Lessig's is that all I've "accomplished" as a loyal customer is sticking around; he's achieved something as a user of the system that could indeed be noticed and rewarded.
Permalink to Comment2. Steve King on February 28, 2005 02:47 PM writes...
When I passed the million mile mark with United they sent me a letter thanking me and they included free upgrade certificates (can't remember how many).
I was very depressed after reading the letter. It seemed I was spending my entire life on airplanes. I decided that day to cut way back on business travel. I quickly discovered I enjoyed being home and in the last 8 years I haven't even come close to making an airline "premier" level. Maybe others reacted to the million miles news the way I did.
Nah - they probably just cut out these letters to save money.
Permalink to Comment3. Tom Asacker on February 28, 2005 02:58 PM writes...
I'm feeling quite a bit of ambivalence about this post. On the one hand, I realize that loyal customers are necessary for business success and therefore should be acknowledged. On the other hand, let us not forget that marketplace transactions are symbiotic. Larry flew 1 million miles with United for the "value" he received. My guess is that getting a "thank you" wasn't one of the most important components of that "value."
There's a lot of talk today about being nice and likeable. Tim Sanders even has a new book called "The L Factor." I think it's overrated. The legacy airlines and many other failing businesses are in trouble because they took their eyes off the ball of customer value. They turned their focus inward and let their brand suffer. Is Amazon likeable? Never met them. WalMart? Not really. Steve Jobs? Doubt it.
As brand evangelists, let’s get companies refocused to what matters most to their audiences. Sure, a thank you would be nice. But until it becomes the compelling reason for staying with a particular brand, I’d focus elsewhere.
P.S. Thanks for a great post Johnnie.
Permalink to Comment4. Steve Portigal on February 28, 2005 03:41 PM writes...
To the point of symbiosis, I think it's not so much about being likable as much as acknowledging your relationship with the customer when they are thinking about their relationship with you. The Thank You letter isn't a reward, in this example, it's just a token of mutuality.
I'd like a happy noise to play when my odomoter rolls over to some cool power of 10 number. I'd like my computer to smile when I finally clean up all the excess files that are clogging the HD. And if my airline acknowledgd when I flew 1,000,000 miles, that'd be cool as well.
Side story - a recent ethnography of service departments of auto dealerships produced some interesting stories where the factory (not the local dealership) sent out invitations for oil changes, or X0,000 mile service, etc. based on really badly estimated data about what the customer's mileage should be. The service shops that took these customer calls felt it was a huge mistake; pretending to know something about your customer when in fact you were off was somehow ominous - something was wrong, the customers felt, why is there "bad data" in the system about them? What else could go wrong.
They failed the mutuality because they assumed and then acted on the assumption. And we all know what happens when you assume, blah blah blah
Permalink to Comment5. Tom Asacker on February 28, 2005 04:59 PM writes...
I'm with you Steve. I truly am. Unfortunately, cool comes after competitive (even in the dictionary). If United had created TED 15 years ago, a reciprocal "thanks" would have been icing. Today, their cake has been totally eaten.
Feb 28, 2005 -- Bankruptcy beleaguered United Airlines again has delayed its target date for emerging from bankruptcy to sometime in the fall of 2005.
Permalink to Comment6. Steve Portigal on February 28, 2005 05:33 PM writes...
Right, Tom. There's an urgency here that I'm ignoring. We're talking specifically about AIRLINES - and OMG, ***UNITED*** - they aren't able to staff regular operations like phone banks and airport check-in counters (I'm everyone who has flown United in the past year or two has a horror story; I won't bother sharing mine here) - so they need to be in crisis mode and it's all well and good to be imagining relationship stuff they could do, but they clearly have bigger and hotter problems to deal with immediately.
I was just fantasizing, I guess!!!
Permalink to Comment7. Tom Asacker on March 1, 2005 05:02 PM writes...
Me too Steve. Me too.
Permalink to Comment8. Wendy on March 1, 2005 08:23 PM writes...
Here is my rant…and for now, I’m sticking to it because I have a technology behind it called Identity Marketing, but here it goes. Marketing is about the libido, no not the sexual energy, the emotional energy, the virtual unquenchable desire to recreate ourselves in everything we do. Marketing is about managing the third party in all of our relationships, and I call that the libido, there is the consumer, the brand and the libido. And, for the love of college basketball would we start thinking about the libido! Marketing success is the constant stimulation of the libido and the outcome of that emotional contract between marketer and consumer is sales success, “the selling of more stuff to more people, more often for more money more efficiently.” If you want continuity in a relationship, both the brand and the consumer need to stimulate the libido. …Whew! Pass me a towel.
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