Are You Setting Yourself Up For Failure

The Situation:

My job entails a lot of travel and that has resulted in me amassing a decent number of miles on an airlines frequent flier program.

A few weeks back, I got an email from the airline announcing that they will equip their aircrafts with wi-fi and if I downloaded an app, I shall be able to have access to an array of inflight entertainment options.

I love watching movies. This was exciting news for me as it gave me an opportunity to catch up on movies that I had missed watching when they originally screened.

So, excitedly, I downloaded the app and was eagerly looking forward to my next trip on the airlines, which was coming up in the next couple of days.

On the day, I board the aircraft and eagerly ask the flight attendant about the wi-fi access. I was then informed by the attendant that the aircraft that we were flying was not equipped with this feature as yet. Though I was disappointed, I was looking forward to actually having access to all the movies soon.

On my return trip, I asked the check-in clerk if the aircraft that I was about to board had the in-flight entertainment system and realized that she had no idea about what I was talking. So, I asked the flight attendant and was yet again informed that this particular aircraft was not equipped with this feature yet. It was disappointing.

On my next flight, which was a much more busier sector (Bangalore – Mumbai), I tried to find out again  and was informed by the cabin-crew in-charge (yes, I did ask her this time, not relying on anyone else) that this feature was enabled, every time an aircraft went for its scheduled maintenance. For the in-flight entertainment to be made available on all the flights would easily take more than a month.

I have flown atleast three more sectors since the announcement and I am yet to see in-flight entertainment in the airline.

What Went Wrong:

This made me think – what made the airline announce this feature so far ahead of time, when almost none of their aircraft was equipped to offer this facility to their customers?

The only effect this left with their customers is a feeling of disappointment every time they flew on an aircraft that was not equipped with this feature.

[bctt tweet=”This is a classic example of setting yourself up for failure” username=”rmukeshgupta”]

What Would I Have Done:

If I were the person responsible for this communication at the airline, I would have done two things differently:

1. I would NOT HAVE sent out an email announcing this feature to all the passengers. I would wait for them to come on-board and once they are there, I would announce this on the in-flight announcement system and request the passengers to download the app to make use of in-flight entertainment. This would have served two purposes – it introduces an element of positive surprise, which increases the customer satisfaction levels. And these passengers would then go out and tell their family members, friends and colleagues about this app. This makes them an insider along with the airline and makes them look cool. Again, this increases customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. This also creates word-of-mouth publicity for the airline.
2. I would wait for atleast 50% aircrafts to have the facility before announcing this either on email or in-flight.

Conclusion:

[bctt tweet=”5 Questions you could ask yourself, before sending out product announcements” username=”rmukeshgupta”]

1. Is there any benefit of letting our customers discover this for themselves, rather than us announcing it (if it is possible)?
2. Can we enable our customers to spread the word about this rather than us doing this? Can we make our customers look good to their followers (on social media and social settings) when they spread the word about this?
3. Is this the right time for me to communicate this to my customers? Is there any benefit of delaying this further?
4. Is this the right medium for me to communicate this to my customers? Is there a better medium available?
5. What do we want our customers to feel and do, once they become aware of this? How can we help them with this?

Answering these questions honestly will enable you to not set yourself up for failure, like the airlines did when it pre-announced the availability of its in-flight entertainment system.

So, the question that we all need to answer is the following:

Are you doing something that is setting yourself up for failure?