Posted by Lisa Hochgraf
I was all pumped up yesterday morning to fly to Vancouver for the opening day of the School of Sales and Service Canada and the sold-out Director Development Seminar.
I was even excited about being a first-time flyer on Air Canada. When I checked in Sunday night, I wasn't charged for my bag (a practice of U.S. airlines that has been annoying me). Plus, I was given an exit row seat on the hop to Toronto and--more importantly--on my long, five-hour journey from Toronto to Vancouver. Surely this will be a refreshing change, a reward for trying something new.
Indeed, I thought this post was going to be about how pleased this first-time flyer was with her experience--and that it would ask credit unions what they are doing to make their first-time member interactions simply lovely.
Enter a late departure from Rochester, causing me to miss my Toronto connection and forcing me to rebook. Insert a circuitous route through customs (brought on because no one mentioned that form you had to have), the need to pick up and move my checked bag (somehow I would have liked to have known it wasn't going all the way through), and then a trip back up the stairs to immigration--just in case my business purpose meant I had to pay an extra $150 fee.
Sigh. Now this post is about making sure you don't turn off your first-time customer.
Air Canada could have made my experience far smoother. Being on time, for starters, although I know that weather happens. But how about mentioning the form I'd need at the customs checkpoint? How about giving me a lunch coupon or somehow protecting my exit row seat when rebooking became necessary?
If it weren't for the friendly people in the restaurant where I ate a very good lunch and the wonderful free and fast wireless in Toronto's Rogers airport, I might still be grumpy. As it is, I just ask for your feedback: What do you do to make a first-time transactor's experience positive and special?
Read my past post about treating regulars right.
