The Plus3 Ireland trip came to a sudden hault when the 6:30 flight out of Charlotte North Carolina was delayed 4 times and then cancelled. Thankfully our trip advisors we’re on top of it and squeezed us into a nice hotel, which became our room for the next couple of days; however, we are all making the best of the stay in Charlotte.
For the first blog post, I will be writing about a couple of business functions I have seen in action already and some business skills. The first being the customer service or human relations of American Air. The second will be the marketing in the Top Golf experience.
American Air seems to be struggling in the area of people management. Although I did not personally handle or call about our luggage, connecting flights, and possible inconvenience gifts, many of the people around me have told me their struggles with the company. The night it all happened, Liz, our advisor, was trying to call them and through all efforts, could not reach them. Individuals from the group have been, emailing, calling, and Liz has been tweeting, in order to even retrieve our luggage from the company. American Air has been very inconvenient and unapologetic compared to my other experiences with different Airlines. This makes me assume they are lacking in customer service skills, where business comes first and people come second. Just from my Pitt Ethics class, I know, that stakeholder management is important and helps create an amazing experience, but if the experience of your company is bad for the customer, this negetive feedback can hurt a company, and in the airline industry it can break them. They have not made an effort to apologize for something that was in their control, which leads me to believe this is a very good example of how a company handles crisis situations poorly.
While stuck in Charlotte, we have been bonding as a group through different experiences and activities. One if these activities was a trip to Top Golf, where I learned my second advisor, Chris, is a golf master! But, for the purpose of the blog post, I will be writing about the marketing of Top Golf. Top Golf is an example of a booming company operation where they have over 50 locations in the US and started to build world wide. The moment you turn to a Top Golf location your experience begins. First with a look from a far and all the way up to the steps where an enormous TOP GOLF is looming over the automatic doors. Even better, their location is near a highway marketing it to anyone passing by. To even participate at a golfing bay, one must purchase a $5 membership, where they will be keeping you up to date with deals (#marketing). Then , as you chill in the bay, Top Golf/golf/partnering companies run their advertisements by your score board. They personalize the experience and make sure your visit is worth it causing good word of mouth, and we all know this is the best marketing you can get.
Another skill that has been displayed, not so much by a company, but I’d say by this group is adaptability. We paid and expected a trip to Dublin. In Dublin we had scheduled tours and visits and because of American Air, we are not going to schedule and instead missing some of the experience. This is hard for people to deal with and takes adaptability to push through, and this Plus3 Ireland group has shown more than just adapting, they have shown that they meet any situation with a smile. Already I feel like I have grown during this experience, and I think it is due to the group around me. I feel as if I learned how to face heart-wrenching decisions with a positive attitude.