The advent of business to consumer transaction and process handling has been a boon to business, when it works properly. But, we are inundated with examples where technology was deployed but well-intending individuals but with nary a positive impact on the customer. Technology is only a benefit if the end-to-end process it supports is aligned to provide a true value to the customer. Online check in is an example.
One would think that use of technology to check in online should make the customer’s life easier. And, more and more airlines are adopting this technology. Yet, today, I make an example of AirTran Airways, a decent enough carrier. This morning, I received a friendly email asking me to check in online. I’m thinking, now that’s customer expectation management – not only will AirTran let me check in early, but at MY convenience and it reminds me to choose this option in case I forget.
So, I check in online, let AirTran know how many bags I am checking, print my boarding pass and, voila, I am ready to head to the airport. Now, when I get to the airport, Tampa International to be exact, my whole “I am going to speed through with this wonderful online check in thing goin’ on.” But, my expectations came crashing to a halt like a speeding train meeting a cow on the tracks!!! First, I have to find the special line for “online check in” folks like me. It’s not well marked. Once I do find it, the line moves slowly. In fact, I watched and measured the progress of my “quick online check in bag drop line” against the “standard ol’ get your boarding pass here and check in line”. About a minute after I had already been waiting in line, I watched to see how long it would take the most recent person in the “standard ol’ line” takes to check in… and low and behold, they are through their line before I’m through mine. In fact, an additional 4 customers sped through the “standard ol’ line” before I got through the “quick online check in line.” So, I am asking myself, “how this THIS save me time?”
This is a common problem (for which I will be writing to AirTran to complain” where technology is deployed to make customers’ lives easier but without a complete understanding of the entire “customer management process” utterly fails. In AirTran’s case it’s not enough just to provide a convenient way for customers to check in, it has to provide an equally convenient way to speed the customer through the process – afterall the computer reservation system cannot grab my bag, check my ID and get me moving along… that’s handled my AirTran people.
The point I am making is that with any process, technology is only a tool. It is not the process itself. If AirTran’s goal was to get customers moving through the check in process faster – a worthwhile customer expectation – then it needed to look at the entire process, from online check in to “on the way to security” and not just the online check in. While AirTran got me my documents quickly, it utterly failed in getting me “on my way to security” faster, the whole reason why I check in online in the first place.
My fellow BPM-Unpluggers… when you look to make a customer’s experience more rewarding you must understand what the customer wants from it and how your people make those customers successful. If there are “people” in the process, make sure they are motivated to making the customer successful and mitigate their constraints. Then, use technology as a tool to tie it all in. Don’t get lured into the idea that the technology will take care of the customer if there are points of failure that could derail the entire goal.
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