When we think of industries that have phenomenal customer service, airlines may not be what immediately comes to mind. However, JetBlue has made it their mission to ensure their customers have not only an excellent travel experience, but an excellent time interacting with their various customer service teams. They do so by carrying their commitment to their upbeat corporate culture over to their customers.
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Photo by Eric Salard
A man by the name of Esai Velez was flying on JetBlue, but his TV screen was not working. He reached out to the company, mid-flight, with a tweet regarding his disappointment. Nearly immediately, JetBlue responded, asking if it was isolated to his TV or the entire flight. Upon hearing that it was his TV alone, JetBlue asked him to DM them so that they could provide him a credit for the inconvenience. The speed at which JetBlue replied coupled with their empathy and willingness to do what they could to make things right stands out as a shining example of a company being committed to their customers’ happiness in the real world.
In another approach to connecting with their customers, JetBlue setup a large interactive ad screen in the middle of New York proclaiming “I am your JetBlue wingman – An experience that puts you above all.” As people started using the touchscreen, the lady pictured on the screen began to interact with them directly, giving them funny tasks like dancing and donning a bike helmet. She then asked the people to press a button on the screen, followed by her walking away from the camera… only to appear in person and announce that they were being given free travel vouchers. This was a fun and friendly way to bring JetBlue’s culture and approach to business out into “the wild” and show off how their customer service makes them different.
In 2007, JetBlue customers had a terrible experience at JFK Airport when an ice storm hit and many were left on planes on the tarmac for hours. The unhappiness was so massive that JetBlue dropped off Business Week’s “Customer Service Champs” list. However, JetBlue used the opportunity to redouble its commitment to its customers by quickly constructing a Customer Bill of Rights. Internally striving to make customers happy is nice, but putting that mission to paper and sharing it with customers is a stronger act of dedication to service. JetBlue’s quick response to the problem not only assisted those customers initially affected, but also improved the experience of all of those to follow.
Even with the massive volume of customers they serve and the endless ways that those customers might experience problems or disappointments, JetBlue has become an expert in never wavering from their corporate commitment to providing an excellent, fun experience when doing business with them. What are concrete was we can follow suit and make our corporate culture more visible and tangible to our own customers?[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]