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| Image from https://careers.goindigo.in/ifs.html |
While customer service essentially relates to addressing WHAT a customer wants (and maybe even going out of the way to address it), customer experience delves into WHY the customer wants what s/he wants. Understanding the WHY usually helps address the requirement better because it provides a context and often even involves understanding the emotional/unstated aspects of what the customer wants.
In a world which is increasingly process-driven, this human touch of understanding the 'WHY' often goes backstage and we have many a case of "operation successful, but patient dead".
It was a refreshing experience therefore, that I had on-board a recent flight with Indigo.
I had opted not to pre-purchase an in-flight meal and had purchased a sandwich at the airport food counter to eat on-board. I was mid-way through it in-flight, when the meal service commenced. I asked for a beverage. The airhostess asked what meal I'd like to purchase, to which I responded that I wanted only the beverage. Apparently the airline only sells beverages with a meal purchase. So I declined and settled for just water instead.
To my surprise, she placed a cup of chilled Coke along with the water. I looked up and thanked her and asked her how much I owed for the Coke. She waved me off and said since I was "already in the middle of a meal and obviously wanted a beverage to go with the meal" she didn't want to decline my request for a beverage and didn't want to charge me for a full meal+beverage when I was only taking the beverage.
It was her observation and comment about my being mid-way through my meal that came as a pleasant surprise to me.
Had she only served only water, I'd not have minded and not given it another thought. She was following airline policy (and even though it seems lopsided, I think I understand that they want to have enough beverages to cover passengers buying a meal).
Had she only served a complimentary Coke and left it at that, it might not have triggered this post - it would have just been a case of good customer service.
But when she said I was obviously asking for a beverage to go with the meal which I was already eating, I was impressed. It reflected a quick and subconscious thinking about WHY I asked for a beverage and not merely WHAT I had asked for.
It might come across as a trivial case of a complimentary beverage, but somehow to me, it was more than that. I think she was instinctively wired to handle the request the way she did. Her name was Sadguni and we need more such customer experience professionals.
May her ilk fly high.
