most successful airline in the world’. He realized that to achieve this
required BA to hold a decisive competitive advantage and Marshall chose
to focus on customer service:
It was ... obvious to me that the organisation was extremely introverted, had
really no grasp of what the market place wanted, what the customer wanted
... I believed the most critical thing was for us to address the issue of cus-
tomer service. In so doing, we recognised the need to create some motiva-
tional vehicle with the employees so that we had a better prospect of raising
their morale and, in turn, seeing better customer service flow.^3Elaborating on this issue 10 years later, Marshall argued:
In a mass market, the primary influence is reckoned to be price, whereas in
a segmented marketplace there are other influential factors, including the
quality of service and the caring and comfort. A lot of people maintain these
days that price is the be-all and end-all. I don’t buy that. A lot of customers
are interested in price, of course, but what they are really concerned about
is value.They will pay for better service.^4Marshall defined the British Airways’ offer as, ‘we start with the belief that
in a service business, what you are selling is an intangible feeling. A pas-
senger is left with an empty ticket stub, and he looks back at what it costs
and reflects on the experience’.^5 Success was therefore believed to be criti-
cally linked with motivating and giving pride to BA’s employees.
‘Humanizing’ British Airways
Marshall began by insisting that he be called Colin Marshall and not the
traditional ‘CX’ used for the chief executive at BA. Without direct instruc-
tion, titles began to be replaced by names. Large committees were axed and
ad hoc groups were set up that cut across functions. The hierarchy of the
organization was reduced so that customer interface staff had discre-
tionary power. Younger people were promoted and dynamic outsiders
were brought into senior roles.
Market research in the mid-1980s revealed alarming gaps between cus-
tomers’ expectations of BA and those of the staff. BA’s employees had
always concentrated on functional aspects, such as punctuality, speed of
answering phones, check-in efficiency, etc. for which strict standards were
laid down in detailed manuals. However, the research revealed that these
standards only met customers’ minimum expectations. What they were
really hoping for were behavioural aspects, such as spontaneity, warmth
and concern, friendliness and attention to individual needs. What created
real positive satisfaction and customer loyalty was the personal experience
that customers had with airline staff. These findings:
458 Relationship Marketing