Do we really take customer service seriously enough?

SAA Aircarfts

Welcome aboard SAA Express from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, please fasten your seat belts, relax and enjoy the flight. The cabin crew are here to assist, please let us know how we can make your flight more comfortable

These were the words expressed over the rather unclear announcer on my recent flight to PE, a very early flight, the sun had barely woken up. After we had departed, 1 air hostess handed out juice to the passengers, this was followed by a morning snack which is not one to write about, all I remember was the thick layer of sandwich spread which did not go down very well that early. For the rest of the just over an hour flight the air hostesses proceeded to hide at the front of the plane, behind their curtain and occasionally, peek out and go back to their conversation. This conversation involved an additional air hostess who was actually a passenger on the plane, all 3 air hostesses, decided to forget about their job at hand which is looking after their passengers, making their trip as comfortable as possible but rather they enjoy a good skinner and catch up session. This for me is not customer service, with the world cup literally around the corner our airline services should be on the ball.

The icing on the cake for me, was the fact that the air hostesses were not aware of the fact they were actaully being paid to take care of their customers and not stand and chat about their weekends and passengers on the plane.

I do hope that we are ready for the world cup with regard to customer service. I think we sometimes forget that great customer service is key to ensuring that our customers stick by our brand in the good and bad times. The reality of it is, that there are so many service providers out there, that we should be going out of our ways to ensure that our customers are happy. Whether you feel that your job isnt important enough or that it doesnt impact customers at all, the truth is in every job you have customers, whethe internal or external so take the responsibility and take care of your customers no matter big or small you feel your contribution may be.