How to Win the Hearts of Your Customer the SOUTHWEST Way

In the wake of September 11th, airlines suffered a major setback. Even after a $15 dollar attempt by the government to save airlines, American, Delta, and United collectively lost $4 billion; the major airlines laid off 16% of their workforce. Southwest managed to make $151 million in profit, but with an entirely different approach: they didn’t lay off any employees and offered customers full refunds on their flights. Southwest’s maintenance of financial reserves to counter major setbacks allowed them to focus on what really matters: the employees and the customers.

The employees and the customers were both grateful: Southwest employees donated $1.3 million to help the airline and customers began sending in donations and sending back gift cards to help with the financial struggle.

Southwest’s company is built on the idea that loyalty begins with the employees. In fact, their ability to be profitable depends entirely on them. Flying short distance flights is, according to conventional wisdom, an unprofitable approach, as planes are forced to spend a greater portion of time on the ground than the air. Rather than cutting labor costs and buying cheap equipment, Southwest relies on their employees to create profit by putting more planes in the air through quick turnarounds.

Strong internal relationships ensure that proper information is passed between individuals when they need it. Employees are hired for their perfect fit into the Southwest culture as much as they are for any job-related qualifications. When something goes wrong, unlike most airlines, there’s no quest to blame an individual or department. Instead, a much more positive work environment is created in which everyone works together to find out what went wrong and how it can be prevented in the future.

Most airlines favor a method where one individual is in control of many flights via a computer system. For Southwest, the focus remains on person-to-person interaction. Agents are assigned to only one flight at a time and directly interact with other people in the operation, rather than through a computer or telephone. Not only does this face-to-face interaction facilitate relationship building, but it also helps minimize time deficits produced by unforeseen circumstances that would otherwise result in untimely delays caused by lack of communication.

This strong focus and dependence on employee relations ensures that everyone who is working for Southwest really wants to work at Southwest. There’s no hierarchy between pilots and baggage handlers. Everyone is working together to best serve the customer and they’re happy to do it. Not only does their state of mind create a positive atmosphere for the customers, but their efficient, communication-focused approach has resulted in fewer lost bags, fewer delays, and, inevitably, fewer complaints.

Herb Kelleher, ex-CEO of Southwest, demonstrated the understanding that customer loyalty began with the employees, when he claimed profit to be a byproduct of customer service. This driving concept has led Southwest to 33 years of profitability without any layoffs, figures that seems almost impossible in the airline industry.