Virgin Atlantic Customer Service - Thank you Richard Branson and your team

My Mum and Dad flew to New York on Sunday to go visit my brother and family. When I saw them on Sunday they told me a story about what happened to them over the last few days.

When they were planning their trip my brother and his wife recommended that they did not just book a cheap flight but that they book a ‘good’ flight. They also recommended that they look at Virgin Atlantic as they have flown with them a lot and really like them as an airline. My Mum and Dad took their advice and booked a couple of economy tickets flying out of London Gatwick.

What happened next is a great story about how a small personal touch can have a huge impact on the customer experience.

Last week, a few days before they were due to fly, my Mum received a call from someone at Virgin Atlantic just to let them know that they could check in online, to ask if everything was ok, if all of their passports, ESTA forms etc were in order and if they had any dietary requirements etc. This was not scripted and was from a Virgin Atlantic customer service representative who was calling to sincerely enquire if everything was ok and if they needed anything. The rep even asked if my Mum if they needed anymore leg-room. My Mum replied that they were both 5 foot 4 inches tall and that leg room was not an issue 🙂

Now, I do not know if this is a central part of Virgin Atlantic’s customer service offer, if my Mum and Dad were picked for some reason or if they were phoned at random. I don’t think it matters. What happened is that Virgin has created two new advocates for their business with a short phonecall. That was for a couple that are not frequent flyers, were not in Business Class or Upper Class.

Thank you Richard Branson and your team at Virgin Atlantic, you’ve created two new advocates for your brand and you have shown that a small personal touch can have a huge impact on the overall customer experience and a companies ability to create brand advocates.

Thanks to len-k-a for the image.