Essay Sample on Responding to Customers: Essential for Business Success

Introduction

Responding to customers in a professional manner and in time is very important in every business. Many companies rely on their clients to maintain their operations. The only way to satisfy the customers is by listening to their concerns in a professional, swift, and effective manner. For this same reason, responding to customers is essential to maintain the company's image. If the customers are not happy, they can spread the bad word across the media, which may tarnish the company's reputation.

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Broken Guitar

'United Break Guitars' is a song produced by Dave Carrol after complaining to the united flight about his broken guitar. When they landed, Dave Carol heard a passenger sitting behind him, stating how the crew members were throwing their luggage instead of handling them with care. Carrol was unlucky because his guitar broke. Even though fixing the guitar was $1,200, he raised a query to the company to ensure that the same mistake is not repeated.

In normal circumstances, companies hire professionals to handle customer's complain to avoid their brand. However, in this case, study, there was no response. Carroll kept on calling and sending emails for nine months without success. At this point, he thought of writing the "United Breaks Guitars" to share his experiences at the airport.

Social media has become a compelling platform when it comes to spreading the news. As known, social media is used by businesses to reach out and communicate with returning and potential customers. Many people use social media as a platform for advertising because it provides real-time updates. Even though social media has become a powerful tool, it can also confuse users.

Carroll's intention of sending the video of their experience was to reach out to the management. However, the video went viral, which caused the company to lose more than 180 million due to customers' reactions. It is only at this time when the company took action. Carroll took this action after tirelessly calling and writing emails to the company. Within four days of releasing the song, it went viral, and the company went at a significant loss.

Luggage Handling

Many travelers look at the airport workers and feel that they have a lot of power because of their professional work. Even though passengers only see the gate agents, flight attenders, and pilots, they never see other people that make the journey possible. Every time passengers leave their luggage at the check-in counter, it goes through the conveyer directly to the departing flight's pier.

The luggage is then picked by the agents who take them to the planeside where the ramp agents are to load them on the plan. When luggage reaches this point, the travelers never see their luggage. It is at this point that most ramp agents mishandle the luggage. A suitable example is seen in the case study when the ramp agents tossed the guitars from the musician. Carroll heard a customer whispering that they are throwing the bags.

When Carroll went to collect his box, he realized that his guitar was broken. The worst part is that he tried reaching the management but never succeeded. The ramp agents do more than just unloading and loading the bags. Besides the bags, they also handle other things that have delicate items inside. If some things are not properly managed, then it can cause damage.

Considering that baggage handling takes place in dull areas, the bags and boxes also need to be taken care of. One company that has advanced how it handles customer's luggage is Delta. The company uses the advancement of technology to spot lost luggage, observe how the ramp agents are handling them, and if the luggage's are kept well. The exercise takes place from the time the passenger boards the plane to departing time.

Delta uses other innovations such as the airline apps to update the customers where their bags have been kept at any given moment. Even though the app does not show how the luggage is handled, the passengers get more information through their phones. The United flight case was different because, during those times, technology had not advanced at that level.

As much as the company used to do most things manually, the ramp agents don't have permission to toss the customer's belongings. Most workers go through training before they are hired. Therefore workers in this airline are professional but decided to be arrogant. This is why they were seen mishandling the luggage. None of them cared what they did as they believed that they were not seen.

Conclusion

Treating customers with respect does not mean that dealing with human beings alone but also taking care of their belongings. The 'United Breaks Guitar' is a song released by Carroll after his guitar was broken by ramp agents that work at the United flights company. This song was released because when Carroll realized that his guitar was broken, he tried to reach the company through phone calls and emails. For nine months, this musician never succeeded, and that is why he decided to release the songs. It is also clear that business must facilitate systems and policies which listen to complaints. When such matters are ignored, the media becomes the power to the customer, which spoils the name of the company. The results will also lead to loss of revenue. United Flight Company lost $180 million because of ignorance.

References

Baraniuk, C. (2019, June 4). Why do airlines still mislay 25 million bags a year? BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48437262

Hobica, G. (2012, February 15). Confessions of an airline baggage 'Thrower': Why you should buy a Four-Wheeler suitcase. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-you-should-buy-a-four_b_1115011

Sawhney, R. (2012, July 30). The broken guitar has United playing the blues to the tune of $180 million. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/1320152/broken-guitar-has-united-playing-blues-tune-180-million