Are your customers getting the intended experience?
\Are you sure? How do you know? When did you last check
“Mystery shoppers” used to be a bigger deal in the brick-and-mortar days. Someone – even an employee – would act as a customer and check that everything was working well.
It seems that in these times of websites and Internet marketing that isn’t done as much.
Disconnects between website information, processes, and employee actions come up all the time.
Here’s an example:
I am taking a trip on an airline in an alliance where I have achieved a frequent flyer tier. The airline’s website indicates that flyers with my level can pick any standard seat free within 48 hours of departure.
That seems simple.
Not so fast …
First, “standard” isn’t defined anywhere, and that became important later.
When I tried to check in, I couldn’t find out how to pick a standard seat other than the one assigned.
This is what I found after over an hour on the phone with at least (I lost count) 6 different representatives. And different airline departments. In more or less this order:
❓ “Regular” customer reservation agents could not answer questions about seat assignments. I was shuffled a couple of times to find someone who might. Seats on this airline can be added revenue, so this is a miss.
❓ Picking a seat for free only applies to that airline’s upper frequent flyer levels. Not alliance partners. (not indicated on website and contrary to a normal reading)
❓ All frequent fliers with status, even alliance partners, can pick seats for free. (negating prior answer)
❓ No frequent fliers, regardless of status, can pick exit row seats for free. (completely new info, and negates some of above)
❓ Only some seats in the back of the plane are “standard” seats. (There is no indication in the check in seat map, or on the website, about what are standard or not.)
I gave up and went back to the check in process.
After having my status level verified and going through everything above … all other seats on the plane required a payment, even in the supposedly “standard” section! 🤷🏻♂️
Check in processes that have lots of linked functions may be more involved to change in some way.
However, changing pure information on a website should be relatively quick and easy unless something is wrong. Also, having reps who can’t answer somewhat common questions is frustrating. And misleading in this case.
Mystery shop your business. Or have someone do it.
And don’t make changes in place without changing other areas that reference the same information or rule 🙂
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