Airlines, Do they Care about their Customers?

Okay here we go. I took a trip recently to look at some properties in sunny Florida. I was not looking forward to the trip at all, you see I don't like Southeast Florida. It reminds me of the hood. I grew up in the hood and fortunately I grew out of the hood, however the people I know there didn't even grow up in the hood and yet they act that way now. I don't understand.

So I went to the airport when I was told. That is something that puzzled me. I was told to be there three hours before my flight. I asked why, and I was told it is necessary for check-in. Interesting I thought. Well I was flying out of the Atlantic City Airport which it is just a small airport. I got there early, in fact about more than an hour before I was told to be there. Let's calculate this. My flight was boarding at 6:05 am and I was told to be there 3 hours prior which would have been 3:05 am but I actually got there at 1:40 am, because someone was doing me a favor and dropping me off.

So I arrive at the airport 4 hours and 25 minutes early, just to find out... THEY ARE CLOSED! That's right the airport doesn't open until 6am. So do I call the airline representative and complain? After all they should know this, shouldn't they? But guess what? They are in the Philippines. That's right and it's very common. Even cell phone companies and other industries utilize the Philippines to handle their customer service. I myself would think that people of another country have a hard enough time just understanding our language. The English language is said to be the hardest language in the world to learn and use properly.

Okay so thank GOD the doors are open and I can go inside and grab a seat. Fortunately there is a vending machine. So at about 5:45 am people start coming in and I get in line and promptly at 6:00 am the airline opens up their counters, I forgot to mention that at 5:30 am the airport turned on the lights, I sat in the dark airport lobby all night. So right away at the counter I start finding out how much the airlines have changed their standards of operation. I had a couple of pieces of luggage because I was taking stuff down there to leave behind. As it turned out I had to pay $100.00 for my second piece of luggage and $50.00 for the third. I thought, They must be CRAZY. Alright so my carry on actually had straps and my third piece of luggage wasn't that big. So, I looked at the airline rep and said; "Are these woman's pocketbooks considered their carry on bag?" She said no, so I said; " Well consider this one my pocketbook and this other one is my carry on bag." Well guess what? She agreed and it saved me $50.00. But still, I had to pay the additional $100.00. I should of gave it to the person next to me to check in, they didn't have any bags.

The plane...more surprises. I got on the plane and it was actually a decent plane, ordinary but in decent condition. The flight attendants were always right there when you needed something, of course it was the money they were after. Since when did flight attendants start accepting tips? When did it start that you have to pay for beverages and the little bags of peanuts? The airline I was on charged AlaCarte for everything. Need a pillow, $2.00 how about a blanket with that for just $3.00 extra? Is this how airlines are money by cutting down on what is included for the price a customer pays the experience of flying. Flying is not just about taking a flight, it is an experience. By the airlines taking away amenities from the consumer they are saying that they don't know any other way to trim the fat. On my flight there was four or five attendants and there was numerous empty seats, in fact there was probably only 30% of the seats sold. The attendants sat in the back rows and talked the entire trip aside from the two times they pulled
out there vendor carts and was hawking their wares. I quite frankly was disturbed by all the chatter and some of it was inappropriate as in being rated x. The seats were a little bit uncomfortable. I was unable to relax and take a nap. I couldn't wait to get off this plane. I arrive at Southeast Florida Airport at about 8:30 AM. This airport is a lot nicer than than Atlantic City Airport, however I don't think I saw all of Atlantic City.

For the most part my experience was uneventful aside from the Philippino telling me to get there three hours early. And the attendants performing sales functions and accepting tips. I'll tell you what, I cancelled my return flight and flew back on another airline. I had somebody else handle it though and wouldn't you know it, that person I entrusted, made a mistake and I ended up landing at Newark International Airport which is a couple hours from home. I took a train though and was their in less than an hour. It was worth it, US Airways has nicer plans, more comfortable seating and the amenities are better. They will go that extra step to make sure you are satisfied and that you will utilize their services once again.

We Want To Hear Your Comments: If you or somebody you know has had a good or bad experience with an airline or any business or government office please make comment, click on "comments" let your friend know.


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Small Town, Small Business......Small minds?

Today I had the opportunity to stop in to a few of the businesses that are in the center of town. I just moved into this quiet little neighborhood. The population is about 3800 with an average household income of 60k. Not too shabby for this area. In town center there are about 5 stores closed and available for either purchase or rental. I went in to the pharmacy and they are always willing to honor any requests I have. I went to my bank and my account representative was all too happy to see me. (He was probably hoping I was making a deposit). He is always happy to see me and others as well, willing to fill any requests at any giving time.

I then went into a small store that sells (or should I say, displays ) mattresses and dinettes with a couple other miscellaneous pieces. This is the type of business that sales must be made and all appropriate steps to making a sale must be met. The owner must be very wealthy cause he did not take the time to introduce himself nor ask my name or even try to qualify me in anyway. He was way to happy to push catalog sales, he was proud of his catalog collection. There's an important rule I always abide by ...Sell What You Have In Stock. The customer gets immediate gratification and you get paid at the time of delivery. The owner, needless to say, let me out the door with no info about his business, such as a brochure or a card, nothing. Upon me going back in to the store and introducing myself, he explained that he did not pursue me because I stated: "I wasn't really looking for anything." WOW, if only I still had a dime left from each one of my customers that had told me that: "They were just looking," I would be rich off of that dime right now because GOD knows I already spent the commission I made on the sale to those who told me: "They were just looking or not interested."

