What Stories Do Your Customers Tell About You?

At the NCEO/Beyster Institute's recent annual conference in Portland, Southwest President Emeritus Colleen Barrett told the attendees that airline executives can be reluctant to say what they do at a social gathering for fear of the stories people will want to tell about their terrible experiences. But not for Southwest, where people line up to tell their positive stories. Any of us who have flown Southwest and other airlines know just what she is talking about. Jim Moule from Torch Technologies told Ms. Barrett and the audience that for a while, he and another Torch executive were flying Southwest every week. His colleague had the safety warning down pat and was lip-synching it with the flight attendant, who then suggested he do it for everyone, which he did (flawlessly). But, she told him, "You aren't done." She gave him an apron and taught him how to pass out peanuts. He, and other passengers, were delighted with the whole turn of events.

It occurred to me that what kinds of stories customers are likely to tell about your company is a great measurement for how you are doing. Publix Supermarkets, the largest U.S. employee-owned company, is another employee-owned company that has legendary customer service. It even put out a book by James Carvin about the stories titled A Piece of the Pie: The Story of Customer Service at Publix that goes to all of its associates.

By the way, our annual conference was a great success. In a year in which conference attendance is typically down a third to a half, ours was only off 7% over what we would normally expect on the West Coast. Thanks to all who attended for making it a terrific meeting.