I find some of the best people watching at the airport and actually the earlier the better. I have seen some very amazing things, met some very interesting people and even heard some very meaningful things as well.
Well last month was no different. I was at LaGuardia at about 5:30am and sitting about 5 feet away from where people check in at the gate. I was close enough to hear what the customer service rep was saying and how they were responding to the traveler.
The first person came up and wanted to know if they were going to make it on the flight since they were number four on the stand-by list. The American Airlines Customer Service Rep not only answered them in a very, very comforting manner, but also smiled as she said something very interesting. She said, "This is what is happening and I will try my best to make sure you get on the flight." The next person in line asked a question about the boarding process. Again as part of her answer she said, "I will try my best to make the process very easy for you."
I listened to a few more conversations and everyone included that phrase "I will try my best." I thought it was GREAT! Meaningful! Appropriate! Comforting! And frankly I was amazed that she did that with every passenger. As most of the readers know, I fly a lot and frankly have NEVER heard one person say that to a customer.
- Have you ever heard someone say this to you?
- Don’t we want our staff to say that to our clients?
- Don’t we want our staff to say that to our team members?
- What other phrases or comments do you like to hear from customer service reps?
I look forward to reading your comments.
Ed Sugar says:
Merrill -
As a fellow AA flyer, I am curious if you got her name and/or employee # and filled out one of those slips AA gives Advantage members or contacted the customer satisfaction department at AA about your experience?
People like this needed to be rewarded for a job well done.
Merrill Dubrow says:
ed,
It is so funny that you said that. Even though it was early I checked to see if I had them with me and I didn’t I feel bad about not sending it in. I actually play softball with a number of pilots who work for American Airlines and I plan on sharing what I wrote with them.
Thanks for your comments.
Merrill
Poorva Deshmukh Manohar says:
That was such a wonderfully positive comment–”I will try my best”. I always appreciate comments that are positive–what you can do to make a difference and help rather than what you can’t do and how difficult it is and the constraints you have, etc, etc…
-Poorva