Not EVERYONE uses e-mail…
by Jonathan Clark on March 8, 2009 at 3:45 pm
E-Mail Taking Over? Not Necessarily!
Most of us use e-mail almost exclusively for contacting people in the world of work and business. But at least one successful (and profitable!!) company still holds out, at least on the customer service end, and I’m thankful for it.
The SOUTHWEST AIRLINES website lists only two ways to contact them: a phone number and a mailing address. At one point the site had a section on “Why we don’t accept e-mail.” I looked for it today as I wrote this, but couldn’t find the text online. But the policy obviously still exists.
“Call us traditional, but we elect to steer clear of the chat-style, response-on-demand, quick casual format and focus on meaningful Customer dialogue. This is not because we don’t care. It’s because that style counters our commitment to Customer Service.
“Our Customers deserve accurate, specific, personal, and professionally written answers, and it takes time to research, investigate, and compose a real business letter. We answer every letter we receive in the order it arrives, and we streamline in order to keep our costs low, or People productive, our operating efficiency high, and our responses warm and personal.”
That puts a different perspective on things, doesn’t it? By the way, did you notice the “odd” capitalization the folks at Southwest use? This communicates (deliberately) something about their culture, both internally and to outside readers. A specific standard word list (known to the folks at Southwest as “Colleen’s Bible” after its developer, Southwest Airlines President Colleen Barrett), requires writers to capitalize words like Customer, Company, Employees, Service, and People. The not-so-subtle message: these things are important to us!
A not-so-subtle sales pitch: hundreds of Southwest Airlines executives, managers, and employees at nearly every level have attended Business Writing Solutions! “Operating efficiency,” “streamline,” “keep our costs low,” “keep our People productive, “our responses warm and personal.” Do you see a pattern here? When will you schedule this class at YOUR organization?
