One of the most annoying concepts far too many companies embrace when it comes to customer service is that of "statistical insignificance." Their goal: "Get it mostly right, most of the time," so that the number of customer service failures are so few in comparison to the number of satisfied customers or uneventful interactions that they are statistically insignificant (a.k.a., "not worth worrying about").
The airline industry operates that way and that is why "United Breaks Guitars," about my Taylor guitar being broken by baggage handlers and the indifference shown to me by the airline, has had such a profound impact.
In September, I was in Washington, D.C., to partake in a hearing in support of a Passengers Rights Bill sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). I was invited by Kate Hanai, founder of FlyersRights (formerly the Coalition for an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights), who began the organization in 2006 after having had the unfortunate experience of being on an airport tarmac stranded in a plane for several hours without adequate food, water and bathroom supplies. Kate has worked with politicians and action groups, and thought I might have something to add in terms of how property is handled. I was happy not only to give my testimony, but also to literally sing my testimony in a Congressional hearing room on Capitol Hill.
At that hearing a former airline CEO spoke in support of the bill, but I had difficulty understanding whose side he was on because his analysis was not customer service-centric, but focused on the challenges airlines face today. He said although it was unfortunate that people were trapped inside these planes, such long delays are "statistically insignificant" when measured against the thousands of flights where that doesn't occur. If this gentleman were in college he would have gotten an "A" in stats class, but an "F" in customer service. It's my argument that any company that shares his philosophy is shortsighted and doomed in the long run.
United Airlines has, on more than one occasion, issued press releases reminding us that 99.6 percent of their bags arrive on time and without incident. I was told that United flies 80 million passengers a year so, although most of the bags make it, according to my calculations that leaves a whopping 360,000 baggage incidents yearly. Is that statistically insignificant? To a mathematician it might be, but if you run an airline or have anything to do with customer service, seeing those kinds of numbers involving your company should leave you hunched in a corner in a cold sweat, rocking back and forth in the fetal position. It takes just three years for United to amass 1 million customers who have had delayed or damaged baggage. How many people will hear about these bad experiences? Getting it "mostly right" is nothing to boast about, and anyone with an understanding of the power of social media knows the significance of those numbers.
