When listening and actions really took off.
Another guest listener this week, Launceston’s Owen Tilbury.
Read how Geraldine and listening influenced Qantas to do better. Just under a 3 minute read.
James Strong was the Chief Executive and Managing Director of Qantas (1993 to 2001). He was a key figure in transforming the Australian aviation industry, overseeing the merger of Qantas and Australian Airlines, and the public float of Qantas. He was also a listener. I have been a business consultant for over 40 years and have travelled a lot in that work. Freshly decked out in a new suit on my way to a Sydney assignment I arrived late at the check-in for my Qantas flight. Entering from the rear door I took off my new jacket and looked around for where I could stow it neatly, first opening an overhead locker, which I soon saw was full of oxygen bottles and masks. Slamming that I opened the next locker which was full of flight attendants' hats! A voice beside me then asked: "Are you blind sir? These lockers are clearly marked Staff Only!" Duly chastened I sat down and rammed my new jacket under the seat in front, angrily. A few minutes later as we are about to takeoff another flight attendant sits in the seat next to me. As we took off, I asked her for the name of her team-mate. " Oh, sorry I don't know", she says. As we land in Melbourne I see her at the stairs and notice her name-badge says she is Geraldine. Aha! Then on the next flight to Sydney, who is at the entrance door? Geraldine! After we take off on this larger plane she kneels down in the aisle beside me and asks me in a loud voice: " Why were you asking my name on the last flight?" to which I say "Because you were bloody rude to me!" She then loudly explains to me why in fact I am the one at fault. Everyone nearby turns to enjoy this verbal tussle, to my embarrassment. She storms off and that, it seems, is that.
My assignment in Sydney is about talking to (wait for it!) a large group of funeral directors about customer service, so I take the opportunity to give them the Geraldine story, which causes much laughter and by the end of the weekend we are talking about creating a Geraldine Award for Poor Customer Service! I fly home and think no more of it until a friend of mine who works in the airline business says " Why don't you write to James Strong? He's transforming Qantas!" So I do and get a polite response from him empathising with me and apologising. End of story? Well, no. A few months later my business partner is invited to be a member of a Qantas market research focus group. At the end of the session the facilitator says "Are you the partner of Owen Tilbury?" " Yes, he says, what's he done now?" " Well, says the Qantas researcher, he's a legend in Qantas because his letter to James Strong has been sent to every Qantas staff member across the country, because he is battling the Flight Attendants Union, AND he's winning."
And so he did, and he turned Qantas around, partly because he listened to a customer!
