Performance Improvement
H. JAMES HARRINGTON

A short time ago, I flew on Singapore Airlines Flight SA001 from San Francisco to Singapore. When I went to get my boarding pass, I learned that the window seat I thought was assigned to me was already given to someone else, leaving only center seats available.

No one knows who caused the problem, and I'm personally not interested in the root cause. I made my reservations through a U.S. airline, so the mix-up could have been in the hand-off between the U.S. airline and Singapore Airlines, or it could have been Singapore Airlines' fault, or it could have been my fault. It makes no difference now. What I want to write about is the manner in which Singapore Airlines handled the problem.

First, they asked me to wait in the lounge so that they could try to get me a window or aisle seat, which they did. On my return flight, when I went to check in at the Singapore Airport, there was a flag on my reservations, and I was asked to wait a minute.

In a matter of seconds, Loo Beng Chiang of Singapore Airlines' Service Recovery Unit arrived at the counter. He assisted me with my bags as we moved to the first-class check-in lounge, where I was checked in and upgraded to a first-class seat. Chiang then escorted me through customs and into the Singapore Airlines First Class lounge.

Needless to say, I was very impressed with their corrective action, but it didn't stop there. When I arrived in San Francisco, I was met by the head of customer service, who apologized for the inconvenience that I had encountered on my flight out of San Francisco. He presented me with a gift of a small cedar box and a set of San Francisco coasters, one of which sits on my desk today.

The note on the package said, "Thank you for being so patient. We are very sorry that we did not meet your expectations. We understand how you feel. Please accept this small gift as a token of our sincere apologies--Singapore Airlines." Here again I was escorted through customs and assisted with my luggage.

Let's look at what happened relating to my feelings about Singapore Airlines during this experience. When I made my reservations, I thought Singapore Airlines was a good airline, but I certainly wasn't a loyal customer. When the problem occurred, I promised myself that I would not fly Singapore Airlines again if another airline could get me to the same destination. By the time I returned home, I had made a number of friends among the Singapore Airlines staff, and the airline had earned a loyal customer who will fly with it whenever possible.

The moral to this story is simple: Errors will occur, even in Six Sigma processes, but we need not live with the negative impressions that they leave on our internal and external customers. In fact, errors should be treated as opportunities to improve--to recapture a potential lost asset.

You will notice that Chiang worked in the service recovery unit, a very appropriate title. A customer who experiences a problem that your organization corrects usually ends up being a more loyal customer than one who didn't have a problem. Moreover, if customers feel your organization reacted rapidly to their concerns, they will be even more loyal.

The problem many organizations have is that most of their unhappy customers never tell their suppliers about their dissatisfaction. Just think about the last time you went out to dinner and the waiter asked you if everything was all right, and you answered yes, when in reality you weren't totally satisfied with the meal. Maybe the steak was undercooked, the gravy was cold or the vegetables were overcooked. Whatever the reason, some part of the meal didn't live up to your expectations.

More than 90 percent of your unhappy customers don't complain; they just don't come back if given a choice. Go out of your way to identify these dissatisfied customers. They're reluctant to complain, so don't ask them if there is anything wrong. Ask them if they have any suggestions on how you can improve.

Don't get me wrong. Don't go out and cause errors in order to gain increased customer loyalty. It won't work because it requires a great deal more effort to correct an error than it does to give superior service to all your customers.

Make it your objective to identify this silent majority of unhappy customers and woo them back. It could be one of your best business opportunities.

About the author

H. James Harrington is a principal at Ernst & Young and serves as its international quality advisor. He has more than 45 years' experience as a quality professional and is the author of 12 books.

He can be reached at 55 Almaden Blvd., San Jose, CA 95113; telephone (408) 947-6587, fax (408) 947-4971, e-mail jharrington@qualitydigest.com . Visit his Web site at www.hjharrington.com .