British Airways is introducing a new customer service programme, called “Know Me”, that will see its employees searching Google for photos of customers, helping to provide an individual service to customers.
The idea is for staff to be able to recognize high profile passengers as they arrive, so they can be greeted personally and any issues they may have had in the past can be addressed straight away.
Some 2,000 airline staff have access, via iPads, to passenger data, including previous travel arrangements, complaints, meal requests, and Executive Club status. BA believe ‘Know Me’ will create a more efficient and personalised service for customers.
The airline expects to greet 4,500 passengers using the “Know Me” service by the end of the year.
Why not use Executive Club or social media?
In my experience, one of the nicest aspects of being an Executive Club Gold member is that BA cabin crew welcome you on board by name when they look at your boarding pass.
“Know Me” will surely enable BA crew to be even more proactive.
Concerns have been expressed about privacy but that is a bit of a non issue.
The real concern could be that the picture that BA staff might find could be somewhat different from the reality. “Welcome on board, Sir. You really don’t look like your picture” is definitely not the intention.
British Airways already have a significant amount of data for Executive Club members, could they not ask members to post their picture to their BA profile?
It should also be possible to connect with clients through, for example, LinkedIn. An individual relationship can then be maintained.
Both would avoid privacy concerns and allow the customer to control the picture.
Overall this is a very interesting new initiative from British Airways.
Note: Image is from British Airways.
