Ask almost any consumer what factor price plays in their decision to purchase and they'll almost always prioritize it highly. In more cases than not, at the top of the list. So, is it any wonder that in every category someone eventually steps in to claim 'lowest price' as their distinctive competence.
For those where that choice is the end of the experience, failure is just around the corner.
A collegue and good friend of mine proved this point last week. We just held our annual President's Club gathering in the Grand Caymans. Great way to celebrate a banner year for the business. Since we were all coming from different parts of the world, we made our own reservations. My friend chose Spirit Airlines to save the company some money on the trip there. Awesome fare from the an airline that offers them as low as $9 a leg for frequent travelers. Of course, nothing is included. You pay to check baggage, buy a beverage or some peanunts, even to pick a big comfortable seat. You don't expect much, but you do expect the basics.
When he and his wife arrived in the Caymans, they were told that their bags hadn't made it on the flight. Usually a minor inconvenience right? In our experience, they come in a couple of hours later and someone from the airline brings them to your hotel. No worries. Unless you fly Spirit! Unbelievably, they were told that their bags wouldn't be sent to the island until 5 days later ... the day we were leaving! Why? Because they only flew to the Caymans once a week and that was the next time they could send the bags.
Could they forward them on another airline? No.
Could someone Fed Ex them at our expense to the hotel? No.
Would they cover their expenses to buy some clothes for the week? No.
Did they know where the bags actually were? Well, no but here is an 800 # you can call to find out and maybe they'll know how to help you.
Except that noone ever answered the 800 #. All you got was a message that noone was available to take your call, please call back later. After a dozen or so of these at $4 a connection, my collegue gave up. Then in rummaging through the website, he found a really funny thing ... turns out the 800 # was actually the only one they had and it was for reservations. So, not only were they turning away service requests, they pretty much ignored buyers as well!
It get's better.
When the time for our return actually came, we all went to the airport early to help greet the plane with the missing luggage (sort of an obscure island ritual we thought we'd make up and follow). Only to find out the bags weren't on that plane. No, they would be coming on a later flight on another airline ... the one they refused to send it on all week and a plane that was arriving one hour before the return!
Would they re-check them for him back onto the airline? No.
Would they hold his seat while he manually gathered the luggage from baggage and then race back through checking them and security? No. He and his wife were pretty much left to handle it themselves. Amazing.
The point of this story isn't to create a pity party. We were in the Caymans after all. They bought clothes for the week and we all enjoyed a great trip together. Today, everyone is home safe and sound and very refreshed for the New Year. The real point is guess who'll they'll never fly again. Worse than the loss of one customer though, guess how many times we'll all tell this story in our seminars, keynotes, blogs and othere mediums this year. And how many people we'll reach with free negative PR for Spirit?
Selling something for a low price is never an excuse to deliver low quality and lousy experiences. All buyers have an expectation that they'll be treated with respect and serviced as if their business actually means something to the vendor providing it. In Spirit's case, they've missed the boat completely. Right idea on the novelty of ala carte pricing of their service, horrible execution. At this point, free wouldn't help. In fact, paying me to fly them wouldn't help. There are many other better alternatives including low-cost carriers like Southwest who actually provide superior service.
Uncovering business breakthroughs doesn't start with price. It's always only a component of the total customer experience. Making it all work is what creates the real winners. Spirit Airlines has more than a little work to do in our opinion if they want to survive, let alone get to the winners circle.
