JUST PLANE CULTURE


IS THE MAGIC GONE? BY PATRICK KINANE


WE MAY NOT BELIEVE IN MAGIC, BUT SOME OF OUR CUSTOMERS PERCEIVE THAT FROM US. WHEN THEIR AIRCRAFT HAS A PROBLEM THEY RECEIVE IT BACK AND THE PROBLEM HAS DISAPPEARED, “IT’S MAGICALLY GONE.” IT TOOK A LOT OF WORK BLENDED WITH EXPERIENCE TO MAKE THAT MAGICAL MOMENT HAPPEN. A PILOT WITH AN AIRLINE WILL NOT WITNESS THAT MAGICAL MOMENT BECAUSE THE AIRCRAFT THEY FLEW IN WILL MORE THAN LIKELY NOT BE THE AIRCRAFT THEY WILL FLY OUT. ALL THEY KNOW IS THAT EVERYTHING WORKS. JUST LIKE THE PASSENGERS, ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS THE FACT THAT EVERYTHING WORKS. CUSTOMER SERVICE AND QUALITY GO HAND IN HAND; THE AIRLINE PILOT WILL NOT PERCEIVE QUALITY WHEN THINGS AREN’T WORKING AND THE PASSENGER WHEN THEY ARE CONFRONTED WITH POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. THEY WILL ALSO NOTICE WHEN THEY RECEIVE MORE THAN THEY EXPECTED, LIKE SUPERIOR CUSTOMER SERVICE.


The moral of this little story is that quality and customer service are typically invisible. They are only noticed when it is poor quality, exceptionally good quality or a surprise. Quality and customer service deliver what the customer wants, in a time they want, at the price they are willing to pay. A change in any of those parameters sends a signal to the customer and the quality and/or customer service light


bulb goes on. When we go to the gas station and fi ll up our car, we don’t notice anything because services are provided. However, we notice it now because the price has gone up dramatically and our satisfaction has gone down, even though the service has not changed except for the price. When you go to a nice steak restaurant and they tell you they only have french fries and not baked potatoes, you are disappointed.


A steak restaurant should have baked potatoes. When you break the coff ee carafe for your coff ee maker and the manufacturer tells you that carafe is on back order and won’t be available for six months, you start to rethink your choice of coff ee maker brands. The manufacturer should have parts on hand — especially those that are fragile and easily breakable. You tell your friends your experience and they may change their decision to


44 DOMmagazine.com | may 2019


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