Customer and Experiences and 'Customer Experience'
Below is an article originally written by Sarah Kennedy at PowerToFly Partner SeatGeek, and published on February 23, 2018. Go to SeatGeek's page on PowerToFly to see their open positions and learn more.
When I was in 8th grade, I got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel from my small town to Disney World as part of a school trip. It was an extra special experience in my mind because it was also my first time ever leaving home without my parents right by my side. Independence!
My teacher gave our whole group tons of agency on the trip: We were responsible for all of our own meals, and we dictated most of our own daily schedules. We were a special kind of obnoxious tour group, I'm sure. I mention the meal thing specifically because my strongest memory from the whole trip involved a lunch that changed my life.
When you're first stepping into big responsibilities there can be a learning curve. Sometimes small things get dropped or forgotten. In this case, that small thing was my very expensive retainer which I had forgotten about and dropped directly into the trash can outside Frontierland.
Of course, I was embarrassed. I can only imagine the hard work Disney cast members do on a regular day and the last thing I wanted to do was to add "dig through the garbage to fish out a tween's mouthguard" to their to-do list. I also knew what would happen if I flew home and told my parents that I'd doomed my teeth back into being crooked. Braces are expensive. This trip was expensive. Having one ruin the other was not the best situation.
I was stuck at the trash can, panicked. Other people passed, dumping their trays before heading off to Splash Mountain. I swear, Disney employees must have a sixth sense that helps them identify kids who are about to cry because this cast member got to me right in time. "What's wrong?" She asked with the warmest, kindest, most genuine tone you can imagine. I don't even think I said the entire word "retainer" before she ripped the top off the can and started hunting. She found it within seconds and saved the day. What was even more surprising was that she thanked me for letting her help. What the heck?!
I wasn't "garbage she had to go through" at her job. To her, I was a person in the middle of the experience of my life, facing an issue that brought all that to a halt. She knew what she could do to positively affect the person at the other end of this interaction and she dove in without hesitation. That is amazing and it showed me how much of an impact someone in service can have on others.
As a company, we're obsessed with getting more people out to live events they care about. We pour our energy into creating a smart, intuitive website and app that connects people and unlocks their ability to go make memories with the people they care about, seeing the artists and teams they love. It's a sweet gig. Obviously an app can't answer every question or resolve every issue that may pop up, which is why we have a dedicated (and sizeable!) customer experience team in the first place.
We have a special CX team at SeatGeek. A group so passionate about helping people create memorable experiences that we built careers around it. We dive in without hesitation and help people resolve anything that's stopping their outing from being the time of their life.
What's extra nice is that our work in CX goes beyond emails and phone calls. We have high level conversations about what our customers go through at every step, from browsing for events to the very last song performed during an encore, and we get to base them on the first-hand accounts we hear directly from fans. Then we use all of this information to connect with the other teams at SeatGeek and together we improve.
Empathy is the name of the game and it's not just a buzzword that we fling around. We're bold in our consumer advocacy: protecting them with our SeatGeek guarantee, anticipating their needs, and using the focus of who is on the other end to influence our decision making. We are truly in service to others in a way that would make Disney proud.
In a world that's becoming more and more automated, our team is excited to learn and offer new and better ways for customers to reach us – we are a tech company, after all. However, we take special care to maintain a human touch at the end of those channels. Email, phone, or social media, any way someone tries to reach us there's another person waiting and ready to help.
We're dedicated and committed to connecting with the person on the other end. Reach out to us and let's dive in.
