Authenticity keeps the buck coming

Contrariwise (hat’s off to Lewis Carroll) to my earlier post on poor service (see ) this post outlines great service.

Recently I was boarding an Air New Zealand flight on a small plane. We had been delayed some 30 minutes. The co-pilot greeted us in typically awful Wellington winter weather with a cheery smile and personalised greeting (which I was so surprised by it only registered as I boarded the plane).

Once everyone was onboard the co-pilot then came down the aisle checking seat belts and stopped at the woman in front of me and asked if she would like him to place her suit bag in an empty seat.

Then through some form of telepathy by the co-pilot the conversation went




“ Is it a dress?”

“Yes”

“Is it a wedding dress?”
[pullquote]His ‘clients’ were moved, mostly, without knowing why.

Passengers/strangers were still talking as we walked to the terminal at the end of the flight.[/pullquote]

“Yes” Big smile

“When is the big day?” ( 4th June )…

By this stage all 16 people on board had forgotten they were 30 minutes late.

There was laughing and smiling and for me it was the most relaxed I’ve ever been on a delayed flight.

This guy shouldn’t be trying to get his pilot’s stripes, he should be head of customer relations!

This wasn’t canned “have a nice day” this was authentic behaviour and it shone through. His ‘clients’ were moved, mostly, without knowing why. Passengers/strangers were still talking as we walked to the terminal at the end of the flight.

They’ll all come back to Air New Zealand

And it is that simple.

Be authentic and you can change all manner of things.

Be authentic with your reports, your peers, your clients, your not-yet-clients.

Look out for people like this co-pilot in your organisation. Recognise the value they bring by being who they are. Do all that you can to keep their spirit alive and well. Help them to make it viral.

(Incidentally this all happened on the same morning as the coffee incident in the post referred to above)