Airline "Service"

Skully really prefers not to have to fly. But when he does take to the air (and that's pretty frequent), he really wonders where the flight and gate attendants come from! Are they trained to be rude? Is there some screening process that screens out anyone with a reasonably positive outlook on life? Or, do they have some training program that stresses the importance of being rude or at least apathetic? Bob Newhart once recorded a great comedic sketch on Bus Driver Training. Darn funny. Well, it was funny until it apparently became the training program for the airlines. Southwest, you guys and gals get it right! Midwest, you are doing a reasonable job. Delta, US Airways, Continental, United... come on. True story: "How come you charge for the first bag (US Airways)?" Answer: "Because we needed to raise our prices but couldnt advertise an increase". Or, as another passenger told me they heard, "Because we can". Nice work US Air.

Which leads me to my point: Great customer service creates wildly loyal customers. But in today's business climate, you don't even need great customer care, you only need decent to be heads and tails above the majority of your competitors. Want to win in business, start a revolution - be good to your customers! Let them know you love them! Take it from this pirate, create a culture of caring about your customers and your customers will care about you... and they will tell everyone they know! Oh, and don't take care of your customers... well, you end up in blogs like this.