The airline industry takes a beating when it comes to customer satisfaction surveys but I have to share a great experience…an experience that set the right expectation and delivered on it.

I was flying Jacksonville to Philadelphia and the flight attendant conveyed a promise and set an expectation: she said it’d be 1 hour and 45 minutes wheels-up to wheels-down.  I tested it. I launched the timer on my phone at takeoff and found that wheels touched down 21 seconds shy of an hour and forty-five; American Airlines over-delivered!

Customers want speed, certainty and simplicity from product and service providers.  They want a predictable and frictionless engagement.   They don’t care about process or policy; they want you to keep your promises.