Hi Jeanne, I think apologies for the big issues and/or screw-ups is important and the most highly visible, but even more important in my opinion is the day to day operational problems (some of which a company, in this case an airline, has control over, and some they do not... such as weather delays).

Having a technology infrastructure that can "alert" a company to daily situations where customers aren't taken care of (lost luggage, missed connections etc) goes a long way towards real pro-active service management.

Thanks for the SWA article, Jeanne. And boy do I wish I had your last name instead of mine, "POORE" (smile).

After nearly 20 years with the Walt Disney Company in Orlando and in Paris, France, Service Recovery has become second nature to me and I am never surprised anymore. Boy, I could tell you stories!

Over those years of helping to entertain 25-35 million people a year..What I learned most from the mouse was, at the end of the day, what story did that guest end up telling when they got home? Having then intend to return or influence others to visit has the holy grail to Disney Execs.

Sure, everyone makes mistakes, that's human. But how do you solicit those mistakes and rectify them so that the story is now possibly better than if there were no mistake at all?

The very worst thing that any President can hope for in any one guest experience is a bad experience and a bad story being told, over and over again.

A very close second to that bad experience is NOTHING AT ALL. Where the experience is so luke warm, when someone asks, "How was your flight?" and you reply, "Uneventful". You might have been speaking about the lack of weather delays, lost baggage or the lack of any personal attention to detail. “Uneventful” does not create loyalty, and does not drive return visits or intent to refer new business.

1--So, how do you find your mistakes?
Most people don't take the time to write a letter or complain at all...7 out of 10 people leave your business and you don't know why. How do you seek out complaints? That is an art. No one was better that that than George Miliotes, previous GM of Disney's California Grill in Orlando. Instead of doing the "manager drive-by" (where the manager walks by a walks by your table, and right in the middle of your romantic conversation says, "is everything alright?" and you reply, "Sure!". And then you ask your wife, "Who was that guy in a tie?”). If they really wanted to know about my meal and the wait staff service level...they would a have introduced themselves and asked some specific questions about us and our meal.

George was great at it! He would first introduce himself as the GM, Ask for permission to ask about the meal, he would kneel at eye level, spend less than 30 seconds, ask three very specific questions about your food, the wine, and the wait staff. And solve or help fix the concern. His goal in service recovery was not satisfaction, it was advocacy.

At every pre-shift meeting he would ask the staff to share the “guest situations” from the previous nights’ meals, but would ask them not to share how they fixed it until the rest of the staff could brainstorm possible solutions. This created a safe environment to share mistakes and create terrific recoveries. George thought a small percentage of service recovery was healthy piece of business. He found that a significant amount of his most loyal customers and those who refer the most business, first started out as “a complaining guest in his restaurant.” What I mean by that is, if your customer goes home mad, it is not only too late, but they will tell many people THEIR STORY. If you can catch them before they leave you…fix it…make it better….Now they’re possibly telling YOUR STORY!

Wait a sec. A customer service guy with the last name of Poore? Seriously -- you were hired? : )

Jeanne, I think what Southwest is doing is a smart idea. After the Jet Blue mea culpa, we'll probably be seeing lots more public apologies from corporate chiefs, maybe to the point of overkill. But let's give consumers credit for knowing what's real and what's just corporate posturing.

By the way, we are so sorry that it took so long for us to respond to this post. We are taking steps to rectify the situation to ensure it does not happen again. In the meantime, we will be sending you a coupon good for 15% off your next post with us.

Thanks for pointing out an example of (apparently) sincere corporate apologies. I am weary unto death of the insincere apologies I receive from phone support in a myriad of situations. Pro forma, rote, by the book apologies don't do it for me. Sincerity does the trick every time and believe me, customers can tell the difference. Jim

As someone who flies South West weekly nine months a year I can tell you that sorry just doesn't get the job done.I for one would like for the problem to be fixed, buy another plane hire another crew, just do something to prevent the delays. Take a close look at the flights that are beiong delayed week after week and find a solution even if you have to drop a flight from the schedule. I would rather have fwer flights that left on time then a bunch of them which are delayed.