The most powerful customer experiences are sparked by human-to-human interaction.
This week, I had a flight from Phoenix to Boston. When I approached the US Airways Ticket counter at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport at 1:15 in the afternoon, there were no other customers in line – I was it – and there were three available agents!
I said to one of the agents, “Hi – I’d like to get a boarding pass.” She motioned to a row of self-service kiosks in front of the counter, and said, “Help yourself to any one of those!”
Three idle flesh-and-blood highly-trained humans and they directed me to a cold, heartless machine.
I printed my boarding pass, took the escalator upstairs, and passed through security. Next stop: Hudson News, for a bottle of water. I walked over to the cooler along the back wall to the left of the magazines, opened the cooler door, and grabbed a large bottle. Then I walked over to the cashier counter to wait in a short line.
One woman ahead of me – as soon as I approached the register with my bottle of water, the cashier looked at me, made eye contact, smiled, and nodded. That half-second gesture communicated a friendly, “I’ll be happy to help you in just a moment, sir, as soon as a finish with this customer.” A brief and subtle connection, but just enough to spark a positive emotional response. He made me a happier customer, even before the transaction. Just that quick non-verbal exchange gave me something to remember.
The dismissive agent at the US Air Ticket Counter – she gave me nothing to remember.
Here’s the point:
The most intense customer loyalty is born of emotion. And there’s no better way to spark positive emotions, than through the interactions that occur between human employees and human customers. Employees should be trained to pursue opportunities to engage, and to make emotional connections with customers, whenever possible.
Loyalty is based on relationships, and relationships happen between people; through human-to-human touchpoints.
