
Lessons in Customer Service: I Come to Praise United, Not to Bury It
United Airlines has hardly been a paradigm of excellent customer service. Most of the time they do what could only be called a nasty job of it. However, once in awhile, in adverse circumstances, in context, they get it right and it becomes a lesson in…

Hollow words: United Airline’s CEO talks up ‘silver lining’ of failure
More from the front lines of United Airline’s merger with Continental.

Once again into the breach…of trust: United Airlines manages to do it again
Cost efficiencies are fine, but not at the expense of the customers — especially if it involves a serious service issue that can be at least mitigated by something that already had a proven benefit.

Hurricane Irene exposes United Airlines’ system issues
As the powerful Hurricane Irene strikes the east coast, it’s worthwhile observing the systems impact on airlines, trains, and other organizations affected by the storm. From a customer service perspective, large-scale events, such as a hurricane or natural disaster, are particularly difficult for these organizations to manage. Successfully handling the flood of calls, cancellations, and […]

Night & Day: The Story of United Airlines & Marriott Hotels…Respectively
I’ve just returned from a trip to Halifax Nova Scotia (a really excellent city BTW…but not what I want to write about) where my wife and I visited my niece, nephew-in-law and their two kids – a great family in fact. In fact, if you’r…

United Airlines: Conditioning Your Customers to Expect Less
Paul Greenberg wrote a lengthy piece about his complex relationship with United Airlines and their potential for service downgrading as a result of the merger with Continental. But…I still fly United. I like to say that the reason I fly United is because I’m already so vested in the frequent flier program that I just […]

United Airlines – Redemption or More of the Usual
As you probably know, by now, I’ve been a none too happy United Airlines flyer for many years, usually working to the point I get to a Premier Executive status and then I start flying other airlines. I’ve spent a lot of time using United Airlines a…

Social CRM: The inflexion point
In the “social” chapter in my new book, I was honored to have Paul Greenberg talk about the social customer and the fact that he/she increasingly “controls the conversation”. He succinctly talked about “customer referral value” versus

Microsoft Convergence 2010. Finally Getting Rid of the But….?
A couple of months ago, I was asked by Microsoft to help them (as a consultant) try to work on their Social CRM program. That included looking at products, messaging and doing some thought leadership stuff. I’m in the midst of that now and thus, have been able to get a deep and advanced look […]