Amidst the slavish devotion to customer experience and the ideology of customer-centricity I find Ryanair refreshing and instructive – including its recent change in stance towards how the organisation treats its customers. What can we learn from Ryanair and this change in stance?
Financial fortunes (not customer needs) shape management decisions
I find it instructive that trigger for this change of stance is due to a change in its financial fortunes:
- profits may miss or be at the lower end of its range of 570m euros to 600m euros (£480m to £508m);
- a dip in ticket prices and booking levels for September, October and November;
- the continued success of its competitor (Easyjet);
- shareholder concerns that customer service issues were hitting sales.
It occurs to me that what is refreshing about Ryanair’s management team is the refreshing honesty about what motivates-drives their actions. According to this article, Ryanair’s COO and deputy CEO ‘has dismissed the idea of “wholesale changes” at the carrier as it attempts to improve customer service’. Why is that? In the words of the COO
“Our model is to satisfy shareholders. There are other models to satisfy passengers.”
I say that a safe assumption, for any publicly listed company, is that the focus on the management team is no meeting the financial numbers. And any talk of customer-centricity has to be interpreting within this context
The critical importance of the business model and how it shapes organisational actions
In order for there to be a viable business there has to be a viable business model. Using the business model canvas this means that the following business model elements have to fit together effectively: revenue streams, customer segments, customer relationships, distribution channels, value proposition, cost structure, key activities, key resources, and key partners.
If you take a deeper look at the business model canvas you cannot help but notice that right in the centre sits the Value Proposition. The organisation has to engage in specific activities to create the value proposition. These activities and the way they are carried out determine the cost structure of the business. Therefore, it is essential that the choice of customer segments, customer relationships, distribution channels and revenue streams deliver revenues that exceed the cost base and deliver a suitable return on investment.
It occurs to me that Ryanair’s COO understands the implication of the no frills airline model a lot better than the media which has been implying that the Ryanair management team have seen the light and will be making significant changes. This is what the Ryanair COO is reported as saying:
There is a balance and maybe we have gone too far one way. But the idea there is going to be wholesale changes is wrong.
We need to be better at communicating with customers, but that is no big deal.
When we take €70 from someone for having the wrong size bag we should do it with sympathy rather than glee.
Great advice for all businesses: don’t unnecessarily annoy your customers
I notice that Michael O’Leary (CEO, Ryanair) has woken up to the fact that it is not wise to unnecessarily annoy customers. He is reported as saying:
We should try to eliminate things that unnecessarily annoy customers.
It occurs to me that this does not go far enough. If you are in a management position where you have the power to shape organisational behaviour then I encourage you to end policies and practices that unnecessarily annoy:
- your customers;
- the people that work in your business and create value for your customers;
- your distribution partners;
- your suppliers.
Why? Because that which is unnecessary should not be done. Doing that which is unnecessary and annoys key stakeholders is stupid: self defeating in the longer term.
It does not pay to steal in the longer term
It occurs to me that it is worth bearing the long term in mind. Whilst it is possible to escape the consequences of your actions in the short term, this is rarely the case in the long term. In the long term your history catches up with you. When I was a child my father used to tell me stories to do with human nature. One story, I have remembered vividly, it’s moral was ‘If you steal expect to get caught, sooner or later. The only way not to get caught is not to steal.”
Looking at the Ryanair situation, it occurs to me that Ryanair has been stealing from its customers for many years and this is the year when Ryanair’s management has got caught. And so is having to do something about it.
What did Ryanair steal from its customers? The humanity that one human being expects and counts on another human being to deliver: human dignity.
Ryanair image via Shutterstock
Original Post: http://thecustomerblog.co.uk/2013/10/31/what-can-we-learn-from-ryanairs-change-of-heart/
