The start of a new semester at Oxford Brookes university and the first class of my favourite module – Managing the Customer Experience – gives me the opportunity to recount, for the benefit of my students, the story of my recent return flight from Portugal with Easy Jet. It’s an excellent example of how empowered individuals with the right attitude can transform an ordinary experience into a memorable one. Let’s refer to the individual in question as Simon.
So, when was the last time you paid attention to the health and safety briefing on board an aircraft? Most people don’t do they. They’ve heard it before, it’s a bit boring and they are convinced that they likelihood of needing to act on the instruction is remote. I confess that I am among this group. So how come Simon got every single person onboard the aircraft to listen to him? Why was the conclusion of his briefing met with spontaneous rapturous applause from his entire audience? Well, the clue is in that last word.
Eat your heart out Julian Clarey
Simon put on a show for us. The best way I can describe it, is to imagine Julian Clary at his cheekiest, naughtiest best. Yes, Simon was very camp, very cheeky and just the right side of naughty. Every element of the briefing was described from the front of the aircraft, with a twinkle in his voice. His two stagehands aka assistant crew members, struggled in vain to keep a straight face as they demonstrated the process of donning and inflating a life jacket. Words such as ‘tug’ were given additional unnecessary but extremely funny emphasis. By the time Simon got to the ‘blow in the tube’ part he was positively hyper-ventilating. Meanwhile members of the audience were literally rolling in the aisles at 10,000 feet.
Simon was absolutely brilliant. For a while I think some of us did believe it might be possible for Luton to be the ‘entertainment capital of the world’, as he assured us it most certainly was. As the applause rang round the aircraft, he returned to the mic for one final time to enquire if our adulation was for him or the very handsome ‘Mikey’, who was last seen, red-faced, hastily stowing away his demonstration gear.
So as the laughter subsides let’s explore the customer experience insight from Simon’s super show, which did his employer so proud.
Five lessons
- Simon was a great hire. He clearly loved the customer service environment. His natural energy and enthusiasm are exactly the kind of qualities that are needed in hospitality. Above all, he likes talking to people.
- The on-board experience is carefully designed. Compliance and service enhancing processes must be carried out in a timely manner in a confined space. But Easy Jet recognises that employees give of their best when they can be themselves. There is a service experience framework, but it’s not a strait jacket.
- Simon and his team worked in harmony. Simon may have been the star of the show, but his praise was all for his fellow crew members. Consequently, they responded well to him. They were more than happy to join in and be a part of the fun. They went well beyond the smiles, welcome and friendly communication practices that have now become a standard for all airlines.
- Any customer experience touchpoint map would have told Easy Jet that the health and safety briefing was at best a neutral part of the in-flight experience and at worst a low point. They asked themselves a simple question: what can we do to make this better?
- Simon’s enthusiasm was consistent throughout the flight, not just when addressing all customers via the intercom. He maintained it with every personal interaction over the drinks trolley or the rubbish collection. My wife’s request for a lemon and ginger tea was met with the gleeful reassurance that this beverage always put a spring in Simon’s step. Not that Simon was in need of any further bounce.
Well done Simon. Well done Easy Jet
