Rick wrote an interesting little post about a recent experience with Air Canada and appropriately titled it “setting expectations“. There is something that escapes most companies and employees acting on behalf of their companies and it’s simply being honest. How many times have you sat in the terminal waiting for a (my least favorite airline in the U.S.) United Airlines flight and the gate agent comes on the horn saying “we’re oversold” or “we’re very full today and only boarding by section number” (that one is usually delivered with a certain snarkiness along the lines of “you dumbs SOBs that don’t bother to look at your boarding pass”).

Think about this the next time you are sitting in the terminal, what if the gate agent said “we’re oversold and that means we’re going to inconvenience you” or “we’re totally full today and that means we’re not going to give you the kind of experience you expect from us”. The minute these companies start empathizing with their customers is the day their customers start to have a lot more tolerance for things that are inherently inconvenient and unpleasant. Flying commercial will never be fun again (even when you are going on vacation) so airlines should strive to just not make it suck so much.

The Post Money Value: Air Canada – Setting Expectations:

Air Canada knew there was a problem on the plane and simply tried to make the best of it with the customers. They knew before going on the plane, they were involved in the choice, etc. It seems like nothing but I can’t stress this enough, set expectations. Talk to your customers and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the outcome even when it is a problem you are dealing with.