Last Saturday, I got stuck in London with about 100,000 other people
because British Airways managed to somehow knock out the power of their
entire data center.
As someone who ran a data center, it was laughable. First it was said that
they have been hacked. Then it was sabotage (they of recently laid off much
of their information technology staff). Then it emerged that some dork
accidentally pulled the plug and they somehow didn t have a backup.
However, the point of this post isn t technical geekout. With any company,
the customer service is key. A company and set back a lifeline to the
customer & # 8212; and if they are or aren t willing to spend their money
to the company. A company that has a major crisis such as British Airways
crisis is a company on a lifeline.
They should give their customers a reason to return. What's done is done,
but it's what customers choose to do after the incident that makes or
breaks a company over the long term. And, IMHO, British Airways did a
pretty poor job on this.
That being said, here are five customer service lessons any business could
use British Airways is to learn the hard way.
1. Don t make the situation worse
In this case, the power went out and people were stranded. That's bad
enough as it is, right? In my case, I out of Warsaw, Poland in London. My
flight to Warsaw was delayed for several hours because the systems were
down. They said that in Poland and told me personally it was very likely
that my second flight from London to Phoenix would be delayed, too.
Inconvenient, but not a big deal. Until I arrived in London.
As it happens, British Airways flew everyone from peripheral cities to
London where the root of the problem. It was mind-boggling. Why not just
let the hundreds of other flights arriving in London to other European
countries where they were? I would have rather stuck in Poland for an extra
night, but impractical, that flew in the firestorm in London. Many other
passengers on my flight (and other flights) felt the same way.
The lesson: If your business has a fire, put out the fire. Don t dump
thousands of dollars in jet aircraft fuel on the fire & # 8212; s that
basically what BA made in this case.
2. Take care of people, Don t rakes
The real kick in the nuts BA was that it was the Bank Holiday Weekend & #
8212; an Heathrow biggest travel days of the year s. Not to mention, many
people come to London.
It was almost impossible to get a hotel for the whole fiasco. And with BA
computers being 100% down, they were unable to book people in hotels, good
offer, or anything. All they could do was stand around and do the customer
service for the old school & # 8212; distributing flyers.
The flyers said that we would be compensated £ 200 for a hotel room, £ 50
for a taxi-way and £ 25 / day for food.
I looked on my phone literally waiting in the taxi queue an hour hotel
prices increased from £ 200 to £ 700 in minutes.
BA refused to cover my whole expenses, which ended up being £ 219 for a
hotel, £ 75 for a taxi one way (I took the subway back the next morning),
and £ 33 for food.
Now, at the end of the day, the difference is even £ 50. I will not bother
to continue to fight, but n t make sense for people to nickel and dime. Of
course, thousands of people each wanting to claim and extra £ 50 can and
will increase rapidly. However, that extra bit would cover the goodwill of
the people instead of anger.
The lesson: Try to do things, no matter the cost. Nickel and diming can
save you a lot of short-term change, but will bring ever lasting anger
customers who hurt your long-term bottom line. This supplement of £ 50
could be the difference between the BA flight or not next time. Speaking of
next time & # 8230;
3. Don t follow up with another disaster
Even as BA attempts to recover from this, it's a strike will now be coming
later this month. I don know all the details, but apparently a good
majority of their staff for flight attendants will be striking for four
days some time in June.
Can you imagine the din will happen if people are caught in an hour 24 +
late again? It'll be a new week of bad press, the fury of social media, and
general disgust s Britain's most famous (and formerly the most prestigious)
airline.
The lesson: You're going to screw up in life. It's inevitable. It's how you
bounce back from those mistakes that will determine how you (or business)
turn. At this point, BA pays flight attendants all they want so that doesn
t happen strike.
4. Beware of the fact that everyone has a voice These Days
typical consumption
As we have seen repeatedly in recent months, most mainstream news is false.
They have a game program, and the entire network is scripted around the
said agenda. But as we've also seen & # 8212; individual journalism and the
media increases.
I saw dozens of people Periscoping and streaming on YouTube while they
waited for their flights, hotels, or just trying to figure out what the
hell was going on. All it takes is someone & # 8221; share the story of a
person and things can become viral and uncontrollable.
The new era of technology has given everyone the dubious ability to be a
journalist by birthright. I don t want large companies face, including BA.
If you scroll through their Twitter feed, however, BA has given generic
answers to everyone & # 8212; with great indignation.
The lesson, and closing thoughts: Sometimes just a little personal touch to
make someone happy. & # 8217 We are working on this as fast as possible & #
8221. is not a good answer. Is a much better, I'm going to personally make
a note and try to get moved up, but all I can do & # 8221. Otherwise, your
brand will suffer from such a large amount of damage that could lead the
company to the ground.
Are you a fellow traveler who wants to meet a lot of hot foreign girls
abroad? Check out my free guide & # 8212; Problem. Trip. Tinder. For more
travel tips, visit my blog This is the problem.
Read more: 5 lessons I learned Moving from offline to online business
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