Emerging Thought

Customer Time

It surprises me the number of major companies that claim to serve businesses that show little or no respect for the value of their customers' time.

As an unashamed online user who prefers to do things quickly, I found an experience with Qantas/Jetstar this week a classic example of organizations not respecting customers' time.

I recently booked a Jetstar flight using my Qantas frequent flyer points.

Both brands have told me I can check-in online 24 hours prior to departure for convenience and time saving, I can even get my boarding pass SMS'd to my phone!

I guess it's saves them money too and takes the pressure off at the airport if enough customers do it ( the email of my booking even said "Online Check-in is the easiest and fastest way to check in, providing you a quicker airport experience with dedicated Online Check-in counters. Check in online between 24 hours and 2 hours before your scheduled departure.")

I went to the Qantas site to check in as my ticket has a QF flight number. It didn't work and no explanation why.

I then went to JetStar, again it didn't work

I rang Jetstar and was informed I needed the Jetstar booking reference number which is different to the Qantas one I was given as a Qantas customer. Jetstar gave me my Jetstar reference and again it didn't work. They said it was because Jetstar don't have my email address and they are cross-referenced. Bookings made via Qantas provide an internal Qantas address or something. They said I'd need to ring Qantas to check-in.

I rang Qantas and they said it would be easier to check in at the airport!!! It's taken me 75 minutes of my time to get to this point! I said why doesn't Qantas advise customers of this when they make the booking?

Eventually the Qantas person got me checked in with a very belligerent and begrudging attitude - as if it was my fault!

As a Qantas Frequent Flyer for 20+ years I found this experience incredibly frustrating and symptomatic of a dysfunctional organization that does not value it's customers time.

Having worked in large bureaucracies, it's unfortunate but acceptable to have some system nuances and incompatibilities.

But it's totally unacceptable to have this knowledge and not manage customers' time by telling them up front the best way to deal with their organization in that circumstance.

Time is the only non-renewable resource, make sure you respect and manage time for your customers or your competitors will.

Sandy Feet

I'm lucky enough to live in one of Australia's most beautiful and popular suburban beachside areas, Manly.  Since 1873 Manly has had the slogan "7 miles from Sydney and a 1000 miles from care". We have fantastic ocean and harbour beaches, great weather and around 6 million visitors a year.  It's a great place for tourism and our oceanfront cafes and restaurants have a passing trade of millions of beach goers.

Imagine my surprise to see the contrasting positioning of two perfectly located casual dining outlets that are next door to each other, directly across from the surf beach...

Which one would you go to?

One business clearly understands who their customers are and how they like to relax when dining casually at the beach!  

Whatever your business, think about your customers and build your business around them.  They're not going to be around you if you don't!