Stop Chasing Perfect Customer Experiences, Start Keeping Promises

“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.” - Tolstoy

Too many companies today are obsessed with providing an “unforgettable” customer experience that “redefines expectations,” “raises the bar,” or “goes above and beyond.” But the constant, exhausting push to exceed customer expectations usually means companies never meet them at all. The distraction of AI, and all the unrealistic expectations executives have of its ability to improve CX 10-fold overnight, has only made things worse.

The thrill of chasing the “best” customer experience comes at the expense of the most basic promises you make to your customers. In other words? Companies are over-focused on CX intentions, not CX acts. Like Sisyphus, they’re so desperate to roll the CX boulder to the top of the hill that they almost guarantee it will roll back down to the bottom every time.

When companies don’t keep their promises, today’s customers aren’t "disappointed.” They’re certainly not surprised. Instead, they're vindicated–and maybe even a little indifferent. Over half of customers no longer even bother to complain after a bad experience, silently switching to your competitor instead[*]. Earlier this year, a Forrester study found that customer perceptions of CX were the lowest they’ve been in years[*]. 

Every time you break a promise to your customers, you prove them right.

Champagne Problems: The AirFrance Customer Experience

Let me give you a real-world example. Earlier this week, I was set to take an Air France flight from back home to New York. After hours of begrudgingly shifting around items in our suitcases to ensure we didn’t exceed the 50-pound weight limit, my husband and I headed to the Barcelona airport, exhausted from hauling an embarrassing number of bags through the departures gate. We checked in, went through security, and were on our way to the lounge when we received the dreaded auto message: our flight, which was scheduled to begin boarding in less than an hour, had been significantly delayed. We would miss our connection in Paris.

The flight delay itself didn’t bother me - it’s a necessary risk we all take when flying, and these days, I always expect them. I’m ecstatic when a flight I’ve booked actually leaves on time. What bothered me was the lack of information and updates from AirFrance.

Immediately after we got the news, my husband jumped on his phone to call customer service, something he does with an almost maniacal glee every time there’s an issue with a flight. He is living proof that even in the age of AI-everything, customers still prefer to speak to a live person, and they still prefer to reach out via phone.

“That’s a waste of time,” I told him, smugly. “Just use the app.” After years of attending industry conferences filled with dazzling presentations of virtual agents automatically resolving airline customer service issues in seconds–complete with an upgrade to first class, of course–I was confident that AI-powered in-app chat messaging was the way to go. Frankly, I couldn’t wait to be right, to prove to him and everyone in Barcelona Airport Lounge 1 that these virtual agents were every bit as miraculous as companies promise they are.

Boy, was I humbled quickly.

CX Action vs CX Intention

By the time my husband was on his 50th minute of phone hold time, I had exhausted all our digital support options to no avail. No friendly AI chatbot had proactively popped up on my screen, ready to go with my original flight number and several potential, highly convenient, alternative flights. In fact, there wasn’t an agent, AI or human, to chat with at all. When I tried to fill out my flight information to request more information, I was automatically redirected to a screen that told me that there were no suitable alternatives and that no updates were available. I even did the unthinkable: I went to the front desk of the lounge to ask an in-person employee for help. There, I learned I’d have to exit the lounge to see an AirFrance gate agent directly, but that if I left the lounge, I wouldn’t be able to get back in before my flight (we still didn’t know when–or if–it was taking off.)

We were seeking information, but all we got was the intention of information. If we just held on a bit longer, Air France promised, updates would be “coming soon.” Meanwhile, we still weren’t sure when our original flight from Barcelona to Paris was taking off, or if it even would be at all.

AirFrance didn’t provide answers. Instead, it just kept dangling the carrot of distraction of what it perceived to be a stellar customer experience. Updates came into the app, but they weren’t the ones we wanted. Instead, the updates told us we’d be getting complementary champagne in the lounge. Then, they promised in-flight WiFi. Later, we were given two 15 Euro airport food vouchers (that we didn’t need and wouldn’t use.) But no information about alternative connecting flights or updates about the delay of our original one. Amusingly, the AirFrance saw app this as the perfect time to pitch us on becoming members of its “Flying Blue” loyalty program (we declined.)

Customer Promises, Not Customer Perks

After nearly two hours of waiting for updates, we finally learned that we’d be able to get on a flight to Paris, but that we’d have to get on another flight back to New York the next day. But no details about the next day’s flight were available. For that, we’d have to talk to the gate agent once we landed in Paris–without any information about how long we’d be staying there. However, we did learn that we’d be provided with a free dinner box upon arrival there (or at least, I would, as there were no gluten-free boxes available for my husband.)

While the promise of even more future “benefits” beckoned, the airline had still failed to provide its original, and most essential, service: getting passengers on their flight, having that flight take off, and having that flight deliver said passengers to their final destination. And when free champagne and WiFi “perks” don’t even work on me, a customer who can be bribed into happiness faster and easier than Eric Adams, you know you’re in trouble.

At the end of the day, I wasn’t upset about the delay or the extra night in Charles De Gaulle’s Courtyard Marriott.  I was upset that AirFrance didn’t fulfill its most  basic customer experience, and that it seemed to believe its customers valued creature comforts more than information and resolutions. I agree with Seneca here: the heart of good customer experience is reliability. Companies, I beg of you: please stop obsessing over how AI can save you ten more dollars a month or how to “hyperpersonalize” my experience to make me feel “unique.” Instead, focus on reliability, and leverage all these fun new tools to help you maintain that reliability.