Let me relay my recent experience and you can decide.

Every time I’ve flown Northwest, the crew has worked really hard to provide a good customer experience. I cannot say the same for Delta. Recently I’ve had a few trips where half of the journey is on Northwest and half is on Delta, which has amplified the differences. What I want to know is: Which airline’s employee performance expectations and systems are going to win out in the merger?

On a recent Sunday, I boarded a Northwest flight and was greeted by the pilot accompanied by smiling, attentive flight attendants. After we all boarded and got situated prior to take off, the pilot came over the intercom to welcome us and give updates about our destination and the weather. During the flight, he came on a few more times with quick, to-the-point announcements letting us know how the flight was going and what to expect. Upon landing, pilot and flight attendants thanked us for flying Northwest, saying they appreciate our business and hope we had a good experience. They even handed out customer comment cards for providing feedback. (Funny enough, the header on the comment card was for Delta!)

Within forty-eight hours I was on a Delta flight, which I can’t help but label Customer Service Stupidity. As we boarded the plane, maintenance workers were visibly working outside of the plane and a few were actually inside the cockpit. So boarding set an uneasy tone with passengers, but to top it off, we sat in our seats for over thirty minutes before one of the workers tapped the pilot on the shoulder and said, “Maybe you want to tell them what’s going on.”

Only then did we learn that a part needed to be changed and the workers were simply following SOP to make sure everything was in working order. We were delayed more than an hour overall, but those thirty minutes of silence fueled my anxiety and disappointment with the Delta experience. I know I wasn’t the only one wondering if there was something wrong with the plane or if the delay was going to make me miss my connecting flight. And the pilot did not think to give us an update until he was prompted to do so by someone else!

It only got worse from there.

After giving us the initial update on what the maintenance was about, the pilot only spoke five more words the entire flight: “Flight attendants prepare for takeoff.”

The weather was bad and the flight was turbulent. The flight attendants were grumpy and dour. As passengers, we want to have basic comfort knowing the pilot is thinking of us as more than cargo; yet this pilot did not utter another sound the whole time, neglecting to even notify the flight attendants of landing.

Delta apparently does not have nonnegotiable behaviors or protocol in place for pilots to follow, and if they do then shame on this flight crew for not following it. I used my “Northwest” comment card to express my incredible dissatisfaction with Delta’s customer experience and plan on sending additional correspondence expressing my distaste. I sincerely believe Delta hates customers and Northwest wants to love you. I hope Northwest’s processes and systems win out.

You may have seen this piece I wrote over 2 1/2 years ago, but I thought it begged rehashing because it could not be more applicable than right here, right now in the world we live. Looking back, I am not even sure I could say I would really see the day when GM would declare bankruptcy.

Winter 2007 -----

In 2005, General Motors decided to run what I believe is the most stupid, most brand-diminishing promotion in the history of our world. With one swoop of stupidity, GM almost certainly put a dent in its corporate brand and all of its automobile brands. I would have loved to have been in the boardroom the day someone at GM came up with the idea to give everyone “The Employee Discount.” Mark my words, the employee discount promotion will go on record as the stupidest ever.

Do you know anyone who works for GM? If you do, then you know how special the employee discount is for them. I used to live next door to a guy who worked for GM. His discount was quite a perk for him, his friends, and his family. He was able to buy a few cars each year and receive amazing deals on the price. He offered me the opportunity the same year he purchased a few cars on behalf of other family and friends. So, in a day and age when employee perks were rare and finding ways to delight your employees was more difficult than ever, GM had a golden ticket with the employee discount. If you worked for the company, you got to purchase a car at a price far below what the average John or Jane Doe paid.

At least, that was the benefit to employees before the summer of 2005. GM must have been in a situation in which its dealers were in sudden need of moving cars. I can just imagine the scene where the genius marketing executive said, “I know, let’s give everyone the employee discount. The price will be so low that those cars will jump out of the lots.” This decision was probably made with a complete disregard to the short- and long-term impact on employees of the company.

If GM was building a superior car and positioning its brand in powerful ways, it might not have even been in the situation. But it was in the situation and giving away the employee discount must have seemed like the best way out. I think it will turn out to be the worst mistake ever and will take decades to recover from. If it ever recovers at all!

Here’s why:

First, GM may have alienated its entire employee base, diminishing the value of one of the best perks some employees are offered. By giving the employee discount to everyone, GM was saying, “Hey employees, you’re not so special anymore. Anyone can have your special perk.” At the very least, GM should have considered providing the 36,000 employees (who just lost their 401k match) the opportunity to deliver the employee discount through a more aggressive program. Maybe they could have offered them the same incredible incentive to pass on to anyone they want. If I worked for GM, I could have walked up to a stranger on the street and given them a coupon for $5,000 off a GM car. Then, for each coupon used, GM could have repurposed the enormous ad budget and paid a bonus to the employees. Or, at the very least, it could have lessened the decrease in the 401k. This would have sparked greater employee pride, put more money in their pockets, and still led to increased car sales.

Second, GM probably alienated all of its most loyal customers. Why? Because if you are the owner of a GM car that you purchased three years ago for $30,000 and expected to trade in for $17,000, think again. Now GM might be selling that same model car brand new for $24,000, in all likelihood greatly diminishing the value of your trade-in. The negative impact on resale compared to the foreign competition will be felt for years to come.

Third, I believe GM dramatically lowered the perceived value of its autos when it participated in a large discounting activity such as the employee discount. It diminished brand value across the board for new customers, old customers, and the most important GM customer: the employees.

So GM, with one promotion, alienated its employee base and its existing customer base on top of diminishing its total brand value.

Want more proof that GM is headed down the wrong road? In comparing November sales from 2004 and 2005, GM sales were down 11.4 percent while Toyota was up 5.6 percent — a 17 percent differential in one month. Is this an aberration or a sign of things to come? If I were a betting man, I would not bet one dime on GM.

Why didn’t Toyota follow suit? Because Toyota is building superior cars that are perceived to be more valuable in the minds of American consumers. That is why Toyota will soon sit atop
the auto world with record sales in the years ahead while GM will be finding ways to perform disaster relief from its own stupid promotion.

GM, a perfect example of how advertising and marketing can kill your brand!