How Can Delta Airlines Differentiate Itself From the Competition? Offer Exceptional Customer Service

This is a message about customer service. On December 17, I flew home to visit my parents who live in Atlanta. It was my first trip on Delta Airlines in more than seven years. Both ground and flight crews were polite, courteous, and efficient. A special shout-out goes to the pilot and copilot on Delta Flight 453 who made the smoothest landing of any flight I’ve ever been on.

Delta is in a very competitive situation with the other majors. According to USA Today, the six U.S. network majors will trim their flights in January due to rising fuel costs and the need to upgrade their aircraft.

With demand nearly exceeding supply, many managers wouldn’t make customer service a priority—but that would be a mistake. Many of Delta’s customers are business travelers who don’t place a lot of importance on price. Rather, they’re concerned about getting to their destinations on time and having their needs, both on the ground and in the air, met while en route.

Have a "Positively Outrageous Customer Service" attitude

Remember what the late CEO of Coca-Cola Roberto Goizueta once said, “In real estate, it’s ‘location, location, location.’” In business, it’s ‘differentiate, differentiate, differentiate.’” How can Delta differentiate itself from others? By taking a lesson from Southwest Airlines and instilling a "Positively Outrageous Customer Service" attitude.

Many passengers feel like the airlines treat them like cattle. If Delta wants to stand out among the competition, it should put more emphasis on providing legendary customer service.

This won’t be easy and it won’t be fast. The first thing that needs to happen is that management adopts this as a permanent change to the corporate culture, and then change its hiring, reward, and recognition policies to reflect the “new normal.”

More articles from AllBusiness.com:

• Take the Bite out of Lopsided Contracts
• Avoiding Crowded Flights: The Full-Capacity Nightmare
• 3 Reasons Virgin America’s Brand Experience Is Beating United Airlines
• Fight or Flight: Reacting to Stress in Your Business
• Dealing With Harassment in Your Sales Career

I’m not talking about serving better crackers (although getting the entire soft drink can would be nice). I’m talking about encouraging the frontline staff to be friendlier to customers during the entire time the customer is engaged with the airline. Earlier I said that the employees were “polite and efficient.” The next higher step is to become “friendly and memorable.”

Allow the flight attendants to joke around as Southwest attendants do. On a SW Airlines flight to Orlando, the flight crew held a trivia contest with the prizes being bag tags with the SW logo on it. Of course the same crew had a few “fun” wrinkles to add to the usual emergency announcements.

Make the customers' experiences fun and memorable

Bottom line: Make the flights fun. That will differentiate Delta from other carriers that don't put a high priority on customer service. Then when the traveler chooses his or her next flight, perhaps they’ll remember the fun they had on Delta and choose them over American or Continental.

What do you need to do to make your customers' experiences fun and memorable?

RELATED: 10 Rules for Great Customer Service