Two starkly differentairline experiences demonstrate the power of proactive customerservice. (Photo: Shutterstock)

There has been a good deal of (mostly negative) publicityrecently about the common airline practice of overbooking flights.In the true-life stories that follow, consider how two differentairlines handled overbooked flights. The stories shed light on howcustomers view product/service providers. Let's call it “thetale of two airlines.”

Related: 10 tips to improve your customer service

About a month ago, I was flying from Nashville to Omaha on aFriday afternoon. I experienced two cancellations and received thenews I'd be staying in Nashville another night—just anotherweather-related cancellation, so let's not blame the airline toomuch. At an adjacent gate, however, an outgoing flight wasoverbooked and the gate agent repeatedly offered travel vouchersequal to $300, then $400, then $500, without getting a volunteer togive up their seat.

Finally, as all but the final group of passengers had boarded,the gate agent called a young woman to the podium and told her shewas kicked off and would go out on the “next available flight” thenext morning.

Marty Traynor is vicepresident of voluntary
benefits at Mutual of Omaha.

Wow! Her reaction showed how poor delivery of bad news to acustomer results in bad consequences for the business. She loudlyinformed the gate agent that she is a single mom on a businesstrip, described the trauma of calling someone to watch her kidsovernight, etc. The gate agent took no ownership of the issue,blaming the algorithm that determines who isthe first to be kicked off a plane. After this sad scenario playedout, the rest of us—already a bit cranky due to bad weather in bothChicago and Dallas—shook our heads in sympathy for the woman. Ouropinion of the airline (which was not the one we were on) was aboutas low as possible.

The second event took place a couple of weeks later on anotherFriday. The coming Sunday, I had a flight to Minneapolis. The phonerang and the caller identified herself as an airlinerepresentative. She assured me my flight was on schedule, but addedthat the flight was overbooked. Would I be interested in a $250voucher or 25,000 air miles to take an earlier flight? I explainedthat I had family commitments earlier in the day on Sunday, but Imentioned that I thought someone would probably take them up on thedeal.

I thought of my Nashville experience, and considered how muchbetter this offer was. An earlier flight would be good for manypeople, much better than being evicted just as you are about toboard a plane. I couldn't help but think how much better the otherairline could have served their customer by being proactive andreaching out ahead of time instead of waiting to see whethereveryone would show up for the flight, and eventually kicking asingle mom off the plane so she had to miss a Friday night at homewith her kids.

Back to the relationship of product/service providers withcustomers. As a frequent flyer, I “unprefer” airlines like the onethat kicked off the single mom and prefer those offering better,friendlier service.

Our business is no different. If we provide service that putscustomers first—not algorithms—we offer the kind of businesscustomers retain and recommend. The key is empowering your supportteam to be proactive. Empowered team members have the ultimatepower to act as problem solvers, using their values and strategicanchors to make customers happy—and will keep them coming back.