Russell Bell: Air NZ meets feedback with silence

COMFORT CRAFT: The Saab 340A aircraft bought by Air Chathams to be used on the Whanganui-Auckland route.

THIS week is more of a follow-up on previous articles as the feedback from the last two has exceeded the level of any of the previous opinions which have graced the pages of this fine publication.

Three weeks ago there was the Air New Zealand withdrawal of service, and I fielded a number of calls and texts regarding this, with almost 100 per cent disappointed with the way Air NZ had handled its Whanganui customers.

I understand that some business people have taken their concerns all the way to the chief executive of Air NZ (or at least they were going to try) and a number of letters have been directed to political players.

Most encouraging has been the can-do attitude of the new supplier, Air Chathams, most recently evidenced by the addition of the larger (and more comfortable) Saab aircraft to the route. This is a significant and positive move, and great news for people over six-foot who recall with trepidation the Metroliner experience from years back. There is now a compelling reason to utilise the service.

However, Air (Main Centres of) New Zealand continue to disappoint with their treatment of local consumers.

I have it on good authority that several attempts by both business and private customers to communicate with the airline have been greeted with protracted silence. This is particularly the case for travellers who have inquired about use of the domestic Koru lounge in Auckland - particularly when transiting from Air NZ international flights to the domestic flight to Whanganui (which can sometimes be a significant period of time).

The company needs to make a decision and let Whanganui customers know their position - the delays in responding are not good enough.

I have better news when it comes to the ultrafast broadband transition which I wrote about a couple of weeks back. Regular landline services to our home have been restored after a number of attempts to follow the instructions provided by our internet service provider.

This article received the most feedback - ever. The message to the internet service providers is that there is likely a very large and growing section of consumers with concerns regarding the transition to the "bigger, faster, better" UFB service.

In one case I ended up pulling my car over in National Park to talk to one user who has not had services for months. That's right - months!

My concerns about variable speeds and the service dropping out haven't gone away completely.

However, for the most part, we now have the service which was sold to us.

And that is where I believe a number of bigger businesses have disconnected from their customers: the clear imperative to acquire customers first and then serve customers later (or, in some cases, not at all).

Competition and disruption is coming to all markets and at the centre of it is creating first-class customer experiences.

Dissatisfaction is unacceptable to only small and nimble businesses, it seems, while major brands don't move quick enough to deal with it.

Treat customers well and they will be with you for life; ignore your customers at your peril. The key is listening and responding with honesty and integrity.

The "listening" piece will be the subject of a future article.

**Balance Consulting specialises in business strategy, process excellence and leadership mentoring. Contact Russell on 021 244 2421 or John Taylor on 027 499 5872.