Any body that walks in to your door is a potential customer and should be treated as such. What sense does it make to go to work or to spend money on a sign, a building, inventory, and advertising and then not take advantage of each opportunity. If he had took the time to gather some basic information, qualify me, land me on a product, show true concern as to wanting to help me get what I wanted, it's just possible he would of either made a sale then or could of given me a call later when he got in exactly what I was looking for. This person started pitching me a product that I was just walking by.

When it comes to someone saying: "I'm just looking," keep in mind Buyers are Liars, always were, always will be. Everybody is just looking until a professional salesperson steps up and directs them to a purchase, presents them with the product features and how it would benefit them and then asks them to buy. The person I bought a new mattress set from that day, took the steps needed to make a sale and did.

The easiest thing to do when your business isn't doing well is to blame it on something else. Why is it everyone always says it is the economy? Because then it makes it look like it is out of their control. So for all you that can't own up to your shortcomings, you keep blaming the economy especially when the last person to walk out your door, just went down the street and made a purchase. Maybe the economy will pick back up for you and you can go back to being a Sales Clerk instead of working your craft, which should be: A Professional Sales Person. Anybody can stand there and take orders in a good economy. Also anybody can sell to a laydown. ( a laydown is a person who buys anything at any price at any time from anyone). In a bad economy there isn't very many laydowns and salespeople actually have to sell. There's nothing like working on a sales floor, the rush you get when you hear the words: "I'll take it." In fact, there is only one thing better to hear and that is: "I'll take that also." Unless you hear: : "We'll go ahead and order that for them also." Those words are praise, letting you and everybody else know that you did your job.

Copyright © 2009 TheSalesGeekOnline.com

This Weeks Store Shop - A Major Pharmacy Retailer

Well I had the privilege of secretly shopping a major drug store chain, third in the big three in this region. It was easily realized why they are last amongst their peers. Upon walking in I noticed the clerks just standing around and doing nothing, The store was not a particularly clean store, however, the items for sale were pleasantly displayed amongst their hanging hooks or shelves. For some products their were too many choices of pretty much the same item, and then on others there was no choice available for the consumer. I noticed alot of products were out of stock and many were very low in inventory. I couldn't help but notice an obvious customer return on the sales shelf, It was a 20 inch box fan so therefore you can imagine it stuck out like a sore thumb already due to its size, it was re-packaged in its original box, but, it had been re-sealed with duct tape. The entire display looked very unpleasant because of this item. Why would this be on display? I myself would send it back to the manufacturer, or use the proper tape, or even give it away to a customer it is only a $10.00 item it is costing more leaving it on the sales floor. Imagine what a customer is thinking when seeing that product amongst other more expensive fans and even air conditioners. Remember, this is only a drug store. Also, there was a big RED FLAG, the clearance items which had their own tables, most products had no prices on them. How does a manager or proprietor expect someone to consider making a purchase of a product that has no price on it, most won't, which explains the tables growing inventory over the past two weeks. Customers want convenience and expect it to. If you don't provide that, on their next trip they just might consider trying out the store two blocks over or perhaps even two to three miles away, after all that's only five minutes in the car. There of course was many other problems as well and this is not even 1% of my report, however what I am trying to do here is to show you that a customer sees something on a higher level that may be lame to an employee or manager. One thing that surprised me when I was checking out the ease of contacting the store was that their Customer Service Survey 800 number was not accessible on pay phones, by their request. Why would they not welcome all calls? Maybe the competition does.

Copyright © 2009 TheSalesGeekOnline.com

This weeks phone shopper

Doesn't it pay to be prepared? Today I picked up a copy of the only magazine I subscribe to, Entrepreneur. I went to the back, to the classified ads and I found several ads that interested me. Now I am not going to go out of my way to call unless I am truly interested in something. I called five or six ads to receive information on their products and/or services. Let me tell you something, These companies spent all that money to place the ad and went through the trouble to come up with the ad copy and to call-in to the magazine and got out that credit card and dealt with the customer service agent that was only to happy to take the order, and can you guess what they didn't do? They did not prep or train the people that answer the phone on how to handle incoming advertisement calls. Now why go through the trouble and expense if your not going to follow through? Guess what I did when the person answering the phone couldn't offer any help, that's right, I kindly said my neverminds and hung up. One third didn't even know about an ad running. This is like opening a retail store, having all the product properly displayed and not asking the customer for the sale. Like my grandmom use to say, If your going to do something, do it right or don't do it at all.

Copyright © 2009 TheSalesGeekOnline.com

Something To Remember.....

If you don't take care of your customers, Somebody else will. How true is this statement. Good customer management is tops in priorities as well. Sure some people follow the ordinary steps to giving good service but if you have to be there anyway, why not put out a little extra and provide your customers with an extraordinary experience. With the amount of competition that there is in all industries it's not about making a sale it is now about relationships and making multiple sales. Have your customer or guest enjoy their experience so much that they tell their friends and family. Getting referrals should always be on your mind, they are the easiest and most profitable customers. Fanatical Customer Service is not a single act, it is a habit practiced every moment of everyday.

Copyright © 2009 TheSalesGeekOnline.com

First Priority.....Giving Good Service From the Moment the Door Opens

Soon as that customer, client, guest etc. comes through that door, it is SHOWTIME. At that moment, you as a professional drops everything and all concentration belongs to that person or persons that just came through that door. Everything that you have learned and trained for is now up to bat. Whether or not you are prepared for this moment depends on whether or not you strike out, get a base hit or a HOMERUN. The first thing a customer wants to see is an award winning honest smile and a great greeting.

Copyright © 2009 TheSalesGeekOnline.com